away
This past June, I participated in a month-long residency in Reykjavik Iceland, then spent a few weeks travelling south, then back home, travelling between BC and Saskatchewan. In the next few weeks, I'll update these pages with some of the work I completed at the residency. In the meantime, I chose this image from Marseille as one of my favourite photographs from my time away. The Vieux-Port in Marseille has been graced with a brilliant, reflective canopy and I really enjoyed tipping my camera sky-ward and waiting for just the right shadows to step into view. The experience was a bit like watching an abstract composition in constant and magical movement. I'm in this photograph too, the little inverted 'V' in the middle of the image.
After my return to Vancouver, I completed this oil monotype titled Traveller's Window. This piece is on exhibition in Split, Croatia for the Splitgraphic Biennial VI. The background is a bi-colour impression from a block of wood that's been lightly distressed and curiously textured by time, growth and insects. The panoramic format and the irregularly shaped bars of colour hugging the edges remind me of the glimpses one gets while travelling through. 
  

The Toronto International Art Fair
This is the weekend for the Toronto International Art Fair.
Open Studio is an exhibitor this year and their booth includes six of my large monotypes and works by

Barbara Balfour, Nadine Bariteau, Yael Brotman, Sean Caulfield, Susan Collett, Tara Cooper, Joscelyn Gardner, Libby Hague, Brian Hoxha, Brian Kelley, Judith Klugerman, Jenn Law, Jennifer Linton,

Wendy Morosoff Smith, Ann McCall, Suzanne Nacha, Sandi Ralph, Tammy Ratcliff, Bernice Sorge,

Penelope Stewart, Jeannie Thib, and Celeste Toogood.

art auction for UNICEF
Unite With Art is the 4th Annual Fine Art Auction/Gala Fundraiser to benefit UNICEF Canada.
It's taking place this coming Saturday, June 18 at the Rocky Mountaineer Station.
For tickets and further information, visit the Unite With Art website.
The Auction includes In the Spring of the Year, a painting I completed in 2009.

silent auction
Sakura Saku Nihon e | To the Land of Cherry Blossoms
There's an upcoming Fine Art Auction to benefit earthquake relief in Japan, sponsored by BC Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. It's being held at the Waterfall Events location, in the Waterfall Building at 205 - 2540 West 2nd Avenue, Thursday, May 5, 2011, 4 - 9 pm. Tickets are $10.
The Auction includes work by Malcolm Aiken, Mariko Ando Spencer, Nelly Cesar, Lucie Chan,
Adela Chau, Dana Claxton, Christine D’Onofrio, Antonio E. Fernandez, Yoriko Gillard, Paula Grasdal,
Gu Xiong, Martin Guderna, Kelly Haydon, Robert Held, Annie Hong, Ooya Houen, Tomoyo Ihaya,
Eri Ishii, Joy Kim, Earl Mabaquiao, Donald MacDougall, Ilsoo Kyung MacLaurin, Brenda Mattman,
Kozue Matsumoto, Phil McCrum, Shinsuke Minegishi, my name is scot. Manuel Pina, Marina Roy, Yumiko Sasakawa, Sarah Savoy, Jasha Sokolovic, Nicole Steinbre, Ban Wei, Janice Wong and Yoshi Yamamoto.
The piece that I've donated for the auction is this monotype titled Tree Tops.

Night Falls | oil monotype | 24 x 24 in | paper size: 40 x 40 in

If You're in Toronto...
Open Studio Printmaking Centre | Print Sales Program | Toronto ON
Open Studio in Toronto has added a few of my large monotypes to their Print Sales Program.
Open Studio is Toronto's primary printmaking studio, located in the 401 Richmond building,
a heritage location which houses the printmaking studio and gallery, along with a micro village
of cultural enterprises. 401 Richmond and the intent of its owners is inspiring.
Here's an excerpt from their website:

401 Richmond is a historic warehouse in downtown Toronto and home to over 140 cultural producers and microenterprises. Aware of the need for affordable workspace in the city’s downtown core, the Zeidler Family who purchased the property in 1994, took an aged building with 40% occupancy, and rather than tarting it up or tearing it down, transformed it into a fully-leased thriving cultural and commercial centre within 18 months. Today the building has an eclectic tenant base that reflects the variety of artistic practices and entrepreneurial endeavours taking place in Toronto's cultural centre. Browsing through the Tenant Directory will give you a pretty good idea of the kinds of things that take place under this roof every day. 401 Richmond is home to 12 art galleries, fashion designers, film makers, jewelers, architects, animators, healers, communications specialists, graphic artists, milliners, charitable organizations and even a Spanish dance school.

