Red Hot Red Dot - The Cheaper Show No 9

Oh what a night!

Last night, Cheaper Show No 9 was a huge blast!! When I arrived not long after 6pm, there was a line up outside West Cordova Street all the way down the block... I just couldn't believe it!

Inside, hundreds of people were rushing to buy art at the very affordable price tag of $200 - there were red dots everywhere. I'm really proud to say that I got a red dot too! Thank-you, whoever you are, for purchasing Aging Gracefully 2.

It was simply an incredible night, loaded with energy and so many people coming out to look at the amazing artwork that was on display. All the art showcased was so different and interesting, my friends and I spent hours going over and over again all the pieces.

I'm so thrilled to have been a part of something so huge and to be able to gain such exposure.

Thank-you to all the people who made the Cheaper Show 9 happen, thank-you to my boyfriend Marc-Andre for his continued support, and my friends Sarah, Alex and Leo who came along and cheered me on. And thank-you to all the people of Vancouver who came out to support artists and especially those who purchased the art.

I wish I could do it all again... it was such a fun night!! Here are some more photos from the evening.

Follow my heART!
Maja
majawolnik.esty.com

Exhibiting this Sunday @ Arts off Main - Boulverd Days

Sorry for the last minute notice, but the rain gods were not on my side all month!

But finally, the sun has poked its pretty face onto Vancouver which allows me to exhibit my work this Sunday at a cute little gallery called Arts off Main. They've developed a program called Boulevard Days, where rotating local artists show off their work on the boulevard leading up to the gallery - outdoors! There is a lot of space to hang art on the outside wall so I'm looking forward to having all the quirky people of Main Street stop by and check out my work. I hope to clear some old favourites from my studio - time to move onto new projects!

Please join me or spread the word: Sunday June 6th, 216 East 28th Avenue, Vancouver. I'll be there from 12 to 4pm so stop by for a chat and perhaps some nice art for your wall? It should be a sunny 17 degrees - unless Vancouver reverts to its usual demeanour.

Hope to see you there!
Maja

Journals - Vancouver Series

Do you love a good journal? I do, especially one with a really cute cover on it, that motivates me to pick it up, start writing and share my most intimate thoughts.

I love how a beautiful journal can make you feel, so I've taken on a little personal project, to create some of my very own journal designs.

I am working on a collection of these, inspired by the one and only city of Vancouver... and all its little quirks... like the relentless rain... Here is a sneak peek of the first two designs:

I illustrated the images by hand, scanned them and converted them to vectors, then applied colour using Illustrator. I'm having SO much FUN creating this series!

Would you pick up one of these in a store? Please let me know what you think? I would love to hear your feedback!

Maja

In my sketchbook - life drawing

It's been probably about a year since I last went to a life drawing class! I received a wonderful book for Christmas from my parents titled Mastering The Art of Drawing & Painting the Human Figure by Sarah Hoggett and Vincent Milne.

I thought I'd take some of the tricks I learned from the book and put them in practice at a local life drawing class at Blim. Here's a few of the better sketches from the session.

The model had a beautiful figure and I really like the strength of the poses she made, but I had the most trouble drawing the hands and head...I will definitely need to go back and practice some more!
Eventually, I'm planning on creating a painting, or a series of paintings with the nude figure stylized, on a light coloured background - here is my first go at it on a 10x10 canvas board. Not quite there yet!

Accepted: the Cheaper Show No 9!

I'm very proud to announce that I have been accepted to be one of 200 artists to participate in The Cheaper Show No.9. They had 950 submissions so I am really excited that I made the cut!

Happening on June 26th, the Cheaper Show is one giant art exhibition featuring 200 artists with 400 pieces of artwork, at $200 each. I think its an amazing concept that allows emerging and established artists to showcase their work side by side, and introduces art to a public that might not know much about buying art, at an affordable price.

According to their website, last year they had an incredible 5,000 people attending the massive warehouse in Gastown, Vancouver - I'm thrilled for the possible exposure and opportunities, and I can't wait to see all the other talent. Save the date and join me!

I'm so happy and grateful to be a part of something so fun and so big :) thecheapershow.com

Messed up studio!

