Live Painting Series at Gastown's Planet Claire

• By
• Davinia Yip

Image by Ampersand

Friday night, kick off Halloween weekend with shopping, music and live art by Vancouver artists in Gastown

Planet Claire is a great independent clothing store in Gastown where you can find top-notch ecofashion designs and vintage threads.

But what makes it truly special is owner Claire Lindsay Burke's commitment to supporting Vancouver artists and promoting the Gastown community. You'll find art pieces by local creative souls regularly displayed in the boutique, and Burke always makes a point to showcase their talents in her fashion events.

Every Friday throughout October, Planet Claire has been partnering with Alexis Moreau of Die Constant—an über cool line of dye-sublimated art tees for men and women—to host the Ampersand Live Painting Series, where artists come to share their different creative visions and collaborate on canvasses set up outside the storefront.

The eclectic lineup of participating artists this Friday, the final of the series, includes Robert Mearns, Caroline Weaver, Jamie Bizness, SOAK, -weakhand, Alexis Moreau, Rheanna Facétieux, Peter Ricq and Megz Majewski. (If you're not familiar with their names—and I admit I wasn't—I strongly encourage you to check out their amazing bodies of work!) 

The store will of course stay open for your shopping pleasure. So come check out the latest fall/winter 2010 fashion, groove to cool tunes spun by DJ Kilocee and enjoy some incredible works of collaborative art as they come to life right in front of your eyes. This Friday being the official kick-off to Halloween weekend, be sure to drop by in your craziest get-up and vie for best-costume prizes.

Silent auction at Shudder Gallery and limited-edition shirts at Planet Claire

What will happen to the finished art pieces after the series concludes on Friday? Here are threes ways you can get your hands on them:

1. Ampersand art will be showcased at a reception at Shudder Gallery on November 18, 7–11 p.m., with silent auction and live musical performances.

2. The silent auction will continue at Shudder Gallery from November 19–27, 12:30–5:30 p.m. daily.

3. Die Constant will print the artwork on limited-edition shirts—signed by the artists—which will be available for sale at Planet Claire and online.

---

Davinia Yip enjoys discovering new things, especially ones that she can eat or wear. She feels lucky to be living in Vancouver, and even luckier to be able to write about it from time to time. Twitter