Alice VanderVennen

Going Public… The Floating Fish Sculpture

Alice — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:43:31 +0000

Welcome to my blog.

Here is the beginning of the project of art in a public space. It is an art project that was designed to energize and act as a way finder. I am excited to show you .. Where to begin? My town, the town of Cobourg, located in Ontario Canada is building a fantastic building aptly called the Cobourg Community Centre. There was a call out to artist for presentations of art for the grand hallway. I was awarded the contract to do a large floating sculpture of one hundred fish. In keeping with the community idea I proposed to incorporate work from the community. The fish are all sculpted in wire frames with textiles quilted and stretched in the frames. The one hundred fish, all individually assembled, will hang together like a school of fish. Whimsical, colourful and creative. Here are some images of me holding up some of the completed fish. Imagine the effect that one hundred such fish will have.!!!!!

Hello!

Alice — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:10:53 +0000

I am a Grade 11 Co-op student straight from C.D.C.I West who’s looking forward to a career somewhere in Art & Design. Working alongside Alice, I’ve been helping her sew, snip, and stitch together pieces for the Fish Commission. Besides that, I’ve also been doing small chores such as organizing the mountains of fabric in the studio, attempting to win the attention of some kindergarten kids, and maintaining this very blog.
These past couple of months have been wonderful so far – while most kids in the Co-op program are doing hours of heavy lifting, sorting documents into filing systems, and punching numbers into cash registers; I sit in Alice’s sunny studio with a tea in one hand and some beautiful fabrics in the other – doing something I love to do - create and design. In this small town of 18 500, it’s great to find people who have such a passion for art that they make a living off of it, and to be able to assist and learn someone who does is definitely great.

Sculpting The Fish

Alice — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:44:06 +0000

The first step took me out of my studio to sculpt the fish shapes. I engaged the help of a colleague and friend, Edward Hagedorn, to do the welding. I bent the steel rods to the shape I wanted and Ed did the actual welding. An artist and art therapist by profession, Ed enjoyed the endless possibilities of shapes that one could produce with a simple placement of the rods. “Like this or like that?” he asked before each weld. And after all, how mean, or how sweet did I want each fish to look?

“It’s A Community Thing”

Alice — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:46:46 +0000

As the project continues, engaging the community has taken on an exciting element! What is that saying? — “People do the weirdest things?” To say that the community is doing weird things is not quite accurate but to say that they are doing weird and wonderful things is much, more to the point. I am constantly amazed at how other people think, or the actions they do. In my workshops I find myself getting very excited by how everyone approaches colour and texture in their own way. I found people carefully choosing the most unlikely colours and patterns, and applying them to a fish. This is exciting! The end result will certainly reflect a creative community. Working with children is particularly exciting as their work is free form, and playful. In this local elementary school I encouraged the children to place a hand print with the fabric of their choosing.

Community Workshops

Alice — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:32:26 +0000

Four public workshops were held at the Cobourg Public Library and at a lovely cafe’ called Meet at 66 King in Cobourg. Everybody was invited to “show their true colours” by helping to design a fish. The results were a stunning array of shapes and colours all that will become a part of the “community quilt”. All very exciting!!! I was impressed with the large variety of ages that attended. Families came in and designed a fish unique to their ages and stages.

All of this activity could not have happened without the help of my friend and colleague Kaye Jackson who helped organize and run the workshops. Kaye also designed and sewed her own fish

The staff of the town of Cobourg get involved and design their own fish. Many hands create a one of a kind art work.

Annette, one of Cobourg’s own “Crazy Quilters” came to the workshop and created her own stunningly crazy fish.

Feb 19th Workshop (King St.)

Alice — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:28:01 +0000

Feb 24th Workshop

Alice — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:27:47 +0000

Feb 26 Workshop (King St.)

Alice — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:48:35 +0000

In Memory of Cheryl

Alice — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:59:14 +0000

Each fish was made out of a creative spirit, but there was one fish also created out of love and fond memories for a very special person. One fish was made in memory for Cheryl Laver. Cheryl worked in the town’s finance department for six years. In November of 2009, after fighting a courageous battle with cancer Cheryl passed away. Her co-workers gathered fabrics and memorabilia that were significant to Cheryl. Their contributions reflected Cheryl’s deep love for her cats and for horses. The Art Gallery of Northumberland’s curator Dorette Carter created the fish. Pictured here is Dorette applying the finishing touches to a very unique fish dedicated to the lovely and very unique Cheryl.

Family Making Fish

Alice — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:27:26 +0000

When in need call in the troops or rather call in the family! One aspect of the fish sculpture is that every step is very time consuming. There is simply no way to speed up the process of working by hand. I do enjoy that part. Each fish is hand stitched to the sculpted, then painted frame. I have already spent many hours methodically stitching to music, to books on tape , to conversation with friends and family. Nearing the end of the project I realized I needed to “call in the troops” and as family does, my family came through needle in hand. My mother, Jacoba Bos, and my two aunts, Audrey Van Reenen and Diane Plug spent over two days stretching and stitching the fish to the frames. The first night they were joined by my sister Renee Weavers and my beautiful niece Esther Weavers. By the time everyone left, close to thirty fish had been completed, ready to hang. It is a community thing in more ways than one.