PAST RESIDENT: SUSAN GARDINER BOURLIER
Hip One Hop One, Acrylic on Canvas
Time to travel back to the early days at Spark Box to reflect on resident Susan Gardiner Bourlier. In 2009 Susan attended the residency as one of our Emerging Artist Award Winners. She had completed her studies as an architect but after working in the field for a short time realized that it wasn’t for her. Her passion was painting and so she quit her job and set out to work full time as an artist. This was when we met Susan. We could seriously relate to her drive and passion for the arts.
Command Break, Acrylic on Canvas
To give you a little glimpse into Susan’s personality I have posted this write-up found on her website:
“These are the words on a button that I found while living abroad in Barcelona.
They resonated instantly, prompting me to spend the single euro required to acquire the souvenir. In the years since, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the button and the meaning of its words (or so I thought):
confusion is clarity
Having spent a great deal of my life in a state of confusion, I think I found this reassuring – but also, and more importantly, true. Although it is one of many, small and inconspicuous, not particularly beautiful, and has no value as defined by the standards of our society, this small object has become a sort of talisman for me. It reminds me to trust my instincts, because they have never failed to steer me in the right direction. Even, or perhaps even more appropriately, when I found out that the line is not a philosophical revelation, but a humorous Spanish phrase, more accurately translated as:
this confusion is very clear
A small, but significant difference.“
Push One Pull Two, Acrylic on Canvas
Push One Pull One, Acrylic on Canvas
Share this work with others:
RECENT NEWS: ART, FOOD AND NATURE
Katie Bruce (right image taken by Katie)
This week was filled with work but also play. Residents Katie and Jane continued their pieces from last week. Katie brought in a new colour to her embroidery pieces which really highlight the embossed areas found in our old wood floors. Jane started a new print inspired by the many cat pictures she has up in her studio and also finished her prints from last week with glitter and sequins.
Jane Wiseheart
Kyle and I ran a private silkscreen workshop which went really well and we are happy to have two new open studio members at Spark Box because of it! We also met with Kristy from Pathways to Independence in Trenton and are going to be hosting a workshop with a group their later this month.
Cooking at From the Farm
This week also brought a lot of cooking and great food. My mother, sister, grandmother and I went to a cooking workshop at From the Farm where we learned the art of cooking Italian food. We made a four course meal during the four hour. We started with an artichoke dip, followed by handmade ravioli, the main course brought pesto wrapped pork with roasted fennel and arugula salad and finally an upside down apply cake. Amazing!
A Weekend Away
In addition to the cooking, printing and workshops of this week Kyle and I spent a lot of time outside. We went away for two days this past weekend to a friends cottage on the Kawartha Lakes. It was a great little break and a nice weekend with friends we don’t see very often. We also starting working in the garden which is hard work but extremely rewarding.
Our Garden
Share this post:
PAST RESIDENT: PANSEE ATTA
The Lotus Eaters
Recent Queen’s University graduate Pansee Atta attended the Spark Box Residency this past February to work on a number of paintings.
Pansee’s work stems from her upbringing: “Having lived in 13 residences in 6 cities in 3 countries in 22 years, I have never had the privilege of calling one place home, or one tradition my own. Nevertheless, the internal conflict between my hybrid Egyptian upbringing and my Canadian influence has been a primary focus of my art.”
Catharsis
While staying with us she started several paper works for her New Gods series. This “series involves reworking mythologies to find archetypes that cross cultural boundaries. Linking culturally-specific images from different contexts that serve similar purposes for their respective communities.”
Totem 2
Totem
Share this post with others:
RECENT NEWS: NEW RESIDENTS, INTERNS & APPRECIATION FOR SLEEP
Katie Bruce taking an embossment of our floor
This week was packed full and left Kyle and I feeling a bit under the weather.
The week started with us happily welcoming our new residents Katie Bruce and Jane Wiseheart.
Katie Bruce joins us from Alberta and will be working on her delicate modified embossment pieces. This week she took an embossment of our living room floor and has started the embroidery element.
- Jane Wiseheart’s Stencils for her silkscreen print
Jane Wiseheart, from Boston, drew out the stencils for her first silkscreen piece. If you think this part looks great wait until you see it with glitter! That’s right she “glitterfies” each work.
Intern Nick Taylor working on our new promo material
We also started working with our new graphic design intern Nick Taylor. Nick is a student at St. Lawrence College, he will be working with us for the next couple of weeks. This week he started putting together a new series of promotional material for our workshops, curio shop and open studio.
We got up to a number of other things this week like saying farewell to former Oeno Gallery staff member Ivan Tanzer who is off to work at the Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal and hanging some of our new work at Angeline’s Inn for their photo shoot with Toronto Life.
