Mobile & Making -

Larger than Life

May 122013

swarm-northern-scene-rosemary-scanlon

A couple weeks ago, I checked out the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) as part of Swarm, a one-night gallery crawl where you can view the works on display at each of the different galleries in the Capital region.

Swarm was part of Northern Scene, a festival that the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa puts on every couple of years to highlight the work of different artists from across Canada. This time around Canada’s north (the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) were being featured as part of Northern Scene.

One thing I found that was different with this Scene is that it featured many artists who are emerging, and whose work I think really resonates with a younger generation. It might be because the population up north is generally younger. But basically there is some really fresh stuff going on up north.

At OAG, I was very excited to see pieces by Joseph Tisiga, Sonja Ahlers and Rosemary Scanlon, the last two whose work I had been introduced to during my visit to Whitehorse a couple years ago for work. I had the chance to hear Sonja speak about her practice during a Pecha Kucha I organized at the MacBride Museum, and I purchased a print of one Rosemary’s pieces (above) at the first pop-up shop north of 60.

A highlight for me at OAG was Veronica Verkley’s “documentary”, The Working Cat’s Guide to the Klondike, which looks at the “nearly forgotten” practice of cat sledding in Dawson City. Lots of people kept asking is it real or not? Kittens in harnesseses? Judge for yourself.

Although Northern Scene has ended, many of the galleries are still showing the works of Northern artists.

For those of you in Ottawa, have you been able to check out any of the shows? What were highlights for you?

Sneak Peek

Apr 302013

It’s finally coming together! After a bit of a delay, I’m really happy to announce today that next month I’m launching an online shop under Mobile & Making! It will feature printed accessories, like tote bags and scarves, inspired by my adventures near and far.

By launching the shop, I want to make pieces that tell stories about other worlds, lived or imagined. It’s that familiar item which you can take with you whereever you travel to remind yourself of where you’ve been, where you are, and where you could go.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the fabric samples I’ll be using, inspired by Miami and Manila. Sun, stars, waves, pennants, boats and seashells. Half way around the world from each other, yet so similar.

I’ll be posting more sneak peeks – watch for them here and on Instagram.

Wynwood Art District

Apr 292013

I thought I might be overdoing it with all my posts on Miami but I wanted to share one last part of our trip from last month. We spent the late part of a Saturday afternoon and evening in Wynwood Art District, around NW 2nd Avenue and NW 25th Street. Part of it was spent chilling at The Wood, admiring the magical floral arrangements and structures at Plant the Future next door, checking out the murals, and having tapas at Wynwood Kitchen and Bar (loved the flash friend bok choy here).

Since we got there late in the afternoon, a lot of the galleries and museums were closed or closing for the day. There’s an Art Walk that happens every second Saturday of the month but our trip didn’t coincide with it. Next time we visit Miami I’d like to plan our trip around it, and spend more time roaming the streets to look at murals. (Although from talking with one of the locals waiting for a taxi and from this article, things sound like they get a little crazy).

Here’s some photos from walking around Wynwood.

Beachy Architecture on Foot

Apr 202013

Seeing the Art Deco in person was one of the reasons why I decided to go to Miami with Jason this year. I`m currently working on some designs for the new online shop I`m launching next month (more soon promise) and the shapes and colours of the Miami Art Deco era are huge inspirations.

Jason and I got up super early on a Sunday to join a walking tour offered by the city’s very own super-heroesque Miami Preservation Design League. The League basically plays a role in advocating for the promotion, preservation and protection of the architecture and history in Miami Beach.

If you’re visiting, definitely add this tour to your list of things to do. MPDL volunteers take you around the Architectural Historic District looking at the different types of architecture and buildings, like the hotels along Ocean Drive. You get to find out about how the area went from being a resort town in the 1930s to attract people from the north east, to getting run down during the Depression, to finally being restored to what it is today.

