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March 27, 2013
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Vancouver Island School of Art Newsletter
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Dear Students and Friends of VISA,
As a young art student I always thought perfection was the goal. I tried to make the perfect drawing. The more I tried the more frustrated I would get. I remember the day when I made the perfect imperfect drawing. It was quite a discovery; I realized that perfection had much more to do with an authentic gesture than making a perfectly rendered drawing. It this light, it was wonderful to hear Alison Norlen at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria talk about her process last Saturday. She descrbied how sometimes she erases the entire drawing because it wasn't right. Or how she generously sprays white paint over the problematic areas and then redraw. Rather than fighting with things that weren't right, Alison makes them part of the history of her drawing. In other words she incorporated the 'imperfect' into her drawing. I had the esteemed Canadian artist, Yves Gaucher, as a painting teacher and each week we would come to class with our 4 x 5ft canvases, he would make us paint over most of what we did the week before. At the time I found this process somewhat frustrating as I felt this wasn't the way to learn to paint. Years later I thought this was a really good lesson to know that its just as important to learn what you can take away as what you can add. Another artist who uses this kind of methodology as part of her work is Jacqueline Humphries; Humphries often uses white or silver gestural painting marks to cover what is underneath. What you can't see or what is covered in Norlen's and Humphries' paintings is just as important as what you can see.The paintings hold our interest because we are uncertain about what is going on in these surfaces. Alison's work is at the AGGV as part of an exhibition called Traces. The exhibition is a wonderful journey for the imagination.
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BOOK LAUNCH TONIGHT
Thursday, March 28 at 7pm, Slide Room Gallery
VISA student Shirley Grosser will read from her self-published book entitled RESILIENCE: Women's Stories of WWII. RESILIENCE is a collection of images and anecdotes documenting the memories of twenty-three women who came of age during World War II. Through naturalistic portraiture, and intimate face-to-face conversations, the women present their experiences and impressions. Impacted civilians, military service personnel, and prisoners of war revisit this time in their lives, more than sixty years ago, and offer compelling cameos of lived history. This limited edition is numbered and signed, and attention has been given to the selection of papers and font which will reflect and evoke, in texture and tone, some qualities of life as it was lived in the 1940's. The hidden-coil binding is intended to assist in the acts of handling and viewing, with each page opening in a flat position. Hemlock Printers, a prestigious, privately owned and family run publication house was chosen to complete the work because of their reputation for the reproduction of fine art photography (this printer publishes Lenswork). |
Check out our amazing line-up of six week courses starting May 14
This spring we are offering a range of drawing, painting, sculpture and photography courses. The courses are all six-weeks long for the low rate of $225 per course. We have plenty of courses for beginners as well as courses for artists with some experience.
The Spring semester with its shorter courses is a great way to try out an art course without having to make the full commitment of a regular 12-week course. All these courses can be applied for credit to a Certificate of Diploma program. Check out a NEW COURSE OFFERING: History of Modern Design
Summer Workshops are also on-line. There is something for everyone: 1 day, 2 day, 3, day, 4, day and 5 day. Plan your creative summer now. To register
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PROJECT SPACE: Jack Coyne
April 3-7, 2013, Reception Friday, April 5 at 7:30pm
Diploma student Jack Coyne is using the Slide Room Gallery space to create a studio influenced installation that includes his work and work of local artists of his choice.
Jack will be installing the work in the Slide Room Gallery during the week and it will be open to the public for viewing from April 3 onwards. Be sure to drop in the gallery to check out what Jack is doing in the space. Jack's work consists of a range of paintings, from the very small to the very large; the subject matter ranges from abstract textural constructions to very poetic and mysterious still life paintings. His practice also consists of seemingly random placement of work, objects and ephemera in his studio and around the school. Perhaps you have encountered a Jack piece and not even realized it.
Find out more about his work and practice by stopping into the gallery next week. |
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Call for entries and other information:
VANCITY CREDIT UNION: Site Specific Public Art
Check out the following websites for in-depth information about Victoria artists and art openings: Art Openings and Exhibit-V
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For more information about our courses or events contact
Linda or Jen at the office: 250-380-3500 or info@vancouverislandschoolart.com
Website
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