I've spent the last three days trying to spring clean my studio, and I'm almost there. My man found a free desk that we've dragged into the studio, which is great because I get a NEW desk to put more artsy stuff everywhere, but not so great because sadly for me this means even more room to spread the mess... This brings the studio total to 3 desks!

Before launching my new etsy shop, I spent a lot of time trying new designs on lino and softer type squares to print onto greeting cards. Unfortunately, there are days where things just don't work - my prints just wouldn't turn out. I tried using a professional baron, which didn't work, then I tried a marble rolling pin, nothing, a wooden spoon which was probably the most effective method. I even tried the piano and kitchen stools to press the lino onto my paper! The ink would not come off evenly. A very frustrating and exhausting process.


So while I look into new printmaking equipment, I spent this week being inspired by the gorgeous cherry trees in and around Vancouver. They are so pretty, with their pink flowers bunching up on branches like popcorn or fairly floss, the soft petals blowing through the wind. Spring is here! So to celebrate, I created 4 greeting cards which I am selling on etsy. Here is the whole collection on my new desk. I created the illustrations using diluted ink.

Stay tuned to hear more about the printing dilemma.

Visit my etsy shop! www.majawolnik.etsy.com

Hello,

I'm sooooooooo excited to launch my etsy shop! After what seems like an eternity, with lots of photo taking, image editing, description writing and shipping profile developing, my online store is finally up and running.

Now, instead of just gazing at my wonderful art on screen, you can use your clever little mouse to click away, order online and pay through PayPal to receive my unique creations in your hot little hands - all within a few days! Easy.

I love etsy and so should you - so follow me and start owning some of my original artwork... majawolnik.etsy.com.

- Maja

Tree again again!

It's been a while since I blogged, mainly because I was off gallivanting around Melbourne, Australia visiting my family and meeting my gorgeous niece Ela.

But I'm back in Vancouver with the Olympics party in full swing. As soon as I got back I became re-captivated by those bare trees - again!

I know I should be drawing the athletes, the crazy crowds downtown or the snow-less slopes but all I can look at is those gorgeous dwindling branches... I just want to hug them! They must be anxious for spring to come (which by the way looks like its almost here).

So, here's another, well, tree, this time on a great big new sketch pad using conte and charcoal. Done on the studio floor.

Relentless Rain

It's been raining what seems like forever in Vancouver - 10 days, 12 days? I don't know anymore.

It's been very dark, wet and depressing and I'm trying really hard not to let this weather bring me down so recently I began imagining what it would be like if the rain was rainbow coloured!

Here is an illustration I created today showing multicoloured raindrops - so much fun :) Not sure if I'm finished with this yet, I might add more drops or a background hue. What colour would the clouds be? What would the windows look like? Would the drains be filled with rainbow water? I used water-soluble pencils for the blurry, watery effect.

What would our world be without imagination and art? I hope this picture inspires you to walk down the street with your brolly (umbrella) and see what I see - glorious colours.

Enjoy!
Maja

Tree again!

Today I'm stretching and priming a 30x30" piece of canvas... not sure what I'll paint on it yet but I feel like getting my hands dirty and I wanted to use some materials I have left over from Costa Rica.

So, while I wait for the first coat to dry I thought I'd share another tree I drew a couple of weeks ago. This one is an actual tree that is on the corner of my street. I used shellac based black ink on some left over printmaking paper - probably not the best surface to use inks on as it is quite thick and sucked up all my ink instantly so was a little hard to have a nice flow.

Anyway, here it is. I'm really enjoying looking at and sketching trees (when it stops raining in Vancouver) so I think I'm going to continue and start a little tree collection.

Back to priming!

In my sketchbook

Hey its Friday and I'm stretching canvas in my studio, getting a bit distracted...

Lately I've been sketching all sorts of things in my sketchbook, so I'd thought I'd share some of them here.

I'm still fascinated by trees and their bare branches... here is one sketch i did recently. Instead of solid colour I used crosshatching lines to fill it in. I did this randomly but I think next time I will try to follow the texture of the tree.

I've seen a lot of bird illustrations around, I think they're really cute so I had to have a go at one myself. It took me a number of versions to get to this simplified form of an Australian Blue bird (that's me missing the constant chirp of birds and parrots that is prominent all over Australia.) After a few sketches I created a final colour version with my shellac based inks and brush on paper (this time just plain white drawing paper).

