Random Life Project

Spread the Word contest winner!

2011-10-12T06:54:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the magπ (măg'pī)Spread the Word contest! The winner of the sterling silver magπ chain is Narissa Ooraikul! I will be contacting her shortly to deliver her prize. Congrats, Narissa!

magπ (măg'pī) Autumn Spread the Word Contest Details

2011-09-02T14:26:00.000-06:00

Help me spread the word that the magπ (măg'pī) autumn collection has arrived at Thread Hill and be entered into a draw to win a new magπ (măg'pī) sterling silver rollo chain redesigned with a solitaire 3mm round garnet and dangling magπ (măg'pī) charm and come with a switch converter that can be used with switch collection pendants.

Contest Details (contestants must be over the age of 18):

Multiple entries will be accepted for this contest.

On Facebook:

1. If you're not already a fan, "Like" the Random Life Project facebook page. 

2. Share the official autumn collection album on your Facebook wall.

3. Post a comment on the collection album to say you've shared the post.

4. This will gain you an entry into the contest. If you also post on pages you are an admin on (i.e. business, group), this will gain you an additional entry. 

5. Posts on the walls of pages that are not yours will not count towards additional entries.

On personal Twitter or Blogs: 

1. Post a link to the Flickr album of the magπ (măg'pī) autumn collection: http://www.flickr.com//photos/randomlifeproject/sets/72157627444393261/show/

2. Email me a link to your twitter feed or your blog post saying that you shared.

3. This will gain you an entry into the contest. 

4. Posts in the comments of other people's blogs or twitter feed will not count towards additional entries.

Visit the store:

Visit Thread Hill at 10725-124 Street and enter your name in person. Only 1 in-store entry per participant.

The Spread the Word contest will end at 11:59 PM MST on September 30, 2011. The winner will be announced on the blog and fb on October 1, 2011.

magπ (măg'pī) autumn collection has arrived at Thread Hill! Spread the word!

2011-09-01T18:00:00.001-06:00

The new autumn magπ (măg'pī) pieces have arrived at Thread Hill - www.threadhill.com (10725-124 Street)!

You will see more and more extraordinary and unique stones in this collection, and future pieces. I have been going out of my way to choose uncommon materials cut in free-form, rough, or non-calibrated shapes. Flaws, inclusions, and unusual patterns make for inimitable characteristics that truly define one-of-a-kind.

Many of these stones you will not find in the mainstream market, yet are stunning in their own right. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

In this selection, I'm introducing the new switch collection. Beautiful statement chokers that you can wear alone, or a gorgeous one-of-a-kind pendant that can be swapped out with others.

Among the switch collection pendants are antique skeleton keys cast in cuttlefish bone. The texture from the bone imparts an organic pattern that is singular to each individual key. All keys are cast with recycled sterling silver, but may contain some impurities due to additional base metals.

Also new are the magπ (măg'pī) sterling silver rollo chains, redesigned with a solitaire 3mm round garnet and dangling magπ (măg'pī) charm. Available in 3 link sizes, and 25", 19.5", and 18" lengths. All chains will come with a free switch converter that will allow you to easily use your chain with switch collection pendants.

A new Spread the Word contest for a free new magπ (măg'pī) sterling silver rollo chain will be launching soon. I'll be posting details shortly.

In the meantime, you can see photos of the new collection here:

Spread the Word contest winner!

2011-05-01T11:01:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the magπ (măg'pī)Spread the Word contest! The winner of the sterling silver magπ chain is Jenn Doucet! I will be contacting her shortly to deliver her prize. Congrats, Jenn!

magπ (măg'pī) has arrived at Thread Hill: Spread the Word contest details

2011-04-21T10:21:00.003-06:00

Help me spread the word that magπ has arrived at Thread Hill and be entered into a draw to win a magπ chain necklace. So popular, I can't make these sterling silver chains fast enough to keep in stock and they didn't make it into the store collection! Features a hand made magπ charm with a hand set 3mm garnet.

Contest Details (limited to 1 entry per person over the age of 18):

"Like" the Random Life Project facebook page and copy and paste the following into your status bar:

magπ has arrived at Thread Hill! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150155790597203.284093.96775767202 For details on how to win a free magπ sterling silver chain visit [type "@" and then select the Random Life Project page].  

"Random Life Project" will then turn into a highlighted link. Press enter. 

If it works, your status will appear on the Random Life Project page wall and will get you entered into the draw. If it doesn't, just a post a quick note on the RLP wall to let me know, and I'll make sure you get your entry. :)

If you don't use facebook, you still have a chance to enter the contest. 

