Philip Stephen's blog

Magick and Wonder

The show at The Grind is down and the new show is up at Libby's Kitchen,

all in the same day!

It takes a lot of energy to put two shows together in two months!

While The Grind featured textured abstracts and found objects,

my new pieces at Libby's are simplistic images of Magick and Wonder.

Bright, colourful, happy. It is a celebration of innocence and fantasy

-- just for the fun of it.

Please stop by to check it out.

It is across from the Trout Lake Community Centre at 3249 Porter Street.

(Near Victoria and 18th)

Magick and Wonder will be at Libby's Kitchen until the end of August.

www.libbyskitchen.com

This symbol was created at a pivotal time in my life. I was trying to decide where to go, what to do, what drives me and what is most important. This image represents a bit of the answers I found.

Have a heart and arms that are open to whatever comes... ready to embrace life and let it in... whatever form it takes... and accept it with joy... for even though life can seem prickly at times... it is also a delightful gift waiting to be accepted.

The T-shifts are available at Arts Off Main at 216 East 28th Ave and come in black, red, and purple with a white image.

They are $20 each and come in children's and adult sizes.

If you do not find the size or colour you like, feel free to contact me.

Cecile's Untamed Kitchen!

A delightful woman named Cecile has an image of her in one of my t-shirt designs on her funky vegetarian cuisine site: www.untamedkitchen.ca

Check it out!

New Show at The Grind

Please come by The Grind, at Main and King Edward, during the month of July.
My art will be showing there, along with some pieces by friends of mine.

This new work will be a departure from my predominantly storybook style art.
I am delving deeply into texture and working with mixed media abstracts.
It has been loads of fun to explore and push my boundaries in this way.
I will also include some of my photography in this show.

Joining me on the walls will be my friends:
Claire Davis, Kris Brownie, Brenda Anderson, and Kathy McDonald.

Look for a new gallery page on this site to see works in progress soon.

SEE RED

The latest excitement in my life is that a piece of my artwork was successfully juried for the Canadian Red Cross "Seeing Red" Campaign. The panel of judges consisted of: Tiko Kerr (Artist), Joe Average (Artist), John Ferrie (Owner, Ferrie Gallery), David MacWilliam (Dean, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design), Ian Lloyd (Director, Bodyshop at Electronic Arts Canada).

My piece is currently being displayed at Delainey's on Denman and will be auctioned off at the art gala event on May 26^that the Scotiabank Dance Centre.

Funds raised during the Art Gala will contribute to Raising Awareness and Global Empowerment (RAGE) and grassroots HIV/AIDs awareness movements in Zimbabwe.

WHY I MAKE ART. Part One: Photography.

This seems to be a long post,
so click "read more" if you wish to see all of it.

I truly believe that life is a miracle.
It seems so unlikely and precious that any of us are here at all.

In my short time of boogy-ing my booty under the sweet sun of existence
I have had a few realizations.

It is easy to sleep walk through life.
It is much more pleasureable and significant to be awake and present for life.

As far as we know, we only go through this Life once.
Something else may come next, but it is not clear what it will be
or if there will be anything at all.

So what we have is moments and glimpses of what makes this life amazing.
We also have a fair number of glimpses of how we and others
can choose to degrade or cheapen our experience of aliveness.

What I am trying to do in my life and my art are a few things.
I am calling attention to my experience of being alive.
I am calling out to others to invite them to a celebration of life.

When I walk with my camera,
whether I take a picture or not,
I am more in tune with my surroundings.
I am fully awake in my body and my senses,
in rapt awe of whatever forms happen to exist around me.

I am like the child I was,
when I would lie on my belly
and peer through blades of grass
to watch the mini-world of ants and bugs
in the warmth of the summer sun.

I am in love with my macro lens.
It allows me to pull in close
and look at forms for the sheer beauty of them.

The camera reminds me to pause
and enjoy the sheer pleasure of sight.
I stop my sleep-walking
and view the world with eyes open for every-day miracles.

Little Scientist CD and my Art get noticed in a Weblog

It is not quite my 15 minutes of fame, but my art was used in an Australian friend's CD jacket for his second album, "Little Scientist." The CD and art are mentioned briefly and positively on a weblog, so I thought I would put the links up here for the whole world to enjoy.

Or at least the portion of the world that visits my website.

.

Here is the link to Jeremy Riggs' blog:

http://jeremyriggs.com/blog/?p=84

And this is the link to Dave Robertson's music site:

www.daveroberston.com.au

.

Take care
and take the time to notice wonder.
Even though it hides sometimes,
it is there if you look for it.

Phil

ART AUCTION FUNDRAISER: Thursday April 6th at The Ironworks.

I have donated "i heart U" to support this program:

MYCELIUM – An Art Exhibition and Fundraiser:
Formed bodies of Painting & Sculpture
for your viewing pleasure.

AT THE IRONWORKS – GASTOWN VANCOUVER
– April 6, 2006

All will be welcome to support Street Art Works Mentorship
Society and Ironworks after school arts program

You are invited to an extravaganza of talent to be viewed,
touched and interacted with, from 6pm to 9pm
At the Ironworks 235 Alexander Street.

Food
Live music
Entertainment
Silent art auction
Artist networking
Information about our work with youth

Our youth have been working for the last three-months to put together this exciting exhibition of their work (mainly sculpture). They have also invited a number of local BC artists to join them in “an appearance of the loose network of local artists”.

25% of funds raised will benefit The Ironworks in-house charity for after schools arts programs for youth. 75% will benefit the programs at Street Art Works, which aims to mentor youth through arts based work skills, life skills and entrepreneurial inspiration.

CONTACT: Darren Usher Executive Director
604 876 0234. darren@streetartworks.com
Street Art Works Mentorship Society
202-555 Great Northern Way
Vancouver BC V5T 1E2
T.604 876 0234      F.694 876 0239

Artist Portfolio and Curriculum Vitae

I have just put together a portable portfolio
and will be visiting local galleries and cafes
to build relationships and find new venues
for my work.

On my Spring Break, I brought some art
to my home town where it is now on display
at the Hobbit House on 1st Avenue in Williams Lake.

If you know of any other venues
that may be appropriate for my work,

please leave a comment.

Take care,

Phil.

The Life and Times of an Up and Coming Artist in Vancouver

It has been quite the adventure so far.

I made the decision a little over 2 years ago that I would become self employed as an artist. This is a dream I had in the back of my mind for years. For one reason or the other it always seemed unrealistic. I have had various people encourage and discourage me.

Finally it seemed strange that I had let the voices of discouragement carry so much weight. For too long I had looked at the work of other artists, saying to myself, "I could do that."

Well, now I am doing that.

Two summers ago I gave up the security of working for a paycheque and became part of Stanley Park's Artist Circle. It was a great experience to be there out in the sun, painting and talking with artists and other people as they passed by. I would paint for about 10 hours a day and pack my gear up as the sun set over English Bay.

I still work part time as a youth worker at a high school during the school year. But at some point I mean to let go of that security net and free fall into creative self determination.

Last summer I had my art at a number of Craft Fairs. I began printing cards and T-shirts. My art was part of the grand opening at Chaise Interiors in Gastown. I started to write gallery proposals and looking into places I could put my art.

It was then that I found Arts Off Main. Arts Off Main is an artist-run gallery on 28th Avenue, just a half block east of Main Street. It is nestled amongst many cool shops and stores. Next to us is Beadfreaks, Voltage, Mainly Organics, and Cinephile. Just a bit further down is The Grind Gallery and Locus. Check out Vancouver Modern Uban Guide if you want to see more of what is funky in our neighbourhood.