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let's create!: festival workshops include painting a pet portrait, and making a puppet in a brewery
organized by eastside arts society, the people behind the eastside culture crawl, it’s a weeklong event that also includes an all-day outdoor festival
jul 16 2024
3 minute read
this year's create! eastside arts festival takes place july 22-28 at strathcona park and various locations. wendy d photo
create! eastside arts festival
when : july 22-28
where: strathcona park and various locations
info: createartsfesival.ca
the annual create! eastside arts festival encourages people to mingle with artists, join workshops and create their own work. organized by eastside arts society, the people behind the eastside culture crawl, it’s a weeklong event that also includes an all-day outdoor festival at strathcona park on july 27 with public participation art projects, live music, food trucks and a beer garden.
leading one of the workshops this year is kat mcphee. in drawing animals using oil pastels the local painter will guide participants in drawing an animal on an 8-by-12-inch wood panel.
“i got my studio 10 years ago for the culture crawl, just to see how it would go,” mcphee said. “at the time, i was drawing a lot of animals just because i love animals. and somebody said, ‘oh, you could draw my pet.’ and then it slowly spiralled into an almost full-time thing.”
vancouver artist kat mcphee leads two workshops on animal portraits using oils on wood at her studio at 281 industrial ave. july 28 as part of create! eastside arts festival. rennie brown photo
other workshops include embroidery, weaving, and puppet-making. some of them take place in breweries, including strange fellows, luppolo, and off the rail. others, like mcphee’s, take place at artist’s studios or in strathcona park.
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the 4th create! also includes several shows at the heatley and guilt & co., including performances by local musicians steve kozak, christine lee and petunia and the vipers and quebec singer-songwriter mia kelly. the flamingo room, firehall arts centre and the rickshaw theatre are also hosting shows under the create! banner, including paul pigat july 25 and art bergmann july 26.
mcphee doesn’t paint only animal portraits. her work also includes hip-hop stars and ‘90s comedians such as chris farley, eddie murphy and john candy. much of her work, such as a portrait of actor willem dafoe, is commissioned.
“i like working with really quirky faces and cool expressions, so for me that was a dream. but i was trying to picture where someone would have willem dafoe in their house.”
her work is currently on display at score on davie and the red accordion in the west end and east van brewing co. in september she’ll have a show at landmark pop-uptown gallery in white rock.
“it’s all oil pastels on wood,” she said. “i started on canvas. but with oil pastels you get the texture and density you do from oil painting, but i can work more quickly. and the texture works better on wood. i’ve done a skate-deck series, i’ve done boogie boards. i’ll work on anything that’s wood.”
this year’s create! eastside arts festival takes place july 22-28 at strathcona park and various locations. wendy d photo
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her create! workshop is a variation on one she takes into classrooms for thrive youth development.
“i take a reference photo and instead of sketching it out or using a screen, i start with one eye and work out from there. i never really know what i’m going to get. in the workshop we’ll all use the same reference photo and then, through blending and colour choices, everyone comes up with a different piece. it’s a cool way to show people how using your imagination will show you what your style is. it’s a little bit more intuitive and it’s really fun.”
participants don’t necessarily have to be a dog-lover, or lover of animal portraits.
“i’d say it’s for anyone who’s creative and still trying to figure out a style or are looking to try a different medium,” mcphee said. “a lot of people don’t use oil pastels. the first art shop i bought oil pastels from stopped carrying them because i was the only one buying them. anyone who likes the idea of oil painting, the depth and texture of it, but wants something that they can work quickly with or wants to try something new, i think it will be good for them too.”
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