amyalice

cutting edges

2011-02-22T20:14:00.000-05:00

catching up a bit

2010-11-10T20:27:00.001-05:00

its been a while since i've posted and there are plenty of things i've been meaning to put up here for a while! here's one that popped up again for me, brooks salzwedel. i love the combination of the shiny graphite against frosty feel of the resin and the depth it gives from working on both sides. i'd love a piece but know a print would ever live up to an original! go take a peek, its worth a visit just to look at the details.

the selves

2010-06-24T14:36:00.001-04:00

Nick's Fix, Sonja Ahlers

there are some artists you just instantly feel connected to their work. sonja ahlers is one of these artists for me. i know it has to do with being the around the same age and growing up in the same era with the same idols... but she taps into it so succinctly... and in that way that makes you feel like a teenager going through the motions again. i love it, its the same way the movie the virgin suicides makes me feel (i'm finally going to read the book, jeffrey eugenides when will you have a new novel for me?!). above are a few pieces from her new book "the selves" which she's selling on her etsy site.

The Orchard, Justine Kurland

Photographer Justine Kurland's photograph The Orchard used on the recent printing of The Virgin Suicides. Again, she's about my age and perhaps enjoys some of the same references. These ones reminds me of Picnic at Hanging Rock...

Cyclone, Justine Kurland

Bathers, Justine Kurland

--------------------

Photo for NY Mag fashion shoot by Justine Kurland

Still from Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975

All this work is just in time for hazy, lazy, long summer days. I'm ready.

deanne's world

2010-06-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

deanne cheuk has been a longtime idol (see my post from 2005). fabulous, super creative, multi-facetted artist, illustrator and art director. here's an interview on designsponge. i only just discovered her textile designs... yet another reason to covet her work.

a collage a day blog

2010-06-16T20:26:00.000-04:00

i discovered randel plowman through his book on collage. i love the fact he makes these everyday and they're so affordable! hard to pick just one.

Richard Barnes

2009-09-24T08:38:00.009-04:00

flight patterns, nests and natural history museums.
I have seen Richard Barnes' Unibomber piece in nyc but had never seen his other work. I have instantly become a follower. I've had a fascination with these for a long time but he distills the subjects in such a succinct, distinctive way. Check out additional Animal Logic images here that are not on his site.

Sophie Jodoin

2009-09-13T21:24:00.006-04:00

i have never seen her work in person and first discovered it in the national arts centre's french theatre catalogue where they use images from her Regiment series, studies of human torsos cut off at the head and groin. her statement explains all the work is b/w and done over the course of one day. her site has lots more, definitely worth taking a look.

Rosemarie Fiore

2009-09-09T09:45:00.001-04:00

“My drawings are created by containing and controlling firework explosions. I bomb blank sheets of paper with different fireworks including color smoke bombs, jumping jacks, monster balls, fountains, magic whips, spinning carnations, ground blooms, rings of fire, and lasers. As I work, I create imagery by controlling the chaotic nature of the explosions in upside-down containers. When the paper becomes saturated in color, dark and burned, I take it back to my studio and collage blank paper circles onto the image to establish new planes and open up the composition. I then continue to bomb the pieces. These actions are repeated a number of times. The final works contain many layers of collaged explosions and are thick and heavy.

I consider my firework drawings invented dimensional spaces in which the forces of chaos and control combat. The visible traces of the fireworks’ detonations, transform the explosion spectacle into fixed mini universes of streaks, shooting sprays of vibrant pigments and shimmering fields of color.”

rachel goodyear

2009-03-27T09:15:00.006-04:00

hypnotist

girl with menagerie

two girls

rachel goodyear is a UK artist i discovered through the drawing room. be sure to check out her stunningprint edition she created.

