Art AND cake? I’m in! This is the brand new collage work of American artist/illustrator KC Christmas, and you know what, I’m just gonna say it… I get to take a tiny bit of credit {maybe 2%ish} for these hilarious, delicious, whimsical pieces. Here’s why:

“For this week’s #thejealouscurator challenge, where could I go if I had the choice? I would go to an art museum made of cake. Think about it! What sweeter way to enjoy art than with friends and some cake?” ~ KC on Instagram #afyecamp

YES! I love it when a seemingly carefree assignment leads to an entirely new body of work! And good news, she finally put some of these collages into her Etsy shop – go get yourself some artsy dessert.

Hello, campers! Here we are at week 5, but before we get started I have to show you just a few of your favorite places “captured with collage”. Since I gave you guys the option of doing a Venice themed collage for the European Cultural Academy contest, I decided that’s the route I’d take too…

“hollywood had not led lana astray – italian men were absolutely effervescent!”

Ahhh, gondolas and gelato – see you soon! And, once again, you all did amazing things with this challenge. From dreamy visions of Venice to art galleries made of cake… here are a few pieces pulled from Instagram via our summer camp hashtag, #AFYEcamp {photo credit links are at the very bottom of the post} :

What?! Seriously, so much goodness lives at this hashtag. Speaking of our hashtag, let’s find out what’s going to show up there later this week…

Art Project No.5:

“Bad Art ’n Good Snacks” : Have you ever done this? It’s such a great way to spend an evening! Here’s what you do – get a group of friends together this week {even just one friend will work}. Everyone shows up with their old art supplies and junky craft materials … you know, the stuff you don’t want in your house – old yarn, glitter, brown acrylic paint, leftovers from the grocery store project. Next, add snacks, wine, s’moreos, whatever you like. Finally, make the ugliest thing you can possibly make – this way the worst thing you’ve ever produced is behind you and there’s nowhere to go but UP! Also, it’s just a really great excuse to hang out with some good friends while eating pizza.

Artist Examples:

Let’s start with a peek at Martha Rich‘s wacky group projects. I’d LOVE to live closer to her for all sorts of reasons, but getting invited to these art nights is right at the top of that list:

Hilarious! Can’t you see this as her bio photo in an art history text book one day? Totally.

And now, onto the gorgeous paintings of Leah Giberson. Yes, these are paintings:

Crazy. And, not only do I love her work, I also love Leah’s story about getting together with her group of artist friends once a month. We should all do that … we all need to do that. Perfect segue into this group of artists… Canada’s “Group of Seven”:

That’s one of my favorite Group of Seven paintings above. It’s the work of Frederick Varley {titled “Stormy Weather”}, and below that is a photograph of Tom Thomson in his ill-fated canoe.

Another member of the group I mentioned, Lawren Harris … and one of his biggest fans:

*Photo of Steve Martin by Gus Burdick, Toronto Star article

And finally, my favorite painting by Emily Carr – the only woman to be considered part of the group:

Oh, so much Canadiana packed into this episode! And with that, our last AFYE campfire is slowly going out. Thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting summer camp, and thanks so much to you for listening! AFYE will be back with Season 2 of artist interviews in September … until then, be sure to hashtag your work this summer on Instagram with #AFYEcamp, and I’ll do the same ~ Danielle xo

Other info/links:

VENICE CONTEST: Make a Venice inspired collage and then post / hashtag it on Instagram with #AFYEcamp AND #JealousInVenice. The weeks you can choose from are the weeks of August 7th, and August 14th {that’s when I’ll be there as one of the instructors}. I will be choosing ONE WINNER on Friday June 30, 2017.

1. European Cultural Academy, Venice
2. Kate Bingaman-Burt, Episode No.22
3. Leah Giberson, Episode No.34
4. “That Night In Toronto” show at Mayberry Fine Art, July 8
5. The Tragically Hip
6. 12 Creative Unblocking Projects for you TO DO with friends!
7. 100 artist interviews to listen/relisten to!
8. TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: subscribe on iTunes

*Photo credits from Project No.4, in the order they appear above:

1. @metapasteta / 2.@kc.christmas / 3. @griffinkcarrick / 4. @kikibirdiestudio / 5. @making_pages  

Hey, campers! Ok, it’s week 4 so you know the drill… before we get started I want to show you some of the unconventional artwork that came out of last week’s “unconventional materials” art project (hashtagged #AFYEcamp). When I was at the grocery store I popped down the paper goods aisle and grabbed some envelopes. The post-its were a last minute fix, found on my desk at home, when I needed a turquoise ocean for Daryl to enjoy:

“he’d paid extra for ‘the gold sands ocean view’, so yes, daryl was going to get his GD money’s worth.”

