Tag Archives: YEG Art

Edmonton Things To Do: Design A Sign by Paint Nite

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The products of our Design A Sign night.

A few years ago, Paint Nite infiltrated Edmonton’s night life. Taking over bars across the city almost every day, it was a great way to dip one’s toes into the creative realm while hanging out with a friend or two. Combine that with drinks or food, and it was a pretty perfect evening, if I do say so myself.

I was obsessed with Paint Nite, wanting to sign up for one after another. In fact, I enjoyed the practice so much that I ended up purchasing my own portable easel, canvases, brushes, and acrylics so that I could work on art outside of those occasions, too.

Even owning all of the materials needed to do the same thing in the comfort of my home, I still attend them every so often. Simply put, it’s a fun time. As the Paint Nite brand has expanded, so have their event offerings.

I have previously tried Plant Nite (terrarium building) twice. While I always leave hopeful that my miniature gardens will survive, sadly, I’ve come to the realization that I’m probably not meant to be a plant mom. I just do not have a green thumb at this point in my life and I can’t continue to spend the money on something that will ultimately die.

Alas, the makers of Paint Nite introduced Design A Sign locally sometime last fall. It’s not exactly game changing or anything. There are already a few other businesses that run similar types of parties, but they tend to charge between $70 to $100 per person. Paint Nite is $65 plus tax each, including the $20 material charge. They also regularly offer discounts through their website, so it’s easy to participate for less than that. If you can’t find a discount directly from them, purchase a Paint Nite Groupon. Although they state that they’re for Paint or Plant Nite, I’ve tested it and the voucher is applicable towards the total cost of Design A Sign when redeeming.

Kirk and I went to a Design A Sign night with another friend in December. It took place at Sixty 6 Bar N’ Grill inside Londonderry Mall. It seems like all of their upcoming events are happening at the same location (hopefully they’ll expand to other area around Edmonton as this is quite out of the way for us).

Waiting to get started with our stencils and wood.

We arrived early to get some food before things officially launched. The host saw us and asked if we were there for Design A Sign. When we said yes, she allowed us to pick out our pieces of wood and to save spots at one of the prepared tables. I guess for this particular event, the place where they had purchased the wood had made a mistake with sawing the pieces as some were a tad shorter than they should have been, but we got to choose first, so it wasn’t an issue for us. The cuts we selected were technically stained, too, so they already had a nice tint to them.

Once we settled in for Design A Sign, we each had to join our two slabs of wood together using flat metal braces, screws, and an electric screwdriver on the backside. We also received tiny screws and a little hanger to attach. When that was done, we flipped our now larger boards over to work on the front.

My cup of silver stain.
Waiting for my stained wood to dry.

We were instructed to select a colour of paint from the many options available. I filled a small 1.5″ diameter cup with a few millimeters of acrylic and then I topped off the cup with water. Stirred together, it created a wash that I applied with cloths to the wood. The makeshift stain worked quite well, especially when using darker colours. I chose a silver paint that was much more subtle, leaving a nice shimmery sheen visible when the light hits the wood just right.

Removing the bubbles from the stencil.
Peeling away the top layer to reveal the stencil underneath.

When the base dried, I then took my stencil (selected in advance when purchasing my ticket online; there are dozens of different signs to choose from) and peeled the paper backing from them. It left an adhesive that allowed the stencil to stick to the wood. Any card I could find was then used to push out the air bubbles. TIP: Upon pulling the paper backing from the stencil, try to keep the full stencil together. Don’t allow the cutouts to come up with it. By ensuring that it’s in one piece, it’ll make things much easier later.

 

With the stencil now attached to the wood, I could then peel off the cutouts to reveal the design. Do a thorough once over to make sure that all of the parts that should be taken away are gone. Since I had chosen a saying, it took me a while to get mine ready. The text was the most difficult part to work with because I had to make sure the center of letters like an ‘a’ or an ‘o’ didn’t go missing. Finally, with the necessary areas of wood completely exposed, I began to paint.

Metallic gold and silver stars are highlights of my sign.
The final colour scheme of my sign.

The paints were awesome as they dried quite quickly, blended well, and were great for layering. We also had a number of different paint applicators at our disposal (the white makeup sponges were the best). I used an ombre technique, so the colours of the font faded from one shade to another. I went for touches of metallic throughout as well.

Once the paint dried, I removed the majority of the stencil.
Then, I carefully took away any parts of the stencil that remained.

