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NEWSFLASH!
Jan. 16th, 2019: Volume 825
From the Office
Hi Everyone,
Wow it's 2019... I wonder what the year will hold. I didn't make an pesky resolutions I won't be able to keep. I have never really been a resolution person; if you want to change something about your life why wait until Jan. 1st? I am still trying to shake off the long vacation fog, so much so that I can't remember if I showed you the work of Matthew Simmonds.
Simmonds carves miniature architectural spaces out of white limestone, marble and granite. There is a certain sereneness to the scultpor's work, looking at the pieces you easily imagine yourself inhabiting the spaces. What I like best about Simmonds work is when he leaves one whole side of a sculpture rough. Looking at it from the other side it must just look like an ordinary rock. There is something magical about seeing light pass through one of these tiny worlds, the geometry casting layered shadows. Inspired by architectural intersections and places like Petra in Jordan, Simmonds likes finding the common architectural root of different cultures. As a child he scoured the marble factory his father worked at for niches; a place to hide and reflect, something he still seems to be doing in his work. Is there a meditative quality to your work?
Trina
For Your Interest
Fading Vestiges / K.Claire MacDonald
Among the Garbage & the Flowers / Susan Avishai
The Mary E. Black Gallery presents artists K. Claire MacDonald and Susan Avishai in side by side solo shows that explore memory, loss and transformation through the deconstruction/reconstruction of surface design.
Susan Avishai’s body of textile works in Among the Garbage & the Flowers began with the deconstruction of her mothers clothing. Tenderly saving the patterned material by piecing the textiles back together to form soft sculptures; a tangible transformation of memory. Among the Garbage & the Flowers provokes a dialog about material use, to reuse before discarding and to think more consciously about the longevity of what we purchase or make to clothe ourselves.
In Fading Vestiges K. Claire MacDonald applies a painted surface to metal then cuts and shapes it into delicate flowers. Gentle brush strokes and hues touch the surface of her jewelry merging these mediums of formal art and craft. Uncovering a flower press from childhood K. Claire MacDonald opened a small time capsule of perfectly preserved mementos sparking an exploration of Fading Vestiges. The artist draws on various flora as metaphors for memories of people and places.
Both Avishai and MacDonald cross disciplines and explore the deconstruction of surface patterns. Each artist mirrors the other in their use of colors creating a harmonious dialog of personal memory and material exploration in the Mary E. Black Gallery.
“I seek to embrace the intended state of uncertainty. It is in this ambiguity that traces of different disciplines can cross, tangle and dissolve, and move into a new context with greater clarity.” ~ K. Claire MacDonald
Mary E. Black Gallery
1061 Marginal Rd. Suite 140, Halifax, NS
Opening: Thursday January 17, 6pm
On view: January 18 - March 3, 2019
Craft LAIR (Local Artist In Residence) - Merle Harley
Centre For Craft
Opening: Thursday January 17, 6pm
Residency Duration: January 18 - March 3, 2019
Merle Harley is an interdisciplinary queer artist who creates knitting, weaving, book projects, videos pieces and built structures. Merle recently finished a residency at CFAT electronics lab exploring the links between the history of computers and the textile industry, where they disrupted the usual use of the lab by filling it with yarn and playing around with coding, soft circuits and e-textiles.
"For the past year I have been conducting interviews and visiting different locations to meet LGBTQ+ people and hear their stories about what it is like living within rural areas of Nova Scotia. I have been told many stories that include: local myths, scandals, personal stories, locations of queer meeting spots, slang, communication methods, love stories, rumours, radical acts, rebellion, and soft stories of care. With this knowledge and inspiration, I will incorporate visual details representing these stories into the textile based sculptures." ~ Merle Harley
Did you receive a grant last year?
Tax Season is coming, if you're new to claiming grant money you might want to check out:
A Guide to Preparing Your Taxes After Receiving a Grant
http://cadawest.org/wp-content/uploads/Government-Grants-Tax-Treatments-Guide-Generator-2018.pdf
CanadianArt has also recently published a piece on how CRA sees artists which you can read here.
Aestival Festival tickets are now available!
It's never too early to be thinking about warmer weather. As you know each year, to celebrate the beginning of summer, members of Craft Nova Scotia donate their work in support of our organization, between 105 and 120 pieces of fine craft are collected for the event. One hundred tickets to the event will be sold. Throughout the evening numbers from 1 to 100 will be drawn, corresponding to the ticket numbers. When a ticket holder hears his or her number called, s/he has 20 seconds to select one object from all the craft displayed. Join us Friday, June 14th 2019 at 7pm for a evening of fine craft and great company.
For more information or to buy tickets call 902-423-3837 or stop by and visit us at 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax.
Copenhagen-based artist Matthew Simmonds carves miniature architectural interiors, angular shapes, and tiny windows filled with symbolic objects, trinkets, and animals. His ghostly white sculptural forms are cut from and presented within raw stone, which allows for a striking contrast between his designs and the medium’s natural surface.
