Stickin' Ideas Together

Hello art friends; Last night ArtsAlly hosted its public launch in the Grand Ballroom at the Vancouver Club. The very blurry photo above is of Michelle Martin, a founder of the ArtsAlly, standing beside yours truly. It was a well attended event directed at business professionals in our community advising them of this company's art rental option. This service is an affordable option that empowers businesses to support the local artist community while avoiding the higher cost and commitment of purchasing art. And of course, any option that excludes mass-produced prints must be a good one : ) I'm glad to be part of this new addition to the Vancouver art world; I wish all of us success in this collective endeavour.

It all started back in the Spring… I was contact by a start-up online option to buying and renting art. No fees up front. Standard commission. I joined.  ArtsAlly.com  officially launched last month. Today I received a few txts from friends congratulating me on my up & coming "hot, local artist" status. Turns out vancitybuz z featured the site and all its artists…including yours truly (#17)! Needless to say I'M PRETTY PUMPED ABOUT THAT.  Please give it a read & pass the sets to your pals. Cheers ArtAlly; I wish you a successful life! OK, I gotta go now and start making more great art. Hopefully I'll move up to #1 ; ) Keep creating! ~ Kathryn

You bet! Welcome to the world of renown fabric artist  Tilleke Schwarz . In her own words, this is what Tilleke says about her work: My work is a mixture of graphic quality, content and fooling around. The humor in my work is typical for my Jewish background: a mixture of a laugh and a tear. Folk art and daily life are great sources for inspiration. I use mixed media with a focus on hand embroidery on linen and on drawings and paintings.  My work can be understood as a kind of visual poetry. It is a mixture of contemporary influences, graffiti, icons, texts and traditional images from samplers. And of course cats are usually included. The embroidery contains narrative elements. Not really complete stories, with a beginning, a storyline, and an end. On the contrary, the narrative structures are used as a form of communication with the viewer. I am thrilled to be attending a lecture by Tilleke on September 30th, here in Vancouver courtesy of the Maiwa Symposium on Granv...

This past Sat we went to an opening reception for an art school colleague of Barry's.  Tim Okamura  is by far the coolest artist, in person and product, I have met. Tim's showing briefly at the  Douglas Udell Gallery , Vancouver. His dynamic urban style, more-real-than-life subject matter and master skills rocketed the energy meter off the scales Sat night. And as of mid-way through the opening, almost everything was sold. I have been lost in Tim's Facebook page for a couple of days now drinking in his art. Raw talent? Yes. Relentlessly dedicated to his craft? You bet. He's an inspiration to the modern artist. Create a place for yourself in this world and get excited about it! Be king of your own making.

We had a great time last night! A big thank you for everyone who came out!!

Until the Opening Reception of Delivery! My darling Barry hung the show for me today. And an exceptionally talented writer friend of mine, Vicky Tran , wrote an extensive article about it which she has posted on her blog (dated May 15th). Have a read if you want to learn lots about me, my process & the Delivery collection. Drop by Havana's on the Drive this Sunday, May 18th, between 4 and 7pm for the Opening Reception. Show runs until May 28th. I look forward to seeing you there.

Hello all; I am very pleased to invite you all to my smartened up site. It's just a bit tidier and slimmer. Interestingly so am I. But I digress, please take a look at the ART section. Delivery is being shown from May 15 - 28th at Vancouver's Havana Gallery on Commercial Drive. Drop by for the opening reception on the 18th. Love to see you there!