It was super interesting to learn that there are actually three main styles of architecture: Art Deco, Mediterranean revival and MiMo (Miami Modernism), and a fourth sub-style, Depression Deco or Depression Moderne. Also most of the art deco buildings weren’t brightly coloured at all back when they were built in the 1930s. It was mainly because of the TV show Miami Vice, that asked to repaint them from white or beige to pastel pinks, yellows, blues and greens.

Our guide pointed out that with art deco, buildings are symmetrical and divided into threes: the entrance is in the middle, with windows on either side. There’s also a lot of ornate features, like the carvings on the facade or “eyebrows” that hang over the windows. And lots of neon.

We also learned that art deco buildings pay homage to a lot of the ideas in art at that time, like technological progress. So many architects included ornamentation on the facades of buildings to represent machine and car parts. Like this turbine-engine looking ornamentation on the Greystone. On the Breakwater hotel below, the lines represent speed and velocity.

The Breakwater hotel helped give South Beach some of its glamour back in the 1980s. While everyone else was ignoring Miami, Calvin Klein came here and held a photoshoot on the hotel rooftop with Kate Moss. His ads showed South Beach was a place with potential.

The US Postal Service building is an example of Depression Deco or Depression Moderne, which was often a style used for government buildings.

One tip our tour guide gave us was to go inside some of the buildings – many of them have amazing interiors, like murals or furniture or fixtures that have been restored from the 1930s. Another item to add to my list for the next visit!

Iconic Miami

Apr 192013

I was surprised to find Miami full of amazing graphic design: logos, typography, and signage. It’s a mish mash of retro, kitsch, minimal, Cubist … but all distinctly Miami. Even the front gates to a regular old apartment building were in the shape of flamingos and a palm tree.

Here’s a few shots of my fave designs from our walk around South Beach, the places we visited, and our guided bus tour. Yes, we took a guided bus tour to get to the neighbourhoods beyond the Beach. Like two old retirees. When in Miami I guess.

Flaminigo Plaza is the thrift store heaven I mentioned in this post. It took about 90 minutes using public transit to get here from South Beach but we got to take in a lot of the city we might not otherwise see. I cam away with a lovely bright red dress a la Mad Men, some black and neon floral beach pants, and a pair of wedge sandals in great condition.

We were wandering down a side street off Lincoln Road looking for the restaurant Yardbird and stumbled up on this gated gem.

Unexpected building front in South Beach on Lincoln Road. We would stare at this building often during our trip because it was across the street from a major bus stop. There were lots of unique facades like this around the Beach.

Loved the pastel pink and mint green colours and signage of the Giveaway discount drug store in South Beach on Washington Avenue. Looks like GIVE is older than AWAY. Taken from the top of our tour bus.

We grabbed this beer at The Wood, a bar in the Wynwood Arts District. Great place to chill and have a beer, like this local brew Florida Cracker. We arrived just before sundown, and there was tons of gorgeous light filtering in.

Another building with great retro signage that we would walk by on Lincoln Street in South Beach to catch the bus.

One of the things I was disappointed with during the trip was we didn’t have enough time to really take in Little Havana. We had just enough time to pass through on the guided bus tour. There were so many great murals including this one. With the bus parked in front of Maximo Gomez Park to pick up passengers, you could sneak a peek at the domino players.

My absolute favourite find was this: the City of Miami Beach logo. One triangle, one circle and a few lines positioned correctly convey so much.

Miami is a whole other beast at night. Everything is bathed in neon and light. What you end up taking photos at night is so different from what you take in daylight.

We walked by Club Deuce, a South Beach institution (well at least according to Anthony Bourdain) at least twice a day since it was just down the street from our hotel. We kept meaning to go in, but always said later. Next trip.

Enough said. And near Kim Kardashian’s shop, Dash.

Another amazing piece we stumbled upon flaneuring around South Beach: the Wells Fargo Building on on Alton Road. Each side features murals of iconic people and moments in America history, including this one of American astronauts landing on the moon for the first time.

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