Ink on glass

Earlier this summer I went out to Kananaskis, Alberta to visit Derek at his research campus. While there, I discovered a whole new medium: Crayola window writers. I spent hours defacing Derek et al's stunning living room view of the mountains... and I'm not sorry. A couple of months passed before I revisited this idea. I used regular permanent marker since the window markers are not translucent, and drew on two panes of glass, overlapped, and framed them. More to come.

A prize, more press, and the rest

A little while back, my Anonymous Mugshot paintings were awarded the first place prize in the Faces & Figures juried exhibition of the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto, California. Juror and curator Rene de Guzman made the selections for the show and awards.

In other news, I recently discovered some press coverage of the Grimsby Public Art Gallery's 11th Biennial Juried Exhibition: an article from NiagaraThisWeek.com, and a video report by TV Cogeco Ontario. My paintings can be seen at about the 1:20 mark, but the whole video is worth giving a watch.

It's been almost two weeks since I got back from teaching in London with Eaglearts Academy, and I miss my co-workers/new friends dearly. I got live amongst some of the most artistically talented people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. It was also an opportunity to teach international students learning English as their second or third language. I was primarily teaching Adobe Photoshop, without my own computer to teach from, so success in the class was contingent upon linguistic comprehension. This could have been extremely challenging and frustrating, but I was pleasantly surprised by their skill level and overall perseverance. It was really quite admirable.








Finally, laurapayneart.com is currently under construction and will hopefully be up and running by the end of the week. It will include a few new features, including some never-before-seen video work that I've completed in the last few months. Just clips, of course.

More on Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer

As I previously mentioned, the opening of Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer on Friday, July 23rd went very well. I met some great people and made some connections. Here is the original Akimbo exhibition posting:


















Since then, hundreds have been through the space and I've read some positive reviews. NOW Toronto listed it as a "must-see" show. R.M. Vaughan of the Globe & Mail gave it a good review also, which you can find on the website or in this Saturday's paper. Eye Weekly gave a mixed but overall pretty decent review as well, so here's my section:

"... Laura Payne’s intriguing study of James Earl Jones, Can You Tell Me? Indeed, Payne’s work, with its intention to reveal, might be closest to Spooner’s idea of a Wunderkammer object. A hypnotic loop of Jones’ audition for Sesame Street, in which he seems overly, awkwardly methodical, it is both familiar and startling. Jones could be a politician, an inmate, a terrorist, a news anchor. More than Blanchard, even, Payne makes something old and borrowed seem new again."

I must express my gratitude to the brilliant Rosemary Spooner who curated the entire show, and also I should say that it has been humbling to show my work among such talented and visionary artists as those in the show. It has been an enormous privilege.









Finally, I think my favorite moment today was discovering that not only has the Eye Weekly review been linked from the USA Today website, as they archive many publications, but that the article has been filed under "James Earl Jones". Yes!

Emerging Artists show in Toronto

Okay, so sorry this has taken so long but I'm working 24/7 in London right now. Literally 24/7. Even when I'm sleeping.

I've been granted the privilege to participate in an Emerging Artists exhibition at the Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre in Toronto (at Ossington and Queen) titled Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer. I will be showing a video installation that some of you may recall from my Practicum exhibition called Can You Tell Me?. I will also be exhibiting some new drawings, but I guess you will have to go see them for yourself. There will also be work featured by four other emerging artists. The opening reception takes place this Friday, July 23rd from 7 to 10pm. Failing that you can go check it out until August 28th.

Update: the opening was amazing - a lot of people showed. I had to leave early to make it back to London in good time, but I made a very interesting connection with someone very important. Good conversation. More to come soon.

Finally...

Well it sure has been a while, but my most recent work is finished, or finished enough to post. I'm sure I'll pick away at a few details here and there, especially with the background. That's the thing about setting my own deadlines, I'm very generous when it comes to granting extensions.






























Anyway, I'll be away from Guelph for three weeks for work, but I will have more news shortly regarding another upcoming exhibition, possibly two... or three? We'll see.