Octopus Project #7

The Octopus Project #7 was held this weekend in the Distillery District. This is my second time exhibiting with them. This shows theme was "Ladder". You can view all the openings pictures at www.octopusproject.ca/octopusproject7 All photographs are taken by Melanie Gordon, one of the co-creators of Octopus Project. My favorite piece of the show was the bean ladder which you can see below.

The next theme is "Free" in which all the artwork is actually free! The person who "purchases" the free work is supposed to send a letter to the artist either thanking them, telling them a story, writing a poem...etc. In lieu of paying a participating artist fee of $20 (which usually covers printing postcards, food and drink for the opening, and labor) the artist will donate either food, drink, or services. This should be an interesting social experiment. Both my husband and I will be creating a piece for the show.

The Octopus Project - Art Opening this Saturday

This Saturday's art opening hosted by The Octopus Project is the second time that I will be exhibiting with this artist-run organization.

"The OCTOPUS PROJECT provides an outlet for artists to continue making art by offering a challenge to create. The challenge is issued as a spark —an idea or image— sent out every eight weeks for interpretation by the artists." (Quoted from their site www.octopusproject.ca)

When I asked Catherine, one of the founders of The Octopus Project, how she and her co-creator Melanie came up with the name and concept of this organization this is how she replied.
"We were having a dinner party with some good friends and I told Melanie about a dream I had in which she was the main character. I dreamed she was swimming in a black ocean, with a single light on her as she swam to the top. A giant fuscia octopus came from the depths and started pulling her down in a serene way, like she was meant to go under with it. It was such a striking image we starting talking about what it might look like if I created something with it. That turned to the idea of how interesting it would be to have artists of various disciplines or styles create something based on that image, and so the Octopus Project was born! We always also say that the amount of double chocolate cake we ate that evening may have sparked us quite a bit more than usual to follow through on our idea :)"

This cycle's spark was "ladder". My piece that I created for the show is entitled "Nature's Ladders" and can be seen below. I've found that having a "spark" when approaching a project really gets me focused.

The show will be held this Saturday 12-4pm at:
55 Mill St. Bldg. 74
(Case Goods Warehouse)
Studio 410 - 4th Floor

APT RENO... in progress

These were pics that I took of Oskar's and my apartment in Downtown Toronto. With the help of Oskar's dad, a major handy man, we ripped out the carpeting, installed new hardwood flooring, ripped out and re-tiled the bathroom, and painted all walls and most ceilings. Its been very excited to see the process, and to have it happen so quickly. We spent abit over a week in total with all reno work, moving in, and installing new furniture accesories. I will post completed pictures of the apt soon. Oskar and I plan on renovating the kitchen next year when we return from Australia.... and then our apt will be complete... maybe.

Found a Home in Downtown T.O

Oskar and I have been informed that our offer was accepted on
a 1 bed, 1bath with solarium in downtown Toronto (between St. Lawrence
Market and the Distillery District) ! We are both very excited. The
closing date is July 16th. Before we move in we are gonna have
hardwood floors put in and possibly reno the bathroom.
Can't wait to start painting and decorating. These are the pics that the past owner had posted.