Email randomlifeproject@gmail.com and 5 friends and complete the following steps:

1. Copy and paste into your Subject line: 

magπ has arrived at Thread Hill!

2. Copy and paste the following into the body of your email:

magπ has arrived at Thread Hill! Check out some beautiful hand made silver jewelry at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuuS3nW and visit randomlifeproject.blogspot.com for details on how to win a free magπ sterling silver chain. Help spread the word!

The Spread the Word contest will end at 11:59 PM MST on April 30, 2011. The winner will be announced on the blog and fb on May 1, 2011.

magπ (măg'pī) has arrived at Thread Hill! Spread the word!

2011-04-21T07:07:00.001-06:00

I'm excited to announce that the magπ project has arrived at local Edmonton boutique, Thread Hill! As of April 21, 2011, 23 pieces from the collection will be available for purchase, most of which are one-of-a-kind.

Located at 10725-124 Street, Thread Hill is a lovely little boutique that features a unique and creative collection of local, Canadian, and European fashion. Kim Hill, the owner of the store, has offered a fantastic chance to showcase my work, and I'm happily looking forward to working with her.

This has also given me the opportunity to play around with my rusty graphic skills again, as I've had to finalize my packaging and presentation. Because I couldn't bring myself to commit to professional jewelry packaging yet (very pricey for a beginner!), I've opted to create my own in the meantime.

Due to my love for beautiful handmade paper, and a hommage to Japan and the art of origami, the magπ collection comes packaged in one of 3 different origami containers. And yes...I made them all. And yes...I might have gone overboard. Just a wee.

If you can't make it out to the store right away, check out the slide show to see what's new:

If you're on facebook, visit the Random Life Project page, and let me know what you think! Feedback is always great to have. :)

While I was all gung ho with posting photographs (and procrastinating from spring cleaning), I've also updated the main website with a new Random Life Project logo. I figured it was about time I did something about my portfolio brand.

As you can see, the brand colour is the same as magπ, which shouldn't be a surprise at all. The logo itself probably isn't as sophisticated as I would like to think magπ is, but it allows me to use "rlp" as a convenient short brand form.

Anyway, that's about it. Having finished such a huge project (on so many levels), I'm now in recovery mode. This long weekend I'll likely be unconscious for a good chunk of it. And boy am I looking forward to it. :)

Random Life Project thoughts before the New Year...

2010-12-21T00:50:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting year that's sped by...ups and downs just like another ride on the roller coaster we call life. Despite some of the belly churning drops, the Gravol to keep the motion sickness away as been the addition of silversmithing in my creative world.

For those of you who have been following the development of the magπ (măg'pī) Project, it has been a fascinating experience being able to combine my disparate skills and produce jewelry in a way I've only dreamed of.

I've been lucky to have a great network of support, which will see the continued development of magπ into 2011. How much it will grow only time will tell, but definitely something I'm looking forward to!

If you're watching for new pieces, I'll be posting on flicker and facebook again in the new year. There are some Christmas presents in this lot, so I didn't want to spoil the surprise before the big day. :)

In the realm of photography, I have quite a few projects in the wings, waiting to be completed and posted, but I'll admit that procrastination has plagued me. I've been distracted by a few personal matters in the last few months, but hope to refocus again in the New Year(a possible NY resolution, but don't hold your breath).

The long term photographic project I have been working on is 1 season away from being complete, so fingers crossed that 2011 will be the year to reveal the finished results.

The positive thing is, despite the lack of posting, I have been more active taking photos than 2009. Ironically, to see 2010 photographs (and even some of 2009), you'll just have to wait until 2011.

Finally, we've come to painting. Unfortunately, my painting and drawing projects are on the backburner for the time being. However, I've been able to pull some of those skills and apply them to silversmithing, so all is not lost. I hope to someday come back to it, but only when I feel I can derive the same sense of satisfaction I did before (or when I finally get studio, whichever comes first).

Anyway time to wrap this up with well wishes, Merry Christmases, Happy Hanukkahs and Happy New Years! I hope every one has a safe and wonderful Happy Holiday!

Soooo bad at updates...

2010-11-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

So in the wee hours of the morning when I was having trouble sleeping, I decided to try updating my severely out-of-date website. Wow...bad idea. Files weren't pointing to the right place, pages weren't appearing, and generally speaking, it just goes to show you it's not a good idea to publish, email, or post when lacking sleep.

