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 **

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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

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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.

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.

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.

We have been working hard on putting together the merchandise section of the studio. As some of your will remember the “sale” area of the last space was crowed in a hallway, not the most convenient place to look at printed goods. We decided we wanted to make one full wall of the new studio dedicated to printed goods that were for sale. This would include materials from our craft sales, Square2 Magazine and personal art work. Like most projects it took a lot longer than we anticipated to get it together the way we wanted … but it finally feels close to finished.

We have also been updating our Etsy shop with new products and recently put up a table on the Poppytalk Handmade Online Market. So, if you are looking for a handmade gift for the upcoming holiday season please make sure to pop in. We are open year round Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 6 PM (Thursday we are closed).

P.E.I. photographer, potter and printmaker Monica Lacey worked at our studio during the month of July. Monica’s work primarily focuses on the beauty of the broken, overlooked, or discarded (maybe a residency in rural Ontario was a perfect choice ).

During her stay she worked with solar plates, a printing process we hadn’t used at the studio before. Solar plate printing can be used to create intaglio prints or relief prints using photographic negatives. To find out more about this process click here >>

Monica’s working habits meant that the studio first needed to be prepped. Found treasures, personal photographs, great music and inspiring messages filled the space and quickly transformed it into a beautiful environment for working. Her studio space perfectly reflected her lovely personality and it became a great place for me (Chrissy) to get out of the July heat to share in thoughts about art, life and the power of a great beach!

Monica made several prints during her stay with us, each done from photographs she had taken prior to arriving. These images were of abandoned places, animals and amazing bits of nature. This imagery worked beautifully with the solar etchings. She even left us a small print in which she combined a bit of scrap paper from a note book we had found under the floor in our upstairs. Along with all the work she produced, Monica found time to enjoy the local scenery and reflected on her stay with us through her blog >>

NICOLAI SARAFOV LECTURE AND WORKSHOP

Free afternoon artist lecture starting at 2:00 PM Sunday August 7th

Get to know artist Nicolai Sarafov at this afternoon lecture at Blizzmax Gallery. Nicolai Sarafov studied for five years at the College of Fine Arts in Sofia, followed by six years at the Munich Academy. His etchings are figurative, narrative, filled with a literary references and rich with critical humour. Sarafov has been teaching for 25 + years, he has published a number of catalogues, books and magazines and has exhibited internationally.

There is still one spot open in the week-long workshop running from August 8 -12 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM each evening.

SMOKEVILLE SESSIONS

Smokeville Sessions, a new performance series that will move between different County venues, is holding its first evening starting at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, August 9 at the Tall Poppy Café, 298 Main St., Wellington. Featured are four literary performers, half from the County and half from “away,” a mix that will continue in future Smokeville Sessions as other kinds of performance are featured. In the inaugural evening, County residents Andrew McLuhan and David Harcourt will join Toronto writer/performers Charles C. Smith and John Oughton, with “community” as the common theme.

This summer has brought us a number of fantastic artists-in-residents. Sadly, these artists don’t stay with us forever and last week we said our goodbyes to Atlanta-based artists Jessica Anderson. Jessica is pursuing a MFA degree in sculpture at the University of Tennessee. Her work and interests lie at the intersection of art, activism, and the transformative possibilities between the two.

The allure of printmaking did take hold of Jessica during her stay and she ended up making several prints large etchings.  Her main focus though was the creation of sculptural pieces that resemble her In Laboratory work. During her two week stay the studio turned into what looked like a science lab filled with jars and bags of floating bits and pieces of simulated human parts.

We are very excited to soon be sharing our studio space with professor of print and innovative artist Nicolai Sarafov. Sarafov will be traveling from Germany to visit friends at Blizzmax Gallery this August. During his stay in P.E.C. he will be hosting a week long etching workshop, as well as an artist lecture.

About the Instructor:

Nicolai Sarafov studied for five years at the College of Fine Arts in Sofia, followed by six years at the Munich Academy. His etchings are figurative, narrative, filled with a literary references and rich with critical humour. Sarafov has been teaching for 25 + years, he has published a number of catalogues, books and magazines and has exhibited internationally.

About the Workshop:

The etching workshop with Nicolai will be a week long workshop starting Monday 8th and ending Friday 12th. The workshop will walk you through the various techniques of the etching process, including hardground etching and aquatint. You will learn about working with copper plates to create images and using an etching press to transfer your work to paper. The workshop is open to all levels, including experienced printmakers.

$250 (includes material fee) Monday, August 8 – Friday, August 12 6:00 – 9:00 PM

About the Lecture:

Here Sarafov will speak about his work, his founding of the “Institute for Bagonalistik” and his publications.

Sunday, August 7 Starts as 2:00 PM FREE *limited seating*

Please contact chrissy@sparkboxstudio.com to book for the workshop or the lecture.