As I mentioned before all of this activity left us both feeling a bit under the weather but I found some links that made me want to drink a big glass of OJ and get working:
-This awesome design magazine Udo Mag.
-Nell Casson’s inspiration for the mural painting for the outside of the studio– Steve Powers.
-My Pinterest Board for Green Spaces (I have also been working in the yard a lot recently … can’t wait to plant our garden)!
-This hilarious and awesome tumblr site by magazine editor Ann Friedman (found on Cup of Jo).
I hope this week is productive and fun!
-Chrissy
Please share this with others:
RECENT NEWS: WORKSHOPS, WOODCUTS & TRAMPOLINES
I can’t believe it’s Wednesday and I am just now getting to our post about last week. As you can probably imagine it was packed full (mostly of marking student work for final grades). We had three great residents staying with us last week– Kristy Lynn, Tamara Sponder and Genna Kusch, an etching workshop, Loyalist marking and a kids birthday party!
Fox Drop by Kristy Lynn
Cosmic Honey, Books Series, Kristy Lynn
Last week was Kristy Lynn’s final week with us. She decided to add a little printmaking to the mix and finished two editions in silkscreen. Her prints turned out great (you can see them at the studio in our Curio Shop). We were really impressed the the number of pieces she completed while at the studio. While I was going through the updates she made to her website I noticed the image above, a page from her notebook, which made me feel so happy about the our home and studio.
Woodcut by Genna Kusch and Tamara Sponder
Woodcut by Genna Kusch and Tamara Sponder
Genna and Tamara, both friends from Queen’s, came down to work on a number of projects for the week. They had started a woodcut at the studio two years ago and finally completed it, they also began an installation project which I am curating with them and finally Tamara worked on a series of etching for her Littlest Print Exchange submission.
Workshop with Trenton High School
Workshop with Trenton High School
Near the end of the week we hosted the second half of the Trenton High School Etching Workshop. During this half the students came to the studio to print their etched copper plates. We taught them about the etching process, the inking process and how to use the intaglio press. They each had the chance to work with two different colours and chine-colle. All the students left with at least 6 – 8 prints. We were contacted afterwards by the teacher with a biggest thank you email and an invitation to be the keynote speakers at the school Art Awards (so nice).
To top it all off we got some time in on my nieces new trampoline when Kyle and I (plus two of the residents) went to her third birthday party.
Links for this week:
- I am hoping to get as good as these kids on the trampoline.
- I want to write a convincing letter to Printeresting so we can get a free can of their Gamblin Ink.
- This post made me pretty excited about planting a garden this year.
- I really love the paintings of Jules De Balincourt!
What a great week!
-Chrissy
Share this post with others:
PRINT SHOP HOW-TO: RE-STRETCH YOUR SILKSCREEN FRAME
Not too long ago Chrissy and I purchased a hand silk screen stretcher online. I think we were both in agreement that shipping ripped screens to Toronto to have another company re-stretch and ship them back to us was becoming a hassle and too expensive. We purchased our stretcher from a company call ASC365. I’ve recently gone through the process of re-stretching 20 silkscreen frames and wanted to take a moment to share my experience. Even before we begin I’d like to mention that this tool is fantastic and I recommend it.
How to re-stretch mesh onto an aluminum frame:
1. First, take the broken screen and cut a ‘plus’ sign into the mesh. I found that this gave me a good starting point to ripping the mesh off. When I tried using a X cut from corner to corner, it left a lot of remaining screen debris towards the corners. Rip the mesh along one edge towards the corner, then rip the other edge towards the same corner, now rip the corner section off. Repeat this for all the edges.
2. You may see that there are bits of mesh still remaining glued down near the corner, try to remove what you can by picking at it and hopefully you can pull it off. I found that using a utility knife helped in removing the last bits. Don’t worry too much if there is some remaining, when we grind the frame it’ll come off.
3. If you can, go outside and set-up a work table. You will be grinding aluminum and thus creating dust, so doing this process inside the studio was a big ‘no go’. You will need several tools. A metal grinder with a grinding disk, palm sander with 80-120 grid sand paper, particle respirator (not a dust mask, a real respirator, protect your lungs), gloves, clamps, and safety goggles.
4. I clamped the screen down to the table, and begun lightly grinding the frame. The idea is to remove all the glue off the frame and at the same time give the frame tooth to accept a new layer of glue. When you’re grinding the frame you’ll want to be careful not to spend too much time in one spot otherwise you may grind a pit into the frame, and that’s not good.
5. Afterward I used the palm sander to quickly run around the whole frame, this cleaned up some (not all) ink stains, hardened emulsions, or weird glue deposits from tape. When finished rub the frame clean with a rag.
