Amélie moule: novembre

17 décembre 2013

Chers lecteurs, voici les tant-attendues péripéties d'Amélie en moulage, édition de novembre!

"I hope this finds you well!

I've been meaning to send you my little November newsletter for a while now, but I've been caught up in the Xmas crafts fair and down time has been scarce lately...  The fair is a mentally draining experience to say the least - as I'm sure you know.  Today I took a much deserved day off, slept 12 hours, went for a walk in the fresh snow, watched an old Italian movie, cooked 4 different things, ate like a pig... and now next on my list is you, finally!  (And then next is a glass of wine.  Or two.)

Let's start with some entertainment, shall we!  This month my choice of music actually isn't about the music at all, but about the video - an old classic that I just recently discovered and totally fell in love with.  Pure burlesque, weird and fun and vintage and sexy and awesome.  Enjoy!

(Wow... it just dawned on me that I like transvestites and sumo wrestlers.  No wonder I "can't find the right guy"!!)

Alright, enough with handsome men in corsets and suspenders... let's get down to business.

As hectic as November was schedule-wise, I felt very relaxed when I was in the molding studio - which is somewhat unusual for me - and I think it showed in my work.
My main goal for the month was to come up with a piece for the "Emerge 2014" contest.  And I did.  And I'm proud!  Here it is:

It's been a really fun piece to make I have to say, which pushed me to try a bunch of new things including flower pot casting (... was about time!).  I was rather sceptical at first when I saw that big brown block coming out of the mold, but coldworking worked its magic and it came out nice in the end!

I should get news around mid-January for the contest, so fingers crossed...

Quick aside: waterpiks are AWESOME.

For the rest of the month, I mostly worked on finishing a wax sculpture that I'd started back in July, depicting a woman and two octopuses doing, erm............ stuff.  (But nothing to worry about hey, I didn't come up with that idea myself, I took it from a famous 19th century Japanese woodblock print.)
It's a fairly complex project, with tons of assembled elements and tentacles all over the place and Japanese text in the background and fine details and undercuts everywhere...  (Why oh why am I doing this to myself?)  But, once again, it's been fun, and I'm delighted to see it almost finished.  Hopefully I'll be able to cast it in glass by the end of January.  In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the wax model, along with the original woodblock print:

And just because I know that spacetime can be curved, I decided to squeeze in a third project in there and finish my garlic perfume bottle (the one that failed back in September).
And I'm so glad I did.
It turned out to be such a weirdly attractive piece...

"Love the ugly child", as you often say! 

I think the best thing about November has been that, perhaps for the first time since I started working with glass, I felt like I was in control - technically and emotionally.  And that, to me, is a turning point.  Of course I know there are plenty more tough and frustrating moments to come (it is glass, after all), but I feel like I am finally starting to build up some artistic self-confidence.

So, you know... hallelujah and all that!

And on that note... time for my glass of wine!

Take care, and have a very happy holiday season,

Amélie "

No bra day

14 octobre 2013

Et souffler du verre sans brassière jusqu'à minuit et demie un dimanche soir.
Oooh yeah.

Amélie moule: septembre

6 octobre 2013

Et voici les péripéties d'Amélie en moulage, édition de septembre...
Enjoy!


"Once again, let's start with a bit of music...

In August, you told me that "the materials ALWAYS have something to teach... ALWAYS, and often when you least expect it, or just before a deadline".
Geez........  Combine that observation with the fact that the deadline for François-Houdé Award was September 18th, and, well, you get the gist of what the first half of September looked like for me!  Failed attempts galore.  The devil's in the details, the devil's in the details indeed...
(Aluminum and I now have some unfinished business.)

 I did, however, learn.

And I did take the time to finish my failed pieces anyway, because I did love them even though they weren't exactly presentable.

And I did come up with something for the Award in the end, which is all that truly mattered (AND got nominated as a surprise bonus!).

But what a crazy/humbling/hectic/destabilizing experience it's been!

Ironically enough, as if to balance things out, right after finishing my piece for the Award I started working on a piece for a contract that turned out really [really really] well, and on first attempt too (see picture of the glass finger below).

Hm.  Go figure...!

And just like that, September was over.

Barely saw it pass by...

It's been quite a lot to take in for a single month - a strange blend of stress and failures and successes and surprises and woh-what-do-I-do-now's...
The whole thing has left me feeling a bit befuddled to be honest, but I believe that beyond the befuddlement lies good food for thoughts.  And I love good food.  ;-)

To finish, here are a few pictures of the piece I presented for the Award, called "Requiem" (hence the choice of music).

Well, I guess that's it!  Until December...

Take care,

Amélie "

Amélie moule: juillet

17 août 2013

Comme je l'ai mentionné dans mon dernier article, j'ai reçu en mai dernier une bourse pour travailler en moulage et en sculpture, la bourse Edgerley-Robertson.  Cette bourse me donne accès à la salle de moulage et à un four de thermoformage gratuitement pendant 6 mois, soit un mois sur deux étalés sur un an.  Le couple d'artistes verriers qui offre la bourse étant particulièrement très très cool, je me fais un devoir, après chaque mois de moulage, de leur envoyer un petit message, histoire de leur faire part un peu de l'évolution de mon travail, de mes questionnements et de mes observations.

Et puis, je me suis dit... tiens, pourquoi ne pas partager ces petits messages avec tout le monde!  Après tout, vous le méritez bien.  C'est vrai que je vous néglige un peu ces derniers temps, depuis que le verre a pris toute la place...  Alors voici, les péripéties d'Amélie en moulage, édition de juillet!  (En anglais, ne vous déplaise...)


