The Meal

On February 24th, 2012, at 12:00 PM EST, I participated in a global meal with thousands of other people. The project, created by Art House Co-op before the 10 x 10 series was announced, shares the world's largest communal snack in photos. All submitted photographs were exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York, on April 5th.

My contribution: some Cipâte, left over from Christmas. This is the traditional Christmas Eve meal in my home town. For 2011, I was celebrating away from home, but still cooked a delicious Cipâte: a meal consisting of potatoes, pork, chicken, beef, dough and spices... left in the oven for a full day, to eat after midnight. Delicious!

10 x 10 Series #8,9,10

"What's this?" you say...
"10 x 10 is what you wrote. 10 projects: not 7!" you say...

"Well, dear viewer, Art House Co-op had three more projects in the series in which I unfortunately couldn't participate; for lack of time, or simply for not being fast enough to sign up on the day the projects were announced. However, be not afraid, dear reader! There will be more art posted in the future." I say...

10 x 10 Series #7

Art House Co-op is all about sharing creativity. Getting surprises in the mail is an added bonus. "The Note Swap" invited us to share a handwritten letter with a stranger. This is a glimpse at mine. My penmanship has lost a bit of its flow and prettiness over the last few years, as I haven't had a chance to use it much. I intend to fix this very soon. I am still patiently waiting for the note I will receive from the swap, and I will share it with you when it arrives.

10 x 10 Series #6

The first of Art House Co-op's 10 x 10 series projects I participated in was "Letters to Home". (Yes, I haven't been posting these in order of creation). I used my calligraphy pens for the first time in a while and wrote a letter to my childhood home in Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, Canada. I prepared a home-made envelope with a little carved out picture of the house. All the submissions were exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, New York, in April.

I will be visiting home in a few weeks and I am extremely excited to go back, after a full year of absence. I miss it dearly.

10 x 10 Series #5

This Art House Co-op project is part of a photography series called "The Things Found", that encourages participants to capture an image of a common space. Volume one: The Fridge. In my case, the fridge's door: because that's where all the tasty stuff is.The online exhibition of all submissions launched today here. Have a look!

10 x 10 Series #4

This Art House Co-op project was called "The Photo Response Project", which, as they explain, "asks artists to perform a visual translation". You had to choose from one of five photographs and respond to it in any visual medium. All the submissions will be exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Library. I chose to do the very first thing that came to mind and simply draw what I had thought of over the picture. I imagined this is what Art House's door step could look like, and I have to say, I'm a little jealous. I miss receiving mail that isn't a bill, flyer, or similar junk. That's one of the reasons I participated in these mini-projects this year. I received lots of surprises and hopefully also made someone somewhere in the world smile when they received my contributions.

10 x 10 Series #3

This Art House Co-op project was called "The Map Project". The idea was to create a handdrawn map of one's world, or of anything one wanted, really. All the submissions will be exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, New York. My map just throws in a little bit of everything I think about when I have to consider what my life is / was / will be.

10 x 10 Series #2

This Art House Co-op mini project was called "The Mystery Project". Earlier in the 10 x 10 series, they had "The Jar Project", which I thought was a really neat idea, but unfortunately I didn't get to participate at the time. I used the same idea for this project instead. I was sent a theme card and a crimson red Prismacolor marker. I had been gardening and thought that seeds growing year after year into beautiful flowers were a good match for "The Future of the Year" theme. I placed the seeds in a straw, wrote up the information about the project and arranged everything in the jar, then hid it at a local flower market for someone to find.

10 x 10 Series #1

Art House Co-op created a series of 10 mini projects for the weeks preceding the launch of the new Sketchbook Project 2013. I participated in a few of them, so I will be posting the others in the coming weeks. This one was called "The 4x6 Exchange". And it was just that. Create a 4"x6" piece of art and send it in to be exchanged with another artist's contribution. I sent in this paper cut-out tree, and the gentleman who received it liked it, so I'm pretty happy. Here is the piece I received, created by Sarah Rohn:

The Sketchbook Project 2012

This is my entry for The Sketchbook Project 2012.
If you don't know what the project is all about, please check it out at www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject2012.

As a first time participant, I tried a few different things and I enjoyed the overall experience. I would definitely do more books in the future. Feel free to comment!