Needless to say, I'm told that things will sort things out within 48 hours when the servers have processed my bungles and redirected themselves to the right place. Fingers crossed that my main URL directs to the menu page like it's suppose to again.

The website update finally includes my photography and magπ jewelry. Nothing fancy, just links to where they're housed on flicker, but definitely better than nothing!

I've messed around with the blog template due to my on-again-off-again fascination for typewriters, hence the Courier font. I know some of you hate it - tough...I like it. :P If only I could get the cheesy typewriter sound to go with my typing on this blog. Hahaha...

Christmas is already seeping into everything I see, and I'm getting a slight twitch to pull out the tree and decorate already. However, as a good friend of mine already observed...it's probably best to wait, at least until December, or I'll be exhausted of the decorations before Christmas is actually here.

There's been a lot going on, so I've been just taking my time to get things in my life in order. Eventually I'll have some new jewelry and photographs (well they're kind of old now, but new to the site) when things have sorted themselves out.

More shinies, my pretties...

2010-05-07T11:52:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I finished a few more pieces of silver. I'm still at very basic  stage right now of working plain silver and adding a couple textured  finishes like hammering. I'm in a new silversmith course as well, which  is showing me a couple different methods to achieve similar results from  my first course. What I like is that the instructor is also giving us  tips on how to get perfect cuts and fits before we solder. Yay!

Anyway,  here are pictures of 3 pieces. The first is a hammered bangle bracelet.  The second is a set of 4 hammered stack rings. And the last is a plain  wide band ring with a textured brush finish.

I also had my very  first split shank ring with a stone from my first silversmith class. I  really disliked how it turned out, so it didn't make the cut to the  spotlight. It was good practice though, so I'm hoping the next one  around will turn out better.

The Silver Lining in a Fallow Year...

2010-02-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today I received an email reminding to me to register for Art Walk 2010, and while I hummed and hawed about whether or not I had enough for a display, it dawned at me that I am vastly unprepared to return to the spotlight of exhibition once again.

It has been an artistically fallow year. Since the last show I exhibited in back in 2008, I've experienced so much upheaval in my professional and personal life that I shouldn't be truly surprised it's taking me a while to back into the "creative groove".

The year of 2009 was a great year for me emotionally as I was able to pick up the pieces of my erratic life and find stability, support, and happiness. It was also a year of experimenting: I took some classes in therapeutic massage, tai chi, and fencing trying to figure out what to do with myself. I also received an opportunity for a year long photography experiment involving the River Valley - which is, of course, still a work in progress. However, because of my rebuilding, it has left my "new collection" standing at 1 piece. Whoops.

I was excited to finish my last painting, "...web we weave". This painting sat on my living room floor for almost 6 months as I pieced, puzzled, drilled, and bolted and irregularly shaped canvas together. The actual painting of it was almost an afterthought. Looking back at its completion, the painful process of building the canvas, it has rekindled my desire to explore other mediums and techniques. Painting all by itself is no longer enough, I must consider the medium I'm working with, and build expression up and out beyond a 2-dimensional world.

In university I dabbled a little bit in figurative sculpting for the sheer joy of playing with clay. I didn't have a whole lot of talent sculpting with clay...I had a tendency to overwork it to the point that the surface had no texture or expression - a big no no when sculpting the human figure. It's a little ironic, my expressionless smooth hunks of clays versus my bumpy, layered flat paintings. Perhaps it's because I like the contrast of achieving a textured look on a flat 2-dimensional surface, and with sculpting, achieving a smooth, buffed looking on a otherwise rough and sticky medium.

I remember leaving the sculpting studio after class, winding my way through towering metal sculptures and wishing I was working with metal even though clay was fun. It's been a long time since I've been harboring an interest in metal working. After over a decade of pining and schedule conflicts, I finally managed to marry two age-old desires of mine...working metal and shiny things.

So I'm taking up silversmithing and learning how to saw, solder, grind, and polish my favorite metal, silver. The projects are simple, but will build the foundation to what I eventually hope will be passable skills. And while I know this will take me away from painting for a while, I feel it will only make my creativity all the more diverse. After all, Random Life Project was never meant to be restricted to only one means of expression.

Now...that just leaves me one with one problem. I need a workshop since working at home is like being in a sardine can. Wish I had a heated garage of my own. LOL.

Here are pictures of a couple of the projects I completed. I've also added them in a Project album call "Magpie Project" on the Random Life Project Facebook page.

New painting!

