The Artful PopUp: 2017

Monday, October 16, 2017

PopUp Workshop - November 11 at Meta4 Gallery

Join me for a great day of Paper Engineering at Meta4 Gallery in Port Perry.

Everything is supplied, including a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

Using colourful hand-painted papers, you'll learn how to make a Pop-Up art piece that moves when you open and close it.

You will finish the piece with backing boards so you have a lovely work of art to display.

These gallery workshops are a lot of fun and well worth the drive to Port Perry. Bring a friend and enjoy a day of creating with me!

Monday, August 7, 2017

Paper Engineering at HSAD

Summer Workshops

Another brilliant day of messing about with paper at the Haliburton School of the Arts. We went to town with sculptured popups and platforms. Everything from colourful creatures to architectural abstracts and flights of fancy and fantasy.

I'm always amazed at the fabulous ideas that pop up at these workshops.

The energy was high and the work was inspiring!

Unfortunately, something went wrong with my camera and I was disappointed to discover I had lost many of the photos I took of the work that was created.

Sculpted creature

Architectural Platform

Hand-painted paper Abstract

Frog on a Lily Pad Platform

More Hand-painted Paper

Abstract Platform

Sun Sculpture

Monday, June 26, 2017

Weekend Workshop at META4 Gallery

A stellar crop of PopUps from a fabulous group in Port Perry this Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun learning how to make these nested parallel folds and platforms. Everyone took their piece in a different direction with lots of great ideas. They kept me on my toes and, as always, made me think about new directions for my own work. A big Thank You to the owners of META4 - Jen, Birgitta, and Bonnie!

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Artful PopUp Workshop at The Bindery

I am looking forward to a happy weekend of teaching Artful PopUps at The Bindery for CBBAG.

There's still some room if you want to join us.

Check it out here

Monday, May 29, 2017

Small Things

I set myself a small project a few nights ago that I completed in an evening.

A couple of weeks ago I was showing my work to a book artist, who in turn showed me her work. She told me that her time was at a premium, so when she wanted to make something, it had to be done within a couple of hours. I put off projects because I start thinking everything has to be epic - but nothing gets done unless I have loads of spare time - which I don't! So I took inspiration from the 'quick and dirty' method - 2 hours and it's done. There's a lot to be said for making fast artistic decisions and using what materials are at hand. It's also a really great way of using up some of those beautiful scraps that I can't bear to throw out. And at the end, it's so much more satisfying to have a little concertina popup book in hand, than to say I binge-watched yet another series of detective shows on Netflix...

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Student Work

This March, I was invited to teach a five-day PopUp workshop at Cawthra Park Secondary School with Grade 9 and 10 Visual Arts students. I worked with them last year, too, and I have to say that they're an awesome group of people to work with! They take what I teach them and run with it. We used coloured paper to make concertina books with end boards. Every day I showed them a different kind of paper-engineering device. Their themes were Figures, Heroes, and Space (inner or outer). I didn't see the finished books until I was invited to the Spring Artfest - an annual showcase of student work. Their books just blew me away - so many creative ways of exploring the given themes and such a high level of skill and talent. Each book different - playing with a variety of colour schemes, delicate hand-cut designs, humour, inventive engineering - they humble me. Above are just a few samples of the students' work, to give you an idea of how well the books turned out.

Results like this make it all worthwhile!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Spring is Almost Sprung...


...and Pop Up Workshops are popping up all over!

I'm very excited to see my workshops happening all over the GTA and beyond.

Sat. & Sun. April 22 & 23, I will be at Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke for a 2-day Artful PopUp Workshop.
For more information click here.

Sat. & Sun. June 3 & 4, CBBAG will be hosting a 2-Day PopUp Workshop at the Bindery in Toronto.

Click here for more information.

Saturday, June 24, I am pleased to be teaching a one-day workshop with the fabulous Meta4 Gallery in Port Perry. They feature beautiful fine arts and crafts by Ontario artists and artisans, and are a hub for art education and community involvement. I'm really looking forward to working with these enthusiastic people.

Saturday, July 15,  Paper Engineering: Pop-Up Workshop at Haliburton School of Art and Design - a full day workshop. See the PDF file for HSAD Summer programs here.

Artful PopUp Workshops are suitable for all skill levels. I work closely with my students to ensure a successful outcome for everyone! The emphasis is on learning Paper Engineering techniques that can be adapted to your artistic vision. We use painted and decorative papers, decorative punches and other embellishments to bring your pieces to life. If you've taken one of my workshops before, you'll know that I'm flexible in my approach and open to requests. If you like working with paper (origami, making books, collage, scrapbooking) you'll love making your own Pop Up pieces.