tomorrow...

You're invited to our open house and fundraiser to benefit Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue (VOKRA)!

Chestnut St. Pixel Foundry are opening its doors to friends, family, and colleagues Thursday, February 24th from 7pm to 10pm.

Come see our loft-style co-working space and join us for fingers foods, dessert, refreshments, a silent auction and raffle draw!

Auction items include work from local artists and photographers, and more! Raffle prizes include wine, coffee, and scrapbooking gift baskets.

Please RSVP through our online invite.

More information about the event and VOKRA can be found on our mini-site here.

Hope to see some of you there!

kerry james marshall.

near the end of summer, i'd visited the vancouver art gallery to see the modern woman, the first ever touring exhibit from musée d'orsay. i loved the exhibit for a few reasons, including my love for degas and my immense appreciation for masters of pastel and charcoal.

another exhibit on at the time (and still up 'til january 3) is the first canadian solo exhibit of kerry james marshall. prior to this particular art gallery visit, i'd never heard of marshall, but his paintings left a huge impression on me.


black painting (2003)
original photo found here
personally, i feel his social commentary paintings are the most poignant, but i couldn't possibly describe his work in a way that would do him justice. if you get a chance, please do see his work in person.

want to read more about kerry james marshall? i recommend this frieze article.

recently...

shall i blog about something that happened this half of the year? perhaps even within the past week? *gasp* shocking, i know!


last saturday was the hot one inch action button show. for long time readers, you may recall a certain nsfw button i submitted with my friend last year. (btw, we [kel/kel] now have a website: clicky clicky!)


once again, happily posing in front of our button

this year's button is completely safe for work, i assure you! and therefore, did not create as big a stir as "Dickbag" did.

i present to you.... "Has thou slain the Biebicorn?"



now in case anyone is a big bieber fan, i just want to clarify that i actually have no real opinion/stance on the boy. to be honest, i'm not really sure how we even came up with the concept for this button.

our process usually involves either one of us (usually kellen) commenting on something we've observed; then we laugh about it and file it away in our memory 'til it's about a week before an art show deadline. then we pool together whatever scraps of hilarious moments we can remember and i doodle while kellen throws ideas at me or we watch youtube videos for an hour and then somehow a sketch looks right or an idea feels good and we go with it. most of the editing happens between sketch and computer stage. by the time i've scanned a sketch we're usually too tight on time for kellen to approve/disapprove of my colour choices. :P

and i'm not really sure why i just rambled on about our art process......

anyway!

after the show, i decided to check out the olympic cauldron despite the blistering wind and pouring rain:


(does anyone know why it was re-lit for that day only?)

"dickbag" + something's a-brewing...

happily posing in front of our button!


firstly, i do need to say "thank you" for your nice comments on my mix tape button!

saturday's hot one inch action show was great fun! upon arrival, chris informed me that "Dickbag" was quite popular - yay! it was funny going around the room trading and finding out people's reactions to our button while we stayed (for the most part) anonymous.


my haul

my favourite button of the night was the popsicle which my friend procured for me from a boy (about the age of 11?) who happily traded for "Dickbag." (are kids being amused by such things at too young an age?)

finally, there is a reason i have bantered for so long before revealing our button... it is not very suitable for work!

i have purposely chosen to not close-crop on the image, but depending on how casual your work environment is, you may want to scroll at your own risk.

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Dickbag

your eyes do not deceive you - that literally is a bag of dicks sporting wayfarers and skinny jeans, and riding a bicycle.

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now, what's brewing is an idea...

last week, nicole at le mode du jour, posted about her 40-day shopping ban challenge. the significance of this challenge is that she must exercise not only self-restraint but also her creativity and document 40 days' worth of different outfits from her own closet. crazy, yes, but also such a great idea! no shopping for x-number of days always seems like such a self-pity-fest, but adding that creativity element adds a bit of excitement. (...or maybe i'm just a big geek, and this i can heartily admit to.)

well, this got me thinking... month-long shopping bans i've done before, so what's an extra few days? in fact, as of this post, it's been exactly 40 days since my last purchase and it wasn't too agonizing.

i have two trips planned for next year and the first is new york city in mid-february. what i'm wondering is if i could possibly start a new challenge - a 90-day shopping ban - and try to document each day of it? it's sheer insanity, i know, but if the light at the end of the tunnel is the shopping mecca that is new york city, i just might be able to hold on.

so my dear readers, what is your stance on this? are you declaring this lunacy or are you rooting for me like you would the underdog? please let me know! i will consider all arguments!

one more bit of info: if this is a go, it'll officially start on november 17th!

you're invited!

"i made you a mix tape."

i really ought to have extended this invitation ages ago, but here it is, finally!

come on out tomorrow night - saturday, november 7th - for the 6th annual hot one inch action button art show!

w2 perel gallery
112 w hastings
button trading starts at 8pm!

hot one inch action, created and curated by chris bentzen and jim hoehnle, is a fun night of art and social interaction. this one-night only event showcases 50 buttons by 50 different artists. for $5 you'll receive a blind bag of 5 buttons and from there you are encouraged to trade with other attendees until you get all the buttons you want! a good way to sharpen your bargaining skills indeed. and yes, you are allowed to buy as many bags of buttons as you like! some live music, light snacks and a mini bar are usually present as well!

i am doubly excited for this year's show because i'll be one of the 50 artists featured again! this year it was a collaboration with my friend. if you're attending, keep a look out for "Dickbag" by kel/kel! what the button looks like, i cannot reveal just yet. (the photo above is of my 2006 button "i made you a mix tape.") hope to see some of you there!