Home Turf and Gimme Shelter.

I was back on my home turf this weekend. Husband and I were able to get a little weekend

getaway in (why I was so late posting Saturday). Every time we are in Vancouver we make sure to grab breakfast from Granville island, even if that means going there on a Sunday. Get there early enough you can usually find parking,  get your coffee and grab a pastry in a decent amount

of time. 

Do you see what is taking shelter with the frame of the photo?

When we are on the 'island' (what was once our home), I with husband on tow (he likened my art supply buying habit as a black hole) visit Opus (I needed new pens),  and then head over to Emily Carr University of Art and Design- my old school. We both love walking through the Concourse Gallery. A space for rotating works by the students and faculty. The title of the most recent show was Gimme Shelter.

There was a large tent like structure, a couch made out of chicken wire and stones (that reminded me of the time my classmates and I attempted to cover a couch in large ceramic slabs covered in thorns), photo essays and simple wire sculptures, all beautifully done.

But the one I loved most was this piece pictured above. I loved that it was a simple shape repeated and that from every direction it changed and that you could view through it and then over it

and your perception changed.

I would love to know the name of this artist, I feel strongly about citing and giving credit where credit is due but none of the plinths, photos, or sculptures has names on them. Was this an over site? or was this part of the theme? Vancouver is a city where Shelter is on every citizens mind yet though it has a shared common concern it is also a very anonymous city. Hmm... I wonder?!

Someday my husband and I would love to move back to Vancouver, we still refer to it as home but our question is and always has been shelter... We want it to be not only a city we find Shelter but one in which we live and thrive.

"You need Help!" (with) Repeat Patterns.

I recently updated my illustrator going from CS5 to the Creative Cloud CS6 version. For the purpose of pattern and surface design I thought I had CS5 pretty well handled...  I could make repeat patterns, draw, live trace etc but then entered the Pattern Tool?! I am both in awe of it and and little scared of it. 

It Reminded me of a children's story book I use to read to my kids... Today I Will Fly by Mo Williams. The protagonist Piggie exclaims to his friend Gerald an Elephant "I can Fly".... Gerald always the downer says to Piggie.... "You can not fly, You will not fly Today, You will not fly tomorrow YOU WILL NEVER FLY.".... and looking at the new version of CS6 that is kinda how I felt... my inner critic whispering in my ear you Can Not Do This, You can Never Do this!...Gerald in a dismissive- this will never happen kind of way, says to Piggie "You Need Help". And that is What Piggie did, she got help and was able to fly with the aid of her friend a Duck that carried her through the air and over Gerald's head! Gerald was astounded and exclaimed- "You did it, You Flew" and Piggie (quick witted) said "No, I got Help".

Where am I going with this story and what does it have to do with Illustrator? Rather than using the Illustrator how to videos which are great but require a whole bunch of previous experience- I am self taught so my knowledge is geared more for simple illustration and surface and pattern design I turned to experts in the field. I follow a lot of aspiring and talented experienced designers in different forums and groups and someone linked to a free class from Pattern Observer The Ultimate Guide to Repeats. I shoved my fear and self doubt to the side and got help. The help came in the form of simple suggestions and tips... and much to my amazement and excitement I made a simple repeat using the pattern tool... So maybe I Can Do This...

The Three swatches show my progression using the pattern tool to create a simple repeat. As you can see I used the same motif several ways... I love the simplicity of the the first two, the third (not my favourite) was playing around with colour and texture just to see what could be done....

The Self critic will rear its ugly head again, I know that, but it helps know there there is large community that both support me and others like me... There are answers out there, you just have to know when to ask for help. As for where to and from whom, what are your resources?!

Have a Lovely Day!