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
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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
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RECENT NEWS: NEW RESIDENTS & CITY OF CRAFT
Works in Progress by Kristy Lynn
Works in Progress by Sylvia Chan
This has been such a fun week. The weather was amazing and I felt inspired and productive. Early in the week we picked up our two new residents Kristy Lynn and Sylvia Chan. Both have been amazingly productive over the week resulting in a studio full of new paintings.
Works in Progress, New Linocut Prints by Kyle Topping
Kyle and I have both been putting a lot of focus on creating our own work. It’s amazing how challenging it can be to get into the studio. Kyle printed his vintage camera series early in the week (they will be going up on Etsy shortly) and began a new series of reductive linocut vintage trailers. I have been working on a new series of bags inspired by my trip around North America in 2008 (finally putting those pictures to use)!
Last week we also went to City of Craft in Toronto. It was so nice to head out of Picton for a day in the city. Ever since meeting Jen Anisef, creator of Toronto Craft Alert and former organizer for City of Craft, Kyle and I have all become interested in participating in sale. When I found out there was a spring sale I was set on heading to Toronto to check it out. It was a rainy day but a nice afternoon of visiting some of my favorite regional makers:
*Kid Icarus who had these awesome 3D posters of flying Canadian Geese.
*Raymond E. Biesinger who had funky large scale geographic prints of different cities.
*JP King and Kirsten McCrea who had many great prints, postcards and little books of poetry.
* Lines by Davis who had his kitty cat printed bags and textiles, plus these new wax canvas bags (which I loved!).
*Bookhou who had their collection of clean and simply designed textiles (the large pouches are my favorite).
*Field Guided who had a selection of lovely silk scarves along with tote bags and prints.
Hope you had a great week too!
If you like these Ontario artisans perhaps others will too:
PAST RESIDENT: JOSH DANNIN
- “!!!”, Linocut, 2010
- “Not My Cup of Tea”, Linocut, 2011
In September 2011 we hosted Philadelphia printmaker Josh Dannin at the residency. He stayed with us for a month and worked on two relief print pieces. Josh’s work “has evolved to feature a series of relief prints that comment on social and political turmoil. Much of [his] work touches on contemporary political gridlock and the absurdity of such a thing. In the form of dictator-like portraits, satirical caricatures, and bold text, [he] references the turbulent times of today. Citing words made famous by dystopian writers such as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, [he] is intrigued by how the themes these authors address increasingly parallel modern society. What originated as fiction has, in certain aspects, become reality.”
"Granny Smith", Linocut, 2011
“Not My Cup of Tea” and “Granny Smith” were the final pieces done by Josh at the studio. These works reflect some of his recent work which has “…grown increasingly fascinated by the topic of evolution, and where it falls in political discourse. The close relationship between humans and chimpanzees is one that is confirmed by science yet remains debated among ideologies. The clash of Darwinism and Creationism, among other absurd political arguments, will act as a platform for future projects, in which he intends to experiment with print-based installation works.”
"Banana Republican", Woodcut, 2011
"Theory Of...", Linocut, 2011
Josh was a great resident and has remained a really good friend. Two weeks ago we had the chance to see the BFT Wolfbat project he worked on in New Orleans while we were down attending the Southern Graphics Conference (to read about that project click here >>). We hope to have Josh back to work in the studio again soon and wish him good luck with his MFA program he recently was accepted to.
"Wolfbat Box Car", Bill Fick, Carter Eggleston, and Josh Dannin, 2012
Wolfbat Box Car", Bill Fick, Carter Eggleston, and Josh Dannin, 2012
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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
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.
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LAST WEEK AT SPARK BOX
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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 **
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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.
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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.
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.
BUSINESS OF ART – PHOTOGRAPHY QUESTION
When people apply for our Artist Residency Award we ask them to list their top three questions about being a professional artist. It was my plan to answer these questions after each award segment, but, alas time is always an issue and so far that hasn’t happened. The great thing is I am ready to start tackling these now. The first question I am going to address is a great one and also one I have been giving a lot of thought to lately (as I have been updating our Etsy shop). This question is “How do I properly Document my Work”.
Documenting your work is THE most important part of promoting yourself as an artist. Images of your work are what get people interested in what you are doing. Because of this, documenting your work properly is an important investment as an artist and entrepreneur. Personally, I like to hire a photographer to take images of my art work. I struggle with taking great photos and I am even worse with editing them. My paintings often have different textures, vibrant colours and high shine areas which make them very difficult to take images of. I would rather ensure that I get the best photo possible by hiring a professional. You can see in the example below why working with a professional can give you that added advantage. In the image I took there is glare, the image is dark, the colours are off, but with the professionally taken image the colours are true, you can see the details in the work and there is no glare.
