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by Shannon Armishaw
02/25/2011
2 comments
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 September 2012

Here I am, an emerging artist, born and raised in Ottawa, who has recently moved to Toronto to see if I can make a splash. Although I moved to the big city of Toronto with bells on, I quickly found myself longing for the comforts of home, including the artistically nurturing environment of the many people and establishments that have helped me turn my passions into a reality. With that in mind, I decided to embark on an artistic career that spanned both cities. The result of this plan was one of the busiest summers of my life, where I was constantly traveling between Ottawa and Toronto. I was always accompanied by huge wooden canvasses as big as me, or multiple heavy, delicate boxes filled with works that I brought back and forth for upcoming shows. Needless to say, after six months spent in a state of constant movement, with a few more solo and group shows under my belt, I have decided it is time to get back to the thing I love most, and time to do it in the city I now live.
 
I have decided that Irene’s Pub will be the last venue to display my work in Ottawa, at least until the spring or summer of next year. Irene’s holds a special place in my heart because of its deep, long-standing relationship with the community, it’s commitment to showcasing incredibly talented musicians and groups such as The Dusty Drifters, and it’s gorgeous “hidden” courtyard patio. It’s a place I have been taken to since I was just a wee lass, so I feel in a sense like I have grown up there.
 
My show, entitled “Weathered in Lace” will run from October 1st- November 3rd. The opening is October 1st from 7-9pm. I will be there all evening and would love to see some familiar faces, and hopefully meet some new lovers of art as well. 
The show will include a series of framed “dreamscapes”: assembled photographs taken of buildings in Paris, collaged with lace, acrylic paint, and spray paint. There will be a series of small acrylic paintings, and a few works on wood as well as some surprises.
 
Irene’s: Telephone: (613) 230-4474. 885 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 3W4

April 2012


ADIEU

I am leaving this city.

This phrase has been on my lips for my entire youth and early adulthood, muttered to myself during bus rides back to the suburbs where I was raised. It has been in my mind during wine-filled discussions on rooftops, balconies, and basements. It has been in my heart for longer than I can say, felt in the increased beat as I stepped out in a new city or town since I was very young. For years I cast my eyes away from maps and horizons, and for one reason or another, I remained.

Two years ago, I landed in Paris and realized I could never stay in the city where I was born and raised, would never be inspired by streets I knew blindfolded, the places that had grown so familiar I had stopped looking. It wasn’t the city, it was me.

We choose to be in love with our surroundings, but I have grown hungry for a new landscape. I long to feel myself in awe of something so vast and mysterious it wakes me at sunrise and beckons me out. I want to be humbled, terrified, exalted, eaten alive and sucked dry. I’m not getting any younger, and if I don’t leave soon, I won’t be getting any braver either.

Toronto is a small step towards what I hope will be a lifetime of roaming with ease, of constant exploration. Be it six days or six months, I want the experience of unfamiliar sunrises, fresh memories of new places, to feel like my eyes are open again and the blinders will never return.

This need comes down to my drive to create. I want to fuel this ambition, my head filled with images, I want to have the time and space to create these images in the forms they require. It is time to feast on my passions alone, and see what a life lived in this manner tastes like. I love my friends, my family, my favorite haunts. I love the life I lead here, It’s simply time to start listening to my intuition and follow the path that leads to the places calling out to me. I know I’m going to get chewed up and spit out, and I can hardly wait.

I’ll be back Ottawa, stay bad-ass and beautiful.

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September 2011

ALWAYS MOVING

It’s a strange thing when you love something for your entire life, and all of a sudden, people around you start to recognize you for the things you love.

I am honored to be included among a handful of artists that I admire in the third issue of The Fashion Press magazine. It was extremely exciting to see my artwork featured on the cover. You can buy an issue online or at a few great stores in Ottawa, or download a digital copy for free:

http://thefashionpress.blogspot.com/p/purchase-our-print-issues.html

The Fashion Press Issue Three
 $5.40

My work is going to be included in an upcoming show at the Ottawa Art Gallery for those of you looking to take in countless artworks in one night. This show opening is held along with all other Ottawa Art Gallery openings (Contemporary and Firestone Collections). It’s going to be a large and great crowd.

OTTAWA ART GALLERY ART RENTAL AND SALES PRESENTS:

COLLECTIBLES
15 November, 2011 – 14 January, 2012
ART Rental and Sales invites you to visit the exhibition Collectibles. This juried, group exhibit includes many artists and a variety of mediums such as photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewellery and textiles. All pieces are original and priced at $400.00 and under. Now is your chance to find a new addition for your art collection or perhaps find that one piece that will start you off because without art . . . you just have drywall!

Participating artists include:
Shannon Armishaw
Chayle Cook
Mathieu Dubé
Christopher Lee Dunning
Petra Halkes
Louis Helbig
Adrienne Herron
Maya Hum
Pina Manoni-Rennick
Reid McLachlan
Daniela Oey
Brad Snow
Lindsay Watson

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October  2011

It’s finally happening. I’ve been anticipating this show for a year now, ever since the day a friend shoved me into a corner with Simon Bell of Oz Kafe to talk art. I was shy, unsure, unseasoned. He was stoked, said he’d love to have a look at my stuff. It’s people like that who you never forget, and I will always be grateful to the countless people in this community in Ottawa who support me and spur me on relentlessly.

