Week 31: Adobe Illustrator

Quatrefoiled I (small) © Karen Thiessen, 2012

After two weeks off from practicing Adobe Illustrator, I am back in the saddle. Thankfully returning to the program wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. This week I played with quatrefoils. Some patterns, like the one above, are clean and simple. Others, like the one below, are ornate. Of the two patterns, Quatrefoiled I (small) is my favourite.

Quatrefoil © Karen Thiessen, 2012

I worked on the (above) Quatrefoil motif for a good part of the week building it from one base shape that I rotated, scaled, clipped, layered, and then coloured with Live Paint. It's amazing what you can do with the common circle.

Svava Thordis Juliusson @ b contemporary

Svava Thordis Juliusson sculptures; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

A few years ago I went on an artist date with ten dollars in my pocket and bought materials that I don't normally use in my studio practice. Among other things, a few packages of cable ties came home with me and I had fun playing with them. I thought that I had stumbled across something entirely new... and then I saw Svava Thordis Juliusson's work for the first time. Ideas are fluid.

The madness of their method is a three-person show featuring work by Svava Thordis Juliusson, Liss Platt, and Laura Marotta at b contemporary until September 1, 2012. Svava's four small white sculptures hanging in the window remind me of three-dimensional children's drawings: they hold an unexpected power for me. I am reminded of stars bursting and my childhood drawings of eyes with dramatic eyelashes. The elongated piece to the right reminds me of the torso of a beheaded doll.

Svona by Svava Thordis Juliusson; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

As a textiles person, I appreciate the texture and repetition that go into each sculpture. The addition of a cable tie is like adding a tuft of yarn to a burlap base to make a hooked rug. The white sculptures work best for me, but Avalanche (excerpt) Yellow does have a certain charm with its cheerful yellow. Svava is making a huge installation for the side of a building for Hamilton's Supercrawl on September 14 and 15. I can't wait to see it. For more information, check out her blog.

Avalanche (excerpt) Yellow by Svava Thordis Juliusson; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Laura Marotta @ b contemporary

Laura Marotta, Untitled drawings II-IV; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

The madness of their method is a three-person show featuring work by Svava Thordis Juliusson, Liss Platt, and Laura Marotta at b contemporary until September 1, 2012. The pairing of Liss Platt with Laura Marotta is significant. This year Liss Platt won the Hamilton Arts Award (Established Visual Artist) and Laura Marotta won the Hamilton Arts Award (Emerging Visual Artist).

Laura Marotta is a sculptor who recently earned an MFA from the University of Guelph and a BFA from McMaster University. Laura is one of those artists whose work snuck up on me. When I walked into b contemporary, Liss Platt's large photographs of candy in repeat patterns and Svava Thordis Juliusson's sculptures made of cable ties first grabbed my attention. Laura Marotta's work quietly made an impression that has stayed with me. Please excuse my crappy photographs: the lighting and my camera did not get along. All the drawings are on creamy white paper, so use your imagination to get past the pink cast. 

Laura Marotta, Untitled drawing I; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

My favourite pieces are Untitled drawings I, III, and V where holes are cut seemingly randomly into the geometric drawings. Laura used pencil, pen and marker on paper for each drawing. Each hole reveals, conceals, and is mysterious. What was excised? Why are the holes cut where they are? Each hole references its drawing directly as in the case of drawing V or indirectly (drawing I).

Laura Marotta, Untitled drawings IV detail; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

The drawings are of three-dimensional geometric sculptures and each hole reminds us that the drawings are on thin flat paper.

Laura Marotta, Untitled drawings V detail; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Untitled drawing V is my favourite of my favourite three drawings. The colours are optimistic (the yellow circle reminds me of an egg yolk and the sun) and transparent. The drawing is like a puzzle: What is inside and what is outside? The statement on the b contemporary website states: "The drawings in this show study issues of space and architecture. She twists natural perspective forcing the viewer to question their perceptions." True, very true.

Halifax Yarn Bombing & more

Yarn Bombed NSCAD bench; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Yarn Bombed NSCAD bench; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Yarn bombing gets interesting when NSCAD students get in on the act. I came across this bench in front of the Anna Leonowens Gallery on Granville Street.

Barrington Street texture

Poster fragments enliven this otherwise drab utilitarian nook close to the Khyber on Barrington Street. Barrington Street was a little sad without John W. Doull Bookseller, who moved to Dartmouth.

Quote: Fuller + Wittgenstein

"The closer man gets to the unknown, the more inventive he becomes – the quicker he adopts new ways." – Buckminster Fuller, American futurist & inventor


"The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something – because it is always before one's eyes.) – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-British philosopher

Dots & Loops Handmade, Lunenburg, NS

Dots & Loops Handmade; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012 

A highlight of our visit to Lunenburg was discovering Dots and Loops Handmade. Here I found gifts for friends and funky washi tape for moi! 

Dots & Loops Handmade; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012 

Sorry about the reflections – obviously my little camera doesn't have a polarizing filter. Even with the reflections, you can see that their window displays are awesome. If memory serves me, the star fish are made from vintage chenille bedspreads. The jelly fish (or is it rain?) are made with shredded bubble wrap. Now that would have been fun to make! Check out their tumblr site for more eye candy. Lunenburg is also home to The Makery. Holy cow, Lunenburg is a happening place!

Chester & Lunenburg Day Trip

Chester Basin, NS  

Two years ago hubby and I discovered an ideal picnic spot in Chester. This trip we returned for round two. Whether sunny or foggy, the view is still breathtaking.

Tall ship, Lunenburg, NS

I had ulterior motives to go to Lunenburg: to take more rubbings of the door sill plates of the Lunenburg Opera House (stars in a repeat pattern) but sadly they were all removed during renovations and replaced with boring cement. Thankfully I did find a diamond sill plate elsewhere that offered up consolation rubbings. 

Lunenburg NS folk art

Nova Scotians understand colour, as you can see with the yellow guy and the bottom homes. After four years living in Halifax, I was sad to return to Ontario's conservative (unimaginative) house colours. 

Lunenburg NS house colours

Don't you love the putty, chartreuse and teal combo?

Lunenburg NS house colours

Goldenrod, pumpkin orange and purple can stand up to any fog that rolls in. What Ontarians may lack in house colour confidence, we make up with outrageous gardens.