The first three months of 2021 have been a wild ride for the world and I feel lucky to be held in a bubble of being able to continue to create and grow my business.
I started the year by putting up a mural at Gordon House I was able to create because they gave me the grant to do this project. I started it in October and hung it on January 4th, if you have been reading along for a while you know that it is still up. They have chosen to keep it up, the neighbourhood is engaging with it, not to mention the people who are in it going and posing next to their faces making selfies. This was an incredible way to start this year.
In January I took the time to write a business plan. Jamie Smith created a fabulous course on Skillshare for Artists to write a business plan. I highly recommend it.
February found me writing my first ever Canada Council Grant as a pivot project to continue my mural practice. I will keep you posted on the progress of the application. So far I’m taking no news as good news.
I was chosen to participate in an online exhibition featuring my continuous line drawing with the Abbotsford Arts Council.
I celebrated a show at an incredible co-working space called MakeShift, it is a beautiful spot nestled on the East Side of Vancouver with perfect spots to work, a meditation room and incredible views of the mountains.
Makeshift is a really big space, lots of room to work at a safe social distance and in that distance, I put my artwork. I featured my 9x13” continuous line drawings, a series of double exposures I printed on archival Moab paper at Beau Photo and finally a series I created for Capture 2018 that was printed at London Drugs with a print grant given to me by the staff at London Drugs thanks to Capture.
I will be back to Makeshift to paint a mural, the images of the faces are the theme of the mural we decided on.
I can’t wait, we decided to paint it in all of the colours of the rainbow and include the trans colours too. Makeshift is an all-inclusive community spot and they want to reflect that in the artwork they feature. I’m thrilled to have that be something I can help create.
I celebrated becoming a part of The Luupe Community, an organization based in NYC made up of a network of women working commercially in photography.
I finished creating a trio of videos on Skillshare on the exposure triangle made up of a class on ISO, another on Aperture and the final on Shutter Speed.
I have a few other irons in the fire that I will save for later. I want to hear what you have been up to?
Have you been baking bread? Gardening? Picking up your camera more? Or reading?
I became a volunteer with the Green Streets Gardening program in the fall of last year. I was given a traffic circle garden to tend and I couldn’t be more proud. I planted bulbs in November and they are blooming now.
I realize I am writing to you from a place of privilege and in that place I have been volunteering with Dress for Success as a Sorter. Dress for Success is an incredible organization that supports women in career aspirations and goals. They are a not for profit so during this time they have been restricted in fundraising efforts. They are accepting donations and the donations get sorted into clothing they can use for a suiting appointment in the boutique, can be donated to other organizations or be sold on consignment. Being able to sort for them means they can continue to sell clothing at Turnabout Thrift. A consignment shop that will take donations that are not suitable to give as career clothing. The profits from the consignment are keeping them afloat during this precarious time. If you would like to learn more about them you can reach out directly. I have been volunteering with them for years, I started while I was living in Toronto and continued when I moved back to Vancouver in 2015.
I did make some bread too, I jumped on the 2 hour no-knead bread but I had to stop making it because it was so good a loaf would barely last a couple of days because I also love butter too. So no photos of that and I’m still trying to keep wearing the jeans I owned before the pandemic started.
Take good care out there, I appreciate you being here, your endless support and please do let me know what you have been up to.
Best
Deanna