Studio Move
After 17 years at 1000 Parker Street, I'm moving my studio.
We're taking over a dog biscuit bakery located in Kitsilano, between 1st and 2nd avenues on Fir Street. And it means downsizing from 900 square feet to just under 600.
This collage of "before" photos shows the bakery paraphanalia, the courtyard, front door and the task we have ahead of us—to ceate a fresh white space that combines a small exhibition space and studio.
To get to that state, we'll be tearing down walls, spraying the ceiling, resurfacing and painting the drywall, scraping and painting the floor and building multi-purpose furniture to make the most of a modest-sized space.

A New Website
It's been six years since Otto Lejeune and I launched my studio website. In the intervening years, websites have become easier--and more fun--to fiddle with, which means I'll be updating the site on a regular basis.

I just added an inspiration page (Spark) to the site. I always try to have a small camera in my bag; you never know when you'll see something that makes you stop and wonder (and draw a satisfied breath). Now all those wonders can go into the inspiration page. While trying to learn some Italian last spring, my teacher, Paolo, said that "inspiration" translates to ispirazione in Italian, which in turn derives from the Latin word inspirare, which means "to breathe in," with a further poetic inference of infusing the soul with creative flow.
And I found this:
Inspiration derives from the Latin word spirare (breathe) and that likely came from the prehistoric Indo-European base speis or peis, an imitation of the sound of blowing or breathing out. The Indo-European root is also the source of Old Slavonic piskati (whistle), Serbo-Croatian pistati (hiss) and Old Norse fisa (fart).

Work 03/2008
I'm currently working on a series of paintings, varying sizes, the smallest are about 3 x 4 inches,
the largest are approximately 45 x 48 inches.

I'm also in the midst of the language series. This piece is the starting point.



3 layers of handmade gampi and kozo paper, 60 x 90 inches.
The kozo layer is silkscreened (white on white) on the back.



A detail of the piece.

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

Books
Crawford Kilian kindly referenced my website and related blogs in his new book Writing for The Web.

Speaking of books, if you're looking for a copy of Chow, you can find it at your local bookshop, or you can purchase online via the Chow Bookstore. And, if you want to catch up on the latest news about Chow, you can visit the Chow Blog. All the event listings and articles are posted there.

Painting Commission
Commission for a painting based on this previous work: "Average Daily Snowfall."
Commission installed Spring, 2006 | Brent Comber Studio

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.