Fur-miliar Friends
Palette Magazine presents…
An Art Relay Project
We, at Palette Magazine, wanted to create a collaborative art project inspired by our Issue VII theme, “Colour Outside the Lines,” to share in a special spread for our readers.
We came up with the idea of an art relay. The first member of our team began the relay with a unique art piece, guided by our Issue VII theme. Each member thereafter created a piece inspired by their interpretation of the previous team member’s contribution. The order was specified beforehand and each piece is arranged in sequence across the next few pages. We only had one week each to hand off our piece to the next member in the relay–no dropping the baton! The arrival of each piece was highly anticipated, and every week we were blown away by the creativity and talent of our team. By the end, we had 11 unique pieces, in a variety of mediums, including ink, watercolour, acrylic, origami, graphic arts, creative writing, and a few unconventional materials and art forms. It was interesting to see how our original theme evolved from piece to piece, but also how elements of the first piece carried over to the last.
See if you can spot the common thread throughout–it shouldn’t be hard to catch!
We hope that our project inspires you to try this with your friends and delight in each other’s creativity and talents, and to find some time in your busy schedules to create art, whatever art means to you!
Love,
The Palette Magazine Team
Crazy Cat Lady
Olivia So, 2T5 WB
Medium: Pen and marker on paper
Artist’s Statement: Inspired by Kamwei Fong and all of the studio Ghibli movies I know and love <3.
2. Colouring Outside the Lines
Jinny Kim, 2T5 MAM
Medium: Digital art
Artist’s Statement: There is something exciting and romantic about colouring outside the lines. For me, it’s when I am able to be the most creative!
3. CAT-CEPTION
Ali Almail, 2T5 Fitz
Medium: Digital art
Artist’s Statement: A pop art- inspired piece filled with cats!
4. Folding Outside the Lines
Judy Kim, 2T4 PB
Medium: Paper
Artist’s Statement: Whenever I see paper–whether that be my notes, newspaper, or receipts–my hands mindlessly wander. There’s something about origami that is therapeutic–it’s procedural, exact, and magical. I fell back to my roots with this project. Enjoy some of my classic pieces from my repertoire.
“There once was a cat named Rat.
Who slept on a tiny, kitten-sized mat.
As he grew older,
his feet would grow colder.
So, he’d tuck them in... just like that!”
5. A Cat Named Rat
Suhaila Abdelhalim, 2T5 WB
Medium: Mixed media
Artist’s Statement: Rat the Cat leads an interactive nursery rhyme that captures the rebellious innocence of childhood.
6. Green-Eyed Sass Queen
Bronte Lim, 2T5 WB
Medium: Watercolour
Artist’s Statement: I adopted my cat, Belle, when she was 7 years old from the Boston Animal Rescue League... She was tiny and underweight, and had been abandoned by her owners and brought to the shelter by their landlord, who described her as “completely antisocial.” She had resided in the back of the shelter, away from all the noise and strangers, for two months when we met. She nuzzled my finger cautiously. And something in her eyes called out to me–cleverness? Hope? Turns out it was 100% unadulterated sass.
7. Haute Cature
Brittany Chang-Kit, 2T5 PB
Medium: Procreate (Digital Art)
Artist’s Statement: Fashion was my first art love as a young child. I remember I fell in love with Valentino Garavani’s creations and it spiraled from there. My motto is form over pattern, and this is what I attempted to show in “Haute Cature!”
8. Rogue
James Huynh, 2T4 Fitz
Medium: Graphic design/digital art
Artist’s Statement: A Vogue-inspired piece that incorporates my passion for graphic design. Created using Photoshop & Illustrator, Rogue continues the themes of fashion and rebellion, and includes elements found in previous relay pieces =^.^=
9. I Think We’re Lost
Katie Ann Lee, 2T5 Fitz
Artist’s Statement: This is a story about some friends getting lost and making the most of it! I liked the idea of going off route as a way of incorporating the theme and had fun adding elements of the pieces before me in the relay (e.g., flowers, cat, magazine, etc.)
My fingers trace our original route on the map – a thin line from downtown core to a little town just north of the city. What was meant to be a fairly straight-forward trip from point A to B has become a wildly roundabout mission that I’m uncertain we will complete before day breaks.
We took familiar city roads until we hit the 400, and then we drove for miles. As we left the city behind, the air became lighter, and the sound of traffic dimmed. Skyscrapers were exchanged for open fields, and every few minutes, one of us pointed out a collection of farm animals. We sang throwback songs destroyed a bag of snacks, and made our way through a tasteful selection of fashion magazines. There was something to be said about the comfort of a car ride to a place unknown.
It was perhaps that thought, along with the outward reflection that we were making great time, that did us in. We thought we might as well stop for a quick early dinner. And then, it was for gas. And then, there was a road closure or two. And now, the sun is hanging low in the sky, and I think we’re lost. I say it out loud this time as I hand the map to my friend in back seat. We are trying recount the last street sign we saw when suddenly, we break hard.
The car sputters to a halt, and I smell burning rubber. After ensuring everyone is ok, I turn to the road ahead. It seems my friend has stopped the car as there is a cat in the centre of the dirt road. It seems unbothered by our headlights and the hum of our engine. It is licking its brownish-black fur with an attitude that almost seems regal. We decide that stopping to figure out where we are is probably for the best anyhow, and so we hop out of the vehicle.
The evening air is warm against our skin, and moving my legs feels like a treat. I feel like I could run the rest of the way, if only we knew which way that was. We survey the area around us; in both directions, the road seems to go on endlessly. Decidedly however, forward must be west as that is where the orange sun seems to be setting. We lay the map on the hood of the car, orienting it so that west is west. This is when that sneaky, country cat hops atop the hood of the car, snatches the map up in its mouth, and scampers off into the field next to the road.
It is instinct to follow, and the cat seems to know it. We run clumsily through the open field. I’m close enough to scoop up the cat when it makes a swift turn around the corner of an old barn. Turning as well, we find ourselves facing the most beautiful field of wildflowers that I’ve ever seen. Light purples and blues on long stalks are swaying in the gentle breeze. The cat seems pleased with our stunned expressions as it settles down comfortably by my feet. Laughing with resolve, we sit as well. It is sweet surrender not to rush off and to instead savour this perfect summer night.
And so, though perhaps we are still hopelessly lost, I feel present and at ease. In this field of flowers, there is only the warm air, people that I love, a cat on a map, and the big endless sky. The rest we’ll figure out later.
10. lost (stills)
Cindy Cui, 2T4 WB
Medium: Film, digital art
Artist’s Statement: A frame-by-frame illustration of Katie’s beautiful short story “I think we’re lost,” overlaying some film strips from a road trip I took back in 2018. Katie’s piece brought back memories of driving off the beaten path, sitting beneath the setting sun, feeling simultaneously lost and at peace. I hoped to capture some of that imagery and wistfulness in these ‘photos’, drawn on negatives still to be developed... a metaphor for a story waiting to be imagined.
11. Life in Bloom
Zahra Emami, 2T4 PB
Artist’s Statement: Inspired by the running theme of “colouring outside of the lines” and Cindy’s photo-reel-istic interpretation of a cat in a flower field, I wanted to capture my cat Missy surrounded by blooming flowers with acrylics on canvas. I brought the scene to life with real flowers extending outside and beyond the canvas, and captured the piece over 2 days, as the flowers ran their course. In a short video clip, Missy sits looking around her before leaving the frame to reveal the painting of her still form (and the withering flowers) behind her—capping my four-dimensional rendition of our Art Relay theme and it’s progression.
