This entry is dedicated to Scandinavian designers I admire...

Finnish designer Akira Minagawa designs fabrics and clothing among other projects under the brand name minä perhonen. "Minä" means "I" and "perhonen" means "butterfly" in Finnish. In her profile she says she choose this name "with a hope of creating many beautiful designs as butterfly wings fluttering lightly in the sky". Her designs are reminiscent of fashion from the thirties with added femininity, and I especially love the hair pieces she designs.

Pictured below is a sample from her 2007 spring/summer collection.



Designers Mari Relander and Anna Katriina have a design company called Perhonen . They have collaborated on a wide variety of projects and competitions. They have exhibited abroad both with Imu design and on their own. Their designs were selected for the annual Sotheby´s contemporary art and design exhibition held in London in 2003. Recently their work was exhibited in Tokyo in an exhibition of new Scandinavian design. The exhibition was curated by designer Harri Koskinen and held at the Issey Miyake Design Studio Gallery (MDSG).

Their Anemone lamp is pictured below.




Designer Tord Boontje was born in the Netherlands, but currently resides in France. He designs for many different projects, but maintains a very unique and distinct style. His philosophy is the marriage between emotion and design. His textile work reminds me of Chinese papercutting.

I especially love his installations, and particularly his Winter Wonderland installation at the Swarvoski Crystal Gallery in Innsbruck.

Boontje says this of his Winter Wonderland installation, "In a demonstration of the emotional quality of crystal, we created a landscape in which the visitors are taken on a fantasy journey. References to fairytales, storytelling, history and adventures invite personal interpretation and dreams."

Shown below is a fraction of the work from Boontje's Winter Wonderland Installation.

I always thought I disliked 'nature' paintings, but now I am finding that this subject is really my most favourite! I am a sucker for any works with birds, branches, and really any reference to nature in it. And this is why Jen Garrido is one of my favourite painters at the moment. I love her use of colour and her process of building layers with paint and then blocking in the shapes using large white negative space. Here are a couple of her paintings.


Jen Garrido's can't see you


Jen Garrido's candy color cradle

Another artist I really admire is Saskatoon-based artist Matthew Feyld. He is so creative and so dedicated to his work. I love seeing his work pop up here and there around Saskatoon, he leaves his mark everywhere it seems! He has amazing style!


Matthew Feyld's bird returning bird

I also have to mention the cutest little shop ever! It is Red Shoes Home Goods. I saw these candles on the website, and they look good enough to eat! I like how the store-owner is so creative herself, she is one crafty lady!

Winter not only restricts fashion, to wearing thick sweaters for months on end, it also inspires it! Like Canada, fashion in Helsinki, Finland is full of boots, coats, and warm hats! I found this crazy website HEL LOOKS, which features tons of photographs of street fashion in Helsinki. It was started as a hobby project, but progressed, and now they have been taking pictures in clubs and on the streets of Helsinki for the past two years. Here is a sample of some of the great wears on HEL LOOKS...



They also feature a little blurb about each person they photograph, usually telling what inspires them in their fashion, so this is a great site for any fashion-enthusiast.

Also visit Jacqui Oakley's website. I absolutely love her illustrations! Her portraits are amazing, and I also love her one illustration of bugs. Her work is so grainy, and colourful, and nice!

Now you can buy art not only because you love it, but for a good cause as well. At pretty:darn:swell, they have a gallery full of artists' prints for sale. When viewing each artwork, you can see which selected charity the proceeds will be going to from that sale. Their mission is to raise money for charitable organizations and to promote emerging artists. Sounds good to me! Here is one print from their gallery. It is laura e. horning's 'the blackbird's migration'.

In Canadian Art magazine (winter 2006) there is an article on Evan Lee and his scanner pictures. He sets up still-lifes and uses his scanner as a means to photograph his still-lifes. The effects are somewhat reminiscent of 17th Century Dutch still-life paintings, with beautiful shadows. He uses dollar store trickets, like tacky silk flowers and plastic bugs. And since I happen to have a scanner, tacky dollar store flowers and bugs, I decided to give this technique a whirl and this is the picture I ended up with.

I just returned home from an impromptu visit to Vancouver, and here are my two days in snapshots...