6. Set-up a large station inside, I had to push to a couple desks together. I recommend that you avoid using the floor as a work surface, the mesh is oddly charged with static electricity and will pick up all the dirt off the floor. The stretcher we bought came disassembled in 8 pieces and was really easy to build following the manufacturers instruction.
7. Once the system is set-up and the frame in place, coat the frame with a layer of glue. We purchased the glue from the same company that sold us the stretcher, it is clearly an extremely strong contact cement. I recommend that you open a window and wear a vapor rated respirator mask.
8. It takes 8-10 minutes for the glue to become ‘dry to the touch’. At this point lock into the stretcher your desired new mesh. Crank all the clamps down onto the mesh and begin stretching each side a little bit at a time. You can buy a tension meter which will tell you exactly what tension of the screen is or I compared the tension to another commercially stretched screen we had in the studio.
9. When you’re happy with the tension cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the interior of the frame and place it on the screen. Now apply a second layer of glue to the frame. The cardboard prevents any stringy bits of glue from falling onto the middle of the screen. Like I mentioned earlier the screen has a lot of static electricity and so it tends to attract the stingy glue. Once done let the frame sit for 25 minutes.
10. When you loosen all the clamps and remove your newly stretched frame cut off the excess screen mesh. Finally, use metal foil tape (purchased from a hardware store in the duct working aisle ) to cover the glued side of the screen. That’s it, finished.
If you liked this How-To for screen printing share it with others:
BUSINESS OF ART: ART IN CANADA
This week the Business of Art vault brought this question:
Where is contemporary art being made in Canada?
To this I say: Everywhere.
Contemporary art is being made all over the country. There isn’t one geographic area where it is all happening. What this question made me realize is that maybe there isn’t a great resource showcasing some of the amazing things happening in the Canadian art scene. I have compiled a short list of some of the awesome Canadian writers, bloggers, spaces and artists that I visit or support.
- The MOCCA: The mandate of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and international artists whose works engage and address challenging issues and themes relevant to our times. I always catch really great shows here when I visit Toronto, Ontario.
- Magic Pony: Magic Pony is dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of the best in young contemporary art. We operate as a studio, gallery and retail environment, combining elements of art, design and popular culture to create a unique shopping experience. This is an amazing place to find new and exciting young Canadian artists. Tt is always on my list of places to stop into while visiting Toronto, Ontario.
- Toronto Craft Alert: A great resource for crafters and craft enthusiasts this site lists upcoming sales, calls for submissions, educational opportunities and featured articles about amazing crafters from all over.
- The Hamilton Art Crawl: Hamilton is starting to make a name for itself in the Canadian art scene, making their monthly art crawl must see event.
- Forest City Gallery: FCG’s mandate is to serve as a forum for local, regional, national and international artists through the presentation of relevant contemporary practices in visual/media arts, performance, literature and music. A great space offering interesting exhibitions and events in London, Ontario.
- Modern Fuel: Modern Fuel aims to meet the professional development needs of emerging and mid-career local, national and international artists, from diverse cultural communities, through exhibition, discussion, and mentorship opportunities. This is a great gallery space in Kingston, Ontario showcasing many talented Canadian artists.
- En Masse: Montreal, Quebec based art initiative EN MASSE is best described as an ongoing exercise in irreverent, improvised collaborative drawing — a boundary-blurring cocktail of high and lowbrow culture, pop imagery fragmented like shattered glass in a spontaneous, multi-genre, black-on-white collision.
- Poppytalk Handmade: Poppytalk is a Canadian (Vancouver, British Columbia based) design blog collecting inspiration and dedicated to promoting emerging design talent. I visit this site regularly for inspiration.
- Booooooom: Amazing art blog from Vancouver, British Columbia artist Jeff Hamada. Booooooom was created in the hopes of fostering a community of people excited to go out and be creative! This blog is great for learning about contemporary artists from Canada.
- Khyber Art Centre: The Khyber, est. 1995, is a non-profit, artist-run centre located in an historic, three-story building in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The centre presents contemporary art exhibitions, artist lectures, panel discussions, performances and offers art classes to youth.
- Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art: Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba the Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art is a nationally recognized leader in Aboriginal arts programming and one of the foremost venues and voices for Aboriginal art in Canada.
- Art Central: About Art Central is a visual art complex at the corner of Centre Street and 7th Avenue in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Art Central aspires to be the axis of the visual art scene in Calgary: the place where artists conjoin with galleries and art aficionados, the stimulus for the production of excellence, innovation, and new ideas, the place where art intersects with the community, enlarging its experience and enhancing its perception of art.
