How do media people do it? Shaw TV filmed me working in my art studio at Harcourt House and out in nature taking photographs for two hours and they made an amazing artist interview boiled down into three minutes. But what amazing three minutes they are!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn0uhGDvr5U&w=600&rel=0]
The 25th anniversary of Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre in Edmonton will be celebrated with another stellar event, the annual Member’s Exhibition. As a part of the Works Art and Design Festival, the theme and title of the show is Kinetic.
This event doubles as a fundraiser for the gallery and I encourage all to come out and lend support to an amazing local organization. I will be selling my new (never before seen) work to support Harcourt and their impressive list of programs.
As the Artist in Residence at Harcourt House, I will be opening my studio, giving a poetry reading and demonstrating the woodworking techniques I have developed in my current body of work entitled, “The Quiet Rebuild.” It is going to be an exciting opening and exhibition!
Save the date! Here are the details:
Need a reason to get out of the house today? Come from your house to ours! I’ve got just the thing for you: The Art Market in ‘da House. Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre. One of my favorite artists will be there: yours truly of course!
The Harcourt House Art Market is unique as it takes place right in the gallery and each artist’s booth acts as a mini exhibition. This is an event you don’t want to miss if you are an art lover in Edmonton. Come support the gallery and purchase original art from local emerging and established artists. There will be something for everyone, traditional art to experimental works. Even craft and design!
I will also be selling my new favorite goodies: sweet smelling candles and creative cards.
Come out for a great Saturday event! Here are the details:
Art Market
An art and design show and sale
Saturday, May 25th, 2013
1:00 – 7:00pm
Harcourt House Gallery
10215-112 Street
Entry by donation
It will be a great day as my work shares the gallery walls with these amazing artists:
I cannot tell you how much I love my wonderful art patrons. You buy my work, attend my openings and generally cheer me on. Thank you!
This Saturday I will be exhibiting some never before seen artwork I created while I lived in New Zealand. I’ve got paintings made with the very sand and sea shells of the Eastern Beach where my hubby and I took up residence for two years. The work is colorful, textural and ready to be adopted into good homes.
I’m also offering some newer works and even showing a sneak peak piece from my upcoming solo exhibition entitled “The Quiet Rebuild” which will adorn the main gallery of Harcourt in a solo exhibition in October of this year.
For some art is a hobby. As a professional artist, the boundary between hobby and work often overlap and blur. But that’s fine with me. One of my newest hobbies, candle making, will debut at the Harcourt Art Market and I’m thrilled. If you are looking for a handmade gift with a creative twist, these candles are for you! Vintage meets chic style – but that’s all I will say for now. Come and see for yourself.
Art Market
An art and design show and sale
Saturday, May 25th, 2013
1:00 – 7:00pm
Harcourt House Gallery
10215-112 Street
Entry by donation
One week from now a select number of Edmonton’s fine artists will gather to exhibit their work at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre. As the gallery’s Artist in Residence, I’m proud to be taking part in this creative endeavor, which serves as a fundraiser for this awesome local gallery and creative hub in our city.
Speaking of the important role Harcourt plays, and this impact extends well beyond only our art community, this Market and festivities mark the 25th anniversary of Harcourt in Edmonton. Be there to be part of this special event. Save the date!
Art Market – An art and design show and sale
Saturday, May 25th, 2013
1:00 – 7:00pm
Harcourt House Gallery
10215-112 Street
Entry by donation
Evening event – $5 at the door
8:00 – 10:00pm
Annex Building
10211-112 Street
– A multimedia retrospective with Absolutely No Respect, Plan 9 From Outer Space
– Music by Wind Rose AKA Gary James Joynes, Bong Sample AKA Peter Thiessen, Reinhard Von Berg, Allison Balcetis & F13m
Artwork and photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute
Being the Artist in Residence at Harcourt House has allowed me to find my footing within my current body of art and take off running. The time and space they have provided me to develop my creative work is one of the greatest gifts an artist can receive. The people who work at Harcourt House are pretty amazing too!
Truly the time has flown by and with the close of March I tick off my fifth month at the gallery. Five months! On one hand I feel like, ‘Where has the time gone?’ but on the other I am amazed at the gift of time itself.
Art and photography copyright Alexis Marie Chute
What exactly do I spend my time on you ask? Answer: lots of hard work and creative play.
I approach my artwork through experimentation with my chosen materials (wood, glue, yarn, acrylic paint…) while holding my concept loosely in my head (and my heart) to see where it all takes me.
For those of you new to my blog, the greater meaning behind my work is the idea of rebuilding ones life after hardship. My method is very akin to my materials and process themselves; I am experimenting using art to heal.
