Oh, I love love love the hilarious and beautifully executed work of Vancouver based artist Ben Skinner, and I so desperately want that “pressure and time” text/mirror piece {glass, mirror, gold two-way mirror film, plexi, LEDs}, but clearly it has been snapped up! {that’s Ben installing one of his latest pieces in the studio of Hume Atelier, an amazing jewelry design company, also in Vancouver}. Ben’s familiar, yet slightly distorted phrases crack me up every time, and his material choices… well, what can I say… mirrors, gold leaf, candy sprinkles… he’s kind of  genius.

[insert nostalgic moment here…]

Ben was the first artist that I ever wrote about, he was the first artist that I curated an art show for, and he was the first artist that I interviewed for my book, CREATIVE BLOCK. I am forever grateful to Ben for his generosity, his friendship, and for keeping me jealous over and over and over again for five years {yep, Saturday will mark five years for TJC?!}. Anyway, it seemed fitting to write about him again, because after almost two years of interviewing and writing and editing… CREATIVE BLOCK hits shelves today! If it weren’t for Ben making me really jealous five years and three months ago, I never would have started this site, and I never would have had the chance to meet the editors from Chronicle, which ultimately led to this book that I am so very proud of. Ok. I’m done. Hopefully I will get a chance to see you at one of my signing events {Check out the side bar for dates… oh, and Ben will be at the Vancouver event on May 15th to sign his section of the book! More details coming on that, and my NYC event in April, very soon.}