Apple of my Odd Eye

September 29, 2014 · 4:21 pm

“Roses III” Painting

There’s finally a third painting for the “Roses” series! This one even has (most) of a body. Devin and did some painting this weekend while watching Doctor Who, and this was the result. She was inspired a little by Play Dead Cult, and then everything got away from me and the roses took over.

There are a few places where I think things ended up a little cluttered, but overall I’m pretty happy with this piece for now. She went through a lot of changes over the last two days. Here are some process shots:

You know your style is a bit odd when you find yourself thinking, “Ya know, I think I might paint them with bodies for a while.”

-Sarah

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Tagged as art, painting, portrait, roses, woman

September 27, 2014 · 8:51 pm

A Creepy Evening Stroll

“Emergency” – Sarah Y. Varnam

Devin and I went for a walk this evening and came across this TTC emergency exit. It immediately made me think of zombies and ghost stories. I hope you enjoy this creepy little photoshoot:

“Emergency” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Figure I” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Figure II” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Exploring” – Sarah Y. Varnam

If you’re a fan of creepy art (and maybe also spooky and speculative writing), you might like The Quilliad‘s fourth issue. It’s the publication’s Halloween issue, and there will be thrills and chills in abundance, as well as some pieces that are just plain strange. We believe that literature and art can embrace the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres, and we want this issue to reflect that. The Kickstarter for this issue is still going for a few more days, and we’re still accepting submissions.

Check it out.

-Sarah

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Tagged as art, Halloween, photography, submission call, writing

September 26, 2014 · 4:42 pm

Immaculate Selfie Gallery Show Opening

Selfie with my selfie.

The Black Cat is tiny but lovely.

Last night was the opening night for the Immaculate Selfie show at the Black Cat Gallery in Toronto. Curated by Devan Patel of Project Gallery, the exhibition is a celebration and interrogation of the internet age’s fascination with the self portrait in its new form, the selfie. The selfies adorning the tiny gallery’s walls ranged from photographs to oil paintings–there were even some fingerprints.

Guests were encouraged to take selfies with the art on display, and the mirrors on the ceiling intensified the sense of self-reflexivity. Oh, and the art was pretty great (I’m not just saying that because my work was included; there were some really clever interpretations of the theme as well as some beautiful portraits).

Here are more photos from the night:

EIFLES ETALUCAMMI EHT

Mirror-selfie.

My piece was in good company.

“Portrait II” – Sarah Y. Varnam

There were Polaroid selfies hidden around the room like Easter eggs.

Where does this lead??

Booze plus shmooze.

Face to face.

Devin’s car decided to misbehave, thus the sad face, but he showed up anyway.

Dear Dad looking at art.

For more information about the series my selfie is from (the idea is slightly more complex than me slathering paint on my face, though that was admittedly a lot of fun), check out this blog post from February: https://appleofmyoddeye.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/portrait-photopainting-series-by-sarah-y-varnam/

-Sarah

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Tagged as art, painting, photography, portrait, selfie

September 22, 2014 · 4:14 am

Everyday Apocalypse

I walked out onto our balcony on Sunday morning and was struck by the eeriness of what I saw:

“Foreboding” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Past-Life” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Rustle” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“At the Bottom” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Hanging” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“By a Thread” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“The Cage” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Nostalgia” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Threads” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Rows” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“New Growth I” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“New Growth II” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“New Growth III” – Sarah Y. Varnam

Our garden has turned into a tangled, dripping mess, and I love it (though I miss eating fresh sweetpeas in the morning). I couldn’t resist capturing the faded tones contrasted with those bursts of colour. Fall is one of my favourite seasons largely because of Halloween, so I might just be seeing ghosts and apocalypse everywhere because of that.

We have some more spooky art that we’ll be sharing over the next little while in the spirit of the season. Until then, we hope you enjoy the pumpkin-flavoured everything that has invaded the retail world this month.

-Sarah

The Quilliad’s issue 4 cover

P.S. If you like apocalyptic, spooky, or fantastical art–or writing–check out The Quilliad, a little literary and arts publication with a Halloween theme for its upcoming issue.

We’re working on our fourth issue right now, which means both that our Kickstarter is up until the end of the month and our submission call is open until the 30th of September. We’ve got a bunch of cool and creepy rewards available for the Kickstarter and we’d love to see your work for our submission call.

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Tagged as apocalypse, art, Halloween, photography, writing

September 15, 2014 · 12:44 pm

Upcoming Art Shows

Things have been quiet at Apple of my Odd Eye for a little while, but no longer. Sarah’s photography will be on display at the Immaculate Selfie show at the Black Cat Gallery in Toronto (2186 Dundas St W) from September 25 to October 3, 2014, curated by Devan Patel of Project Gallery. You can find the event on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/events/753720971341225/. Feel free to join us for the opening night reception on Thursday, September 25, 2014 from 7-11.

The Apple of my Odd Eye Collective will also be present at the Strange and Astounding Show on November 29 and 30, 2014 at the Woodview Park Community Centre, 151 Cadillac Avenue, in Oshawa. Here’s the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StrangeAndAstoundingShow. We hope to see some of you there.

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August 7, 2014 · 11:41 am

The “Roethke’s Flowers” Series So Far

Hey, guys. Sarah here. I’ve been working on this series on and off for a couple of months and am pretty happy with it so far. The third piece is not yet complete, but these two turned out pretty much the way I hoped they would:

“Orchids (adder-mouthed)” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Hyacinths” – Sarah Y. Varnam

I seem to have an obsession with roots that isn’t going away any time soon. This is my first foray into painting flowers other than roses, though, and I am enjoying it a lot. If you haven’t read any of the gloriously creepy plant poetry by Theodore Roethke that inspired this series, try “Root Cellar” or “Orchids”.