- UPPERCASE Magazine: Another great source of information surrounding talented people from all over, Uppercase Magazine is a quarterly craft, fashion, illustration, and design journal published by Janine Vangool in Calgary, Alberta.
I would love to hear of any other places (as I am sure there are many) so please feel free to add your favorite Canadian art place, space or person to our comments section.
If you thought these links were interesting share them with a friend:
RECENT EVENTS: SGCI NEW ORLEANS
Last week I went on the road to New Orleans for the South Graphics Conference. This was the first time attending this conference, actually this was the first conference Spark Box Studio has ever attended, needless to say I was pretty excited. Sadly, since we had residents booked in I had to make this trip alone, which meant a lot of long days and lonely travelling. Lucky for me tons of like-minded printers attend this event every year so the loneliness was short lived.
The trip began early Thursday with a 4 am drive to the Toronto airport. With just one minor hang-up with customs, I was quickly jet-setting to Louisiana. I arrived early afternoon, dropped my publisher booth stuff off and headed to my accommodations (which I found on Air BnB). The rest of Thursday was made up of searching for groceries and relaxing on the roof top of the loft I was staying in.
Friday was day one of the conference. Spark Box had a booth in the publishers fair so I left early to set-up my table. I took a walk through the beautiful, yet very smelly, French Quarter to the Sheraton Hotel where the conference was being held. I was the first publisher to arrive … which made me feel like a silly eager Canadian. But my eager attitude paid off leading me to meet so many nice people and share information to them about our studio and residency. Because of that minor customs hiccup I wasn’t allowed to sell any prints … but I did get to speak about them and the great printmakers who created them. I was set-up near the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program and got to met Chris Dunnett and Phil Sanders. I now hope that I will get some time to go to NYC and check out their space.
I left the publisher fair early that day to attend one of the demonstrations being held at Tulane University. The demonstration was being done by our university print professor Otis Tamasauskas. The drive to the demo was longer than I thought so I only caught the tail-end but made plans to go out with Otis later in the evening. We met up at the hotel and together with Gravity Press owner Brandon Graving we went to the evenings art walk. My camera died by this point so I didn’t get any pictures but the night was great. We stopped at the Community Print Shop, the exhibit at the Healing Center and Deborah Cornell and Barbara Putnam’s exhibit at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
Saturday was another early morning walk to the hotel in order to re-set-up the publishers table (they moved us for day two). I decided the smell of the French Quarter at 7AM was a bit too much so instead I walked along the river. Day two of the publisher fair was held in conjunction with the portfolio sessions. It was a great day. I split my time standing at the table and walking around looking at all the amazing and talented printed works. Splitting time between the table and other events was a challenge since I was by myself but next year Kyle will attend as well and we will have more time to go to the lectures and demos.
Past resident Josh Dannin came by the booth just as I was packing up and we headed to the Wolfbat Railroad event that he had been participated in over the week. The BFT Wolfbat Railroad was another printmaking project going on at the same time as the Southern Graphics Conference but not in conjunction with it. Wolfbat Studios (Dennis McNett) & Woodcut Funhouse (Sean Starwars) teamed up with Vans Custom Culture to host a three day customization event that was 100% free and open to the public. As the organizers explained it “The event included the construction of a wooden train consisting of 1 steam engine & 20 box cars. Artist, educators, and college students from across the U.S. tricked out their boxcar with screen prints, woodcut prints, flags, paper mache structures, and what ever else they can come up with. Each artist or team worked with at least 2 local high school and/or middle school kids.”
Saturday evening was the culmination of this three day event and was celebrated by taking the train on parade through the Marigny/Bywater area. After the parade there was a party with a great brass band and tons of dancing printmakers. It was a great time and a wonderful way to end the weekends events.
Sunday was my last day in New Orleans and I spent most of the day hanging out with Josh. We did a ton of tourist like things – walk through the French Quarter market, check out all the great street performers, eat beignets at Cafe du Monde and walk around Bourbon Street. After Josh headed back to Philadelphia I went to the botanical gardens with my accommodations host Andrea and then out to dinner.
It was a great trip and I am happy that we decided to participate in the events this year. We are definitely going next year in Milwaukee.
-Chrissy
THIS WEEK AT SPARK BOX
Carl Wiens’ silkscreen pieces are near completion with just one last layer. Can’t wait to see them all finished! Looking forward to seeing some more people working in the Open Studio including Nicole Armour. If you haven’t seen Nicole’s handmade books you really should take a look, they are beautiful! She also has a very insightful blog about books, movies, music and friendship called The We of Me.
We are excited to start another month and invite new people into our home and studio. On Wednesday we picked up our newest resident coming to us from Israel and staying for two weeks. Nava Astrachan will be working on three etchings during her stay. (image below taken from HERE).