Below are some pictures I took at the Vancouver Aquarium...

I bought a couple magazines for the plane ride home, and when I was looking through Metropolitan Home magazine, I came across some pictures of Todd Oldham's weekend home. The home is amazing! Two artists whose works grace his walls are Charley Harper and Megan Whitmarsh. Harper's prints are mostly of wildlife and I really love his bird prints. Whitmarsh's small drawings are so unusual and playful!

We took a weekend trip to Vancouver! Here are some shots I took at the aquarium ...

Lennie is watching the storm outside...

It is so cold outside today, we are having a blizzard, so I am staying inside and making art. Here is a little illustration I did this afternoon, it is winter inspired!

Happy New Year!

So here are a few things that I fell in love with over the last year...

I found a bunch of old postcards in an antique store, and this one is my favorite, it's a promotional postcard for the 'House of the Future' and shows an interior shot of the futuristic home. This demo-house was constructed by M.I.T.in the 50's and was meant to simulate life in 1987!
Plastics were used wherever possible, because it was to be the material of the future.



"Alan Hess describes his visit in the Aug/Sept 1986 issue of Fine Homebuilding, noting that the refrigerator created three types of cold for frozen, normal, and irradiated food storage. The ultrasonic dishwasher served as a desk when its lid was down flat. Highlights of the children's room included their own TV and portable record player. Throughout the house, walls curved smoothly from ceiling to floor, and all fabrics and drapes were easy-to-clean synthetic materials. Continuing the theme, the actors who demonstrated family life in the house wore only synthetic clothes in the latest fashions.

Built-in furniture and bathroom appliances hugged the walls or curled amoeba-like around edges. Leapfrogging the avocado and harvest gold color scheme popular in the 1970s, the preferred colors for laminates and plastic finishes were turquoise, salmon, and ivory."

I also fell in love with art on anything and everything, like art tees and these Poketo artist wallets.



I bought this wallet made by artist Keri Smith and then went to the Poketo website to discover an artist collective behind the making of these art wallets. Their aim is to make 'art for everyday', and their products are fun and worth taking a look at! I like the idea of artists working together as a collective...it kind of reminds me of the Bauhaus, which aimed to teach the arts and crafts together and to shrink the gap between art and industry.

Speaking of collectives, another one of my favorites of this last year are music collectives, like Stars and Broken Social Scene.

I was flipping through a magazine two months ago and found a charm bracelet I loved! Jodi Bloom the designer of the bracelet makes fantastic jewelry and her company so charmed was enough inspiration for me to make my own bracelets. I have been trying to mix a lot of new and old materials in making my bracelets to give them a bit of an eclectic look. I haven't made too many bracelets, but this one is my favorite so far...



Finally, my last favorites of the year are crafts and collages.

I love that there is a melding between craft and art by many artists. For instance, there seems to be a lot embroidery in craft and art making, like in the art of Andrea Vander Kooij.

My favorite place to look at pretty and nostalgic crafts is posie. Alicia Paulson makes amazing crafts using paper, fabric and ribbons. I swear everything she touches instantly turns sweet and pretty, like a cupcake!



I have been using a lot of collage techniques in my own art, but I like that artists are using it in so many ways with their art and design, including one of my favorite artists Dawbis who uses collage in her tiny illustrations, tags and cards. Here is her artwork...

Wishing everyone happy holidays!!! Here is a warm and cozy idea for your holidays.
The 'best ever' carrot soup recipe....

Carrot, Red Pepper and Pear Soup
Yield: 9

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium onion, chopped (1)
4 large carrots, chopped (about 1lb.) (4)
1 1/2 cups roasted red peppers (375ml)
2 pears, peeled, cored, chopped (2)
4 cups chicken stock (1L)
1 cup milk (250ml)
3 tbsp butter (45ml)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thickened yogurt or sour cream (125ml)
1 tbsp chopped parsley, optional (15ml)
1 tsp curry paste (5ml)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter and sauté onion and carrots for about 10 minutes.
2. Add stock, pears and peppers to carrot mixture and simmer for 20 minutes, until carrots and pears are tender. Add milk.
3. Puree soup in batches, in a food processor or blender until smooth.
4. Pour soup back into saucepan and stir curry in. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Do not allow soup to come to a boil.
5. Garnish with a dollop of thickened yogurt or sour cream and parsley, if using.