2009-10-11T11:09:00.000-06:00

Yay, I finally finished a new painting...my first in over a year. I haven't added it to the web site yet, but it's up on the Facebook page, and I'll probably end up adding it to my almost defunct deviantART page.

I think this is the first time where I spent more time creating the canvas than the actual painting. Thought I would put together a little journal of this unique piece. Due to so many pieces that had to be put together, I first had to lay out everything and sketch out placement. 

The wooden panels combined were much heavier than I first anticipated, so I had to use the whole drill, screw, and bolt technique to keep all the panels together. The map was handy so I knew which pieces would go where, and the location of where I would need to drill to get the bolts to match up properly.

I used my customary array of black & white acrylic paints, but also added some metallic paints to add a bit of sheen as well.

This painting ended up in my Random Project paintings, although it runs borderline to my Life Project as well. It's just an observation that life is very much like a web...when first created, it's beautiful, pristine, filled with many different paths and choices. As we live life, as a spider lives on its web, we can make mistakes or have great success. We can get tangled up in our life choices, veering off one path to another and another. Yet the stuff that makes up life is pretty durable, no matter how much you tear and fight against it.

The title "...web we weave" is derived from Sir Walter Scott's "oh, the tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive" quotation. I've mangled the true meaning of this quote, deliberately using only part of this as this painting is not really about deception or lies but about choice.

I've used dew drops to represent the footprints of choices made in a life. Primarily moving towards one direction with wanderings in others as well. The placement of the panels was to hopefully imbue randomness with a sense of purpose...and break up the regular rotation of a recognizable spider web.

TITLE: ...web we weave
DATE: 10.10.09
PRICE: $1800
MEDIUM: acrylics, painting knife, & brush on wooden panels

Spreading the word...

2009-07-31T19:40:00.000-06:00

Random Life Project is now on Flickr and Facebook...
I realized that I was never going to create individual pages for all the photo projects, so Flickr was my lazy solution. Ha. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomlifeproject/
And become a fan of Random Life Project if you're on Facebook for more news and updates:

Random Life Project on Facebook

I've gone dental...

2008-12-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

My first display installation went up yesterday at the Brookview Dental Clinic yesterday (360 Bulyea Road in Tewilligar, Edmonton, AB). The Bassist, Metro Serenade, and Coltrane are on display in the reception seating area. I finally figured out how I wanted to display The Bassist without gouging huge holes in the wall. It only took me an hour of standing in Home Depot staring at nuts and bolts. I hate going there when I don't know what I want.

I guess if you ever have a hankering to get your teeth cleaned or a cavity filled, you can check it out in person.

Thanks to Alex and his Aunt Mai for the opportunity.

A new beginning...yet again.

2008-11-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate updating websites? Gee...it only took me...um...11 months to update from the last time. 

During that time, I finished 12 paintings, life become a wee bit complicated, and then I got myself into a world of hurt. Sooo...not too long ago I found myself starting from scratch, waiting at the bottom of the ladder standing at the crossroads of my life that was located at Ground Zero trying to figure out what it is I truly want out of my life. What better way to get a fresh start then having to start at the beginning...and it's not ever the new year yet! :P

While I still don’t know my destination, I’ve picked a path to walk on. While I struggle to find some sort of focus, I know I'm moving forward. That is worth something, I hope, in the end.

Anyway, back to the website. You won't see any beautifully streaming motion, flash movies, morphing images, fancy sounds, or drop down menus. I guess if I wanted to invest the time, I could do so. But I don't. You’ll notice less photography and more paintings on the site from this point on. I have not abandoned photography, but the organization of the photo projects are time consuming and tedious...I want to concentrate on painting for now. Photography still remains a key part to the evolution of my paintings. I've removed the travel and kids projects until I've had a chance to create a more coherent layout for what I have. Everything else has been streamlined and simplified, and I’ve added a bit of commentary and maybe a little story or two about the projects themselves.

I have quite a few new projects planned. Mostly on a smaller scale to accommodate my limited storage space at home, as well as catch up with the pile of concepts that have built up over the last few months. I find if I let an idea sit for too long, I have a harder time trying to convey what I want in the painting. Hopefully, I will have some new things to put up before long.

Anyway, here it is...my newly revamped site: http://www.randomlifeproject.com. Feedback is welcome - I'm always interested in knowing what people are thinking when they see my work. Just try to keep it civilized :) Enjoy.

Below: Link to the Mourning Wood photographs i took at the New Year's Eve party in Canmore:

Get your own - Open publication