Roksan Kohen - new studio member

I started to express myself creatively through fine arts at a very young age. As I had both talent and interest in this area, I attended workshops and drawing lessons so that I could develop my talent. All through my primary and secondary education, my objective was to study arts at university level.

After graduating from MSGSU , the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul, I had the incredible opportunity to work as an artist and an art tutor as well. Since then, free of deductions, my life is full of observation, challenge of creation, fun in my own way and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my passion with my students and others.

Open Doors Project 2010

Open Doors Project

Please join Octopus Studios during Open Doors Project on July 31- August1. Open Doors is collaborative project led by the Powell street Festival Society and the Japanese Canadian National Museum. Founded under the City of Vancouver's Japantown Revitalization project, the Open Doors initiative is to commemorate the divers histories of 300 and 400 blocks of the Powell Street neighborhood.

New Classes at Soigne in Octopus Studios

Were you always amazed with intricate wire chains and do you wonder how they are made? Then It is time to explore new skills, using only a few tools, Soigne wire chain course will introduce you to 10 different styles of chains and wire jewelry without soldering.

Perfect for you to learn how to make your own jewelry at home with only a few tools. After this 4 hour course, you will be able to produce jewelry with wire and make your own designs using various styles and techniques!

Contact us for dates and time, we will accommodate our schedule to your needs.

More info under the link: http://soigne.ca/about/wire-chains/

Octopus presents Ernest Swanson

Ernest began engraving in 2004 under Haida jeweller, Jim McGuire. In 2005, he started carving wood with Christian White and his cousin, Jim Hart. This same year, he also won an ‘Emerging Artist’ award from British Columbia’s Alliance of Arts and Culture. In 2009, Ernest graduated from Vancouver's Northwest Coast Jewellery Arts program under established Haida/Kwakwaka'wakw artist, Dan Wallace. Recently, Ernest has been working on a large pole with Jim Hart at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver.

Octopus presents Ellen Scobie

Artist Statement

I am interested in extracting specific moments from time’s continuum and using them as building blocks in a new narrative – the creative of memory as an inventive activity. Pixels are both the medium and the content of my artwork, each pixel carrying with it information from its source, a photographic capture. I use pixels as I would ink or paint in developing an optically layered and visually textural work. The digital camera may be a relatively new artistic tool, but the tradition of photo montage, practiced by artists for decades, is at the foundation of my art making.

Biography

Ellen Scobie was born and raised on Vancouver Island. She attained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from the University of Manitoba where further training in lithography introduced her to the process of fine art printmaking. She continued her art studies in England at the historic London College of Printing. After several years in Spain, Ellen returned to the West Coast where she experimented with a wide variety of media and techniques. All of these influences have shaped her current artistic practice of digital photo montage. The artist has one daughter and lives with her husband in Burnaby, BC.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OCTOPUS STUDIOS