Art and photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute
The images in this post are some of my very recent work. I began using Jenga pieces in some of my compositions and found this consumerist approach a fun twist while drawing on the concept of the game itself; build as high as you can until your structure falls over. When it does, which is always the case, you laugh and build again learning from your mistakes and constructing your tower even higher the next time.
I love a comment from Brand on my last Harcourt House Residency update. He said my work reminded him of photographic pixels. That notion blows me a way – I LOVE IT! It totally jives with the photographer in me. I am percolating ideas of how to incorporate that concept into my work and am excited about it.
As always, I LOVE company at my studio so please come for a visit! I purposefully have lots of seating so come talk art, life or whatever is on your mind. Contact me to find a time that works.
As February stretches onwards, I marvel that I am over a quarter of the way into my residency at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre. To say time flies is an understatement; time tornados by! Yet, I make sure to slow myself to appreciate every precious moment of it.
I wanted to share some of my new work that has been my labor of love since November 2012. Really, I have too much to share here and will soon create a new category on my website in the portfolio section. Stay tuned.
Copyright Alexis Marie Chute
I have been working with wood, both sculpturally and on flat surfaces. Currently I am holding my breath waiting on a big order of cut wooden pieces to arrive – then I will be feverishly creating even more unique “city-like” designs (so I’ve been told they resemble by visitors to my studio). The long wait would be negated if anyone reading this is skilled with a _________ (insert word here that names a wood cutting tool with the precision to cut very small squares) – if you or someone you know is able to give me a hand, please get in touch!
At first I wasn’t quite sure how my paintings relate to my wood creations but when the Harcourt House Executive Director, Derek Brooks, popped in one day and explained to me the correlation – I finally got it. It’s true, apparently, that artists can be too close to their own work to notice connections sometimes.
I am in the groove working in my studio. It’s a romance with my materials and I am constantly exploring new ways of creating with them – truly a fun time.
Want to crack open the creative possibilities of Photoshop? Have you ever wondered how Photoshop can make your photographs and artwork even better but don’t know where to begin?
Look no further! I will be teaching a Beginners Photoshop Workshop at Harcourt House!
Saturday, February 16 & Sunday, February 17, 2013
10am – 3pm (Bring your own lunch and snacks)
Cost: $110 ($80 Harcourt House members – if you are not a member, please consider joining!)
Individual students must bring their own laptop with the newest version of Photoshop installed. Please also have at least 5 images of people and 5 non-people images to edit.
Learn how to make your good photos great through many awesome Photoshop techniques. Want to remove a zit? Brighten a dark photo? Make your image look vintage? We will be covering spot removal, how to adjust exposure, create interesting black & white images, and how to harness the power of Photoshop filters.
Saturday: Editing images of people
Sunday: Editing images without people
There is limited space in the class so register early by calling (780) 426-4180! It is going to be a great weekend of creative play and guided experimentation with results you will be excited about.
The class will be taking place in the Annex, the one story metal building beside the Harcourt House gallery.
Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute
Harcourt House
10215 112 Street Northwest
Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7
Find a map here.
(780) 426-4180
This is not a shameless plug – I am not even getting paid (but maybe I should…). I just wanted to share with the world (and specifically Edmonton #yeg) my love and appreciation for Vi’s for Pies.
Vi’s for Pies is a little café style joint I learned about through friends. We went to a Harcourt House gallery opening in October and then chose Vi’s for desert afterwards. I immediately fell in love with their cozy atmosphere and their chocolate caramel cake (triple yum!).
13408 Stony Plain Rd NW (780) 454-4300
Hours:
Tue-Thu 9 am – 10 pm
Fri 9 am – 11 pm
Sat 10 am – 11 pm
Sun 10 am – 4 pm
Harcourt House
10215 112 Street Northwest
Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7
(780) 426-4180
My wood sculptures are growing in width and height – and even colour! I have finished a small but complex piece and am breezing along with another that will end up being as tall as I am!
This week I will be building large stretchers, about 6 x7 feet, and stretching them with unprimed canvas. With these I will be creating my ‘forest’ so to speak. Likely by the New Year the walls of my studio will be transformed with colour and paintings of the evolution of the natural life of a forest through growth, fire and regrowth.
Wood pieces sit drying after being glued. Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute
I have met a few other artists in the Harcourt House Annex and have come to feel so at home in my studio already. I want each moment of my residency to stretch out as long as possible – it is a dream come true and I love every second!
Little glued pieces wait to be used in my sculptures. Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute
(AIR = Artist in Residence)