Vancouver Province Newspaper Article
Thursdays Vancouver Province article didn't have room for the long version of some of
the answers, so I thought I'd put the outtakes here: The outtakes are the green coloured text:

Vancouver Province Newspaper (Vancouver BC) interview:
Portraits of an Artist: Pencil in a visit to Art Beatus and its special works
Hans Ongsansoy, Thursday, August 5, 2010

This week's Portraits of an Artist is a special one because we get to feature work at one of our favourite galleries in the city: Art Beatus. A small gallery with a focus on contemporary Asian works, Art Beatus feels like a secret you can share with your closest friends This is, in part, due to its unconventional location, inside the downtown office building located at 808 Nelson Street. But, once you find the gallery tucked away in Suite 108, the secret will definitely be out.
The gallery's current show is Line Up!, a four-artist group exhibition with a special focus on drawing. Pieces range from pencil crayon drawings and vinyl (intaglio) prints to pencil sketches and sumi ink drawings.
The latter are the specialty of Janice Wong, who uses sumi ink to create pieces that are playful yet meditative. They also bear a resemblance to the symbols used in music theory, which Wong is happy to discuss in our now-weekly Q & A. Enjoy.

Drawing Show at Art Beatus
Art Beatus is hosting a drawing exhibition in conjunction with the 2nd annual Vancouver Drawn Festival. This year's group exhibition presents new works by four stylistically and thematically diverse contemporary Asian artists. Pieces range from pencil crayon drawings to vinyl intaglio prints, pencil sketches and sumi-ink drawings. The sumi-ink drawings are from a series related to my experience of music. The exhibition runs from July 16 – September 10, 2010.

Summer Show | July 2009
Mid-summer is my favourite time of year. Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate the opening of my summer exhibition. It was lovely to finally make use of the courtyard and it gave me great pleasure to share my recent paintings. Special thanks to Paul Fremes (Stuff 2 Do) for the photos and to Geneve Ottman for keeping the sangria topped and chilled.

Flying Books + Dear Neighbours
My hometown show, "Notion", opened on April 17, 2009, at the Art Gallery of Prince Albert
the 4-year-old public art gallery that was built as a complement to the Rawlinson Centre for the Performing Arts. It's a nice, lofty space, 1800 square feet, with a ceiling height that spans a range
of 16 to 30 feet at centre. I enjoyed planning the layout of the work; 7 large paintings, 9 large monotypes and an installation of books.
I'd imagined the flying books as a metaphor for both homecoming and migration. The books,
(all authors, titles and subjects based in Saskatchewan) straddle small rooftops. The rooftops have varying pitch and I'd hoped that, seen front-on, they might resemble birds in flight. On a small floating shelf, above a small stack of books, I installed a tiny model of the house I grew up in.
And one of my favourite photographs from the opening shows our dear former neighbour,
Gertie Tennant, gazing up at the old house.

The house model was built by Garry Lundgren, the rooftops were constructed by Derrick Carter,
the roof angles were calculated by Helen O'Toole and the books were borrowed from the
J.M. Cuelanaere Library in Prince Albert.



And, here are a few more photos from the Notion Exhibition.

Studio Grand Opening | November 2008
After a long summer of studio renovations, I finally returned to painting in October, just in time to finish some work for the grand opening of the new space. We were so happy that the contraptions
we designed for the studio—the moveable wall/storage unit (built by Laurence Heppell) and the sink divider (cobbled together by me and George)—worked, both in terms of aesthetics and function. Everyone who visited seemed to enjoy the space and the various inventions, and the sink divider was deemed worthy of Ikea hacker!
You can click this link to see more photos from the grand opening.

Last Open Studio with Eastside Culture Crawl
At the time, I hadn't realized that 2007 would be the last year that I would participate in the
Eastside Culture Crawl. That was the 11th year for the 'Crawl and the 12th year for the Open Studio event which was started by Louise Page in 1995. Before that, in the spring of 2004, Sophie Fernandez Hamilton and David Pirie launched "Work In Progress" Vancouver Artists in their Studios, a city-wide open studio event.