On Thursday Kyle and I got to see all of our work up at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery and share the moment with our friends and family. The evening was a success and we were so happy to see friendly faces out for an evening in Belleville to support us and our work.
The end of this week finds the end of Sarah Burwash’s residency with us. It has been great having Sarah at the studio. I love her work and will be sad to see her go. I mean just look at this map she made of the area … awesome!
If you like this post others might too:
GRADUATE SCHOOL
This weeks The Business Side of Art question is: What are graduate schools looking for in terms of potential students?
This was a surprisingly difficult question for me to answer because I have not considered applying for a masters degree. I looked long and hard to try to come up with an answer to this question. After hours of hunting online I really came up with little concrete information. But I did come up with a different way of looking at this question. I considered the fact that every school is looking for something different and therefore there is no one list of traits a potential student should have. After thinking about it this way I realized the real question is “what are you looking for in a potential graduate school?” Once you have this answered you will find that you are what that school is looking for in a potential student.
After creating the new question I started asking myself what I would look for in a school and I came up with a few questions you might want to ask yourself:
1. What type of work you would like to focus on? Are you a painter? Illustrator? Photographer? Are you going to need access to any special type of equipment (i.e. a darkroom or print studio)?
-Not every school is going to offer the equipment you might need for your discipline, in the same vein, not every school is going to focus on every field of art. It is important that the school you select is one that is going to suit you and the art practice you want to focus on.
2. Do they offer private studios to each student? Is this important to you?
-Are you the type of person who likes to have a studio they can have to themselves? Somewhere you can leave your work, shut a door and create independently? You might want to make sure that the school you are interested in provides this. Not every school is going to have the same set-up so always double check.
3. Is the school located somewhere you’d like to live and work in the future?
-This may seem like an odd suggestion but I think it is important that you are going to live somewhere around the place you decide to go to graduate school. If you consider the reasons for attending graduate school – becoming a teacher or driving your career through new contacts – you will begin to see why this is a really important question. It is going to be easier to utilize these connections if you continue to work in the area after you graduate.
4. What are the professors like?
-These are going to be your mentors for the next few years, so respecting their work and philosophies will make this experience much more enjoyable. Take the time to do some research on their work and select a school that has professors that work in a similar medium or style to yours. This way you know you are going to respond well to their feedback.
5. Will you need funding?
-If you need the school to help support you financially through such things as TA-ships it is important to make sure that they are available. Also, it is good to know if there are scholarships available to students entering the MFA program.
These were my top five questions. But after writing these out I went hunting for other questions people were asking when considering graduate school. During this search I came across a great article from the New York Foundations for the Art website. The Ten Tips for Those Considering MFA Programs article made many of the points I had made but had some great reflections from current MFA students. It also added a few additional points such as considering the duration of the program, thinking about your expectations, taking your time and supporting your own decision to get your MFA. I especially thought author Ilana Stanger’s question about becoming a teacher was a good one to consider. The article points out that “… if you’re not excited about teaching, you should apply for residencies instead. The MFA qualifies you to teach. That’s it. Think about that.” Let me ensure you that I don’t just like this point because I run a residency but because I think it is important to really understand why you are taking your masters degree.
Now that you have some questions to help you narrow your focus and you have answered why you want to attend an MFA program I think you will find that you have answered the question “what makes a potential MFA student?”.
If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:
PAST RESIDENTS: GLYNIS WILSON-BOULTBEE & PAUL BOULTBEE
The power of getting out of your personal studio.
During the summer of 2010 we accepted our very first artist couple. This was not something we had considered when planning the residency, in fact, we were surprised when Glynis Wilson-Boultbee and Paul Boultbee’s application came to us. After thinking it over we decided that it might be fun to have a duo working in the space. In fact, this might be the way Kyle and I would approach a residency. It turned out to be a great decision. Glynis and Paul came to the studio from Alberta, Canada. While staying with us Glynis worked on a variety of writing projects while Paul worked on pieces in preparation for an exhibition held this past December.
The great thing about Paul and Glynis was that they really found a way to enjoy the area and incorporate it into their work. Paul had originally planned to work on a completely different series but changed his mind after becoming inspired by the Glenwood Cemetery built in 1873. With its 62-acre property of rolling hills, mature trees and winding dirt roads it is hard not to be inspired by its beauty. This is something I really love seeing with visiting artists. It is pretty incredible how much a place can effect your work.
By changing your environment you can sometimes end up created something completely new.
For me this is exactly why we decided to start a residency program. We wanted artists to experience a new space and have that new space effect their work. Paul’s work is a great example of that.