This little story is about a small Island I went to visit years ago. The island is called Ile d'Aix. I had written this story and then pasted it on top of this background of hollyhocks. This was one of the most remote and beautiful places I have been to. There were tons and tons of hollyhocks everywhere on this island! Click on the image to view the larger version.

This is the full story: L’ile d’Aix

This tiny island reminds me of my grandmother’s home and yard, vulnerable from all sides, its homes chipped and worn from the ocean winds. It has a natural charm decorating-type magazines seek to imitate. Hollyhocks, hundreds upon hundreds are sagging from fences and homes, and swaying, and reaching out sideways. Their bright fleshy tones for petals, pinks and blood reds ready to blossom, burst out, flowing forward-my tongue reaches for the taste this season brings. We sat on a patio made of stones, sunk deep into the dirt. I satisfied my thirst on a sugary mixture of Orangina and grenadine and played with the tiny sugar cubes wrapped in paper packaging imprinted with pictures of great cathedrals. This island’s colour is sweetness, and so pretty it hurts the eye like a sweet tooth.

Here is the gallery for my jewelry ...

I have also been taking photographs of wedding bouquets this past summer... see them here.
Here is one of my favorites!

I have a new series of paintings for sale at Modern Country Interiors. The work is composed of mix medias, including painting, drawing, collage, and printmaking. I drew inspiration from fashion and textile design for these new works. Using my own images, I designed all the textile patterns seen in the wallpaper, clothing and other fabrics.

These photographs are from a series Forgotten Places - Forgotten Faces. These shots were taken in Shaunavon and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. My technique: I have layered the black and white photographs with paintings in photoshop ... and I am loving the effect ...

I have artwork (shown below) displayed at the Mendel Art Gallery and at the Avenue Centre Gallery. The work is in the 'That's 2 Gay' show. It is a Two-part exhibition of new work by young local queer and queer-friendly visual artists. Work will be in the Mendel auditorium 9am - 9pm daily until June 24, and at the Avenue Centre Gallery 10am - 7pm Monday-Friday until July 10.

Reception on Friday, June 16 from 7:30 -10:30 pm

I have new series of both bittersweet berry paintings and magnolia paintings at Modern Country Interiors on Broadway Avenue.
They are undergoing renovations, so I will be dropping off more art over the next few months to help fill up their wall space.

James & Borolien, a men's clothing manufacturer based in Saskatoon commissioned me to design some images for their t-shirts. They will be available in the late summer. Check back for store locations.



I'm also getting ready for the Broadway Art Encounter, which takes place June 2-3. My art will be featured at Bill's House of Flowers and Modern Country Interiors on Broadway Avenue.

'That's so Gay' show

The Mendel Art Gallery, in partnership with the Saskatoon Diversity Network, will host That's So Gay, a juried show of local queer and queer friendly artists, in the Mendel Auditorium.

'That's So Gay' features artwork by Cindy Baker, Tod Emel, Adrienne Gruber, Barrett Russell, Anthony Santoros, Marguerite Smith, Rachelle Soucy, Adrian Stimson, Olivia Swerhone-Wick, Kelly Van Damme and exhibition curator Zachari Logan.

My work is below...

Imaginary Landscapes
BFA Exhibition- Rachelle Soucy
Video/Sculpture/Instillation

Do you remember a place like a photograph in your mind? How do you remember a specific place? Do certain sensations remind you of a place or time?



For the last few years the majority of my concentration has been to incorporate cityscape themes into my artwork. These images have taken shape from fanciful chaotic images inspired from the larger cityscape to more of a tranquil quality inspired by my new surroundings. I commenced my work on a two-dimensional plane, but I wanted more of an interactive feel, as our everyday environments have. I questioned whether a two-dimensional image was actually a realistic or natural representation. The time of day or human interaction can change a landscape’s shape dramatically. Both human and natural elements play off each other creating a mutating landscape.

