freezer cheese: part one

Oxygen Art Centre presents the first phase of an online youth arts education program, freezer cheese.

~animation design by Jonathan Ramos~

Generously supported by the BC Arts Council Pivot Program + Osprey Community Foundation, freezer cheese offers a series of six free art demonstration videos for youth (ages 15 – 30) and gift cards to purchase art supplies needed to follow along. 

Instructors include regional artists and musicians, Kristy Gordon, Jaymie Johnson, Rayya Liebich, Brian Lye, Deborah Thompson, and prOphecy sun, and features digital animation by Jonathan Ramos and an original soundtrack by Ok Vancouver Ok, called freeze her cheese. All six of the videos are edited by emerging videographer Grady Robertson.

+? Free art supply gift cards are generously supported by Cowan’s Office Supplies Ltd. (Nelson, Canada) and are available to youth, ages 15 – 30, who are located in the West Kootenay region on a first come first serve basis. Sign-up to receive your gift card today by clicking here. Gift cards will be mailed to participants with a material list and freezer cheese sticker. Each video is accompanied by a material list for folks to access the same or similar supplies.

The overarching project takes place until April 2022 under the title, freezer cheese, derived from the fated piece of cheese—dairy or otherwise—that sits safely in the freezer awaiting the moment it is needed for nutrition, for comfort, for enjoyment. It is a reminder of the ongoing pandemic, but also evokes a sense of play and curiosity. Stay tuned for more!

Art demonstration videos are available on Oxygen’s YouTube channel. Register for a free art supply gift card to Cowan’s Office Supplies Ltd. by clicking here. Gift cards are available for youth, ages 15 – 30, on a first come first serve basis.

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

~videos + material lists~

How to Paint an Eye w/ Kristy Gordon
This online workshop will guide students through the creation of a well-structured painting of the eye with convincing colours. Kristy will start with a basic block in to get accurate proportions and move through colour lay in.  There will be a split screen with her palette so that you can see exactly how she’s mixing the colours she’s getting.  For the finishing details she’ll demonstrate how to add eye lashes and specular highlights

+ gift card form

How to make a flip book animation w/ Jaymie Johnson
I will demonstrate how to make a flip book animation in two different styles – one more accessible, the other more involved. I will show how to draw frame-by-frame to help make movement look realistic using pencil on paper.

+ gift card form

How to Create a Newspaper Blackout Poem w/ Rayya Liebich
This video offers a step-by-step guide to create a unique poem using found text. Inspired by Austin Kleon, this demo uses paper, pen and scissors to re-create anew. Warning: blackout poems are addictive.

+ gift card form

How to begin stop-motion animation w/ Brian Lye
The video will cover basics of stop-motion animation and introduce 4 stop-motion animation techniques – paper cut outs, object animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation.

+ gift card form

How to: intro to colour theory w/ Deb Thompson
This video includes:
* Properties of Colour
* 7 Colour Contrasts
* Selection of pigments
* Demonstration of creating achromatic and monochromatic value scales
* Demonstration of colour mixing
*Demonstration of complimentary neutrals and cool/ warm contrasts
* Application of Colour Theory in painting and design

I will be using acrylic paints for my demonstrations but the same colour theory principles will apply to using oil paints. 

+ gift card form

How to make Electronic Sound Compositions w/ prOphecy sun
Sound is everywhere and integrated into every aspect of human and non-human experience, infrastructure, and systems. This video explores the basics of sound making and how to produce electronic compositions using handheld devices, apps, smartphones and other DIY tools.

+ gift card form

? ? ? ?
~instructors~

Kristy Gordon has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and China at venues including the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain, the National Academy Museum, NYC and Flowers Gallery, NYC. She received a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2011 and an MFA from The New York Academy of Art in 2013. As a three-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, her work has won numerous awards and honors. She has received residencies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China; Shanghai University in China; OCAD University Florence, Italy; and has apprenticed with Odd Nerdrum in Norway and France. Gordon’s work and art writing have been featured in publications, including The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist and Fine Art Connoisseur. She is an adjunct professor at the New York Academy of Art and has taught at numerous schools and academies including the National Academy in NYC, and The Academy of Realist Art in Ottawa and Boston. Her paintings hang in more than 600 collections worldwide including the Government of Ontario Art Collection, The Clearing House (New York City) and Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History. Gordon is represented by Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York and Garvey|Simon in New York City.

Visit her website at kristygordon.com

Jaymie Johnson uses natural and recycled materials to create site-specific works involving fibre processing and community skill sharing. She is an interdisciplinary artist and educator invested in social and environmental impact through observation, experimentation and collaboration. Since graduating with a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University in 2015, she has worked on numerous community-engaged and environmental public art projects as a member of the EartHand Gleaners Society and as Project Assistant with Border Free Bees, as well as on independent projects with organizations including Science World, Vancity, Vancouver School Board AiRS Program, and the Vancouver Biennale BIG IDEAS.