If you choose to take this route here are some tips I have learned over the years when working with photographers:
1. Find a brightly lit area of your home or studio where you can set-up the shots. It would be best if this space has a blank wall you can hang your work on easily (or a place where you can set-up a table for three dimensional work).
2. Have everything prepared before the photographer arrives. I like to make sure I have all the work I want photographed set out in the order I want them taken. I also have a nail in the wall where I can hang each of my paintings. This way the photographer just has to set-up his camera in one spot and I can change the work for him or her. This makes the process much faster which is good for both the photographer and yourself (especially if you are being charged by the hour).
3. Remember to get details. This is something I often forget when working with photographers. If you have the time consider getting some close-up images of your work (especially if there are interesting textures in your pieces). It is also nice to have a “in situ” shot so that a potential buyer can see what your work looks like in a space, this also gives them an idea of size.
If you are confident in your photography skills or if hiring a photographer is just a bit out of your means that is fine as well. We have a wonderful PDF written by a close friend and photographer, Paul Hubble. Paul outlines, in detail, all of the information you need to take images with your own camera.
There are also a number of online resources with helpful tips on this topic. I recently watch a great video on the Etsy website about how to take product images. Even though you might not be photographing crafts these tips can be easily used for paintings, prints or sculpture.
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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.
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>>
PAST RESIDENT: CYNTHIA HSIEH
This summer we shared our home and studio with artist Cynthia Hsieh. Cynthia works primarily in drawing and painting and in her own words ” the narratives of [her] drawings and paintings aim to allude to the outward appearance of the good life with delicacy, subtly, and humour. They exist in the context of an imaginary reality where expectation of the beautiful and other external elements fuse, hence [her] commentary of such seemingly desirable world.”
Being from Shanghai Cynthia wasn’t used to living the country life of P.E.C. It took some getting used to but by the end of her stay she was surprised at how much fun she had had in a small town. During her stay she took part in a number of different “Spark Box” activities. She came with us to the Picton Picturefest, to Nicolai Sarafov’s lecture and exhibition and to many trips to the various P.E.C. beaches. Before leaving she gifted us a hilarious drawing of me with my still-not-created terrarium (the image is based on a photo in a 1970s foliage book).
PAST RESIDENT-MONICA LACEY
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 >>
RESIDENT: JESSICA ANDERSON
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.
AWARD WINNER: AMANDA MCCAVOUR
I met Toronto artist Amanda McCavour during the Come Up To My Room exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. She had a room installation which featured an entirely sewn living room space. Over the course of that weekend we hung out quite a bit and I was very happy to see that she had applied for our residency award.
Amanda “uses a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations by sewing into a fabric that dissolves in water. This fabric makes it possible for [her] to build up the thread by sewing repeatedly into [her] drawn images so that when the fabric is dissolved, the image can hold together without a base. These thread images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart …”. She is “interested in the vulnerability of thread, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together.”
While at the studio she worked a few different projects, one involved sewing lined paper and another comprised of several new pieces for her Scribble series. The lined paper work, I assume, will feed into her Folded Fortune work (see above), which developed through experimenting with themes of children’s crafts and things she had made when she was younger. The Scribble series is yet another project based on a popular children’s craft, the spirograph. The result of these pieces is a very impressive installation comprised of several scribble drawings suspended from a ceiling.
RESIDENT: REBECCA ROTHFUS
I have always been drawn to white on white or black on black art work, so when artist Rebecca Rothfus came to our studio this past June and said she was going to work on a series of embossments I was thrilled. Rebecca work is of modern day landscapes. She is intrigued by the structural beauty of cell towers and industrial plants and enjoys the visual contrast between these structures and their surroundings. Using photographic references Rebecca made four collograph prints which she later used for her embossments.
A collograph print is created by using a hard surface (wood or cardboard) to build up your imagery. This results in a relief surface with a range of different textures and levels. Many printmakers use string, fabrics, objects found in nature and textured paper to create their imagery. Generally these are then inked and transferred to paper through the printing press. Rebecca used cardboard to build up the different layers of her print, adding and removing pieces to create the levels. Then, instead of inking the plate she put it through the press clean to create the embossment. The wet paper moulded around the different levels of cardboard leading to a beautiful, all white print, with her image recessing in from the background.
MAKING ART IN THE NEW DIGS
Six days after we moved into the new location we hosted our first resident, Krystal Read, hailing all the way from Dallas, Texas. I must say we were pretty nervous about having a resident only five days after we moved but lucky for us she was great and everything came together just fine. Krystal worked with etching and silkscreen while at the studio. She produced four progressive etchings with silkscreen components and several great sketches (like the one you see above). Krystal’s work is filled with layers of imagery from her past, found images and pop culture.