Although Simmonds mainly focuses on sacred architecture, particularly from the Medieval era, he is drawn to how cultures overlap and influence each other. His work often references a variety of architectural styles in one piece, and sometimes presents abstract forms. “I get inspired by real architectural spaces, but the works are not reproductions of actual buildings in miniature, with the exception of the Elevation series,” says Simmonds. Read more at Colossal.
Call For Proposals & Submissions
Call for Exhibition Proposals
The Mary E. Black Gallery invites proposals from community groups, cultural groups, guilds, artists, craftspeople and curators for exhibitions in 2021. Annually, seven shows are selected by the Exhibition Review Committee to fulfill the gallery's mandate, as Nova Scotia's only public fine craft gallery, to exhibit traditional and contemporary fine craft created by aspiring and established local, regional, Canadian and international artists. Juried, curated and travelling exhibitions are eligible.
Year round the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design hosts exhibitions in the Mary E. Black Gallery which educate the public about craft and design and promote the pursuit of excellence in the craft community.
Submissions must include the following:
Letter of Intent/Proposal, Proposals and support material must be submitted via Dropbox link to administration@craft-design.ns.ca by 4pm AST on March 29, 2019.
Late submissions, incomplete applications, or submissions sent outside dropbox will NOT be accepted.
Centre for Craft Nova Scotia & Mary E. Black Gallery
1061 Marginal Road, Suite 140
Halifax, NS B3H 4P7
902.492.2522
administration@craft-design.ns.ca
Octopus Garden by Mary Jane Lundy
Truro Art Society 2nd Annual Sculpture Show Call for Submissions
The Truro Art Society invites artists to submit work for our second sculpture show.
Once again the show will be hosted by the McCarthy Gallery in the NSCC Campus, Truro NS, and will be on display throughout March 2019. We are looking for any form/medium of sculpture, or object, which is not utilitarian.Work can be free standing or wall mounted. Keep in mind that if work is wall mounted that it must be able to hang from a wire/hook system.
Individuals can submit as many pieces as they like, however there is no guaranty that all your pieces will be shown. It will depend on submissions and how much space is available.
Deadline: Feb. 28th, 2019
Downtown Dartmouth is seeking interest from artists who would like to participate in carving Ice Sculptures during the Downtown Dartmouth Ice Festival.
Artist fee: $100 honorarium
The ice block is 40 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 10 inches thick. It weighs 300 lbs. Carving will be taking between 9 am and 7pm on February 9th. The ice arrives Friday evening. There are limited spots available, some experience is an asset.
Please submit a statement, artist cv and representational image of your plan to tim@downtowndartmouth.ca
Visit the Facebook event page for more info.
Funding & Opportunities
Halifax Crafters Spring Market Applications
Applications are now open!
Deadline for applications is February 8th at 11:59pm
Show takes place May 4th & 5th, 2019 at Olympic Centre – 2304 Hunter St.
Issue #8 Form CreatedHere
It’s time! The 8th issue of CreatedHere magazine will explore the concept of form. They are looking for submissions in three categories, sculpture, metal and ideas. Sculpture is art taking physical shape, formed by hands into something that was not there before. Metal is a unique material that must be worked with fire and force in order to form it. This issue will explore how metal is used by contemporary artists in New Brunswick to bring their concepts to life. There is also room for other mediums as we explore how ideas take shape. The process of clothing creativity with matter is one that every artist must grapple with.
Call Deadline: Feb. 1st, midnight
Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival
For the last five thousand years 160 billion tons of water have flowed in and out of the Bay of Fundy four times in twenty four hours. The sea rises and falls forty feet twice a day. The results are some of the most stunning sea/landscapes on the planet. Thirty top plein air artists will be selected from across North America and will compete for more than $8,000 in cash and product awards.
Deadline: Feb. 15th
Classified
 
12 display stands FREE to a good home
They have previously been used in gallery displays so are sturdy, but depending on your needs may need to be altered. they are square metal frames, about 7/8 feet high by 4’wide. with hooks on 3 crossbars.
call 902-469-6746. They are lightweight but obviously would need a truck/van.
email miranova05@ns.sympatico.ca
 Established candle studio/gift shop seeking new owners
Profitable Craft Studio and Retail Business for sale in Chester N.S. Business established since 1993 with Retail portion established in 2005. Specialize in works of Maritime artisans including a wide variety of candles and candle making supplies. Full listing of suppliers. Turn key facility includes furnishings, equipment, molds, supplies, website and retail stock. Proactive business community. Good base local Chester and Halifax clients. Potential to grow. Active business association. Current owners willing to train.
Contact Judy and Bill candles@eastlink.ca or call 902-275-5800 (shop) or 902-275-5360 (home)
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