Silhouettes

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This weekend is Calgary's annual ArtWalk and UPPERCASE will be participating (click here for a map of the ArtWalk route). There's plenty of Old School goodness to see in our gallery and the neighbouring gallery, One Blue Wall (aka The Principal's Office.) We will also have some drop-in activities such as the Make-a-Button station, Letter Necklaces, and the Old School activity sheet and colouring contest (you can also download it here).

At 2pm on Saturday, you can participate in the Silhouette workshop to make an old-fashioned cut-paper portrait. The new-school twist? We will digitize your silhouette and turn it into a vector file so that you can use it for all sorts of projects: make your own letterhead, t-shirts, use it in scrapbooking, on your blog or Facebook, on family Christmas cards... Or print it out on decorative paper and frame your silhouette for yourself or as a gift. (The fee is $20 for the digital file, which will be emailed to you early next week.)

This is a silhouette I made of Deidre. The top image is the digital silhouette made from the cut paper version below. Since the file is a vector file as opposed to a bitmap, you'll be able to scale the silhouette up or down without any loss of quality.


Silhouettes were a popular method of portrait-making from around 1790 to the mid-1800s, prior to the invention of the camera. You can find out more about the history of silhouettes at the time of Jane Austen on this interesting site. 

In UPPERCASE, we're using our film strip projector to cast shadows onto black bristol board. The shadow is traced in pencil and then cut with scissors. Classical silhouettes, however, were often cut freehand out of paper. This skill is quite rare, but American artist Karl Johnson excels at the art:

"Karl learned this unique skill as a young boy from his father who had been taught many years earlier by a long time friend of the family. Karl took to this unusual art form extremely well. Something he attributes, in part, to having vision in only one eye.  Karl was born being able to see only from his right eye. Not having binocular vision forces Karl to judge the distance and shape of an object by examining its shadow. This allows Karl to capture an image in shadow in an uncanny way." Some examples of Karl's work are shown below.

We hope you will join us on Saturday afternoon to take part in this fun activity. On Sunday, we will be hosting another workshop: Customized Lunchboxes. This requires a reservation and there is room for one more. Give us a call if you'd like to attend.

Old School opens today at 1pm!

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Today from 1 - 5pm: Art exhibition! Book launch! All-ages party!

UPPERCASE gallery invites the public to a grand opening celebration of Old School. The "Old School" theme celebrates the aesthetics of twentieth century education through an art exhibition and companion book, as well as curated back-to-school stationery and unique objects. It is inspired by vintage flash cards, wooden desks, biology class, science fairs, crayons, card catalogs, textbooks, lunchboxes, gym class, maps, lockers, report cards, film strips, recess, chalk... and the list goes on!

In addition to drawing, painting and collage, we will be exploring old school technology such as typewriters, film projections and polaroid photography. The exhibition features 80 local and international artists and runs until September 30.

In honour of this theme, UPPERCASE gallery has been transformed into an old-fashioned elementary school classroom equipped with school desks, vintage maps, a globe of the world, chalkboards, anatomy models, an abacus and many more authentic artifacts of school day’s past. The exhibition is so large that we have enlisted our neighbour, One Blue Wall Gallery, who will become the principal’s office! 

Please join us Saturday August 23, 1 - 5pm for a special opening day party and book launch. Children of all ages and the young-at-heart will be treated to old-fashioned refreshments. Participating artists will be on hand to sign your Old School book. Guests can pose for a polaroid class photo, make simple jewellery with their initials, and type old school memories on vintage typewriters. Don’t forget to pick up our freshly-printed book,  signature pink erasers and Old School pencils as keepsakes of the show.   

We encourage party-goers to bring their old school style to the event. Demonstrate your school spirit by dressing up as your favorite old school character. Have an old lab coat tucked away in the attic? Fancy dusting off those pom poms? Still fit into your school uniform? We love librarians, cheerleaders, teachers, jocks, preppies,  janitors, junior scientists, geeks, mathletes and the whole school crew. Hope to see lots of you in costume at the big event and we’ll award a prize for most school spirit.

Typography event Thursday

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The Alberta Magazine Publisher's Association is hosting a free event tomorrow evening here in UPPERCASE. Thursday, August 14 from 7pm - 9pm. Wine and cheese will be served.
 
I will be "talking type" and discussing how I make typography-related decisions in my own work. Following the presentation, we will free ourselves from thinking about type as something that exists only on a computer by playing with an ever-growing collection of type toys: woodtype, rubber stamps, letraset, stickers and other fun things.

ACAD portfolio show

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The annual ACAD portfolio show is this Thursday.

The ACAD 4th Year Portfolio Show offers professionals from the design and communications industries an opportunity to preview the work of ACAD's graduating students. The students will present their portfolios of graphic design, illustration, advertising, character design and photography. The Photography and Visual Communications Design programs at ACAD prepare students for successful careers as professionals in the discipline, practice and culture of photography and design. The 2008 graduating class of 70 students from the Visual Communications and Photography programs will enter the professional job market in May 2008.

Thursday, April 17th, 2008
6-9 pm
Nexen Tower Garden Court
801 7th Ave. SW

Paperbag Clothing Special Event

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paperbagblog.jpg
This Saturday evening, clothing designer Kathie Armstrong will be launching the spring line of Paperbag Clothing. The event takes place in UPPERCASE from 7pm - 9pm. Tickets are $15 and available at the door. Join Kathie for wine & cheese, music and 25% off her clothing products.

"As far as my own work goes, I feel as if it is still taking shape and finding its form stylistically. The clothes I produce have a rough jagged look that I love. It has a rawness to it that helps the viewer to appreciate it both as a means for communicating clothing design and as a conceptual art piece. I rely on textures and shapes to complete my collections and love to offset a piece with different size pockets, random shaped buttons or contrast stitching.

When designing a collection, I start out with some basic rough sketches. From there I develop a theme and work my collection around the theme because I like when pieces can relate to one another. I usually have an idea of the type of fabrics I want to use, which is also incorporated into the designing process. It can take up to five protocols before I feel I have mastered the fit and look of a piece. I know a piece is done when I can put it on and want to wear it right away."

Kathie trained at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. She has designed high-end couture for New York Fashion Week as well as sports/yoga wear for Lululemon Athletica. "I ended up designing sportswear because it is what i buy and can relate to. I think you have to have some emotional connection with your product or you’ll never expresses your true creativity."