ACAD Fibre Fortnight

Fibre Fortnight is fast approaching at ACAD. The cloak that I made in fibre class will be on exhibit. I am also donating "ACAT" to the silent auction fundraiser.

Introducing ... ACAT

ACAT hopes to curate an art show entitled Cat Scratch Fever.

" My fellow feline artists have long awaited a venue to display our work as a cohesive body. We hope to enlighten humans that our deconstructive sculpting of furniture is not just an instinctive drive to sharpen our claws - we are challenging the meaning of refinement and permanence, providing commentary on trends in interior design, and, most importantly, testing the strength of the ancient bond between humans and felines. We hope that our human roommates will come to embrace our efforts for what they are: performance art rather than annoying idiosyncrasy. If not ... oh well. It is not like we are going to stop anyway." 

Needle-felt: Trolls, Leprechauns, and Dragons - Oh My!

Patrick

 There seems to be a lot of interest in mystical creatures these days and they are fun to make with lots of scope for the imagination. Here are a few of the recent guys.

Leo Trollstoy

Draven

Kieran

Back to School Update - Drawing Class

I finished Drawing 120 last Fall and learned a great deal from it. In this class, drawing was interpreted quite broadly as you will see. There was a lot of work to be completed. There were out-of-class assignments and in-class workshops as well as lots of opportunities to practice drawing everything from figures to projected images and photos.
Besides actually learning to draw, a big emphasis seemed to be on learning how to develop the content and concept of a piece. There was an almost uncomfortable amount of "deep" thought and introspection at times, but I am glad to have done it. Our first assignment was to use a variety of media to create a three-act narrative using self-portrait as a vehicle. I chose to portray the integration of right and left brain thought.

The next assignment involved creating four drawings that captured our single personal place of sanctuary. Each had to use different media and be on a different surface.

These are the two that were the most
successful to my mind. I chose to portray different aspects of my home: my favorite spot to explore the world via reading, and a whimsical version of the dining room set that I inherited from my grandparents that has had generations of family meals gathered around it.





After completing these, we were to utilize some or all of the imagery from the earlier drawings to create a final complex drawing (at least 3X4 ft). It was a very interesting exercise to play with overlaying a number of different images.










One of the most fun in-class workshops was using graphite powder to create a drawing based on a collage of totally random images. Creating the collage on the right was half the fun. I loved the juxtaposition of the bears in the window and the red-neck jean legs merging into ostrich feet.

We finally got to work on small drawings in the next major assignment, but of course that meant lots of them. We were to investigate, with poignancy and intimacy, the relationship between objects and various areas of the body. I chose to look at communication through touch.










My favourite of the group was the finger on a touch screen. I have been thinking about doing some pieces on the impact of technology on the human experience and this is one that has been on my mind for a while. It is a bit of a play on Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.

The last assignment focused on the body and looking at qualities of a drawing as a metaphor for and abstraction of the body. We were to choose two adjectives associated with the body and create abstract drawings to express them. Next we were to choose two bodily experiences and to portray them in non-literal ways. I went a bit nuts with this one using scorched velum to portray mortality, string stretched across a root to represent tension, a macro plaster version of a finger print, and a felt based on a microscopic view of tissue. From these works we had to complete a large scale work (4X5 ft) that built on the strengths of these pieces.









I tea and rust stained antique linens, scorched them and suspended them on an antique dressing screen. Then I made a felt piece in roughly the shape of a body (below) and suspended it in front of the screen. It has a very primitive, universal feel to it that I enjoy.

Once again, this was a very worthwhile course from my point of view. Not only did I experiment with a lot of new techniques, I feel like I approach making an art piece in a different way. I am inclined now to experiment with studies and develop the concept as I go rather than trying to plan out a piece before I begin.

Back to School Update: Print making

Intent Blue jay

One of the things that I appreciate the most about first year Art School is taking a sampling of different studio classes. Printing 103 was a good introduction to print making with plates. We started out with mono prints and then moved on to lino cuts - my favourite. I love the wood-cut look without the effort of carving wood (Intent Blue jay).

We also etched copper plates using various techniques. I think I must have had the plate for Prairie Sentinel in the acid bath at least 10 times.

Prairie Sentinel

Always on the Wrong Side

 Always on the Wrong Side is also a lino cut. In this case we experimented with multiple ink colours (in the end I used three). I tried two basic techniques: "puzzle cutting" the cat's head so that different inks could be applied, and reduction carving to get the light and dark brown on the cat's head.

Longingly

We also experimented with photo etching. In this technique you use a photograph to etch onto a copper plate and then go back into the plate to add further character or detail. Longingly was a photo of an Easter Lilly in a church window in Hawaii. I was really surprised at the difference in the "feel" of the print compared to the original photo. It has a much more forlorn quality.

