Animalau Blog

I feel extremely honoured to be giving an artist talk at the State University of New York, Geneseo, and exhibiting in my first American solo show at Kinetic Gallery! Kinetic Gallery is a student-run gallery space in the SUNY Geneseo College Union hosting exhibits by professional and student artists. In addition, the gallery hosts arts related programming to enhance arts-related discourse on campus.

The show opening and artist talk is on Friday, January 31st @ 1:30 in the MacVittie College Union room 209 and the exhibition will run until February 28th. Looking forward to this adventure and special thank-you to Chelsea Butkowski, creative director of Kinetic Gallery!

-Christie

Navillus Gallery will be exhibiting this weekend at Art Toronto, Canada’s only contemporary art fair. I am excited to be exhibiting my Replicators series with Kirk Mechar and Michael Adamson at booth 444!

Metro Toronto Convention Centre
North Building, Exhibit Hall A & B
255 Front Street West

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Special Collector’s Preview 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Opening Night Preview 6:30pm to 10:00pm

PUBLIC HOURS
Friday October 25th to Monday October 28th, 2013
Friday & Saturday – Noon to 8pm
Sunday & Monday – Noon to 6pm

detail of Replicator IV

-Christie

Last month I received a box of portrait 18 pastels, courtesy of Brody House, Unison Colour Soft Pastels and The Spoke Club!

My box contained 18 beautiful soft shades and they blended on the paper with a glow that reminded me of blurry Impressionist paintings.  From October 19th to November 19th there will be an exhibition in Budapest at The Spoke Club’s reciprocal club, Brody House, for the best entries of the international Unison Pastel competition. I am honoured to be exhibiting in this year’s “Dance of Colour” show with so many international artists! If you happen to be in town on opening night, Kate Hershey, co-founder of Unison Colour, and Angela A’Court, artist, will be giving presentations on unison pastels history and as a contemporary medium.

This Wednesday, June 26, The Spoke Club, Navillus Gallery and I will be hosting a workshop for marbling! This is the monoprint technique I used to get the swirls and effect on the background of my neptune balloon prints. From 6:30 to 9:30, we will be marbling silk and paper (for scarves, pocket squares or stationary) and also some feathers for an installation of a spix macaw. If you don’t feel crafty, there will also be new pieces to see in the club! The event is open to members and non-members and if you would like to attend this free workshop, please RSVP here: http://www.navillusgallery.com/kaleidoscopic/

Also, I have been updating progress pics on my new Animalau Instagram (Animalau), and #diykaleidoscopic as the hashtag for the event.

-Christie

My first editorial illustration is in the May/June issue of Canadian Wildlife Magazine! The article is called “What’s Up with with DFO?” and is written by Brian Banks.

The government is currently refocusing The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, worrying environmental and scientific communities as it closes programs and cuts important research, such as monitoring water temperature, pH and biodiversity, work that is rarely adopted by private sectors or universities. Instead, the government is prioritizing research that aids policy decisions and water and marine resources.

Even in high deer populations, wolves have been documented eating salmon during the run because they are convenient and a less dangerous prey. On the other hand, the bear is a keystone species as an ecosystem engineer and depend heavily on the salmon run. In the illustration, I have the wolf grabbing the salmon from the bear’s mouth as a metaphor. There is greater urgency in monitoring and conservation of our natural resources than focusing on making a profit from our country’s riches.

Beavers, Great Lakes and the bobolink, a songbird, are also featured in this issue of Canadian Wildlife Federation’s magazine. Thank-you to Canadian Wildlife for this opportunity!

-Christie

Look!

Belgian Emu is featured on the cover for this spring issue of CV2, the Canadian journal of poetry and critical writing. This issue is “Poetry Only” (volume 35 issue 4), and includes the winning poems that won the 2012 2-Day Poem Contest. You can find the Winnipeg-based literary journal all over Canada, including Book City and the University of Toronto Bookstore.

Special thank-you to Melody, the Production and Design coordinator. It’s so cool to see the emu as a cover boy!

-Christie

Navillus Gallery has started an informative and beautiful lifestyle blog for new art collectors. On their blog they post thoughtful articles such as the significance of the term “mixed media”, a fundamental summary of the art fairs in Miami, and intimate studio visits to international artists, like Kirk Mechar’s in Nevis.

click to go to Navillus Gallery blog

The investments that come with collecting art is not only the piece itself, but also the expression of identity and the parts of it that we admire and are drawn to. Navillus Gallery curator, Taylor Sullivan, who studied at Cornell, Harvard and Parsons, heads the blog and inspires confidence in curating your own collection.

click to visit the entry

Earlier this month, I sat down with Kailee of Navillus Gallery to talk about music, process, museums and traveling. The gallery kindly dedicated a post about my inspirations on their blog! Click on the picture of the sea lion pups to read. Thank-you!

-Christie

I will be at The Artist Project this week! Last year was a lot of fun and I met some accomplished artists so I am delighted to be participating again this year. I will be showing a new series and some new pieces, stop by for a look if you have time, okay okay?

February 21 – Sunday, February 24

Thursday:  7PM – 10PM (Opening Night, 19+ Event)
Friday:  12PM – 8PM
Saturday:  11AM – 8PM
Sunday:  11AM – 6PM

Better Living Centre
195 Princes’ Boulevard, Exhibition Place
Toronto, ON

-Christie

Hello! Hello! I wanted to invite you to the opening reception of “Deception” with Navillus Gallery at The Spoke Club, where my work will be featured on the fourth floor! It is on Wednesday, February 6th from 6:30-8:30 PM, 600 King St W and will be open bar. Please RSVP to concierge@thespokeclub.com

The Spoke Club is on the King West strip in a beautiful historical brick building. It is designed as a space for professionals in entertainment, art and media to meet and eat, so I am very excited. The first time I went was tricky because I passed it three times… it’s located on the upper levels. When you enter 600 King Street, you will see an elevator directly in front and please select the fourth floor. I look forward to seeing you there! Maybe!

Also, I’ve been busy preparing for The Artist Project (February 21-24) and will post some work up soon. Here’s a pic of one of the pieces I am working on!

*UPDATE* Navillus Gallery posted pictures and an article about the reception. Click here to see!

-Christie

Rogers TV’s Culture Conduct features Toronto art and entertainment events, and I am very excited to be a part of this week’s programme! Host and producer, Temo Primrose Gare, had a sit down interview with me at Navillus Gallery about the show and inspirations I reference in the pieces. It will air for the first time this Monday, November 26, at 7:30 PM on the Rogers channel, for most areas it is channel 10.

It will also be played throughout the week:
Tuesday 7:00 AM
Wednesday 6:00 AM
Thursday 9:30 PM

For more information, please visit Culture Conduct’s page: http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=12&rid=16&sid=5067

And Navillus Gallery’s press section:
http://www.navillusgallery.com/press/rogers-tv-interviews-christie-lau/