VIDEO: In Plain View - Jane Wood

Having spent the first half of her life in England, Jane now calls Winnipeg, Canada her home. After working in the beauty industry on both sides of the Atlantic for many years she was looking for a new challenge. Jane has always had an interest in arts and crafts, including paper arts and polymer clay, but little did she realize that the skill of knitting, taught to her by her grandmother, would lead her to the fascinating world of felting.

After reading the 'how to' of felting in a magazine Jane knitted and felted her first bag and, even though it was less than perfect she was hooked. Felting is an art, not an exact science, when a bag is felted minor variations will show up in the size or shape, resulting in a unique piece every time. With every bag Jane felts she learns something new. Some of her most successful pieces have been the result of a near disaster and for Jane that is what makes the whole process so exciting.

Jane's bags are knitted by hand using 100% wool. She uses different wools, including, Merino, Icelandic, Mohair and Aran. Each kind of wool produces a different finish to the felt. After felting in a washing machine the handbags are rinsed, blocked and air dried. Embellishing each one with either felted flowers, ribbon or beads completes a truly unique piece of wearable art.

VIDEO: In Plain View - Ann Tyre

Ann Tyre is a Scottish born ceramic artist who has called Winnipeg, Manitoba home for some time. After a career as Director of Finance for a charitable non-profit organization, Ann obtained a BFA majoring in Ceramics. Since then she has attended workshops and residencies both in Canada and overseas.

In 1993 she opened her own studio. Her influences are varied, from her teachers to the everyday world around her, the changing conditions of light, texture and form. She strives for simple, strong forms and a quiet meditative aesthetic. Most of her work is fired in an electric kiln, but she relishes any opportunity to wood fire with fellow artists.

Ann has held the treasurer’s position on the Board of the Manitoba Crafts Council, and is currently serving in that capacity on the Board of the Canadian Crafts Federation.

She was also honoured to serve on the Selection Committee for the Canadian Crafts Federation in creating the Prairie Region content of Canadian National Exhibition “Unity and Diversity” which was the guest exhibit at the 2009 Cheongju Biennale.

VIDEO: In Plain View - Jo'Anne Kelly

Jo'Anne Kelly's work often refers to mythological themes. Whether a painting, a work in porcelain or a neckpiece, the whimsical and mythic often find play. She has never been able to restrict herself to working in one medium.

Enthralled by the vibrant colours of dyed silk, she produces a wide range of hand dyed silk pieces ranging from scarves to large wall pieces. At the same time she loves the challenge of working with the translucency of porcelain and creates thin-walled vessels, as well as functional bowls, vases, platters and ceramic wall pieces. She is also frequently engaged in producing jewellery from silver, precious stones and other materials.

Visit Jo'Anne's studio on the Assiniboine riverbank in Wolseley.

VIDEO: A look inside the world of Al Beardsell

Al Beardsell has been playing, repairing, and generally thinking about guitars for most of the past 25-30 years. The last 15 years have seen him building them professionally for genius musicians luminous and obscure alike, from Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground, to avant-garde musician and filmmaker Henry Kaiser, from local dudes the Weakerthans, to Quebecois noise/folk fusionist Rene Lussier.

His work has recently been featured in "The Fretboard Journal" (http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/magazine/alternate-universe) and Acoustic Guitar Magazine (link). He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with his family, and likes to cook.

He works amid a swirling miasma of wood, dust, shavings, smells and tools, in a small, chaotic, converted garage...called the Shed.

and the filming starts this week...

The first video will be for artist Jo'Anne Kelly.  I'm looking forward to meeting her and seeing her work.  She works in a bunch of mediums; ceramic, jewelery, fiber and painting.  Here's her site and her bio. Watch for the video some time next week.
http://www.kellyartobjects.com/

A native of Manitoba, Jo'Anne Kelly received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba, and took further studies in Ceramics and Printmaking at the Ontario College of Art.

She began her professional life as a teacher of art in the Winnipeg high school system. In the late-seventies, she retired from teaching to devote her full time to her art.

Jo'Anne has worked professionally in a number of different media. Nowadays she works in both clay and surface design, (primarily painting on silk), but also has had considerable experience in metal-smithing. She has also illustrated children's books for Hyperion Press of New York, and for many years has dyed and hand-painted costumes for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Jo'Anne has been involved in numerous one-woman and group exhibitions and has been represented in galleries across Canada and in England. Her work is found in private and public collections in Canada, the U.S., England and Europe.

In 1985 she was nominated by the Crafts Guild of Manitoba for the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Craft, and in 1986, she was nominated by the Manitoba Crafts Council for Woman of the Year Award in Art. She received the Lieutenant-Governor's Medallion for art in 1990.

She has served as juror for the Manitoba Arts Council, for the Province of Manitoba Regional Art Exhibitions and for the Red River Exhibition Art competition.

Jo'Anne has served several terms on the Board of the Manitoba Crafts Council, including the position of president.

A look inside the world of Jordan Van Sewell

Jordan Van Sewell has been working as an artiste for over 30 years. Although he went to a real art school at university, his early influences were Charles Schultz, R. Crumb and Big Daddy Ed Roth.

Growing up on the Canadian Prairies during the sixties, these influences began to include aspects of the British Invasion; specifically the interpretation the British rockers put on American Blues. These images evoked by the music and lyrics of Frank Zappa played large for Jordan as a young teenager.

Meeting some of the amazing artists of Winnipeg

The next few months should be quite interesting as I am about to commence work with the artists of IN PLAIN VIEW, a collective of Winnipeg artists that have contracted me to shoot a series of artist profile videos.

Watch for stories about all the personalities, talents and filming hi-lights over the next few months.

I'm also working on completing two documentaries, SOUL OF THE SEA and SEARCH FOR ADVENTURE.  These will probably find new titles and will be packaged a part of a 5-part series called THE EXPLORERS CLUB.  The German version of the series has already aired on ZDF/arte in Germany and France.


I'm also shooting for a documentary here in Winnipeg that takes a look at ARTBEAT studio.

More updates soon!