"I hope this finds you well!

I've been thinking recently that instead of waiting til the end of the year to tell you what I've been up to and how I've been using my moulding/kilnworking time, I could send you a little update after each month spent in the studio.  Nothing too serious or technical, more like thoughts and impressions that I'd like to share with you, as a way to take you with me on this journey.
So here it goes!

First, a little song to set the mood:

So it all started with a bottle.  "Just for quick tests", I thought.  But then I ran into a variety of problems.  And then had a few accidents.  And then a few happy accidents.  And it all became so much more than just quick tests - though I don't know exactly what yet.  But there's something there that really speaks to me, and that needs to be explored further...
(Here are some pictures of my first tests - sorry, they're terrible pictures but they'll give you a rough idea anyway...)

I have to say, having the moulding studio all to myself for a month was absolute bliss.  I went every single day that the school was open.  Got a little carried away perhaps...

Breathe, must learn to breathe.  Slow down.  Focus.  Quieten the flow of my thoughts a little [a lot].
 

My stuck - not stuck - stuck mould that I told you about somehow just came back to life, and is now working perfectly fine. (??!)

Plaster's a funny guy that way...

38 degrees is far too hot for working.  Honestly.  Even my wax models agree.

Modeling wet clay is such a wonderful feeling.

Books: YES.  Oh my god, so many answers.

"Poetry" has been on my mind a lot lately, lost in a haze of upside down question marks.  Hopefully we'll get the chance to talk about it you and I some time, over a cup of coffee...

... and I think that's all for now!

Wishing you a wonderful last few weeks of summer,

Amélie "

Henri

12 août 2013

Mon neveu!!!
Qu'il est beau bébé Henri... tout petit encore, né le 20 juillet à Laval.
Félicitations aux nouveaux parents!

Présélection

7 juin 2013

Lettre du Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec reçue aujourd'hui:


"Bonjour madame Girard,

[Bon, ils vont encore essayer de me vendre un truc, je les vois venir... genre, félicitations pour votre graduation - avez vous songé à devenir membre du CMAQ?]

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer...

[Woh, attends un peu là... "le plaisir de vous annoncer"? serait-ce.............?]

... que votre candidature a été retenue...

[Yyyyeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssss!!] 

... par l'ensemble du jury lors de la présélection des candidats du Prix François-Houdé 2013."


JOIE!!
C'est encore juste une présélection, c'est sûr, mais c'est quand même très très cool.
J'ai donc 3 mois pour leur pondre de une à trois nouvelles oeuvres.  Voilà qui devrait me donner une belle petite poussée dans le dos!

Graduation

1e juin 2013

Eh bien voilà, ça y est :  après trois ans de dur labeur, j'ai enfin terminé mes études en verre!
J'ai encore du mal à y croire... c'est vraiment un gros chapitre qui se clôt.  Trois ans de coupures, de brûlures et de sueur intense, trois ans d'apprentissage laborieux et de travail acharné, trois ans de joies et de frustrations, de défis continuels, de remises en question de toutes sortes...
Trois ans de création, quoi.
Et tandis que la page se tourne, le prochain chapitre s'ouvre sur... sur........... euh, exactement la même chose en fait!
Mais dans un contexte professionnel cette fois-ci.  Un peu moins de ressources, un peu plus de liberté, mais toujours cette même montagne russe d'émotions fortes qu'est la création.

La cérémonie de graduation a eu lieu jeudi dernier, et j'ai eu l'honneur d'y recevoir 3 bourses :  une pour le verre soufflé, une pour le moulage/sculpture/recherche, et une pour l'achat d'outils.  L'avenir reste incertain, mais à tout le moins le présent me sourit!

Ce sera donc une autre année à Montréal, avec du verre plein la tête et des "plasters" plein les mains...
Et croyez-moi, je suis aussi curieuse que vous de voir quelle direction prendra mon travail artistique maintenant que je suis laissée seule à moi-même.
Mais vous savez quoi?  J'ai comme l'impression que je vais bien m'entendre avec toute cette liberté nouvelle...

 

 _________________________________________________________

Well, that's it people: after three very intense years, I've finally finished my glass art course! 
I still can't quite believe it... it's the end of a pretty big chapter in my life.  Three years of light scars and heavy sweating, three years of trials and errors and relentless work, three years of joy and frustration, of challenges and self-doubt and discovery...

Three years of artistic creation, in other words.
And as I turn the page on those three years, the next chapter opens with... with.......... erm, the exact same thing actually!
Only, in a professional setting this time.  A little less resources, a little more freedom, but still that same emotional roller coaster of artistic creation.

Last Thursday was the graduation ceremony, during which I received a smashing three scholarships: one for glassblowing, one for molding/sculpture/research, and one for the purchase of tools.  The future remains uncertain, but at least the present is looking good!
 

So I'll be staying in Montreal one more year, doin' my thing, with glass all over my mind and bandages all over my hands...  And believe me, I am as eager as you are to see what direction my work is going to take now that I'm left on my own.
But you know what?  I have a feeling I'm gonna looooooove the extra freedom...

Nous

6 mars 2013

"Moi je suis trop impressionné par votre forteresse, je me sens toujours comme le petit ramoneur qui voudrait voir la princesse."

Romance

13 janvier 2013

Chilling at my favorite cafe, distractedly sipping a latte, I suddenly wondered when was the last time I had a romantic moment in my life.  (And I mean romance, you know, when the magic really happens.)  So I looked back... and further back, and still further back..........

March 2009.  That was the last time.
Yes, that's 4 years ago.

It's a sad, sad state of things.