March 24th 2011

Next weekend there will be an art auction, Toronto Hearts Japan, taking place to help raise money for Japan relief. Curator Kristin Weckworth and friend Kathryn Ruppert-Dazai are putting the event on at the Gladstone Hotel from Wednesday March 30th until Tuesday April 5th.

I will be including two paintings in the silent auction; the first, an older painting called 'Sleepy Pon' that was created for the Mittenfists exhibition at Magic Pony Gallery, and the second 'Bonsai', created for children's book Le Géranium.

The opening reception will be held on Friday April 1st on the second floor of the Gladstone Hotel from 7 - 10pm; and a closing reception Tuesday April 5th 6 - 8pm.

March 25th 2011

It's finally arrived! I received a copy of the new Uppercase 'Work / Life 2 - Directory of International Illustration' in the mail!

I can finally post this painting that I had commissioned last summer. It was painted to be given to a couple that already had a small number of my pieces and were having their first baby. The painting is of their two rex cornish cats; Doug on the left, Lu on the right.

Below is the cover, my spread, and a page that I love of Olaf Hajek's bike with paint brushes strapped to the back. I'd like to thank both Celine Kim and Anabela Carneiro for allowing me to use photos of theirs for my page. Celine took the portrait of me with my Brownie camera, and Anabela took the photos of my studio for her 'This is Where I Live' series on her blog, Fieldguided.

March 19th 2011

Last weekend I had the chance to finally go to the new TIFF Lightbox Theatre here in Toronto. The past week was Canadian Music Week, and as part of the ongoing events, the festival put on a showing of AN ISLAND, a movie created by filmmaker Vincent Moon and one of my favorite bands, Efterklang.

It was such a beautiful movie. It follows the band around to different locations on an island off the Danish coast, to homes of residents, grade schools and through forests creating music with the sounds around them. The soundtrack of the film included music from their newest album, Magic Chairs.

After seeing the film, we found out that you can send a request to the filmmaker to hold a private screening. They send you a digital file of the movie and set up a time and location to hold a screening for your friends. If you get the chance before the deadline (in a week or so?), I highly recommend you contact them for a copy!

March 9th 2011

My dear friend Stephen Appleby-Barr will be having his first exhibition with Nicholas Metivier Gallery tomorrow night. The gallery is located at 451 King Street W here in Toronto, and the opening reception runs from 6 - 8pm. If you're in or around the city, the exhibit will run from tomorrow, March 10th to April 2nd.

At the same time Stephen's show is opening, the rest of the boys from Team Macho will be installing a show at an artist-run centre in Montréal called Optica. Their exhibition will run from this coming Saturday, March 12th until April 16th, and will include nearly 150 works.

There are so many exciting things happening for them! Congratulations, Machos!