In her own words “many remnants of history, like old photos, are discarded or quietly tucked away without much reference. It is the rediscovery of these historical remnants that fascinates me. After stumbling upon a collection of old photographs at an antique store, I was drawn by the mystery of the photos. These ghost-like images that are discarded and almost lost to history implore elaboration and interpretation. Through various mediums (drawing, etching, performance, photo-animation) I explore how history can evolve into fantasy or decompose into remnants.
By etching a memory onto a metal plate, I explore the attempt to hold on to history. The medium allows me to explore the many facets of a memory by creating various states in which I scrape away parts of the image and fabricate other details. The plate retains each consecutive mark and, as a result, becomes a recording of historic events. Photo-animation also allows me to record the life of a memory by photographing the slow erasure of an image or the added drawing of a self-imagined context. This deliberate elaboration and removal of details generates questions about the elusive story of the image while exploring themes of memory, time and truth.”
THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING
It has been a long road from house purchase to move-in ready, but we finally did it. In case you don’t know Kyle and I recently moved our studio and residency from two rental properties in Picton to our purchased farm house just outside of Picton.
When we first started planning the idea for Spark Box we had envisioned a place where artist could fall out of bed and into their studio. Sadly, having just graduated we were not the ideal clients for a mortgage. So, instead, we rented a house and a studio space which is where Spark Box has been for the past year and a half (all the while searching for the perfect place we could buy).
Finally, last August, we found the house we had been searching for, an old farm house with a large outbuilding. The house and outbuilding were in rough shape and needed a lot of attention. Over the past nine months Kyle and I have been slaving away trying to make this little place our new home. It wasn’t easy and most times it wasn’t much fun but we now have a beautiful place to call home and a great new space for Spark Box.
We still have some unfinished projects (we have been informed that we will never really be done) but we would be happy to have visitors starting this weekend June 24th. The new address is 885 County Rd. 5.
REFLECTING ON PAST RESIDENTS: HANNA HUR
photo taken from May Truong
Last summer we had Toronto artist Hanna Hur stay with us for a week. Hanna and I became great friends in the short period of time that she was here and I had the pleasure of interviewing her for the April issue of Square2 Magazine. Hanna’s work ranges from drawing to photography and she deals with a multitude of different topics. She has worked on several projects with her twin sister Laurie Kang and recently she has been developing many drawings based on themes of self-identity and her departure from the Christian faith.
What’s next for Hanna Hur? She is off to Berlin in May where she will be mentoring with artist Candice Breitz.
REFLECTING ON PAST RESIDENTS: JAMIE Q
A few months ago we had Jamie Q, a Canadian artist, participate in our Residency Award. Jamie works in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, bookmaking and printing. I loved her work as soon as I opened the link to her website. It was bright, punchy, fun and full of underlying meaning. Not only was her work amazing but her MFA research focused on the politics and aesthetics of the do-it-yourself ethic, as well as the social potential of art objects and DIY distribution strategies … could she sound more interesting? She proposed to create a silk screened zine while staying with us and she did just that. In a week Jamie made 60, 14 paged, 8 colour screen printed books. For those who don’t know much about silk screen this is a lot of work and a great accomplishment. ***by the way you can purchase a copy for yourself on her website just click here***
Jamie always seems to be up to something. If you are living in San Francisco you can see her work at the Take Root exhibition at the Luggage Store Annex. If you are in London Ontario she will be participating in a Zine Workshop at the London Library April 28th.
RESIDENT: LILAC LANG
I know we haven’t been great at getting posts up about our past residents. In fact, we need to get better at posting in general. So, here comes our attempt at getting back on track.
Last month we had painter Lilac Lang, who travelled to our studio from Vancouver, B.C. Her month at Spark Box was not only artistically productive but filled with fun events and new friends. Lilac completely emersed herself into our small town. She worked hard in the studio all day and came to several events with Kyle and I during the evenings.
In her own words her art has been about “the ongoing effort to validate painting as a medium with the potential to embody relevant aspects of human experience and to remain critically important in the face of contemporary art discourse. Coming from a background of graffiti culture and more traditional forms of fine art, my work fluctuates between lowbrow illustration expressing humorous aspects of social failure and abstract oils employing the language of modernist painting. My practice relies on experimentation and improvisation bound by the parameters of set processes and predetermined courses of action. In the past, I have exercised this means of creation using colour combinations borrowed from everyday objects such as domestic knick-knacks, fashion ads, and decorating books to produce whimsical, abstract artworks.”
Interested in starting a new body of work, Lilac produced many studies and some medium sized paintings while at the studio. These new works stemmed from images of interior design and look at relationships of space, shape and colour. We always love when artists use the studio and time away to investigate a new phase in their practice.
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