Tweet
Recently, I spent an entire day in the University of British Columbia MOA.
This has to be on the "bucket list" for every carver of wood, stone, bone or metals. You really owe it to yourselves to go there.
The Rose Garden Parkade is right across the street, $14/day. As I parked, a car-load of carvers from Oregon parked next to me!
For various reasons, I have searched the online collection of some 35,000(?) objects. Over time, that narrowed my interests to serving ladles/spoons, bent wood boxes (kerf-bent), feast bowls and carving tools, all from the Pacific Northwest native artists. Consequently, I spent little time in the Asian and Micronesian collections.
Far too much to describe.
Several things stand out in my mind.
1. While the glass-fronted display cases contain many wondrous things, most of larger sizes, the bulk (80%?) of the collections is in the glass-topped sets of drawers right in front of you, beneath the showcases. Jewelry, tools, spoons, small carvings and so on. The MOA brochure fails to point that out. So, I spent most of my day pulling drawers!
2. The flat photographic lighting for the online collection gives me no sense of the carving process. Seeing the real objects is pause for careful study.
3. You must see the MASSIVE Bill Reid "The Raven and The First Men," done in a huge glueup of yellow cedar. Next, look at the exquisite original carving in one of the smaller cases against the wall. It is not quite the size of a grapefruit.
= =
I took no pictures at all. I sat on a folding camp stool with a sketchbook, drawing and making notes.
Go there. Opens at 10AM. Good cafe', too.
This has to be on the "bucket list" for every carver of wood, stone, bone or metals. You really owe it to yourselves to go there.
The Rose Garden Parkade is right across the street, $14/day. As I parked, a car-load of carvers from Oregon parked next to me!
For various reasons, I have searched the online collection of some 35,000(?) objects. Over time, that narrowed my interests to serving ladles/spoons, bent wood boxes (kerf-bent), feast bowls and carving tools, all from the Pacific Northwest native artists. Consequently, I spent little time in the Asian and Micronesian collections.
Far too much to describe.
Several things stand out in my mind.
1. While the glass-fronted display cases contain many wondrous things, most of larger sizes, the bulk (80%?) of the collections is in the glass-topped sets of drawers right in front of you, beneath the showcases. Jewelry, tools, spoons, small carvings and so on. The MOA brochure fails to point that out. So, I spent most of my day pulling drawers!
2. The flat photographic lighting for the online collection gives me no sense of the carving process. Seeing the real objects is pause for careful study.
3. You must see the MASSIVE Bill Reid "The Raven and The First Men," done in a huge glueup of yellow cedar. Next, look at the exquisite original carving in one of the smaller cases against the wall. It is not quite the size of a grapefruit.
= =
I took no pictures at all. I sat on a folding camp stool with a sketchbook, drawing and making notes.
Go there. Opens at 10AM. Good cafe', too.
Comment