If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:
LAST WEEK AT SPARK BOX
embedded by Embedded Video
vimeo Direkt
We had to say good-bye to Kirsten McCrea and J.P. King at the end of last week. The two left to begin their new life in Toronto. They are already off to a great start with a presentation at the Come Up To My Room “Let’s Talk” conference. Last Friday J.P. spoke to the C.U.T.M.R. crowd about his Free Paper Press project (see the video above to find out more about this really cool project).
Luckily, before they headed off we got to have one great event at the house with them. Last Wednesday we hosted a collage party inspired by all the great work J.P. was making while at the studio. To our surprise people were excited about created collaborative collages and we had a great turn out. I plan to scan all the collages that were made and create a collage party pdf book.
With all this going on Kyle and I still managed to finish all of our work and set-up for the upcoming exhibition at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery, which opens this Thursday from 6:00 – 7:30 PM.
Sarah Burwash received some amazing press on two great art websites – the Jealous Curator and Art Hound. She was also kind enough to give Spark Box a really sweet shout-out on both, here is a little bit of what she had to say about her stay so far (taken from the Jealous Curator post):
… it is so blissful to be in a big old house surrounded by corn and hay feilds, it is peaceful and relaxing, and also productive and inspiring. The sun has been out often and the fields are dusted with snow. Chrissy and Kyle who run Spark Box are amazing hosts, light hearted and ambitious pair, they make you feel very comfortable and welcomed and go out of there way for you. I have a large studio space to work, and there is a great library of books from art books, to wild flower books, to old life magazines.
Genna Kusch and Carl Wiens both used the open studio to continue to work on personal projects. Carl worked on a new silkscreen piece from his Swimmer Series (my favourite) and Genna continued working on her woodblock insect pieces (as seen above).
**I would like to thank Genna Kusch for the images she supplied of the Collage Party **
If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:
THIS WEEK AT SPARK BOX
It has been a productive week here at Spark Box. With three residents and Kyle and I using the studio there has been so much work being created. After having a couple months with no residents at all it feels so nice to have an energized studio space.
Kyle and I continued to work on different projects in the studio including etchings, silk screens and watercolour monoprints (one of my new favorite processes!). I finally got a new website put up for my personal work which can be found at chrissypoitras.com.
J.P. King has been making some awesome collage pieces, including some sculptural collages. These pieces inspired our upcoming Collage Party happening this coming Wednesday the 25th (find details by clicking HERE). Kirsten McCrea started working on some great paintings but has also been making these intricate patterned works, which I really want to see as wallpaper.
Sarah Burwash has been painting up a storm in the outside studio. It’s so fun sharing studio space with her and chatting about the stories behind each one of her paintings. We have also been listening to a lot of Radiolab … always filled with endless discoveries.
If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:
ARTIST FINDINGS – SEAN CAULFIELD
Body Plan #7, Mixed Media on Drafting Vellum
Kyle was working his hands bloody on the etchings for our upcoming show, Opposing Forces, which got me thinking about why we are printmakers. It is such a laborious process filled with endless amounts of technical issues that I wonder why we are so attracted to it. But then I see work like Sean Caulfield’s and it all makes sense again.
Body Question #3, Mixed Media on Drafting Film
Sphere of Fire, Mezzotint
Sean is a Centennial Professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta, along with being a well establish printmaker. During my fourth year at Queen’s University Sean was one of the artists-in-residence. He lectured about this practice and allowed students to visit his studio to learn more about his process. Ever since then I have been a huge fan of his work. I enjoy all the elements and narratives existing in the unnatural environments and am in awe of his mezzotints. His intaglio pieces are a combination of collage and print collected together to create amazing imaginary spaces. On top of enjoying all of the small and subtle details that exist in Sean’s work I am also drawn to his limited colour palette. These is something about the few soft colours that make these works even more erie and mysterious.
Protecting Flames, Mezzotint, Intaglio, Chine Colle
Plan for a Sanctuary #2, Mixed Media
If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:
GRANT WRITING
This weeks The Business Side of Art question is: “Where can I access materials to help me with funding and the application process for grants?”
Sourcing funding is an important part of the art world since, like any business, artists need capital in order to produce work. For some artists and art organizations applying for grants can occupy more time than is actually spent making work or running the facility. Along with being time consuming grant writing can be extremely challenging. Being surrounded by artists regularly we have heard our fair share of grant secrets, success stories and failures. We have even experience some of these first hand. Our first two years were successfully funded by a provincial grant but our third year has seen no grants at all.