This constant changing of aesthetics in real time gives the landscape a dynamic quality. I incorporated this notion into the formation of my interactive sculpture. There are geometric and organic shapes coming out from the wall creating an interactive backdrop for the projected video. The video images act as both kinetically and as visual sensations. As a visual artist, I choose the sense of sight to invoke memories of time and place, through the use of texture, motion and colour. Memories of a place are not necessarily like a photograph in your mind, but you are often reminded through sensations:

“The sense of place…does indeed emerge from the senses. The land and even the spirit of the place, can be experienced kinetically, or kinesthetically, as well as visually. If one has been raised in a place its textures and sensations, its smells and sounds, are recalled as they to a child’s, adolescent’s, adult’s body. Even if one’s history there is short, a place can still be felt as an extension of the body, especially the walking body, passing through and becoming part of the landscape.”

I have intended both geometric and organic forms to represent more than what they are. They form a sort of map making, similar to topography, representing three-dimensional natural and built formations. They can also represent other technological and organic elements that the viewer is familiar with.

This is an interactive landscape of the physical and visual attributes of places that I am familiar with and pass through daily, but this is not a representational landscape. It is a means to invoke personal memories of place for both myself and for others, through feelings and ideas people attach to certain sensations.



Lucy R. Lippard. Being in Place. New York: The New Press, 1997. p. [34]

Ever wanted to visit La Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris? Here is a link to a 3-D virtual tour of the graveyard and visit such grave sites as Ingres, Descartes, Corot, David, Delacroix, Ernst, Morrison, Chopin, Seurat, Gericault, Wilde and so on.

This is how I remember the cemetery and other places in France:

09.08.97
L’ile d’Aix

This tiny island reminds me of my grandmother’s home and yard, vulnerable from all sides, its homes chipped and worn from the ocean winds. It has a natural charm decorating-type magazines seek to imitate. Hollyhocks, hundreds upon hundreds are sagging from fences and homes, and swaying, and reaching out sideways. Their bright fleshy tones for petals, pinks and blood reds ready to blossom, burst out, flowing forward-my tongue reaches for the taste this season brings. We sat on a patio made of stones, sunk deep into the dirt. I satisfied my thirst on a sugary mixture of Orangina and grenadine and played with the tiny sugar cubes wrapped in paper packaging imprinted with pictures of great cathedrals. This island’s colour is sweetness, and so pretty it hurts the eye like a sweet tooth.

10.08.97
Mass and Market

It was a very quick family trip to both mass and market today. In both venues, everyone is free to come and go. You can come just long enough to secure either your salvation or sustenance


18.08.97
Soirées Mousse

If I were to describe this evening using paint, I’d blow liquid paint through straws, effecting splatters all over my paper, and let it dry with my saliva bubbles. It was a sadistic evening, where the bar staff filled the dance floor with foam every half hour to the anthem “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” by U2. Big black shiny tubes pumped and churned out soapsuds, filling the room foot by foot until it was high above our heads. I was drowning on soap as I sputtered and flailed my arms, but to others it must have looked like a dance of complete elation.

20.08.97
French movies

We had a quiet evening watching movies. We watched the entire Godfather series in French dubbed voices. As well as the movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise. I am amazed at what a dubbed voice does to change a person’s personality. Tom Cruise’s character now seems halfhearted to me, yet to Marie he is very passionate.

29.08.97
La Père Lachaise

The man at the gate sold us a map of the cemetery,so we could find our way easier to famous grave sites, such as Chopin, Descartes, Ingres and Jim Morrison. We still got lost in a maze of stones and immense vegetation. Paths leading to paths that led to nowhere, but back to the path we were on. Instead we found the enshrined tombs buried in letters, flowers and candles - as markers of the most cherished grave sites.

30.08.97
Les Catacombes

We descended spiral stairs down and down into the bowels of the city. It was literally the intestines of Paris, where sewage lines leaked and seeping green ooze dripped down above our heads into the tunnels. The tour guide suggested using umbrellas if we had brought them along with us. This is where they once emptied old Parisian cemeteries to solve problems of overpopulation and space. Stacks of human bones and skulls lined the walls of the passages. It was a subterranean “Day of the Dead” in the gut of Paris, and I wondered if the souls of the dead had returned and were all around us now.