Jaymie currently resides in her hometown of Nelson, BC, on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt and Ktunaxa peoples, where she grows, gleans, draws, and processes dye and fibre plants.

www.jaymiejohnson.ca

@jaymsmj

Rayya Liebich is an award-winning Canadian poet of Lebanese and Polish descent. Passionate about writing as a tool for transformation, she teaches creative writing classes to youth and adults in beautiful Nelson, British Columbia. Her debut full-length poetry collection Min Hayati is forthcoming with Inanna Publications (Toronto, 2021).

rayyaliebich.com

Brian Lye is a filmmaker, artist and educator living as an uninvited guest on the Traditional Territory of the Sinixt people.  His lens-based works are preoccupied with magic, humour, and the everyday. He holds a BA in Film Studies and Japanese Studies from the University of Victoria, a Diploma in Screen Production from Sydney Film School, was a guest student at The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and recently completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in visual art from The University of British Columbia. His films and animations have won awards and screened internationally at venues such as Sundance Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, The Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona, and LIVE! Vancouver’s performance art biennale. He has been an artist in residence with the Klondike Institute for Art and Culture, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, and Oxygen Art Centre.  brianlye.com

Deborah Thompson is an artist, educator and curator of settler ancestry and was born in Tkaronto (Toronto). She has made Nelson, British Columbia her home for the past 22 years. With gratitude she acknowledges the indigenous people and their ancestral lands and waterways on which she lives. Her practice includes painting, drawing, collage and sculpture. She has an Associates Degree in fine art from the Ontario College of Art and De-sign (University)(1984),a BA in Southwest Cultural Studies from Prescott College (1989) and an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Montana (1999). She has received awards for both her studio and curatorial work from the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, Osprey Foundation and Canadian Museum Association. Her work has been shown in solo shows at Oxygen Art Centre (Nelson), Kootenay Gallery of Art (Castlegar), Gallery Gachet (Vancouver), University of Nevada Art Gallery (Reno) and Touchstones Nelson (Nelson). She was the curator at Touchstones Nelson and is the exhibition coordinator at the Oxygen Art Centre. She has written and been published curatorial essays for Pixie Johnson, Stephanie Kellett and Z’otz* Collective. 

Dr. prOphecy sun is an interdisciplinary performance artist, queer, movement, video and sound maker, mother, and current Jack and Doris Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at Simon Fraser University. Her practice celebrates both conscious and unconscious moments and the vulnerable spaces of the in-between in which art, performance, and life overlap. Her recent research has focused on ecofeminist perspectives, co-composing with voice, objects, surveillance technologies, and site-specific engagements along the Columbia Basin in the BC region and beyond. She performs and exhibits regularly in local, national, and international settings, music festivals, conferences, and galleries and has authored several peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and journal publications.

https://prophecysun.com

Photo by Reese Muntean

? ? ? ? ? ? ?
~artists + contributors~

Ok Vancouver Ok is a Canadian indie rock band formed in Vancouver B.C. in 2004. Described as “anti-capitalist indie music with an environmental message”. Do-it-together. DIY. Integrating elements of go-yr-own-way, lo-fi, minimalism, pop, post punk, folk rock, acapella, experimentalism, outsider art and avant-garde ideas. The most recent lineup comprised of Jeff Johnson(lead vocals, electric guitars, keyboards), Kristjanne Vosper or Liza Moser (electric bass, vocals) Greg Napier (multi-instrumental) and Laura House (Drums). The band has been building a reputation as poetic, thought-provoking and forthright, with captivating live shows.

http://www.okvancouverok.ca/

Jonathan Ramos is a mixed multimedia artist devoted to self expression and collaboration through the arts. Growing up in the 80’s, Jonathan experienced first-hand the global shift from analog to digital. Combining an education in both traditional and digital arts along with audio/video production, Jonathan brings a unique and fresh perspective on the creative process, and the conversations that follow. 

@jora.digital
https://www.jonathanramos.design/

Grady Robertson is a 20-year-old filmmaker from Vancouver Island, currently completing his Digital Arts Diploma at Selkirk College. Recently, he has been working as a Video Editor for the youth education company, Live It Earth, in addition to operating his own video production company – Far North Visuals.

@farnorthvisuals
farnorthvisuals.ca

freezer cheese title uttered by clayton mccann*

? ? ? ? ? ? ?


This project is generously supported by British Columbia Arts Council, Osprey Community Foundation, and Cowan’s Office Supplies Ltd.

Scroll to top