I’ve been working on a few new pieces lately. This one took forever, and I’m very happy with it. The glass and brass pieces are probably from a bracelet. I found them in a random bag of bits and pieces, mostly broken, I bought at the flea market a few years ago. The rest is new – freshwater pearls, amethyst, and smokey quartz with a brass clasp.
Necklace © Firehorse Designs 2015
Necklace © Firehorse Designs 2015
Necklace © Firehorse Designs 2015
Just waiting for the masses to descend 😉 – so thought I’d write a post. We’re holding these little gatherings once a month now; they are super fun. Here are a few picks:
Miss Bunny Drummond awaits the pleasure of company.
Butter tarts, mincemeat tarts and lemon sugar cookies; I haven’t quite let go of the festive season!
Some of my Firehorse Designs jewellery.
Some of GJ’s work, Teds and Objets.
We had a peaceful, lovely day working in the studio yesterday. Here are a few shots I took of the studio while taking some pics of GJ working for his Patreon site.
GJ making a wing for a new sculpture.
Behind GJ’s workspace; new art on the left, an old piece above the cabinet, and lots of materials, books and ephemera.
Bikes and art and storage…
Sleepy kitty.
GJ’s skeleton candlesticks stand guard over the herb pots.
It’s been a busy few months. In June, we worked with our friends artist Gareth Gaudin and Alison at Dales Gallery to create a show of Gareth’s original drawings from the graphic novel Silence Is A Song I Know All The Words To, which is a collaboration with spoken-word poet Shane Koyczan. The original drawings are now available for purchase here. I’ve been making a lot of new jewellery; some goes up on the online store, some to Eclectic Gallery in Oak Bay, and some we keep around for our open studios which we’ve been having about once a month. GJ’s been very prolific making sculpture. He’s working on a figurative piece today and has two new kinetic pieces, one of which you can see in action here. GJ also submitted recently to Dug North: The Automata Blog and had one of his kinetic pieces featured; very exciting!
A new figurative piece in progress, by GJ Pearson.
Beast on a Biscuit Tin, kinetic sculpture by GJ Pearson.
Jumping Machine by GJ Pearson; video to come soon.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Pearls, glass and silver.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Black stones, grey pearls and glass.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Pink pearls, rose quartz and Italian glass.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Various jades and pearls in shades of green.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Mother of pearl, gold-coloured fresh-water pearls and glass.
Firehorse Designs new necklace: Carnelian, brown jade and silver.
We’ve been helping with another art show at Dales Gallery in Victoria BC, this time for our amazing friend Gareth Gaudin. Gareth recently collaborated with the spoken word poet Shane Koyczan, creating a graphic novel from Shane’s latest collection of poetry. The show features all of the original pages from the book, plus a lot of Gareth’s other works. Along with the reception for the art show, we held a Monster Sisters Party to launch the 3rd issue of Gareth’s latest comic series Enid Jupiter and Lyra Gotham, the Monster Sisters. Dozens of wee children and their families spent the afternoon colouring, such fun! You can see most of the show here. If you’re in Victoria, the show runs until next Saturday, June 28. You can find some great press about the show here, here, here, and here.
The show poster.
Hanging day, the brick wall.
Hanging day, the large chicken illuminated on the back wall.
Gareth being interviewed by Efren from Exhibit-V.
Some of the art, plus the Monster Sisters party poster.
Besides all 100+ pieces on the walls, there are two large binders full of originals and prints.
Red dots!
The reception, Friday 13 June 2014.
The reception, Friday 13 June 2014.
The reception, Friday 13 June 2014.
Ready for the Monster Sisters party.
GJ recently finished a new clock-like piece. I love the way it rings a bell every 6.4 minutes. The video can be seen here.
6:40, kinetic sculpture © GJ Pearson, 2014
6:40, detail © GJ Pearson, 2014
6:40, detail © GJ Pearson, 2014
6:40, detail © GJ Pearson, 2014
Every month is for art in my world, but this month is special. A while ago, we were given an opportunity to curate a show at Dales Gallery, right here in our neighbourhood. GJ and I have both shown our own work there, and love the owner and atmosphere. There was an opening for this month and we decided we would organize a show for our friend Michael Lewis. It’s been a real treat working with Michael and the gallery to make this show happen. Michael has had some great press (here and here) and we’re very happy that sales are going well. Here are a few photos of the process and the show.
Hanging day: Michael and GJ deciding where each of the 24 pieces will be.
It all came together quite quickly; we were able to go for lunch by about 1 pm!
People begin to gather at the opening; a very cold evening, February 6, 2014
The gallery is so beautiful and showcases Michael’s work really well.
Hanging out at Dales on one of the run’s Saturdays; GJ and Michael exchanging puns.
L to R, Kiss Me Deadly, Sands, and Politicians and Pirates, © Michael Lewis
L to R, Lucy, Dryads, Definitely Not the Ripper, On the Rocks, and Beach Open, © Michael Lewis
L to R, The Box and Dick Tracy, © Michael Lewis
We were very sad yesterday to take down our show at Dales Gallery. We had so much fun and met so many interesting people. While we were there, we had a chance to take some video recordings of the new and adapted pieces and update GJ’s youtube channel with new films. The rest of the summer is ahead and we feel excited about the momentum generated during our time at Dales. Thanks to everyone at the gallery for their support!
Paintings ready to leave and the wires which held them for the last two weeks. Our beloved neighbourhood of Chinatown can be seen through the open door.
The walls are bare and ready to showcase the work of other artists.
Here are pics of the seven paintings I have at our show. They are watercolour and ink on 140lb Arches Hot Press paper. Except for no.I, which is a bit larger, they are approximately four by six inches.
Ocean Garden I, Denise Nicholls, 2008
Ocean Garden V, Denise Nicholls, 2013
Ocean Garden III, Denise Nicholls, 2013
Ocean Garden IV, Denise Nicholls, 2013
Ocean Garden II, Denise Nicholls, 2008
Ocean Garden VI, Denise Nicholls, 2013
Ocean Garden VII, Denise Nicholls, 2013
Last week GJ and I set up our new show at Dales Gallery, a block from our studio in Chinatown. The show is mostly of GJ’s kinetic sculptures spanning the last few years of work. He also has some of his sigils and paintings and we made some prints and postcards as well. I had a couple abstract watercolours from 2008 and painted five new ones as well. We also included a few copies of a hand-bound book I made of GJ’s Spirits of the Mechanical Age sculpture series from a few years ago. We had a great day at the opening on Saturday. Lots of visitors seemed delighted in our work, especially in the magical nature of the kinetic pieces. Here are a few pics. Will post more pics of specific pieces and links to new videos throughout the next week.
One of two versions of the invitation I designed for the show.
Personal Worship Device by GJ Pearson.
Three newish graphite pieces by GJ Pearson
GJ’s sigils and graphite and watercolour paintings along with a new kinetic piece Tiny Flying Ship.
My seven Ocean Garden watercolour paintings.
We hung samples of the prints we had made along the back wall.
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