Split Graphic Biennale 2007 | Solo Exhibition
Here are a few of my recent monotypes currently in a solo exhibition
taking place at the 3rd Split Graphic Beinnale, Split, Croatia, 2007.
We couldn't travel to Croatia this year, but there are some travel photos
from our 2005 trip in this older post. We hope to get back there soon.


up down
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 11.75 in / 23 x 30 cm


two blue
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 11.75 in / 23 x 30 cm


a new standard
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 11.75 in / 23 x 30 cm


notion
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


blue flag
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


near far
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


it takes two
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


a short distance between us
oil monotype : 2004 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


ticket 1
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm


ticket 2
oil monotype : 2007 | 9 x 9 in / 23 x 23 cm

Kiss | oil monotype | 24 x 24 in | paper size: 40 x 40 in

Janice Wong + Nikola Skokandic Exhibition | Split Graphic Biennale, Split Croatia 2005
"Dialogue", a 2-person show with Croatian artist Nikola Skokandic, opened in Split, Croatia,
Autumn 2005.
The exhibition, held in conjunction with the 2nd Split Graphic Biennale, was installed in the
Music Academy which is part of the Diocletian's Palace old city enclave of Split.
We had the happy opportunity to visit Split, Dubrovnik, Trogir, and two of the Dalmatian
islands—Hvar, Korcula. The beauty of these gems will resonate for years to come.


Pavo's poster for the Splitgraphic Biennale, 2005.
The image of the child is from the Split Municipal Archives. | photo courtesy Pavo Majic


Konzervatorska Galerija, the pink building on the right, one of two locations
for the exhibition.


Janice Wong, Pavo Majic, Nikola Skokandic, Josko Belamaric, Minister of Culture
photo courtesy of Maja Majic


George and me | photo courtesy Lajla Nuhic


View of Hvar from the Citadel


Korcula | these narrow slices between buildings were designed for a practical function.
They serve as protection from the Bora, the strong winter winds the whip over the Adriatic.


Walking the city wall, Dubrovnik | view of the Adriatic


Rooftops | Dubrovnik


Sunlight | Trogir

A Number of Events Exhibition | Open Studio Printmaking Gallery | Toronto 2005

Excerpt from essay for exhibition catalogue:

"Not Everything All at Once"
solo exhibition | Janice Wong | Open Studio Gallery| Toronto, 2005.

Janice Wong's works are exquisitely crafted compositions of colour and geometry that look like science and feel like a dream; schematics of systems floating in larger systems; hybrids of light and sound and other things we don't know. They are at once rational and mystical, mathematical and organic, scientific and spiritual, dynamic and meditative. They are calm and beautiful things that seduce and invite the viewer in where the final transcendence happens; we start to think about the relationships between the lines and the shapes and the blurs and the colours and the composition, and by our nature start to organize and make sense of these equations, this code, this language. We stay this long enough to think about these things because the work is curious and beautiful and we feel its sincerity. Curious, beautiful and sincere; there is truth there.

James Koester, Vancouver 2005
Vancouver sculptor James Koester's recent work includes a global mapping project and a sleep pod.


Falling Floating | oil monotype | Sold
16 x 16 in| paper size: 22 x 30 in


Little Squid | oil monotype | Sold
24 x 24 in | paper size: 40 x 40 in


Mirage | oil monotype | Sold
24 x 24 in | paper size: 40 x 40 in


Reunion | oil monotype
16 x 16 in | paper size: 22 x 30 in


Raincoast | acrylic on wood panel | 16 x 16 in | Sold

A Number of Events Exhibition | Open Studio Printmaking Gallery | Toronto 2005
"A Number of Events", a solo exhibition of my recent, large-sized monotypes, opened in Toronto
at Open Studio on June 23, 2005. Open Studio is Toronto's primary printmaking studio, located in
the 401 Richmond building, a heritage location which houses the printmaking studio and gallery,
along with a micro village of cultural enterprises. Here's a bit more on 401 Richmond, an excerpt
from their website.

401 Richmond is a historic warehouse in downtown Toronto and home to over 140 cultural producers and microenterprises. Aware of the need for affordable workspace in the city’s downtown core, the Zeidler Family who purchased the property in 1994, took an aged building with 40% occupancy, and rather than tarting it up or tearing it down, transformed it into a fully-leased thriving cultural and commercial centre within 18 months. Today the building has an eclectic tenant base that reflects the variety of artistic practices and entrepreneurial endeavours taking place in Toronto's cultural centre. Browsing through the Tenant Directory will give you a pretty good idea of the kinds of things that take place under this roof every day. 401 Richmond is home to 12 art galleries, fashion designers, film makers, jewelers, architects, animators, healers, communications specialists, graphic artists, milliners, charitable organizations and even a Spanish dance school.