When I felt satisfied with my work, I waited a bit longer for the paint to truly dry (our host also had a fan set up for people to use, if they were impatient about the drying process). Then, I went for it. I lifted a corner of the adhered stencil and peeled. TIP: Be careful when you do this though. I didn’t realize I was pulling it off going with the grain of the wood, and the stencil ended up lifting up slivers of wood with it, meaning there are spots of my sign with lines and no stain. It’s not super noticeable, but I know those flaws are there. As soon as I figured that out, I switched to peeling from an opposite corner and I was much more successful. No more wood came off.

From start to finish the whole activity took about three hours. The three of us had an excellent time and I was itching to register for another Design A Sign event right away. It’s a chance for anyone to express their inner artist without the pressure. I find these nights to be really relaxing and just enough out of the ordinary to make it feel like something special.

Edmonton Things To Do: Art Gallery of Alberta Adult Drop-In Studio

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Tons of Ideas by Vera Gartley

Earlier this summer, I was making plans with a friend of mine. Due to scheduling conflicts, it was somewhat difficult to find a time that worked for both of us to get together. Futhermore, I didn’t want to do our typical thing of just going for dinner or doing a Paint Nite event. So, I started to scour the internet for ideas of what else we could do in Edmonton.

Honestly, I don’t even know how I eventually ended up on the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) website, but I did. What I found is that they actually offer a weekly Adult Drop-In Studio every Wednesday night. While that particular day of the week didn’t work for her, I was intrigued and I wanted to check out a few of those sessions for myself. I gathered other friends of mine and I made it to three different classes over the span of September.

The first one I went to, I phoned ahead to reserve spaces for me and my friends because I wasn’t sure what kind of attendance to expect (there is a maximum of 20 spaces). You are able to hold spots the day of the drop-in, but you do have to provide payment info at that time. You can phone it in and pick up the tickets at guest services upon arrival at the gallery, or you can walk-in and pay in person.

Tickets are $18 plus tax per person and that includes all of the materials that you’ll be using. The price point is stellar for a two hour activity, especially when compared to the majority of other creative events running throughout the city.

Carving our designs out of lino.
Inking the roller to make our prints.
The table is covered with printmaking materials.
My finished prints from my lino carving.

As it turns out, reservations weren’t really necessary. Only half a dozen people showed up for printmaking the first night. Initially, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of direction. The website had indicated that we would be doing lino carving with a theme of cityscapes. Yet, it pretty much turned into a freestyle situation in that we weren’t at all limited. Everyone was allowed to design whatever they wanted, and guidance only came into play once we started doing more of the printmaking itself.

In fact, I loved printmaking so much that I made my way to Delta Art & Drafting Supply that weekend in order to pick up all of the materials needed to do the same thing at home (I have a couple of special projects planned). Thankfully, there was a sale going on.

Samantha Walrod’s Vanitas exhibition was inspiration for our Floral Studies session.
One of the finished pieces from Samantha Walrod.
The beginning of the floral clock in Samantha Walrod’s room.

The following week, my colleague and I ventured out into the cold to make it to the AGA for their Floral Studies drop-in. We arrived a little bit late, but, once we paid, we managed to catch the group of about ten people as they were heading up to the galleries. The instructor for the night wanted us to take inspiration from an exhibit called Vanitas by artist Samantha Walrod. She turned the RBC Work Room (a studio-like residence space) from an empty gallery into several pieces of finished art that explored the idea of life and loss using floral imagery and the passing of time. Her work utilizes layering through multiple mediums like collage, ink and paint.

Acrylic paint and chalk pastels formed the basis of our Floral Studies work.
Learning how to apply colour and texture to paper using different techniques.
I love how the blue flowers turned out.
My finished piece…just wish I didn’t get fingerprints everywhere.

I was kind of hoping that we would be doing something similar to what we’d seen. Instead, the focus was more on learning to work with chalk pastels and acrylic paints together. Not quite what I expected. Still, I managed to learn some new ways of applying colour and paint to paper, as well as creating my own colours using pigments from the chalk pastels and mixing it with the acrylics.

Finished Japanese stab bounded books.

The final session that I made it to was about book binding. I failed to take photos during this one, but I do have a picture of the finished products. We were taught how to put our own travel journals together using just paper, a couple of binder clips, a push pin, a needle and some thread. We used a simple Japanese stab process, which is easily searchable on Google or YouTube. After we each completed two books, we took them up to the James Wilson Morris gallery where we practiced our sketching techniques (i.e. shading, blind contour, gesture, etc.).

All of these turned out to be fun in their own unique ways. I’ve got my eye on a silk screening class in early-November, but in the meantime, they have a variety of other drop-ins like plaster casting or slow stitch through October. Additionally, if you show up to the gallery early, you can take advantage of the All Access Evenings. Those happen every Tuesday and Wednesday from 5pm to 8pm and it grants all patrons entrance to the exhibits for free.

