STACYSAKAI

On Friday, April 23, 2010, I was honoured to be included at a dinner for Ray Villard, News Director for the Space Telescope Science Institute (Hubble). There were about fifteen people at the dinner, mostly from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Listening to the conversation about astronomy, and the Hubble Space Telescope was fantastic! I was privileged to discuss my art with Ray, and have my picture taken with him.

The following day was the Hubble’s 20th Anniversary, and Ray gave a talk at the Space Centre in Vancouver. Afterwards, I spoke with him again. We agreed to stay in touch, and I look forward to more conversations about the Hubble, astronomy, and art.

Stacy Sakai with Ray Villard, News Director for the Space Telescope Science Institute

The Gastown satellite spaces for grace-gallery are still open following Artwalk Vancouver 2010. My Spaced Out paintings, and my latest painting “Magellanic Cloud” can be viewed at 20 Water Street, Vancouver. The hours are 2 – 7pm, or by appointment.

The 10 satellite spaces were empty, with no power, and they took a great deal of work to prepare – and the results are amazing! They are raw and dynamic and unique, and brought to life with the artwork of 23 artists. Rachel Zottenberg of grace-gallery did a stunning job of pulling this together in only three weeks! Below are some pictures of my exhibition…

Stacy under the Veils

Monocerotis set and Antennae beside antique safe in the wall

Infinity - Green triptych

Magellanic Cloud and the Veils

This charity event was packed all night long!!! Rachel did a fantastic job curating such a variety of artwork…grace-gallery looked fantastic! And, of course, it was so much fun!

Read about Terri Potratz, one of the participating artists, and the charity, Our Social Fabric in The Vancouver Sun.

For this show, I painted small abstract paintings based on my concept of infinity. You can view the full series under my Galleries section on the right of this page. Below are the pieces that were up for “Art of Giving.”

Two diptychs from my Infinity Series: Infinity - Blue & Infinity - Red

The December issue of Eclectica is now available! It features my painting of the Circinus Galaxy, and my three Veil Nebula paintings.

There is also a special gift guide inside the magazine, featuring the work of many local artists.

Please see Eclectica Magazine for more information, and the store locations where it is available. Single issues and subscriptions are also available to order online.

Eclectica Magazine featuring Stacy's 'Spaced Out' paintings

I love telescopes. They give a perspective unlike anything else.

Last night, I was privileged to visit Breckenridge Anderson Astronomical Ltd., a shop where telescopes are built. It was amazing to see what is involved in building a large custom telescope.

Stacy at Breckenridge Anderson Astronomical Ltd.

I stood beside a piece of equipment specifically designed for holding and transporting the primary mirror, for testing, and to simply move it around the shop. The mirror for this particular telescope is 50 inches across, and several inches deep, weighing 1100 pounds. The mirror was sitting in a crate nearby.

When the telescope is completed, it will stand 18 feet tall. This telescope will be situated in the southern hemisphere. It will peer into space, bringing us amazing imagery, and knowledge.

Telescopes are like eye glasses, helping us to see beyond what our human eyes are capable of. They help us see deep into space, and bring us back images that are absolutely breathtaking. They give us perspective…

For me, telescopes also give me my subject matter for painting. They bring me views of outer space – views of our universe.

A selection of pictures:

Craig Breckenridge and Stacy Sakai at the Spaced Out opening reception.

Stacy and Rachel, the gallery director.

Stacy Sakai standing between Veil I and Veil II.

A view from outside...

A shot of the video created for the opening by Craig Breckenridge and Stacy Sakai.

The set of three Veil Nebula paintings are each six feet wide and three feet high .  The picture below shows them stacked vertically against the wall with me in front for size comparison.

These paintings will be part of my Spaced Out show at grace-gallery, opening on September 17th at 7pm.

Stacy in front of two of three Veil Nebula paintings

The Spaced Out art show is now registered with IYA 2009!

Spaced Out art show - IYA 2009

Yeah, shoes!!!

The Shoe Show at grace-gallery

Rachel Zottenberg, the Director of grace-gallery, is having The Shoe Show as part of the Olio Festival.

She asked me to participate along with several other artists. I selected a pair of shoes to paint….

I chose to paint sunspots on my shoes. Prototypical sunspots come in pairs with opposite magnetic polarity. Each shoe also shows a coronal loop, which is a magnetic flux fixed at both ends. Coronal loops are often found with sunspots at their footpoints.

The Shoe Show is at grace-gallery, Friday August 14th, 8pm – 2am. The address is 1898 Main Street (at 3rd Avenue), Vancouver, BC.

Please see www.grace-gallery.com for more details.

Shoe art