The hard and fast answer to this question is that there isn’t one right way to apply for funding. There are elements that can make you a more eligible candidate. Having provoking and well documented work, creating an intriguing project idea, incorporating programs with the local community or addressing current national issues are just some of the ways you can help yourself receive funding. The thing to remember is that reading the guidelines carefully is the most important step. Knowing that your project/work fulfills the grant requirements is always going to help you get further in the granting process. Ensure you are clear about what you are planning to with the funding and be realistic. Most artist grants have a large number of applicants so make sure you review every detail of your application and request a realistic amount for your project.
While it can be surprisingly hard to find solid information about writing grants successfully there are a few online resources that will help you put together a grant application. I have listed a few below:
-CARFAC is a great resource for Canadian artists. Not only do they produce comprehensive publications they also host workshops meant to demystify many of the business challenges artist have.
S. JOSEPH LEVINE’S GUIDE TO WRITING A FUNDING PROPOSAL
-This guide is filled with great information and takes you through a grant application step-by-step. It gives you hints along with examples and is often updated with new information.
GRANTING AGENCIES (ex. Canada Arts Council)
-It is good to remember that the granting agency has staff that are there to help you write. If you plan well enough in advance these people are a great wealth of knowledge. You can call or write them with all your questions and they will provide you with answers that will help make sure you are writing what the granter is looking for. There are often grant writing sessions offered by granting agencies as well. These sessions will explain what programs are available, who is eligible and how to apply.
-The YES Montreal website has many great resources but their Making Your Way Handbook (which is free) has some valuable information about grant writing, along with tips about pricing your work, making media contacts, etc.
If you know of other helpful resources that can be added to this list send me an email chrissy[at]sparkboxstudio.com
If you found this information helpful please let other people know by sharing it:
PAST RESIDENT – SARAH AMMONS
As per usual I am trying to stay on top of the blog. I am realizing that I may not be as good at multitasking as I would like to have myself think. With the upcoming exhibition at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery I have been trying to go back and forth between the studio and Spark Box admin, which is proving to be difficult.
Anyway, onto the post about residency award winner Sarah Ammons, who was awarded time to work on a series of etchings a few years back. At the time Sarah was in the middle of her BFA at Queen’s University. We love encouraging artists in their undergrad to participate in the residency program as it is an ideal way to meet artists and build new connections.
We were quite excited about having Sarah work in etching since prior to her stay we hadn’t had many printmakers participate in the residency program. Sarah’s etchings were manly based on portraits and in her words were a “reflection on her outlook towards life”. During her stay she completed a number of medium sized works and had the opportunity to learn our non-toxic process.
JANUARY WORKSHOP // ETCHING WEEKEND
This introductory course requires no previous experience with printmaking. Students will begin the lesson with fresh copper plates and learn how to transform them into a small edition of prints. This workshop will teach students a non-toxic form of etching and will include hard ground techniques, aquatinting and soft ground techniques. By the end of the course students will have an understanding of the basic principles of printmaking including the above etching processes along with working with printing inks and using a traditional etching press.
Weekend workshop
January 21 & 22
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
$200.00 non-member
$185.00 member
*materials included
PREFIX MAGAZINE
Picked up a copy of Prefix magazine last night at Chapters and found Spark Box in the Opportunities section. I knew that we might be mentioned but didn’t know it actually happened so that was a nice surprise. Prefix Photo is an engaging magazine, based out of Toronto. It is dedicated to contemporary photography and related arts. Characterized by innovative design and outstanding production values, Prefix Photo consists primarily of portfolio and essay sections, providing a complement of intelligent texts and breath-taking visuals. These features are accompanied by newsbriefs which provide information and opportunities for professional photographers, including new technological developments. Each issue of Prefix Photo presents the work of Canadian photographers, both emerging and established, alongside that of their international counterparts.
CRAFT MONTH AT SPARK BOX
It has been a busy month here with all the holiday sales over the past two weeks. Nell and I were making new items inspired by the galaxy for this holiday season, including cards, bags, pins, housewares and toys. Now that the sales are over it is time to reflect on all the great people we met while running around from sale to sale. The first sale was the OCAD Book Arts Fair in Toronto. It was a great Saturday and we met a number of really nice people. Our booth was right beside Jeffrey Macklin owner of Jackson Creek Press in Peterborough. Jeffrey’s printed work is so much fun and all made with by hand with a genuine old-school letterpress.
We did some great trades at this sale with Alex Froese and Tiny Press and met some really awesome crafters like the two ladies behind Good Plant.
On the Sunday we participated in the Fat Goose sale in Kingston. This is another fantastic event and always a good night. It is so nice to spend time with some of our favorite Kingston artisans like Vincent Perez of Everlovin Press (featured in Square2), Julian Berry of Ironclad Graphics and Brandy Olley of Salvage Designs. It was also a great place to meet new people like Jeff Woodrow of Joy T-Shirt. Joy T-Shirt is a really interesting idea, Jeff creates graphic t-shirts that are inspired by a real people. The shirt has a drawing of a real person printed on it and the idea is that when you wear your shirt you are encouraged to think about that person and how your everyday actions can affect others and the world we live in.