And once again, zillions of you took this challenge and RAN with it! Here are a few pieces pulled from Instagram via our summer camp hashtag, #AFYEcamp {photo credit links are at the very bottom of the post} :

Candy, eggshells, lego stamps, candy sprinkles, old bananas … yeah, I’d call that “unconventional”. Ok, let’s see what you’ll do with this week’s project:

Art Project No.4 

“Captured through Collage “ : Today’s challenge is all about capturing the essence of your favorite place through collage. That might be your garden, New York, an imaginary planet, or even Venice! Yep, VENICE! I mentioned this at the end of camp last time… for two weeks this August {weeks of the 7th and the 14th} I’m going to be teaching part of a course through the European Cultural Center’s Academy that’s happening during the Venice Biennale. Crazy. Here’s another crazy tidbit… the Academy wants one of you to be there too so they asked me to make this week’s challenge a contest… the prize? A week of tuition at the Academy, for one of the two weeks while I’m there {which happens to be worth 950 Euros!}. Insane, I know. Travel / hotel is NOT included but the tuition for a week would be. If you can get yourself to Venice, and you want to enter this contest, please do! Your collage would be Venice themed, obviously. Just hashtag your work with #AFYEcamp AND #JealousInVenice so that I’m sure to see it!

For those of you who aren’t interested, simply take this challenge in a different direction using your own personal dream place, wherever that might be. I can’t wait to see them!

Artist Examples: 

Here are three artists who create worlds with found images, scissors, and glue. Given the Venice theme, I think it’s best to start with an Italian artist, yes? Yes! This is “Greetings” by Caterina Rossato. One giant collaged landscape made from more found postcards than I can even imagine:

Don’t you want to go on a vacation in there? Me too! I’d also love to visit this folklore-filled land created by Tasmania based artist Bethany van Rijswijk:

Ah, I would totally go there too. And finally, the Romanian duo of Irina & Silviu Szekely. This series takes us into a really bizarre art museum:

Three for three… I’d totally spend a day in here, too!

And finally, the campfire story all about Milton Rauschenberg … aka Robert Rauschenberg. His “combines” combine all sorts of things – paint, silkscreen, random bits of stuff found on the streets of New York:

See? Once again, if you gather the right materials you can create any world you want! {I also had to include that photo of Robert in the studio with Jasper Johns, pre breakup}. Well, there you have it. The campfire is out and now it’s time to hit your local thrift shop and find those books, magazines, postcards, etc., that are going to make your world come to life! Be sure to hashtag your worlds on Instagram with #AFYEcamp, and #JealousInVenice if you want to be part of the contest {more info below}. Have fun!

Other info/links:

VENICE CONTEST: Make your Venice inspired collage and then post / hashtag it on Instagram with #AFYEcamp AND #JealousInVenice. The weeks you can choose from are the weeks of August 7th, and August 14th {that’s when I’ll be there as one of the instructors}. I will be choosing ONE WINNER on Friday June 30, 2017.

1. European Cultural Academy, Venice
2. Anthony Zinonos, Episode No.2
3. WideWalls.ch
4. TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: subscribe on iTunes.

*Photo credits from Project No.3, in the order they appear above:

1. @jennifer_geldard // 2. @maryanndidriksen  //  3. @timbra_blog  //  4. @jodiejaneartist  //  5. @julieligerbelair  //  6. @kc.christmas

Teepee/mountain-ish/geometric assemblages by Vancouver based artist Aaron Moran. Yep, a little found wood and some insanely well-chosen house paint, and I’m completely sold. Now, how to wrap this for Christmas morning… hm, maybe just a really big bow.

{via Junkculture}

This book is amazing… well, exquisite actually. Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski,  and Matt Lamothe of Also, a small American design company, are the creators of The Exquisite Book {which, fyi, just became available for purchase two days ago}. The book features 100 contemporary fine artists, illustrators, designers and comic artists, each of whom were “given the page that precedes theirs to connect their own image to. They needed to extend the horizon line of the last page onto their page.” Such a great collaborative idea, with absolutely gorgeous results! Oh boy, that Christmas list of mine is just getting longer and longer by the second.