I really appreciate what I learned in this class and came away with a great deal of respect for printmaking. Not only is there need for artistic knowledge and a lot of practical skill, but a lot of planning is necessary and yet at the same time you have to respond and adjust to what is happening on your plate - it definitely requires a lot of patience. It has also helped me to really appreciate prints as an art form - I was recently at the Victoria Art Gallery and found myself spending most of my time looking at prints, admiring the artists' skill and trying to figure out how they accomplished some amazing images.

Back to School Update - Mixed Media Fibre Course

The second year fibre course that I took last Fall focused on exploring 3D forms using traditional and experimental media. Each student also did a ten minute presentation on a fibre artist which was a great way to get exposed to and discuss different artists.

Early in September we went on a field trip to create an intimate nature project in Bragg Creek. Everyone worked on individual projects scattered over several acres and at the end of the day, we toured around to see them all. I started to build a relaxing personal space using coloured thread, grasses, twigs and found objects. However, a curious squirrel convinced me to alter the plan and I shifted to building him a play area with a diving board, tight-rope, trapeze, ring set, and ladder (a little hard to see here). I hope he enjoyed using it as much as I enjoyed making it. It was very interesting to see the variety of pieces and definitely a treat to enjoy a beautiful day - reminiscent of childhood days escaping chores.

Next came a paper sculpture project resulting in "Hidden Agenda" This is a deceptively large piece (over 10 ft long). It is made with hand-made paper laid on to a wire frame and was lit internally although this is not visible in this picture. Green silk fibres were draped across the mouth. I wanted to create an organic, plant-like structure that had both beauty and a little creepiness. My biggest challenge with paper sculpture is that the paper is extremely heavy and has little integrity when wet - it is more intent on paying attention to gravity than cooperating with me.




We also did a performance piece, not my favorite type of art for sure but interesting to learn about. Mine drew on parallels between the capriciousness of the wind and life in general. Ever tried doing origami with linens to create symbolic objects? Don't.

I finally got to do some needle-felting for the WunderKammern project. This assignment was inspired by the 16th century mania of collecting bizarre and fanciful objects. We were to create a mythical artifact and an attribution statement - as peculiar and extraordinary as possible, yet sort-of believable. I came up with Shamus, a homunculi deterrent decoy and a homunculus hoard. The concept being that homunculi are real; decoys were created to deter these territorial little beasties who have a nasty compulsion to pilfer little items.

It was fun to make someone a little nastier looking than I would normally make them.

The next challenge was to create a garment that transforms the body into an architectural or sculptural form. I have been wanting to really challenge myself with a large felt garment and experiment with different techniques. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

 On the left is the wool laid out for one half of my "Water Fall" garment (about 9 feet long - felt shrinks a lot). What was I thinking??? I admit that after over 40 hours of working on it by hand, I got exhausted enough to throw it in the washer and put it on hot and I am happy with the final product.

Back to School - First Year Art History and Humanities Done!

Fall semester went by so fast, was wonderful and I am now officially a second year student! I completed three studio courses and a humanities - an interesting mix. I am taking this semester off to travel but will be going back next Fall.

When I first started thinking about going back to take a BFA, I had some concerns about the non-studio courses. First, I wasn't sure if I was really up for the academic grind after so many years. Second, while I know research skills, critical thinking, and essay writing are important skills to learn for first year students, I've been there and done that as a student and professionally in another field and was reluctant to face having to go through the process all over again from the beginning.

There are two first year Art History courses that essentially cover the history of art from prehistoric times to present day. There are also two first year Humanities classes that cover critical thinking and an introduction to the art world today. Before applying to the program, I took a first year Art History class to test the waters - I highly recommend this to anyone thinking about doing a BFA. I quickly realized that I really enjoyed the academic challenges and was embarrassed to remember thinking of Art History as a "bird" course back in my science days - I learned a huge amount and spent many hours memorizing hundreds of images of famous artworks and all their related info. The essay writing process was as annoying as expected - perhaps even more so, but what I learned from the content made up for it. I decided to take the second Art History class by distance education from Athabasca University with pretty much the same impressions although this approach was very different - the flexible schedule is a benefit, but I spent far more time and felt overwhelmed by the scope of the workload without the cues provided by an instructor and other classmates in a classroom environment.

After going over the humanities course content in detail, I came to the conclusion that I had covered the content of one of the courses in my past academic life and was fortunately able to convince a faculty member to give me credit for the course. I hesitantly took the introduction to the art world today course and was pleasantly surprised - I've always thought that a key reason to go back to school was to learn the things you don't even know to think about and this course definitely addressed this. I learned about art critique and curating, went to talks by professional artists, and visited local galleries. There was emphasis on learning the "vocabulary" of the art world, which while taxing is helpful in being able to translate "art-speak". We also read a selection of readings, did some research and wrote some papers (with the same annoyances as described above).

Overall, the three first-year non-studio courses that I took were very worthwhile and I feel like they were a good investment of my time. There were some things that I would have chosen to avoid (e.g. I had to learn a third new citation approach - MLA - which I really dislike) but these build character - right?