Galaxy: A Series of Enamelled Bowls

On Friday, June 7th, Freedom CC will be hosting an exhibition of enameled bowls by Yvonne Villeneuve of Torched Studio. Here are a few words that Yvonne wanted to share about her work..

***

Of all the things I make I must admit my enamel bowls are my favourite. So I’m very, very excited to be making a special collection of art bowls for my very first solo exhibition. It will be held at Freedom Clothing Collective from June 7th to July 3rd.

My work has always had a certain elemental quality in the swirl of multiple layers of enamel and in these pieces I’ve taken it to the extreme in a “big bang” of colour. I love the random beauty of nature and these bowls are my romanticized view of the far flung objects in the night sky. Each piece represents a celestial body but on a much smaller and more imaginative scale.

The opening reception is Friday June 7th at Freedom Clothing Collective, 939 Bloor Street West, Toronto from 6pm to 8pm.

Here’s a sneak peek of just a few of the pieces that will be in the exhibition.
-Yvonne of Torched Studio

Melbourne Street Art

When visiting Melbourne, one of the things you should not pass on is seeing the unique expressions of art displayed on approved outdoor locations throughout the city. There you can find anything from paste-ups, stencils and murals which are considered legal forms of art where graffiti and tagging are not allowed. The images shown here are from Union Lane that I took a few weeks back but more artworks can be found on several different locations including:

• Hosier and Rutledge Lane, opposite Federation Square
• Caledonian Lane, off Little Bourke Street
• Union Lane, off Bourke Street Mall
• Rear of 280 Queen Street in Finlay Avenue
• 21 Degraves Street 
• Cnr Flinders Lane and Cocker Alley 
• 122 Palmerston Street, Carlton
• Centre Place, between Collins Street and Flinders Lane

Frankie

While waiting to board my early morning flight out of Melbourne I decided to pass some time in the local airport news stands (who doesn't?). I had some Aus change left and was looking for a perfect magazine to spend it on to help me get the long flight that was ahead of me pass as quickly as possible.
At first I focused on local home decor publication, but then my eye landed on the cute peach coloured cover of Frankie featuring and adorable illustration (later on I found out that the illustration was depicting Ray Eames - a member the famous chair and textile designer duo).
I could not resist and had to check out what the 150+ pages had to offer and could not have been more delighted but to find that it is a portal that talks about (mostly) local design, art, craft, photography and features works of many (Australian but also international) Etsy sellers. All the articles are written in a quirky and fun voice and reading them makes you feel like you are actually talking to the writers.
Their website is equally fun to browse through and offers a bunch of interesting tidbits on all the featured topics. All the (bi-weakly) issues are available in digital format but can also be ordered in print. To make things more interesting, printed copies are available in selected Canadian Chapters stores. Yey to that!

Free Local Deliveries

Dear Friends,
I am happy to announce that starting this month I will be offering free local deliveries as well as free deliveries in the Windsor (ON) and Montreal (QC) corridors. Please feel free to spread the news!
Today is my last day in AUS and I will be ready to get my fingers dirty again starting next week. Will catch you then...
Cheers

Outback Bound

It has been a week since we embarked on our Australian adventure. Today is the day when we pick up our rental camper and hit the road towards the Australian Outback or more precisely towards Ayers Rock. It will take several days to reach the final destination and our first stop is Adelaide in South Australia, where we will spend the evening with one of my old high school friends. I am crazy excited about it all.

Pale Green Cabinet - Reveal

Fully finished and charmingly elegant, it is now listed in my  Etsy store.

State of the Garden - May 2

Here is the second in the series of posts on my yard that I have decided to do on the monthly basis in order to document changes that are happening in the 30 day intervals.
This is what the garden used to look like a month ago, on April 2.

April 2

And here is what it looks like now...

May 2

Since then, I have trimmed some shrubs, moved some planters around. Cleaned up fallen branches and last year's foliage. Grass and flowers have sprouted as have the weeds that are now showing their messy little heads. By the time we are back from the trip they will have taken over the yard, but I will worry about it later. For now it is just pleasant to enjoy the beauty of nature that is finally waking up after the long and cold winter.

Chives - we already had them in a stew

This will grow to be one of the largest hostas I have ever seen - we have a total of 8 lining the path to the shed

Preview of Tomorrow's Reveal

Just when I thought I was done painting before my trip, I managed to sneak in another piece.
Full reveal will take place tomorrow afternoon-ish.