Frances Glessner Lee (1878–1962)

2009-03-22T21:53:00.006-04:00

Frances Glessner Lee was both a doll and forensic medicine enthusiast. She was the first woman appointed to Captain of New Hampshire policeShe created dioramas of crime scenes for student to analyze and they were documented in the book "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death".

sharon montrose

2009-03-03T23:04:00.004-05:00

Lovely and affordable prints by Sharon Montrose available through her etsy shop.

future perfect

2009-02-24T20:44:00.004-05:00

these make me want to learn how to etch glass... so beautiful. if you haven't visited the future perfectyou may enjoy the trip! there are some real treasures.

i want

2009-02-23T21:22:00.003-05:00

beautful print on tea towel find it here and there are lots of other fun artists made pillow cases and tea towles.

walter martin & paloma munoz

2009-02-20T10:02:00.004-05:00

so there is still snow here and i'm a bit tired of it even though its very pretty...

more here... and you can actually own one from unica home if you have some extra pocket money.

pekka jylha

2008-07-22T23:33:00.003-04:00

all work by pekka jylha

pekka jylha is a finnish artist, showing work at ps1. i am definitely taking a trip out there to see some in person when i'm there, it just leaves me speechless. lots more here

crytal lui

2008-06-21T10:20:00.004-04:00

say that you know and taking a drink by crystal lui

i am absolutely in love with the work of crystal lui which i only discovered this morning. i haven't even made it beyond the drawing section but needed to post right away! the most difficult part is choosing just one image to highlight.

roots veins and log ladies

2008-05-04T20:36:00.003-04:00

all artwork by betsy walton

betsy walton has some lovely original work at rare device and has prints available on her etsy shop

mmmmmoths

2008-04-27T20:37:00.004-04:00

jeana sohn

laura normandin

i have been using moths in my work for a few years now and get really excited when i see other people using them. jeana sohn and laura normandin (from the previous two posts below). I got a beautiful coffee table book on moths called Night Visions to use as inspiration. The photography is incredible and some of the moths, the patterns and colours are absolutely stunning.

LA ladies

2008-04-27T20:23:00.005-04:00

jeana sohn

ramis kim

my two favourite artists right now are ramis kim and jeana sohn. oh, their work is so, so lovely. and they are friends which is so great. it kept me going over the long, cold winter.

UPPERCASE

2008-04-27T20:10:00.004-04:00

illustration for work/life by darren booth

i'm excited to be in a show at UPPERCASE Gallery in calgary called WORK/LIFE. Its a show and publication on Canadian Illustrators. There's an interview with the owner Janine here. If you're ever in calgary stop in, its the greatest little shop/gallery with a great assortment of art, books, paper items.

mimmo & eno

2008-03-19T21:09:00.003-04:00

mimmo paladino and brian eno exhibition in rome. i am a longstanding fan of both of them. see more here

milky glass

2008-02-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

julie gibb

laura normandin

i have seen julie gibb's glassware in person and its just so pretty. she and Arounna Khounnoraj did a collaboration that you can see here

another artist with a similar bent toward of making simple everyday objects beautiful is laura norandin. see her work here .

paper paper paper!

2008-01-30T22:20:00.001-05:00

i just this evening discovered richard sweeney. his paper sculptures are elegant and pristine, just incredible. there are additional shots on his flikr site here

lisa's lovelies

2008-01-26T14:39:00.000-05:00

i've been a fan of lisa soloman's work for years. the mix of real doilies, drawings and shadows is so lovely. i would love her to create a wallpaper pattern! see more images of the show here

paper cuts

2007-12-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

Untitled and Peacock Tree by Leanna Wolff

See more of this San Francisco-based artists' work here. Her work is meticulous and so sensitive. Many of the pieces you would think are on black paper but in fact she has covered the paper in graphite, then drawn, sewn, pinpricked and finally collaged paper to them. I've been smitten with this work ever since the first time seeing it.

rita akerman

2007-12-28T18:35:00.000-05:00

found this stunning drawing by rita akerman at the andrea rosen gallery. i'm such a huge fan of layering right now that this piece is really inspiring. rita akerman is about the coolest lady around. she and kim gordon are conspirators, talk about some creative ladies.

mushrooms

2007-12-23T17:05:00.000-05:00

all above images by amyross

ouch, ok... its been almost a year since my last post. i just discovered something i wanted to post - hooray! there will be more posts hopefully soon as i have some holidays.

i discovered amy ross's blog and site through the 20x200 art project (while looking for potential gifts for myself). i love finding fellow collagers that get me inspired. the mushroom collages remind me of deanne cheuk's mushroom virus girls that i'm a big fan of. well, to be honest i'm just a big fan of mushrooms.

