Chic Gamine - Butterfly Woman - Chelsea Kelba

I promised a second A4A post this week and here it is, me following through on my promise (although my own second project hasn't exactly materialized). I have been blown away by the creativity and resourcefulness of recent contributions and like Steph's re-shaping of duct tape into white roses, Chelsea has taken musical scores and fashioned stunning origami. Predominantly a literal interpretation of Chic Gamine's track "Butterfly Woman", Chelsea also incorporates a layered effect in her mobile, as well as using multiple shades of colour, capturing the many overlapping blankets of Chic Gamine's sweet sound.

Chic Gamine is a Canadian band founded back in 2007 and originating from a number of provinces before finally become a collective in Montreal. They identify themselves as having a Roots/Soul sound and if you like what you hear in the clip below, be sure to check out their myspace page here.

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I first heard Chic Gamine at the opening gala for Calgary Folk Festival 2011. There were a handful of artists doing live performances, most of whom I'd never heard of. We were standing there, watching, when four women and a man stood up and took the mic. What happened next was magical. This incredibly talented group sang several of their beautiful acapella songs and I was hooked. I picked up their two albums the next day at the Fest. What strikes me most is their versatility - they can jump between acapella, instrumental accompaniment, English, and Quebecois French with ease; sometimes within the same song.

I picked "Butterfly Woman" because it was one of the first songs I'd heard from them, and it is still one of my favourites. To be totally honest, I also picked it because I knew it'd be easy to make art from. Origami is a hobby of mine - no, for real. I usually make flower bouquets and give them away as gifts (between all my other material crafts, I hardly have room to keep any). This was my first foray into making a mobile, and the first time I used butterflies in a project. The song is also evocative of change and transformation, which butterflies exemplify through their metamorphosis. I hope you feel as inspired and liberated as I did when first hearing the song.

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Chelsea Kelba is soon to be finished a degree in Health Sciences, a program she would not recommend to anyone. In her spare time she volunteers on a crisis line, and dreams of being a social worker. Most of her crafting activities are those that don't translate well to digital media, such as knitting, knit art, wax stamp carving, pumpkin carving, and origami. She is probably one of the last people that does not have a blog.

For more A4A projects and contributors, see the contributors page.