I'm also working on creating some Christmas illustrations. Instead of buying cards I thought I'd make them myself this year for family and friends, and that way I will build up a portfolio of images for this season, to submit to greeting card publishers for next year. This one is inspired by my boyfriend Marc-Andre who is an elf this Christmas!

Gotta go and get back into it now - enjoy!

Rave review..."Particularly stunning"

I recently discovered that my name and artwork had been reviewed by Opus Framing, supplier of fine artists materials.

Read this article by Eleanor Hannan http://www.opusframing.com/community-news/drift-2009 which is discussing the Drift Festvial. The article was written on October 1st - just a few days prior to the Drift.

I was so excited to stumble upon this I jumped up and down - its a tiny mention but a really positive one! Ahh the Scraps Collection - maybe I should do another round again? It's inspiring to know that someone took the time to look through my website and found something worth mentioning :)

My prints have a new home!

Following the Drift festival, my gorgeous lino prints from Costa Rica were in search of a new home - I didn't want them to just collect dust in my house while I hunt down potential buyers.

Cambie Village Massage Clinic (Suite 203 - 3256 Cambie Street Vancouver) was looking for some new artwork for their premises, and when I sent them a photo of the prints, they immediately contacted me!

I'm really excited to see them hanging proudly again, gaining exposure to the public, and a clientele who is apparently appreciative of art. I think they suit the surroundings quite well - bringing out that peaceful vibe. I have three hanging in the main foyer hallway and three in one of the massage rooms.

Thank-you to Stephanie, Coleen, Nimira and Isaac for supporting local art and artists. I might have to return the favour and book in for a massage...

My butterfly collection and a couple of other paintings that were exhibited during the Drift are still on display at Balance Acupuncture & Massage Clinic at 4338 Main Street - two places at once!

Fall

It's been a strange week for me, and the up and down weather has been dictating my mood.

I came home today feeling frazzled and the only thing that I felt like doing was drawing. I recently bought a new brush to use with my shellac based inks, it's wide and flat with a sharp point - so versatile! I decided to use this brush to create a tree with fallen leaves.

This tree was inspired by a tree on the corner of my street - the colours of the leaves are absolutely stunning, and it was simply amazing how in just a matter of days all the leaves were gone, the tree branches bare.

I was really enjoying myself painting this today, but my boyfriend said it's pretty drastic, especially with the single leaf...

I guess unconciously I needed to express the drastic temperature drop (currently 6*C!) and the fact that we're clearly in the midst of fall. In Australia we call this season Autumn, but what would we know? Fall, it is...

Published!

Wow! Yesterday I got my hands on the November issue of Canada's alive magazine - some of my illustrations and designs are finally published! What started off as a short term contract has now turned into a permanent part-time role and I'm very excited to be a part of the alive publishing team.

Below is my most proud illustration for an article about eco labelling on coffee.


And here are a couple of more pages that I designed and illustrated. Alive is Canada's natural health and wellness magazine and is distributed to health food retailers nationally - 190,000 copies per month. That's a lot of eyes falling in love with my designs :)


















It's a really great read so get your free copy in stores now!

Drift report

Oh, what a great weekend it was...the Drift festival along Main Street was a huge success!

The sun was shining, the weather was crisp but nice (even for a warm blooded Aussie) and scores of people were out on the streets drifting in and out of stores, cafe's, businesses, and studios enjoying the art and the artists - Main Street was abuzz!

I was having a great time at Balance Acupuncture & Massage, meeting and greeting the 60 or so Drifters who came in pairs or groups to view the work.

It was so exciting to be a part of it and meet so many interested and enthusiastic people. I received a lot of good feedback about my art, and had many people signing up to my mailing list. It was a great feeling to share my art with the community. I had a couple of bites but nothing sold as yet, hopefully, this will happen in the next few weeks as I've seen lots of traffic to my website following the Drift.

And, the best news is that Kirk and lovely Shinobu from Balance Acupuncture were delighted with the weekend and have agreed to keep my artwork up for longer - as long as I like! I'm extremely happy that my work will continue to get exposure to the public and won't be sitting in my studio in storage. I have a feeling something good will come of this :)

Here are some photos from my little corner of the Drift and me enjoying the sunshine with the lovely flower my boyfriend got for me.

