Welcome back everyone 👋 and a big thank you to all the new subscribers that recently joined!

I hope you’ve had a great start to your week. Let’s get into it!👇

New Generative Art workshop!

I am running the Generative Art Workshop again on March 17th at the GAS Gallery in Toronto. We had a great time running it last October and I am looking forward to seeing what we can make the second time around! You can see photos and some of the art we created during the previous workshop at sspboyd.ca.

The first time we ran this workshop we kept it to 12 participants and this time we have a bit more space so we are opening it up for 15 people. Three spots are already claimed so get in touch if you’re interested in joining us. Tickets are $35 (or pwyc is an option, just let me know). To register, send an e-transfer to [email protected].

Quick overview of the workshop

This workshop introduces the concepts of generative art and focuses on creating pieces using basic drawing tools, rules sets, and chance. The workshop is hands-on and collaborative. You do not need to be an artist to attend!! In fact most people are not artists. The varied backgrounds of our attendees is part of what makes this such a fun afternoon.

What is Generative Art Anyway???

Generative Art originated in the early 1960s with pioneering artists such as Vera Molnár and Manfred Mohr. It has roots in the early computer graphics and music experiments of that era. While it is typically associated with computers and code, the underlying principles of rules and constrained randomness lend it to any number of artistic mediums.

Please email me or contact me on Instagram if you have any questions.

“Blox” Album Cover Art

I my artwork is on an album cover! This is a new one for me. My work has appeared in print and on book covers but an album? That’s pretty cool!

The album is “Blox” by Hydroplane!

This was a fun project that came about really quickly. A friend of mine, Miguel Delgado @biomecanico, asked me about some images I was posting on Instagram recently to see if he could use it for an album cover.

The images Miguel saw came from a generative art community event I take part in every year. The event is “Genuary” https://genuary.art, and for every day in January there is a one sentence prompt to inspire or direct a generative art creation. It’s a lot of fun and helps me create quickly without overthinking details as I am wont to do.

It became a truly collaborative effort. I created a standalone app for Miguel using Processing (processing.org) that allowed him to create many versions on his own and integrate it into his album design.

You can see some of the original Genuary outputs here, https://www.sspboyd.ca/projects/genuary-2024.

• Hydroplane on Spotify 

• “Blox” on bandcamp

Erin McSavany

And lastly, if you’re in Toronto’s east end this week, there is an exhibition of Erin McSavaney’s work at the Dianna Witte Gallery. It’s not generative but I love the geometric design embedded in a natural scene. Seeing these in person highlights the skill Erin has in the detail of the trees and natural elements.
Here’s a few pieces from the show.

Short and sweet!

That’s it for this week! If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much!

Please share this newsletter with anyone you think might enjoy it or could be interested in the workshop.