The design of the AGA building is always fun to explore.
Manning Hall, accessible as you enter the AGA, always has interesting art. This one is from photographer M.N. Hutchinson.

The Art Gallery of Alberta is definitely making an effort to increase the accessibility and affordability of art and art-related activities. Don’t miss out. Sure, not every workshop is going to call to you, but in the scope of a year, there’s bound to be something that will get your creative juices flowing. Keep an eye on the AGA calendar and carve out some time at this local gem of an institution.

Edmonton Event Preview: Vignettes Design Series 2018 & Nuit Blanche

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Salvador Dali is hidden in one of the Vignettes rooms.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Vignettes Design Series VIP Gala. It was held inside Edmonton City Centre in the old ATB Branch on the ground floor (next to the 101 Street West Entrance). When we arrived, we found a huge line already snaking across the mall. It seemed that we were in for a less than exclusive event.

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When we finally made it into the Vignettes space, we were each welcomed with a tiny disposable cocktail glass filled with a couple of sips of sangria. After that, all other food (aside from what was available in the Sanctuary room) and drinks required ticket purchases at an additional cost. Needless to say, for a $40 price tag per guest, I wasn’t too impressed with how this event was executed. It became much too packed way too quickly, making it extremely difficult to maneuver around (architecturally, the overall footprint is small).

Spectra was sort of a simple space, but it felt foreign because of the lighting, sound and simplicity.
Wabi Sabi designed this room about ever-changing realities and the beauty of imperfection.
This room was the craziest.
Everything was askew.
Artists Peter Gegolick and Marcus Coldeway were the visual artists behind this space.
Tiki door into a fantastical world by Bob and Kelvin.
Vintage Voyage
Got 99 Problems, but this Vignette Ain’t One
Northern Light vibes

Mostly, my hope of getting to mix and mingle in-person with the artists that had worked on the individual rooms was dashed. They were much too busy with the hoards of other guests that had also paid to get into this party. While I do understand that the money collected from ticket sales does go back into the creation of future Vignettes events, I would rather that the organizers made it a little more low key. Spend less money on getting a DJ (it’s so hard to talk or hear) and expensive catering and allow people who want a more in-depth experience to get just that.

The hidden bar.
Snacks inside the Sanctuary by FRESCO Culinary.
Chef Michel Nasrabadi of Butternut Tree was behind the menu in the Sanctuary.
The spread of food inside the Sanctuary.
Time stands still inside The Grand Palastrio.
What’s inside The Grand Palastrio door?
Rainforest vibes built by a 4th grader’s father.
Inspired by Dr. Seuss.
Save the sloths 🙂

Still, I don’t want to take away from the creativity of the work or the artists themselves. They did a phenomenal job transforming mundane offices, closets and walls into over a dozen fantastical or modern spaces. My favourites included a hidden bar, a rainforest (designed by a 4th grader and built by her father), a living space that utilized hydroponics (FRESCO Culinary provided snacks!), and The Grand Palastrio where time is questioned.

The idea of changing perceptions.
Search for the stars.
Closer inspection of the trees in Giselle Denis’ 3D space.
Giselle Denis live painting.
Public gallery opens Sept 28!

Thankfully, the Vignettes gallery will be open to the public every Thursday to Saturday for a month starting on Friday, September 28 and running until Saturday, October 27. While it won’t have the same crazy atmosphere of the VIP Gala (if that’s more your thing), tickets are only $15 per person and they will have timed entrances to help mitigate overcrowding. I expect that this setup will give visitors a chance to really engage with what’s in front of them without feeling rushed to move along. If you can fit this into your schedule before it’s gone, I do recommend taking the time to see this.

The Grand Palastrio

The launch of the public gallery for Vignettes also coincides with Nuit Blanche Edmonton 2018. The latter is a free late-night contemporary art party that takes place from 7pm on Saturday, September 29 to 7am on Sunday, September 30. Nuit Blanche is in its second full scale iteration (technically the third year in the city though), and this particular event happens for just the one evening throughout the downtown area. To find out what’s in store for this year’s programming, click here. Vignettes has been incorporated into Nuit Blanche and, based on the ticketing site, it appears as though they will not be charging for entry into that area during Nuit Blanche hours. However, you may want to check with Vignettes in advance just to be sure.

Nuit Blanche is an experience like no other with a lot of volunteers working behind the scenes to get the exhibits up and running (I was one in 2015). Although the weather forecast is looking chilly on Saturday night, venture out! Bundle up in a warm coat with a hat and gloves, and maybe bring a thermos with your favourite hot beverage. Participating works come from artists across the globe, and everyone who attends is bound to discover something that they fall in love with.