Portia “Po” Chapman’s Kingston Art Studio is a Place to Create
My new studio is a place for me to create, have zoom meetings with clients and present my artworks. I do not have a walk-in store location at this time. Thank you for you understanding.
It dawned on me that I have not posted any photos of my new Kingston Art Studio. Although I do miss being down on Bagot Street (I adore downtown Kingston), the suburbs in the north end provide me with more creation space, easy access to building supply stores, Michaels, and the my much needed inspiration trips into the countryside north of HWY 401. The following photos are of my space where I create:
Yay! I have finally completed my 5 year long Concurrent – Bachelor of Education (Artist in Community Education Concentration) program at Queen’s University! I have earned my two Intermediate – Senior teachable subjects in Visual Arts and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies. I have grown a lot since my start in the program in 2015. I was so happy to spend the final year of the program with my sister Jasmine (BEd – Communications Technology). Not many sisters get to do their BEd together. Many call us the “Sisters in Education!”
I am so grateful for my practical and theoretical knowledge gained over this degree journey. I can’t wait to start teaching this fall!
Basically, an arting is a brief art workshop, often only one night and for one art project. Our scratchboard arting was 45 minutes. Participants were able to start and finish their art pieces in this brief time together. It was so nice to see so many happy faces as participants left with their own finished artworks in hand.
Before participants left to mount their artworks at home, each participant received a certificate of completion. I can’t wait to host more artings this fall.
Thanks:
I would like to thank my supportive sister Jasmine Chapman (BEd CommTech) for photographing this event for me. Not many sisters get to do their BEd together – but we did!
I would like to thank my ACE professor Aynne Johnston for integrating this fun arting opportunity into our concentration. Artings are so fun, productive, and only take a short time to do. If we all took an hour to create each week/month, just imagine how we could beautify our world together.
“Desk” was Digitally Inserted into My Photograph – Windsor, Ontario
As an Art Teacher and Teacher of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies, I hope to take “Desk” on a learning tour. Covid-19 has taught us that learning happens everywhere in life – if we are willing to learn. The classroom suddenly became our living rooms, bedrooms, and even our cars.
We kept learning during a time that prevented us from going to the school building. I want to take “Desk” on a journey across the country.
A moving journey across our great land whereby each stop along the way invites people to sit at “Desk” and to tell their stories of learning. I really, really like school – sharing, learning, teaching, and so much more.
As the artist, I so aspire for “Desk” to remind all of us that we must not move backward – we must keep moving forward. Learning is everywhere and learning flourishes when we share our stories together.
“Desk” was Digitally Inserted into My Photograph – Toronto, Ontario
This is “Desk” in the studio:
“Desk” by Portia “Po” Chapman, 2019 – In the Studio
Here I am making my bricks for my installation “Blossoming Beyond the Box.” I tried different materials and found that Hydro-Stone was the best product to use. It is an amazing product. It is more durable and less porous than other plasters that I have used.
I new they were dry when a puddle of water settled to the surface. It is important to note that Hydro-Stone heats up really fast, so I used room temperature water. Once, I used hot water and it became too hot to touch.
To create bricks that were all different from each other, I roughly brushed Vaseline into the back of the form before pouring in the Hydro-Stone. They turned out so nice and smooth.
This may sound labour intensive, but it was a lot less work than applying the bark pieces over the plastered pipe that I used to make the tree. I gathered the bark from ditches. I did not take it from live trees. In total, there were over 2000 small pieces of bark that were glued on using a hot glue gun.
This project took a lot of time and effort, but it was well worth it in the end. If you have not used a product like Hydro-Stone, I highly recommend that you try it for your next plaster project. Note: I am not sponsored by Hydro-Stone.
I hope that you find “Blossoming Beyond the Box” meaningful.
Portia Chapman’s Family Christmas Turkey Takes the Leading Role in Her Performance Art Video
When it comes to being a performance artist, one needs to let life happen. I find it thrilling when the audience become the actors. To me, performance art reveals life in real time. What happens around the artist is just as important to the craft as the artist herself.
For Christmas a couple years ago I thought: “Hmmm… The star is going to be the turkey at Nanny’s Christmas supper.”
So I set up the camera on a tripod and videoed our family helping themselves during our meal. When I viewed the footage, I felt really sorry for the turkey so I wrote a song to honour it. Coming from a very musical family, it was so much fun bringing the new song, “Turkey,” to life. The song is so catchy, every now and then, we suddenly start singing or humming it. How funny is that?!
I submitted “Turkey” to the Union Gallery video gala but it was not chosen. I think that they would have really enjoyed it because if you have ever eaten a holiday turkey, you can relate to this real experience. Although this video was not chosen, another performance art video of mine was featured at the show.
Rolling on Campus was a hit. It features me rolling around on the ground and steps at Queen’s University. The camera was hidden the entire time. It is a very emotional performance art. It illustrates how a person can be overlooked in a crowd. When I set out that day to roll, I had no idea how the students would react to me on the ground. From this experience, I learned that there are times in life when we must find strength and get up because there won’t be someone there to help you. I found a strength I never thought I had.
I had so much fun creating this Water Bottle Whirligig Tutorial! The tutorial goes through the steps of making this whirligig from disinfecting the water bottle to decorating and watching it spin.
My sister Jasmine and I made this video together during the Covid-19 shut down. We wanted to create a craft using objects found around the house like recycling. We were in isolation for about two months so we had a lot of recycling to use up!
It was a really rewarding and enjoyable project. I began the process in August 2019. As a visual artist with Indigenous ancestry on both sides of my family, it was an honour to develop these illustrations that feature traditions across Canada. I began the process with the 7 Grandfather Teachings and then continued from there forward.
I look forward to new art commissions. If you are seeking an artistic illustrator, I can be contacted at loveartbypo@gmail dot com .
Po
Update: On July 14, 2020, the Queen’s University Faculty of Education newsletter featured my illustrations from the Indigenous Initiatives website. I hope that this exposure brings more attention to the Queen’s University Indigenous Initiatives website.
Love Art By Po: More Portia Chapman Blog Posts to Come. Site Being Updated. Please View the Pages.
Thank you for stopping by. Over the last couple days I have uploaded several images of my art work. My art work can be found in the pages. I will be posting artist statements, reflections, and further information regarding my art. For further information about me, please visit my “About” page. Thanks again, Po.
Love Art by Po 