I was invited to go to the Canadian book launch of local author, Kim Werker. Her new crochet book is “Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet revolution”. Another Vancouverite, Cynthia of Hula-la Design, did some of the technical and non-technical illustrations for this book.

There are spaces still available for the book launch, so you can RSVP if you’d like to attend:

When: October 23, from 6 – 9 p.m
Where: Urban Yarns in Point Grey
Where to RSVP : Send an email here or call them at 604-228-1122

I met Kim Werker once at the Fibrefestival in Abbotsford a few years ago after reading her website crochetme.com. I was all excited to meet her. It kind of felt like I was meeting someone famous. I’ll bring my camera to this event and add another photo to my Paparazzi collection. Currently my famous people photos include: The Trailer Park Boys, Gene Simmons and Elizabeth Hurley.

Yes, the blueberries are ready for picking. There are wagons for the most enthusiastic of berry pickers. Good luck with the raspberries at this point in time, though. The donkey was hiding out, but the brochure assures that it is there. There are pies to be had, both fresh (phone ahead because they sell out fast) and frozen: raspberry, strawberry, peach berry (mmm) and others! Langley’s 30-year-old Krause Berry Farms has all that and a playground for the kids.

Yet…who cares about that?

The best things about the berry farm were these great examples of naïve art:

and

Of course, you want to rush out to celebrate this exuberant local folk art! An easy trip off the Trans-Canada, here’s the complete address:

6179 248 Street
Langley, BC

Tel: (604) 856-5757

I have heard stories about the Comicon in Los Angeles (also referred to somewhere as the “nerd prom”. Heh.) and decided to go to the one in Vancouver yesterday. According to this website, they have these events a few times per year.

This was a small, friendly affair and, I have to admit, the quietest event I think I’ve ever attended. Don’t get me wrong, people were there. But the room was quiet, with people sitting on the floor sorting through boxes of magazines, reading and concentrating (I guess.). There was a table with some illustrated novels and also one table of action figures and other toys.

I went to the Comicon to see the artists as they were drawing and I bought a copy of a cool drawing from RobinThompson of the Creature from the Black Lagoon for 50 cents. It will be framed!

Here’s more details about the next event:

The Documentary Film Festival is on. I suppose it’s long past time once more to fill up my brain with enough stuff to make me interesting at parties again.

I do like this one comment from audience member Helen Kuk about the docs on right now that gets straight to the point: “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen films as entertaining, eclectic and smart as DOXA’s, and it’s not because I don’t have cable”.

Helen, I’m glad you enjoyed the show. But who the hell doesn’t have cable? I’m pretty sure that’s just what people say when they want other people to think they read more. No proof. Just a strong suspicion…

My favourite place to find cool craft supplies is located at 4738 Main Street. The shop is called Ruby Dog’s Art House and they have unique and fun stuff to make all things crafty and arty. The owner, Leanne, is always there with her dog, Ruby. She is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about collaging, artist’s trading cards and all different types of paper crafts. Also, she’s big into recycling and reusing stuff. You just never know what you’ll find there. It’s a great place to go and look for craft books, interesting papers, magazines, stickers, stamps…you name it… There’s also all kinds of glues and other supplies for just about any art related project you might be working on. It’s a fun place. And lots of the supplies? “Cheap like Borscht!” It’s terrific.

Be sure to get on the email list. Leanne sends out newsletters periodically to let her customers know about new stuff that’s arrived and provides a list of all the classes going on. I took a cool origami tag book course there last year.

One more thing…there’s going to be the official Grand Opening of the new section of her store (studioWERX on Main) is this Saturday, April 28th beginning at noon. A good time will be had by all. I’m sure of it. I just might see you there!

And for your viewing pleasure, here is Ruby dog herself:

This week someone at work told me about the Canstruction display that was happening at Canada Place all week. I hadn’t heard about this event before, but it’s been happening every year since 2003. I had no idea! Over the last couple of months I had received a couple of emails with pictures of these types of can displays, but without any information. I didn’t realize this was happening here.

Canstruction is a free event and they accept cash and food donations that go to The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. These donations along with all the non-perishables and cans of food that were used to create the sculptures. It’s a lot of food. Someone is going to be eating an awful lot of sardines because there was a large car display made entirely out of black and gold sardine cans. My contribution? Cans of tuna, corn and black beans.

I took lots of pictures. You can see them all here.

The event is open all weekend, but it’s over at 5:00 pm tomorrow. Bring some cans of food and your camera.

There’s an upcoming exhibition of Thierry Feuz’s work coming to the Jacana Gallery in Vancouver. This will be the first Feuz exhibition in Canada.

If you’ve never seen any of his work you definitely don’t want to miss seeing these amazing pieces. Feuz’s use of colours is just absolutely enchanting and spellbinding. You’ll find yourself staring endlessly at the visual hypnosis he’s created.
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Just after we’ve gotten rid of the Spirit Bears, Vancouverites can now look forward to being inundated with bald eagles.

The majestic winged creatures will soar into the cities of the Lower Mainland in 2009 and will be on hand to greet the international masses at the Olympics. Once again, Judson Beaumont, creator of the Orcas and Spirit Bears, has designed the seven-foot birds with wings spread for the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities.

At least one local American professed enthusiasm over the news.

“I think the eagles are exciting,” says a GVRD resident of Texan extraction. “They are so patriotically American.”

Others have taken issue with the implications of BC Lions Society president Stephen Miller’s statement that “No West Coast bird is more majestic than the bald eagle.”

“Majestic?” scoffed suburbanite F.G. Maktaaq. “What about the bold raven? The street smart crow? The urban pigeon in iridescent splendour? The French fry-thieving sea gull? The wily whiskey jack? What’s with the anti-scavenger mentality in this city?”

The eagles will complete the trilogy representing land, water and sky. Pending the success of the eagles, the BC Lions Society is looking for inspiration at other elements (i.e. wood represented by the mountain pine beetle) and even other dimensions (i.e. a will o’ the wisp to represent the supernatural in Super Natural British Columbia).

As has been mentioned here before, Canstruction is an annual contest and art show where teams gather to create sculptures completely out of non-perishable foods. The sculptures sit on display at Canada Place for a week and afterwards they are dismantled and the food is donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

I think it’s a good event on several levels. It’s a great teambuilding activity, a free art exhibit and some of the results are pretty impressive. Not to mention, it provides local food banks with an influx of food in the middle of March, a time when donations tend to be pretty low.

There’s still time to participate in this year’s competition. The deadline for teams to sign-up is next Friday, February 16. Sculptures from this year’s competition will be on display from March 4th to 11th.

More information can be found on the Canstruction website.

Photo: Snoopy @ Canstruction by annchou.

I came across a smoking, bunt-out wreck of a car on the sidewalk outside the Vancouver Art Gallery the other day. It looked like one of those wrecks one often sees on news about war zones far from our placid shores. While gawkers like myself looked at it and tried to figure out where exactly the smoke was coming from, a little black and white television inside (presumably a better one would have ended up missing fairly quick) blared news reports of SUVs’ impact on the environment.

The installation was the creation of L’Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable, a provocative art group sniping at the war-for-oil strategy of the United States government and society’s out-of control consumption.