Cheers,
Sarah

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Tagged as art, flowers, poetry, Roethke

July 12, 2014 · 8:06 pm

Art at Mad Pride

As we mentioned in our recent post about new work and next steps for the collective, Sarah’s work is up in the Architecture of Mad show today as part of Mad Pride in Toronto. Mad Pride is a week of celebrations and discussions around mental illness. The yearly event is meant to facilitate conversations about mental health issues and remove stigma for those with mental health conditions. Sarah qualified for the art show partly because of her obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The show was also juried. The sculptures she submitted to the show started as a way to cope with overwhelming anxiety (happily, they have evolved into something more fun and whimsical). As is evident in her portfolio, much of Sarah’s work comes from her interest in “madness”.

To our surprise and delight, we found out a few days ago that we were also accepted into the Mad Market. Today’s market was one of the best art shows we’ve participated in, based on factors as diverse as cost, company, sales, and atmosphere. Here are a few shots from the Mad Market and Architecture of Mad:

Devin at Apple of my Odd Eye's Mad Market table

The Mad Market’s Mad Pride paper-brick wall

Sarah is considering getting a tattoo of her Mad Pride brick.

Devin’s Mad Pride brick (orange)

Architecture of Mad

Sarah’s art at Architecture of Mad

Sarah’s art at Architecture of Mad–side view

We even got a chance to hang out and chat with some vendors we know from other shows (some of whom will be at the Strange and Astounding Show in Oshawa with us in November). To make the day even better, while we were at the show we received a notification from Etsy that we had sold a piece (you can find us on Etsy here). We had a great time and hope that Mad Pride continues to grow over the years. We look forward to being part of it in the future and seeing how it evolves.

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Tagged as art, mad pride, mental health

July 4, 2014 · 8:23 pm

New Work and Next Steps for the Apple of my Odd Eye Artist Collective

We’ve been busy! We’ve been to publication launches and art shows, finished paintings, taken photographs, and started commissions.

Last Saturday, Devin and Sarah represented Apple of my Odd Eye at the Wychwood Barns Art Market.

All set up–Apple of my Odd eye’s stall at Wychwood Barns

Devin watching the stall

Sarah’s jewelry at Wychwood Barns

Wychwood Barns Art Market

We were also part of The Quilliad’s third issue launch party.

At The Quilliad’s issue 3 launch

We’ve also been busy creating. Sarah recently finished a few of her favourite paintings so far. They both have a fantasy theme.

“Weather Eyes Open” detail

“Weather Eyes Open” – Sarah Y. Varnam Not for Sale

“In the Heart of Winter” – Sarah Y. Varnam 16×20 – $500

Sean recently got back from a trip to British Columbia, where he worked on some time lapse work and tried out some new camera techniques. He’ll be sharing tips on how to do time lapse right on Geek Collateral’s site.

A screenshot from Sean’s recent time lapse work.

We also have a corporate commission! Sarah and Devin are working on some pieces in the company’s colours and using the company’s symbol, a pineapple.

The company likes this one.

“Starry” – Sarah Y. Varnam 12×16 – SOLD

They aren’t so interested in these. Anyone want pineapples?

“Circuit Constellation” – Sarah Y. Varnam (commission) Original Available – 16×20 – $75

Sarah is also working on a painting for a friend’s stag and doe.

Next up: Sarah’s Odd Eye sculptures will be part of Architecure of Mad, an art exhibit celebrating Mad Pride, on Saturday, July 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 246 Sackville Street in Toronto.

Sarah’s Odd Eye sculptures

We’ll also be checking in with some work from Ashley Pleasant soon.

Another piece of important news is that we will probably be doing fewer craft shows. This is mostly due to the costs of these shows. We won’t be disappearing, though. We still have at least one more craft show this year, and we’re hoping to announce more gallery events. You can also find our work on Etsy and Zazzle, or if the piece you like isn’t up on either site, just email us at appleofmyoddeye@gmail.com.

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May 26, 2014 · 9:01 pm

Scarborough Big Art Book Reception

A couple of us from Apple of my Odd Eye dropped by the Scarborough Big Art Book reception last Thursday to check out how the book turned out and to celebrate Sarah’s inclusion in the project. The book will be available soon online on the Scarborough Arts website. For now, here are some photos from the event:

Sarah's piece in the Scarborough Big Art Book

Me (Sarah) in the Scarborough Big Arts Book

We hope to see you at the next event we will be attending–The Quilliad’s Issue 3 Launch Party and Art Show, Saturday June 7 at Betty’s on King, upstairs in the party room at 240 King Street West, Toronto.

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Tagged as art

May 22, 2014 · 12:40 pm

“Hyacinths” by Sarah Y. Varnam

We’ve been quiet at Apple of my Odd Eye for a while, but that’s because we’ve been busy entering art competitions, working on commissions, and submitting to festivals. If you check our events page, you can see some of what we’ll be up to in the future. Today is the reception for the Scarborough Big Arts Book that Sarah’s painting-photography is featured in, and you’ll note that The Quilliad‘s Issue 3 Launch Party and Art Show has been moved to Saturday, June 7.

“Hyacinths” is for the Dupont DIG Flower festival.