How do two disparate artists end up making art together for 20 years? Call it a little bit of chance, a dash of determination, and a lot of challenging each other to stay fresh by continuously bringing in new ideas and new skills to inform their practice.
This is the essence of ie creative artworks, a studio run by Cheryl Hamilton and Michael Vandermeer down on Granville Island. According to Mike, they ended up making art together purely by chance. Although they both came out of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design at around the same time, they didn't meet until after graduation when they ended up in a shared studio space with two others. Then, after having the opportunity to work together on a couple of projects, they realized their art was stronger as a result and the two determined to strike out together.
That first studio was below Hastings Street and off Commercial Drive at a time when the area wasn't quite as hip as it is today. So, after a few years there, they decided to move and chose Granville Island – except that, at the time, there wasn't really any space there. As Mike puts it, "We basically pestered Granville Island for a couple of years until they finally offered us this space when they were creating these studios."
