Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
15 January 2019 Vol 4 No 2 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2019
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
I’ve long been fascinated with the odd array of day jobs artists take to pay the bills.
Some common strategies are teaching and arts administration, seasonal work like tree planting, or part-time gigs in art supply shops, coffee shops and the like.
Then there are the outliers: my running tally includes a dentist, an accountant and several architects, the latter perhaps not so surprising given the creative nature of the profession.
Then, earlier this month, I found myself interviewing an undercover cop. As you can read in this issue, Kevin Boyle honed his camera skills documenting drug deals and other crimes in Vancouver before he got interested in art.
The following day, I interviewed a full-time artist, Edmonton landscape painter Tom Gale, whose story is also included in this issue.
Also featured are reviews of Punk Orientalism at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina; Jennifer Rose Sciarrino’s exhibition at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge; and Janet Shaw-Russell’s Winnipeg show about aging. This issue's final story surveys efforts to tour art shows to small communities in the four Western provinces.
Looking ahead, our writers are working on stories about Shawn Evans, whose Calgary show looks at architecture and its relationship to landscape; Vancouver artist Sean Karemaker's drawings for his latest graphic novel; and Saskatchewan artist Lindsay Arnold, who paints hyper-real images of doilies as a commentary on the tedium of women’s work.
Arnold, by the way, is also the municipal administrator in North Portal, population 115.
I'm hoping to write a story about day gigs at some point. If you're an artist, please drop me a comment below and tell me about your day job.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Sandee Moore, Willow Rector, Tyler J. Stewart