Thank you all for visiting Soigne at Ayden gallery this month. The show is still on. If you are not planning to drop by, here are some pictures from the opening night.

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Soigne is very excited to announce new courses in 2012. Starting at the end of January we are introducing 4 kinds of Metal Clay Courses (more details on the website http://soigne.ca/about/metal-clay-bronze-copper-steel-white-bronze/).
We are covering all the needs of beginners as well as catering for those who want to learn the entire metal clay spectrum including enameling and mold making for metal clay.

Additionally we have Metal Clay Course where new and veteran parents can now splash out on keepsakes which incorporate an impression of their child’s fingerprints. Or a perfect gift to give to your loved one with a personal message and your fingerprint forever imprinted in pendants, key chains or charms.

Join us for a new plating course where you will be able to transfer your favorite dry organic matter like shells, leaves, flowers etc to pure copper, wearable, jewelery using plating techniques. Without making molds or using casting techniques learn how to make cast-like jewelery. (more details on the website: http://soigne.ca/about/copper-plating/)

For class schedules please check website below:

http://soigne.ca/events/

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http://www.theadfmblog.com/2012/01/02/beata-kacy/

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To all jewelery makers, past students and future ones.

Looking for space to finish your jewelery, work on your jewelery project or practice what you learned elsewhere? Soigne is enrolling new artists to share the space for 2012 (On a month to month basis) – max 4 artists. We provide art space with jewelery benches and equipment for you 24 hours 7 days a week. Be your own boss!
For more information please email me at beata.kc@gmail.com

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Thank you for visiting us during The 2011 Eastside Culture Crawl. We had over 1104 guests and you made it happen.
For all of you that couldn’t make it see the pictures attached.
For private appointments and Christmas shopping please contact me at beata.kc@gmail.com

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http://canadianimmigrant.ca/entertainment/immigrant-artists-at-eastside-culture-crawl-nov-18-20/

Immigrant artists at Eastside Culture Crawl Nov. 18-20

By Noa Glouberman
November 17, 2011

The doors to hundreds of artists’ studios in East Vancouver will be opened to the public during the Eastside Culture Crawl, Nov. 18-20, 2011, and among the painters, photographers, sculptors and other visual artists participating this year are a large number of Canadian immigrants.

Here, we preview the main event with our own “mini crawl,” featuring some tremendously talented newcomers.
Beata Kacy: artist with a splash

First up was Beata Kacy, who fell in love with sewing and knitting as a child growing up in Poland. After moving to Vancouver to pursue an arts and film education, Kacy gained an interest in making jewelry and, in addition to the soft, woolen textiles of her youth, began to use a range of harder materials like wood, metal, stone, glass and even concrete to create her wearable works.

“Every time you step out the door … the way you personally express yourself is always on full display,” she explains. “As humans … we are drawn to coveting the human form and are enthralled by watching other people to see how they dress or accessorize themselves.”

A talented underwater photographer to boot, Kacy’s former work as a rescue scuba diver comes in handy in keeping her subjects safe during their photo shoots. She also runs Octopus Studios, a 3,000-square-foot workspace at 393 Powell St., where she offers classes in metalwork, felting, soap-making, and other arts and crafts. “Whenever I learn something new, I try to pass on the skills,” she says.

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Thank you Straight for visiting Soigne.

http://www.straight.com/article-540081/vancouver/space-invaders

In the cutthroat world of Vancouver artist studios, these Crawl participants are cool with  sharing close quarters

Recently, an unlikely group of people sat around a table in Octopus Studios at 393 Powell Street, discussing their work and shared artistic headquarters. Among those present were a pro wrestler, a university administration assistant, and a game designer—as well as a couple of jacket-sporting Chihuahuas. A scene out of the homogenous sitcom world of Friends, this was not.

But in the cutthroat world of Vancouver artist studios, where space is at a premium, diverse groups of individuals who might never cross paths otherwise are sharing close quarters—and making it work.

“As artists, it’s tough to get your stuff out there and it’s tough to find affordable space,” notes part-time painter Travis Watters, who has rented a studio at Octopus for the last six months. A tanned, beefy guy who also makes a living as a pro wrestler under the stage name Ladies Choice (slogan: “the man with the plan and the golden tan”), he quietly sips a cup of tea as he describes his experiences of working in the Vancouver art world. “We’ve got to have strength in numbers,” he continues. “And it’s good people here, you know? It’s nice to have a kind of a space where you can meet and see other people’s work.”

Watters is one of the 12 artists at Octopus Studios who will be participating in this weekend’s Eastside Culture Crawl. But as Beata Kacy, the part-time multimedia artist and full-time software designer who runs the studio with her partner, leathersmith Nik Palmer, explains, there are 18 individuals in total working in the 3,000-square-foot space.

“We started five years ago with eight—that’s why we called it Octopus,” notes the Poland-born artist, who works in jewellery, textiles, and photography. “But then the recession was kind of happening and we noticed that people started asking if they could share spaces with other people to cut the cost. So most of the time we do have spaces with two people.”

According to Jeffrey Boone, executive director of the Crawl, the days of the solitary artist working in a spacious, light-filled studio are fast becoming history in Vancouver. “There’s been so much change, and there’s pressure on real estate in the city from every sector,” he observes. “As always, artists kind of get into the cheapest available real estate, and that is the stuff that’s being bought and flipped.…We keep hearing of people who are sort of subletting space in order to, I guess, reduce their own costs or to make ends meet.”

Wanting a space of her own to work in is what spurred Kacy into taking over the small building that became Octopus Studios, and while she initially worried about her ability to fill it, she’s found it to be in great demand from artists such as Luchia Feman, who joined the studio six months ago.

Feman, a painter working in a variety of materials, says she was forced out of her space at Georgia Jackson Studios at 505 East Georgia due to a renoviction.

“It was a great studio, but we had to move,” she recalls. “I looked at, I think, five other places.…And I came here and Beata said, ‘Oh, you know, it’s first come, first serve, we don’t get into this process.’ And I was like, ‘Right on!’ I don’t want to have anything to do with these elitist groups who are checking you out and seeing if they like you or if they want to be with you. I just want to be able to do my thing and basically be left alone, you know?”

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Soigne will surprise you with many new designs and medias in the upcoming East Side Culture Crawl. Metal Clay, enameling and lots steel wire jewelery. Contemporary rings and crocheted necklaces. For Soigne this is a year of electrification, where organic matters like branches, dry flowers can be transformed to copper jewelery. Check the pictures below and visit us for the upcoming Eastside Culture Crawl event at 393 Powell street on November 18,19, 20th. See you all there.

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Eastside Culture Crawl around the corner. Beata Kacy and her Soigne was chosen as one of the artists of the day. Please visit Octopus Studios on 393 Powell street on November 18, 19 and 20th. Ten artists will be presenting their work in textiles, painting, ceramics, jewellery, photography and many more.
Soigne will have a new line of metal clay jewellery, electroformation (way of turning organic items to copper jewelry), new felt shawls with silks and laces and many more.

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