I’m delighted to be displaying some of my latest works on the candle-lit walls of Oz Kafe. Step into my dream-space, filled with prismatic landscapes inspired by the aesthetics of age and decay that lay submersed under the skin of modern society. I assemble twisted kaleidoscopic cityscapes to evoke feelings of temporality, beauty, and memorialization. Images of interior spaces and cities filled with turbulent skies create a hypnogogic sense of seeing from the inside out. The works capture a reflective view on the world around us, inspired by my time in Paris spent on rooftops and in the underground tunnels that make up the city, filled with spaces and patterns, and often passed unnoticed. Alongside these works will be some latest favorite paintings, and a few naked ladies likely scattered here and there for good measure.I’d love to see you all out! The show will be on display till November 6th at 2am.

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Outsides Insides- The Ottawa Art Gallery Art Rental.

SOLO SHOW AND ARTIST TALK

Take a Peek: Some of the latest acrylic works from my series “Outsides Insides” At The Ottawa Art Gallery in Art Rental all month long.

I will be doing an artist talk at the Gallery at the end of the month, titled “Confessions” All are welcome.

ART Rental and Sales | ART vente et location

LA GALERIE D’ART D’OTTAWA
THE OTTAWA ART GALLERY
2 avenue Daly Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6E2
rental@ottawaartgallery.ca
(613) 233-8865

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“Rose Tinted” and “Outsides Insides”: Two exhibits this month

I am excited to receive a nice shout-out on the “Where” Magazine’s Blog:

http://www.where.ca/central-canada/ontario/ottawa/hot-art-two-shows-one-local-artist/

”This artist’s strengths lie in capturing the world around her in its unlikely beauty, whether it’s an expression on a subject’s face, a moment in time, or architectural spaces that often go unnoticed.”


For my wonderful art loving friends within the city and abroad,

I’m wishing you happy days wherever the summer has taken you.

I don’t know where to start. This year I had a sold-out show at the Manx Pub, participated in multiple group shows hosted by some amazing young movers and shakers in Ottawa, stepped outside traditional surface and materials, and pushed my painting practice to a new level. I consider myself incredibly lucky. I have recently had work accepted to the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Art Rental Program, and am looking forward to the upcoming opportunities I have to showcase my art around this fair city. I would love to see some familiar faces at any and all of these events, so please stop by.

Shannon Armishaw Presents:  Rose Tinted
August 4-31
Opening Reception August 4th 6-9pm
Flock Boutique
1275 Wellington St West

The show at Flock is a retrospective, showing the development of my visual vocabulary, the images and ideas that have been constantly reappearing for many years, in different forms.  The result depicts a personal mythology formed through a creative process that finds countless mediums as a means of communication to express my artistic and aesthetic desires. The gallery space is intimate and features different bodies of work from the last few years. I am showcasing portraits, paintings, Paris dreamscapes, and a few other surprises.


Ottawa Art Gallery Art Rental
Exhibition and Artist Talk
Exhibition August 6-31.
Artist talk and reception August 24th 6-7pm
2 Daily Ave.

The Exhibit “Outsides Insides” features my latest paintings, prismatic landscapes inspired by the aesthetics of age and decay that lay submersed under the skin of modern society. Temporality, beauty, memorialization, and levels of intimacy are notions I have investigated through subjects and brushstrokes. Images of interior spaces and cities filled with turbulent skies create a hypnogogic sense of seeing from the inside out. The works capture a reflective view on the world around us, rich with its unlikely beauty found in alleys and on rooftops, filled with spaces and patterns, and often passed unnoticed.

For the artist talk I will be presenting my history and growth to discuss the development of themes and practices that have led to larger bodies of work. I will show the nature of my artistic discovery and creation through trial and process, and discuss my influences, aspirations, experiences, and passions that have driven me to live a life of artistic pursuits.
All October at Oz Kafe…. Stay tuned.

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Paris touched me in the places I had long forgotten. All March at the Manx Pub

For those of you who know me well, you know how much I love the Manx. Something about drinking apricot beer underground makes me feel at ease. Like the speakeasy of bygone eras, it has a heartbeat, even when it isn’t packed with a line-up out the door. I am lucky enough to have been granted this month until the end of March to display some new works, so stop by for a pint, push through the crowds, and take in some art while you imbibe.

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Artist, Designer, Creative Collaborator. Maker of beautiful things. You can find me making art, taking photos, designing homes, sets, or unique spaces, making hot sauces, creating unforgettable events, the list goes on and continues to grow!

2 thoughts on “BLOG”

  1. Martin Golland says:

    Shannon,
    Congratulations on the show! I’ll stop by for a pint or two in the coming week and have a look. The second painting on the wall – is that new? -Martin

  2. Kelsey says:

    So proud! What a beautiful show! 🙂

    Miss you and your inspiration. xo

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