Dance Bears, Dance!

This post is all about bears!



Wait...no, no. THOSE ARE THE WRONG BEARS!



Much better. Those are the bears I was talkin' about.

Anyways. I made a visit to the gallery today to check in on my Fascinating Freaks and was pleased to see that many of them have found new homes with loving familes - just seven creatures remain!

I was also able to take some video of the bears waltzing in their serene forest home, and I'll share it with you in just a moment. First, though, I'd like to share a few more production shots of the woods in which the bears reside. Oh, and I'd also like to mention that the fact that the bears move at all is entirely due to the hard work of my friend Anibal, who did the mechanical/electrical elements of this peep show. I'm not sure I've mentioned that the installation was not mine alone here before and thought I should remedy that fact, as I could not have made this happen without his help.

Right. Back to your regular, bear-filled programming!


The scenery, pretty much done - just needs a couple more ursine inhabitants.


My cellophane flowers (no, they don't grow so incredibly high, but I love them nevertheless).


A very enthusiastic moon-man.

Alright. Now, without further ado, I present the Internet debut of THE BEARS, dancing to tunes from the band Beirut (because the original music box plinkings didn't get picked up so well by my camera's mic. Thank goodness for iMovie). Please grin and bear (pun sort of intended) the absolutely crap quality of my camera - its low light abilities aren't really up to par.

Video #1: Probably too long, a bit wobbly, has an awkward cut near the end. Hooray?

More Bears Waltzin' to Lovely Tunes from Jessica Bartram on Vimeo.

Video #2: Black and white, much more succinct than the first one, but you don't quite get to see the awesomeness of the scenery.

Waltz in the Nightwood: B&W with Music! from Jessica Bartram on Vimeo.

(Click through to Vimeo to see both videos a bit larger. And yes, I also post wholly ridiculous attempts at ukulele playin' on the account. What of it?)

Enjoy!!

Farther's Opening Gala: A Pictorial

The work went all the way to the wire (the peep show was still being installed at 7:30 p.m.), but in the end the show's much-awaited opening went off without a hitch! There were homemade baked goods (moms are the best), a rollicking crowd, lovely tunes and a whole bunch of colourful freaks ready to entertain the masses.

For those of you who could not make it out last night, remember that the show will be up at Freedom Clothing Collective until Dember 9th!

Since I'm still in a bit of a haze (the week leading up to last night was, to put it mildly, hectic), you get a pictorial of the evening. Enjoy!






My darling Martha, the first freak to sell. I'll miss my mer-tiger ever so much!


A dim shot of the store window, all bunting'd and carnivalesque.

To follow: Peep show shenanigans...












Two VERY relieved bear-wranglers, thrilled that the thing works!


The jazz hands were out in force last night.


Spectators spectating.


The crowd at its zenith.

Thanks to all those who made it out last night - you made me a VERY happy lady!

Many thanks as well to the lovely ladies of Freedom CC who provided me with wonderful walls in a glorious shoppe and made the organization of this show easy as pie!

Ever So Soon

Sorry (again) for the extreme dropoff in blog-things - the past few weeks have been a leafy blur of hot glue fumes, paper cutting and workshop jaunts, which, when combined with my day job, made for little free time for keeping this sucker up to date.

I figured it'd be useful to drop in now, three (THREE?!?) days before the show opens to toss down (a) a reminder of the time/date/awesomeness of the opening, and (b) post a few shots of (hopefully) tantalizing trees!

First off, the deets on the show's opening (and tenure at the gallery):



Farther's Fascinating Freaks
New Paintings & Other Curiosities by Jessica Bartram


Please join me for the show’s opening
Friday, November 12, 2010, 8:00 p.m.
at
Freedom Clothing Collective
939 Bloor St. West, Toronto

Ph: 416.530.9946
www.freedomclothingcollective.com

Show runs November 12 - December 7

---

And, as an added bonus, you also get a visual essay (maybe more of a visual haiku, actually) documenting the last few weeks of work via sketchy cell-phone and photo booth photos:


The nearly-finished swan.


The swan's headshot - needs to find itself a better photographer.


First look at the facade of the peep show (pre-colour, post-primer).


Tibetan momos - one of my workshop-time staple foods.


This is my SAFETYFACE (preparing to make use of my friend the circular saw).


Starting the first tree...


...slightly mad at 2 a.m., post finishing the second tree...


...and completely done all three trees!


This is most likely the last proper post until the show opens on Friday - after that, I'll have a bunch of material (including a VIDEO of the peep show! Exciting!!), so make sure to check back sometime next week!