Printing Results

Here is the report from the silk screen workshop I took a few weeks ago.

The house heat eventually came on and I was able to dry the packets to set the pigment.

I lay the packets on the radiator.

Rinsing.

bubbles in the sink

I was so pleased most of the print was still visible.

I did not lose any of the designs.

I love the textures I've created.

Not sure yet what I will do with these pieces.

Too Much Garbage

If you're going to talk the talk,

Please read. Photo of someone's beach bag.

best walk the walk!!

Why would one want to ruin such a beautiful place?

Venice Installation

The Garbage Patch State, an installation by Maria Cristina Finucci.

You can see it in Venice, Italy, till November 24, 2013.

(Photos courtesy of my daughter, Sophia. Lucky her. She spent the weekend in Venice.)

What did I Miss?

I have been asking friends what I missed while I was away.

Chandelier, 21x15x15 feet
recycled plastic, monofilament
2013
First Canadian Place, Toronto
Photo credit: Peter MacCallum

People seem to think I didn't miss anything. "Same old. Same old", they say.

I did miss an installation by Katharine Harvey.

Chandelier,
King Street View
photo credit: P. MacCallum

I saw her Waterfall piece in 2008 at Nuit Blanche in Toronto. 6000 pounds of recycled plastic bottles.

She made a chandelier out of plastic bottles in the First Canadian Place lobby which was exhibited till mid-May.

Chandelier by K. Harvey
photo credit: P. MacCallum 

I would have loved to see it LIVE.

Art Everywhere

Imagine hundreds of art galleries in one spot.

Inside Grand Palais for the Art Paris Art Fair

 Imagine me walking around with my mouth open soaking in everything! 

I was at the Art Paris Art Fair for 4 hours yesterday and didn't even get to see everything! (I had to leave because the bakeries were closing and I needed a baguette for dinner!)

I stopped to talk to many art dealers that were exhibiting textile work. What insightful conversations! 

work by Elise Morin in the entrance of the Grand Palais

I learned so much about specific international textile artists and about consumer behaviour towards textile medium.

Morin's work made using wooden embroidery hoops,
plastic bags, plastic ties.

I got a chance to promote some of the Canadian textile artists who in my opinion do spectacular work.

Fossile 1990
4m x 8m

There are some that say it is better to be in your own corner to be able to design/ create how you want  and not be influenced by the same things that are influencing others in your field (article from B of F) and I agree but right now I am finding it exhilarating to be surrounded by art of all mediums in the great City of Light.

I will be posting more about textile artists I discovered at this event.

Friday's Pleasure

I dedicated almost the entire Friday to art! Love it!

In the next two weeks, you can see a number of textile exhibits in the city of Oakville and Toronto while the World of Threads Festival  is on. Most of the exhibits were curated by Gareth Bate and festival chair, Dawne Rudman.

There are 12 countries and 8 Canadian provinces represented.

I specifically went to support the makers that exhibited a piece in Tradition in Transition.

Penny Berens (one piece),

Penny Berens' piece, Under Construction, 
part of the Connections fibre group exhibition

Anna Hergert (one piece),

Love the shadow Anna's piece casts
on the gallery wall.
You can see a little of her piece from 2009,
Acquatic Embrace
on the right side. It's made of stitched plastic
and is part of the exhibit Momento Mori

 Judith Martin (four pieces plus curator for and participant in Continuum).

detail, Monumental Simplicty, part of Continuum
109" x109"

detail, Trinity,  2011,
26" x 40"
part of Quiet Zone

detail, Light of the Moon, 2009,
38" x46"
part of Variegated Threads

detail, Heart to Heart, 2009,
24" x 60"

Another participating artist, Amanda McCavour, curated Material Connections which will be on next week in Toronto. I'm looking forward to seeing that.

And bonus, Gloria S. Daly flew all the way from Vancouver Island to see the 21 exhibits and we got a chance to meet!

Gloria S. Daly and I .... instant friends!

More Plastic Bags

You may remember my post from Rome about an art piece that used plastic bags as a medium. The bags looked like NEW plastic bags, which to me defeated the purpose of the artist's statement.

There was a similar piece in Paris. The artist's name is nowhere to be found! The work can be seen at Gare St. Lazare.

top detail

This week while on break from my sketching class at the Toronto School of Art, I saw a wonderful exhibit of work made by students of the Media Exploration Class using plastic bags-used ones!

Very creative stuff!

Plastic

We stopped at MACRO in Rome to see a particular art piece.

Me viewing Plastic Bags, (2001-2011)
by Cameroon artist Pascal Marthine Tayou

It is a giant vase-shaped installation made with plastic bags measuring almost 10 metres in height.

The thing that surprised me was that the bags seemed new and not repurposed.

If "plastic bags are forbidden by law and should no longer pollute or constitute a danger to the world's ecosystem" says the artist, then why did he choose to use new bags?