Last weekend we were part of the Busy Hands sale in Picton. Like Fat Goose it’s always a great time to re-connect with local crafters and say “hi” to people we haven’t seen in awhile. I got a chance to meet a few new people at this sale as well like Kathyrn Orok and Mags Kandis. It has been a fun two weeks but I am excited to spend a weekend at home and in the studio. If you missed the sales and are curious about what we have been up to please feel free to stop by and visit us.
PAST RESIDENT: TESSA ANDROUTSOPOULOS
This time last year we had printmaker Tessa Androutsopoulos staying with us. Tessa traveled to us from Finland. She studied printmaking at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland and in her application she sent images of her degree show entitled “World Destroyer”. This exhibition explored imaginary of cityscapes through wall painting and traditional printmaking. This was one of the most vibrant applications we had received and I was very excited to see what she would create while at Spark Box.
The work she completed while at the studio lived up to our expectations. Tessa was with us for two months and during that time she made a screen print series inspired by the circus, as well as a number of large and small linoblock prints. She had made so much during her stay and had met so many people we thought it would be fun to host an exhibition of her work. The exhibition was great and the party was so much fun. Tessa’s work filled the front room of the old studio and people young and old enjoyed her humorous images and lighthearted display.
PAST RESIDENT- ALISON THOMPSON
A past winner from the summer 2011 residency award was painter and textile artist Alison Thompson. Her stay at Spark Box ranged from working on her paintings, to discussing the cross-section of art and craft, to embroidery our vintage chair, to exploring the Prince Edward County scenery.
It was such a joy to have her at the studio, her positive energy filled the house. Her work perfectly reflected her personality – bright, cheerful, vintage and fun. The work produced at the studio expressed her interest in the world of craft and her passion for the world of art. Her embroidery work filled the desire to work with traditional women’s needle craft and her watercolour paintings of quilt patterns addressed her pursuit of the fine arts.
PREPARING FOR WINTER
The “joys” of owning your own house …
We have been spending a lot of time lately getting our new place ready for the winter months. Summer was hectic for us and we put a number of projects on hold. Now that things have slowed down we are trying to get these projects finished. A number of these tasks are outdoor projects and we want to make sure everything is sealed up, winterized and ready before the snow falls.
We love our new studio but sadly the tin roof hadn’t been cared for over the past few years and so we had to spend a few days putting in new screws to prevent leaks and to keep out the country critters. We bought a new shed for storage, as we turned all of our outdoor storage into studio space. And, with the help of Alex Fida and Kyle Lane, we finally have boards and battens up on the exterior walls of the studios!
The past year of renovations has taught us a number of valuable lessons, here are a few:
1. A strong support group is important when attempting to complete a major project. We were lucky to have great friends and family by our side the whole way through. Without their hard work, heart-to-hearts, comforting shoulders and helpful advice there is no way we would have been able to get through this project.
2. The art of compromise. We were warned before starting the work on the house that many of our hopes and desires would change or become impossible and that renovations are filled with unexpected twists and turns. Even with this knowledge we were unprepared for the number of changes, modifications and compromises we had to make during the project. Luckily, we listened and trusted each others opinions making these changes less stressful and resulting in a pretty great space.
3. I think it goes without saying that any project you undertake requires a great deal of patience. Home renovation is no different. Becoming aware that every project takes longer than you wanted and that nothing is ever as easy as it sounds is extremely important when taking on a renovation project.
RESIDENCY AWARD
Beginning your career as an emerging artist can be tough, which is why Spark Box Studio is offering FREE RESIDENCIES to fine art students and emerging artists. This residency opportunity is a unique way for young and emerging artists to cultivate new ideas, access a rich library of arts resources, learn about career-building opportunities, and develop an understanding of the art world from a business perspective.
Six emerging artists will receive a one-week (7 days) residency at our Open Studio in Prince Edward County. The selected applicants will be given a private studio space and given access to the Spark Box Studio equipment and resources, as well, winners will be provided with living accommodations for their weeklong stay. They will also have access to career guidance from owners Chrissy Poitras and Kyle Topping, along with, local community members.
The winter residency award runs from January 9, 2012 to March 31, 2011. Please be advised that the award is for 7 consecutive days.
Applying for the Residency Award gives artists the opportunity to practice an essential business skill in the art world: the application process.
APPLY NOW (DEADLINE NOVEMBER 1, 2011) CLICK HERE>>