Thank-you so much to everyone who came to check out my art! I must say I'm a little bit proud!

Butterflies Explained

On the eve of the very exciting Drift Festival which starts tomorrow, I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss a series of paintings I will be showcasing - The Butterfly Collection.

In fact, these paintings are not really just paintings, but they are also prints! The inspiration came from these gorgeous colorful creatures that I saw flying around Costa Rica in May. I wanted to capture their vibrant colours and their beauty, but I didn't want to just paint them as I saw them, I wanted to mimic their behaviour - the folding and flapping of their wings.

What resulted was quite an experiment...I used raw (unprimed) 13oz cotton duck canvas, which I measured out and cut into 18 x 30 and 30 x 30 pieces. After making some sketches in a notebook, I mixed my paint and used multiple paint brushes to apply my design on the left side of the canvas - I only painted one half of the butterfly.

It was extremely hot and humid in the middle of the day in Costa Rica, so I had to work quickly in order for the paint to remain wet. Then, I folded the canvas over in half, and pressed down firmly all over the place with my hands - printing the wet half of the butterfly on the other blank side of the canvas. That's how my paint-print came about.

Peeling the canvas apart was the most exciting part! I never knew exactly how it was going to turn out. The more detailed the butterfly was, the longer it took to paint and the faster the paint dried. I was extremely happy with the result - the right side of the butterfly reveals some of the last brushstrokes I made, and is like a slightly distorted mirror image of the left side.

What I like is that on first instance you just see a big butterfly, but your head takes a double take to notice the two similar, but different halves of the insect. The folding of the canvas was like the folding of the butterflies' wings.
Let me know your thoughts? I look forward to the Drift tomorrow and see what the public thinks too.

Please visit my website to view others in the collection.

My Art on Main Street

I'm very excited that in two weeks my art is going to be on display to the public during the amazing Drift Festival on Main Street, Vancouver!!

October 3 & 4th will see over 100 artists, 35 Artists’ Working Studios & 80 Main Street Shops, Cafes & Galleries team up to host this free 2-day art party! The idea is for the public to meet and interact with artists in their studios and purchase unique works.

I'm busy preparing everything for the drift - I just picked up my prints from the studio, I need to see the framer and I'm making sure all my canvases have strings in place so I can hang them on the walls.

I've also created a promotional postcard, as seen above, which features my artwork and a map of where my artwork will be displayed during the festival.

I'm nervous, but very excited!!! So come drift with me on October 3 & 4th - I will be at Balance Acupuncture and Massage, 104 - 4338 Main Street!! Hope to see you all there!

Printing at Malaspina Printmakers' Studio

Last week (or was it two weeks ago already?!) I booked some time in at Malaspina Printmakers to print the series of lino squares I created whilst at the artists colony in Costa Rica.

I was extremely excited to get in there and get going - after all I have had these prints lying about since May!

Here are some step by step pics of the process...


Firstly I mixed some black ink (I've used water-soluble block printing ink) with a little bit of retarder to slow the ink drying time. I have used a heavy duty roller (brayer) to spread the ink out onto a glass surface. When it has a distinct peeling sound it means the ink is ready. I then began rolling the ink onto the linoleum square.
Once the ink was evenly applied onto the lino sqaure, I carefully placed it facing up onto a backing sheet on the press bed. The backing sheet is measured out exactly to indicate placement of the lino - it is the same size as the printmaking paper.

After placing down a sheet of printmaking paper, I gently lowered the felt blankets on the paper and lino square. This keep the plate and paper in place, and stops the printing press from ripping the paper. I tested the height of the press prior, by rolling an uninked lino through the press and adjusted the height accrodingly - checking the pressure each time.


Rolling, rolling, rolling - once the blankets are down and the pressure is set, its time to grab a hold of the wheel and turn it clockwise until the press bed rolls underneath the press all the way through to the end. It should feel quite tight, and is great for building up those upper arm muscles!


Once the press bed was on the other side, I lifted the blankets and gently peeled the paper off the lino square - a perfect image was imprinted. Ahhh, my gorgeous yukka print is drying patiently on the rack!

I'll be back in the studio again this Friday, finishing off the prints and some colour variations I'm working on(fun!). I can't wait to have these ready for the Drift coming up extremely soon!