Philip Stephen's blog

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.

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^th at 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.

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.

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

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

www.streetartworks.com

www.theironworks.ca

  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, 

  Phil.

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.

Much coolness abounds -- though our little gallery does not attract as much foot-traffic as I would like.  It is just off Main Street, and the many window browsers in the area do not frequently step off the beaten track to explore the side streets of the neighbourhood.

I have been a member of the gallery since September.  We have just become incorporated, so I suppose I have joined the ranks of small business owners in Vancouver.  It has been pretty good to me so far.  Most months I sell a painting or two.  I do not have much space with the half-share i purchased and pay rent for -- so most pieces I put up are fairly small and reasonably priced.

I am still working part time, and work a number of shifts at the gallery each month, so I have not put a lot of energy into looking for other galleries, cafes, and shops to display my art at.  I have managed to donate a number of pieces to local causes such as Thrive! and the Centre for Spiritual Living in Vancouver. 

My spring break has just begun, so I have a bit of time to spare.  This means I am touching up my website, preparing a physical portfolio for printing, and soon to hit the streets to visit the funky galleries, cafes, and shops of Vancouver.  I also hope to finishi a few children's stories I have been working on.

You will be sure to hear of any upcoming shows if you peek into my gallery from time to time.  Send me an e-mail if you would iike to be on a mailing list or have any questions and comments about myself or my work.

Take care, live your dreams, show your love, be aware of wonder.
Have fun out there.

Phil.
 

phil@philipstephen.com

"Artists With Heart" 

From February 11-14th Arts Off Main Gallery 

will donate 10% of all sales to the Vancouver Food Bank.

We will also have a limitted run of Valentines Bookmarks

100% of bookmark sales will go to the Vancouver Food Bank. 

You can find Arts Off Main at 216 East 28th Avenue.

We will be open from 11am - 6pm on Feb 11-14th.

www.artsoffmain.ca