Month: February 2006

So this is an interesting development in the whole “gallery without walls” project:
—–Original Message—–
From: Available Space Art Project
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: Call for Artists ASAP: Gallery without walls in downtown Kitchener
Your paintings are installed at Queen St. yoga. I talked to the owner and she agreed to have more of your work in one of their studios. How many pieces do you have and when is a good time for you to bring them?
—–/Original Message—–
Nice. I followed up on this. It’s a big studio (OK, yoga centre), and they want 10 more pieces. Looks like I’ve got a whole show to myself. I’m going to be taking slide and digital photos this week, and I’ll get the paintings into presentable condition. Now, I just have to figure out how to get them all down there.
Wondering if I should also have an art opening or something? I should probably see what options I’ve got at the Yoga centre.

I’ve finished most of the work on the art wall. It’s this contraption which Ted Godwin described using in his book, “The Studio Handbook for Working Artists”. It is like a main easel for a dedicated art studio, and is made out of a sheet of 3/4″ plywood and 2x4s to provide mass and stability. Here it is with a mounted poster of H.R. Giger’s “Birth Machine” (I’m sure I’m using the image without his permission, but it’s more to show how big the wall is).

The trick was to come up with a way of mounting something on the wall without making it obtrusive, especially if using it as a photographic base for making slides. These shelf brackets worked really well for this job, and will suit my 61cm square pieces and just about anything larger. The spacing of the brackets is such that smaller pieces may need a strip of moulding glued to the bracket clips with construction adhesive, or perhaps a third bracket in the middle. I know the size of the pieces I work with, so this is fine by me.

This thing is damnably heavy, by the way. Some handles are really helpful for making minor adjustments to the positioning, and for moving it out of the way. In my case, I’ve got 4 different places to put this wall in the central loft chamber (I’m actually not sure what to call that big hole in the loft floor).

Also helpful are the heavy duty felt pads I’ve stapled to the bottom of the legs. These allow for small adjustments, but have enough friction to prevent the whole thing from sliding out and falling over. Still, I’d like to get some hooks for the top, while it’s leaning against the loft edge.

Please – add your voice to the call! Sign this petition.
Click onto the link below (“The Undersigned”) or go to the web address provided.
http://www.petitiononline.com/carv2006/petition.html
To: Canadian Artists, Artistes Canadiens
PETITION: A Living for Visual Artists
CARFAC and RAAV hope to significantly raise exhibition fees over the next few years.
At the same time, under the Canadian and the Quebec laws on the status of the artist, CARFAC and RAAV are pursuing artists’ rights through negotiations with presenters. Jointly, Carfac and RAAV are negotiating with the National Gallery of Canada. RAAV prepares important negotiations with Quebec presenters. These actions are extremely significant for artists and will impact on our ability to earn a reasonable income for years to come.
There is some opposition by public galleries to the fee increases. While the percentage of fee increase might seem large, these simply represent the percentages that are needed to catch up. Fees have not been increased, except for cost of living, over the past 20 years, and there was no differentiation in the fees paid by large and small galleries.
When exhibition fees became a legal right for artists nearly 20 years ago some public galleries were reluctant to pay them. Some still don’t want to pay them today. Many ask artists to waive many of the fees they are legally entitled to.
Public art galleries are public institutions operating in a public economy. Artists are part of that economy and essential to the public exhibitions they present. As the creators of the work exhibited Artists deserve to be compensated.
CARFAC and RAAV need your support in asking for fair treatment and our basic rights.
“I petition that artists in Canada deserve proper compensation for the work they present in our public art institutions. The rights that artists are demanding are basic human rights. As culture becomes more central to our social and economic well-being, artists have a right to fair compensation for the work they do and the right to decent living and working conditions.”
“I support CARFAC and RAAV in their efforts to improve the livelihood of artists through the new 2005 fee schedule and fee policy, and in their efforts to negotiate a fair deal with National Gallery of Canada and other public presenters across Canada and Québec.”
Sincerely,
http://www.petitiononline.com/carv2006/petition.html
Credited to Mike MacDonald, National Spokesperson CARFAC and Yves
Louis-Seize, Président du RAAV

I figured I should photograph these paintings before they go out (you know … artists and inventory, and that kind of crap), so I quickly converted my computer room into a photography studio, complete with 3200K lamps and 50% grey mat background, camera tripod, etc. I can’t say I’m particularly pleased with the photos, especially since I had them slightly skewed (hard to make a painting completely perpendicular on an executive chair). Also, the first painting was done with a heavy gloss acrylic medium, so it’s got a lot of reflective glare on it. This, despite covering the front of the lamps with white paper. The digital camera pics up a lot of glare, which is why film is preferred.


I was going to do several other paintings, but I was pressed for time, and my patience was growing thin. It’s much too crowded in here, and I was a little worried about blowing the already overloaded circuit with the extra 500W of electricity I was using.
Once the weather clears a little, I’m getting the art wall in place and moving the photo studio out of here.

I just found out about the Available Space Art Project (appropriately abbreviated to ASAP) in Kitchener, and am busting my ass to get some pieces into it for Friday. It’s not a particularly glamourous show: apparently it’s a volunteer project in which artists display their artworks in vacant or disused storefront space throughout downtown Kitchener. But it’s something to put on your CV, and it’s especially useful when your CV contains nothing pertaining to acrylic painting since high school. I’ve also been looking into getting some custom shipping crates made (actually, it’s cheaper than I thought) at this place just down the street from where I work.
I still have some photographing to do, and will try to get those pictures up on the site when they’re available.