Three artists + one small space = a new micro gallery in Chinatown.

The “W.O.W” in Department of W.O.W. stands for Laura Wallace, a visual artist, Taryn O’Gorman, a jeweler, and Zoe Welch, a clothing designer. This tiny department features oh-so-many covetable things. Welch’s clothing line Ad Lib has luxurious wool hand-knit cowl neck warmers ($90-$150) in an array of gorgeous colour combinations, while O’Gorman’s intricately crafted silver heart pendants ($80-$210) would wow anyone now, or come Valentine’s Day. —Anya Georgijevic

110-243 Union St., Vancouver, 604-685-9695, www.departmentofwow.ca

We might be digital darlings, but we love us some analog.

Like the work of Porchlight Press, the new studio in Vancouver that offesr graphic design services as well as the not-yet-lost art of letterpress printing. “It’s like the slow food movement of graphic design,” says owner Heather Braun. There’s a handmade element to this printing technology (which is older than your grandmother) that makes each piece uniquely beautiful. The studio can tackle jobs as small as invitations to your kid’s first birthday, or as large as business cards for your company. Plus, we hear they’re going to start offering letterpress workshops so you can learn to print on these decades-old machines yourself.

Charming, these prints. —Kelsey Dundon

Porchlight Press, # 204-25 E. Sixth Ave., Vancouver, 604-790-7202, www.porchlightpress.com

How do you make whoopee West Coast-style? Well, you could leave on your socks and Birkenstocks. Or you could put these local artists’ tunes on your playlist. Either way you’ll have a very Vancouver V-Day.

Teen Daze – Brooklyn Sunburn

Gang Signs – Prequel

Brasstronaut – Opportunity (No Gold Remix)

Cyclist and Pat Lok’s remix of The Rapture’s "How Deep is Your Love"

Humans – Clothespins

Bryan Adams – All for Love

No Sinner – Call My Name

Dan Mangan – Daffodil

Sarah McLachlan – Ice Cream

Said the Whale – Goodnight Moon

—Kelsey Dundon

From Generation X to Generation A, Douglas Coupland’s latest project is a collection of Canadian souvenirs for a new generation.

In collaboration with Roots, the Vancouver artist-author has designed a limited edition line of clothing and accessories that digitize the down-home, from a test pattern t-shirt dress for ladies ($68) to motherboard print leggings for babies ($14.95). There’s also laptop sleeves, passport wallets and backpacks emblazoned with Coupland’s idea of a Canadian crest, complete with moose, igloo and satellite dish.

And that a pop culture man like Coupland should get his own Gastown pop-up shop to house his colour-popping collection is only fitting.

Roots x Douglas Coupland pop-up store, 36 Powell St., Vancouver, 604-677-0614, www.roots.com/douglascoupland
See our photos from the opening party on today's Editors' Diary.

Need an antidote to The Hills and a Gossip Girl detox?

Tune in tonight when The Knowledge Network premiers Cartographies, an innovative documentary profiling cultural creatives across the province.

Meet artist Zoe Hodgson painting urban landscapes from her Olympic Village loft, Alex Cuba singing unplugged in a Vancouver park, writer Michael Turner reminiscing about growing up in Kerrisdale, and vignettes featuring a modern architect, a pop-culture potter, and others you will wish would be coming to your next dinner party.

So, what can we bring?

Cartographies airs tonight at 10 p.m. and tomorrow at 11 p.m. on The Knowledge Network. View trailer here.

For athletes, losing a race by a tenth of a second isn’t pretty. But for art collectors, a split-second finish is pretty in paint.

Drawing inspiration from Olympic competition, Toronto artist Anda Kubis has turned the canvas into a kind of TV screen that captures the swift blur of bodies striving to beat the clock. Like a Monet for the digital age, she uses bright streaks of oil paint to freeze frame an abstract moment in time. So it’s apropos that she should show her work here in Vancouver during the Games.

If only the agony of defeat looked this beautiful.

On now until March 13, 2010 at Elissa Cristall Gallery, 2245 Granville St., Vancouver, 604-730-9611, www.cristallgallery.com

When we heard that whimsical London socialite Fifi Lapin had a blog, we hopped right to it.

After all, Lapin is a uniquely stylish bunny and her list of runway must-haves and enviable wardrobe is a dangling closet carrot we love to chase. Plus, we just can’t resist the way she signs off all her posts with “bunny kisses.”

Most recently, Lapin teamed up with LeSportsac as its artist in residence to create a curious and playful collection, like this stylish compulsive shopper bag ($138, pictured).

She may be a silly little rabbit, but her shoe collection is to-die-for.

See more of Fifi at www.fifi-lapin.blogspot.com
Order LeSportsac online at www.lesportsac.com

Ever since we first laid eyes on a George Vergette painting, we’ve been jonesing for more. Good thing his new show opens tomorrow at Gallery Jones.

In this latest exhibit, the Vancouver artist delves further into the large scale, layered resin works he’s become lauded for. Using deep shades of red, blue and green and the written word, the collection plays with the notions of depth, transparency and language.

Scrawled across the breadth of one striking black and white piece is “Perfect”—we couldn’t agree more.

They Will Take My Island, May 7-30, 2009, Gallery Jones, 1725 W. Third Ave., Vancouver, 604-714-2216, www.galleryjones.com