Nigel Fox Artworks

Well, it’s been almost a month since we have come back home from Terrace and things are fairly busy. I am working on a limited edition silkscreen print and I hope that I am nearly done. This is my first silkscreen print edition and so I am not quite sure how close I am to finishing. This edition was of my butterfly tessellation.

My father in law, Darrell and I working on the roof of the studio.

I am also back to working on my studio again. This has been a project that has been coming along in my yard. I am building a 24’x20′ art studio, separate from the house. It’s a place to work on art projects.

Although many of you who are from out of town did not hear about this event in Terrace, there was an annual studio tour this weekend in Terrace. It couldn’t have been a better weekend, weather wise. Numerous people came out to where I was stationed with two other artists, near Usk. Usk is about 10 minutes outside of Terrace, so the people who came sure wanted to see us. There were treats, good conversation, refreshments, beautiful scenery and beautiful art. My only regret was that I didn’t get to see the other studio venues; Amy did, though, and she told me that she had a really great time.

At the venue where I was stationed, there were two other artists: Todd Stephens and Susann Williamson. Todd is a Nisga’a artist who runs a studio in town, Wilp Simgan (House of Red Cedar), and Susann is an artist who makes stained glass in her studio, Mountainside Stained Glass.  Susann was an amazing hostess and a cook of heroic proportions.  I think that I will remember the ham sandwich that I had this afternoon for some time to come.  amy and I were very privileged to stay with her and her partner, Al.

We are looking forward to next year’s event.  Over all, it was a very successful weekend, we gave it our best, and then had a rest.

Well, it’s back to normal, back from school and back to the grind. I have been looking at materials local to Topley that I may use for carving. One of the woods that I have checked out is aspen wood. It seems that aspen is solid enough to carve and it finishes very similar to alder. I am going to look into using birch wood, too. I have heard that birch is quite dense and i wonder how easy it would be to carve.

I am currently working on an alder beaver mask. I hope to be done this soon.

I also have been doing some study sketches of some of the images in my textbooks. The source for the sketch above was from page 97 of the “Transforming Image” textbook [McLennan]. It is of a Haida frog bowl, attributed to Charles Edenshaw.

Nathan Wilson and I finished our first commission together.  It had its ups and downs, but it was over all very positive and a total blast.  We worked 10 hour days over a 6 day period and worked on site the whole time.  We set up a tarp tent soon after starting the project and with the wind blowing very hard at times, it nearly blew over a few times and collapsed more times than we could remember.   We started with sketch ups of the proposed crest heads and after all the formalities, such as price, dimensions and other considerations, we started the first day after finishing our last day of class at Freda Diesing School.

We started by preparing the log–a first-growth western red cedar.  And after the surface was prepared and all the roughage taken off, we had a smooth surface to work on and put the crest heads.

Next we painted the primary and secondary forms.

Then we started carving.

Then, finally we painted the tertiary areas and after getting approval from the clients, we were done.

Very exciting project and I am looking forward to what’s next.  Stay tuned.

Well, it’s the first day out of school at Freda Diesing School and Nathan Wilson and I have work to do already. We have been commissioned to work on a twelve foot long, old growth cedar log. We are to put five crests on this log. The four main crests: wolf, eagle, killer whale and raven; and a sub-crest, beaver. For those of you who don’t know, a crest is a native stylized design of an animal, usually to represent a matrilineal (ie from the mom) blood-line. We have been commissioned to do this piece in order to honor first nations at a local day care.

It has been quite the year at Freda Diesing School. I remember being so nervous on the first day. Over the first few months, with the incessant ovoids and various workshops and fieldtrips. Then the new year with its deadlines, exhibits and presentations. What a year. I had so much fun and learned so much–that is the way that learning should be. I look forward to meeting with everyone in the class in the future, and if not, then on Facebook.

I wrote up a small note on the piece on the back of the painting. The piece is about teamwork and is part of a series that I am exploring on the theme of respect, especially among peers, even among “outsiders” or butterflies. Within many northwest coast native cultures, there are crests that are usually animals, that represent families or bloodlines. The butterfly crest is reserved for people who are not part of a nation by blood.

I think that the best way to describe it is how respect is required for harmony, and teamwork if need be. Each butterfly in the design is defined by a set of similar butterflies, with different colors. Each member of a functional team may have a different personality (color) but where they meet they are similar.

It’s all in the interfacing, ie boundaries, or communication if you will.

This is my second mask. I completed it recently. It has a design on the face that represents the reflection of light on water when viewing it from below. I call this mask “Surface Tension”, which is a play on words because of the water and the ovoids. Ovoids are supposed to be drawn as if the lines in the ovoid are under tension–sort of how a stick looks when it bends–hence the play on words. Ovoids are also a basic form within northwest coast art, similar to how water is a basic factor for physical life.

I will be displaying this mask, along side other works, at the year end exhibit this weekend.