Abelardo Morell

2007-01-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

i found this photographer through a friend. its so hard to pick a favourite series they are all so beautiful.abelardo morell was born in cuba and lives and teaches in Boston.

stop motion is my hero

2007-01-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

graeme patterson

i am a HUGE fan of stop motion animation and i met someone in the summer who actually makes them. he's got a piece in the national gallery here. his website is graemepatterson.com

some other sm animators
jiri trnka's work is some of my favourite. here are a few.

brothers quay (the imfamous) here's a reel i found on youtube that gives you a quick look at some of their work.

and of course jan svankmeyer who did a version of alice in wonderland which is just stunning. there seem to be some on youtube here

but for all of these i would rent the dvds to do them justice!

if you know of more that you'd think i'd like i'd love to know/see...
amy

Diana Sudyka

2006-12-29T14:34:00.000-05:00

Diana Sudyka is an artist I discovered while in Chicago this summer. Just found her gorgeous business card and looked at her site.

paper

2006-12-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

laura cooperman

just found this artist via designsponge:
laura cooperman. go see, lovely!

wow

2006-07-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

marian bantjes' work is just stunning... and she's a proud canadian!

marian bantjes

rabbits

2006-07-13T10:22:00.000-04:00

found this piece by jisung bahng through jeana sohn's site. this piece gives me the same eerie feeling that kids book goodnight moon does.

jisung bahng

art+science

2006-07-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

judith k mcmillan website is not much to look at but the images she has created are absolutely gorgeous.

judith k mcmillan

kiki for president

2006-06-13T11:27:00.000-04:00

kiki smith
has a show at the whitney this winter i'd really like to go to. there is some great work on paper i had never seen before by her here. and this has some work from a show that was at the moma in '03.

all artwork by kiki smith

wacky

2006-06-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

jp hooked me up with this great conceptual art blog vwork. much fun.

new to me:
brian cronin
kenneth lavallee

meanderings

2006-05-27T13:05:00.000-04:00

one of my favourite ottawa artists fuu linked me to audrey kawasaki which lead me to sam weber.

jenny, sam weber

smoke and fog

2006-05-26T12:01:00.000-04:00

i hadn't been on tinyvices in a while and was once again overwhelmed by tim barber's work. there is a rawness in what he shoots but it is shot in a very refined way. definitely has some robert frank(a person favourite) and larry clark influences but his work is mostly colour as opposed to b/w. there is lots to look at, not to mention all the artists in the portfolio section of his site.

cloud, tim barber

another photographer's work i really admire is nancy freidland. she is toronto based and i have a little gem of hers. would love to get another (SOON!). here are a few i had never seen before.

untitled (two figures), nacy friedland
___________________________________

her work with her old class photos are quite beautiful. for the past couple of years i've been working on pieces with little girls legs, so i especially love some of these.

all images by nancy friedland

flying dreams

2006-05-24T12:38:00.000-04:00

i love those dreams when you are flying (except of course when you fall and jerk yourself awake). i just discovered this photographer and wanted to share. his name is jan von holleben and this work is called dreams of flying.

jan von holleben

free at last!

2006-05-11T23:11:00.000-04:00

i know its been a super long time since i have posted, but i am back to working in the studio and freelancing for a while so there should be more posts in the future!

found this fun link tonight for artists wallpaper, funny how i was just having a conversation with friends today about how wallpaper is EVERYWHERE!

i'm still super in love with julie morstad's work and her wallpaper is here. that site took me to thinkcollective which is a really pretty site (but somewhat frustrating that everything is sold out on the site!).

howie tsui introduced me to a new lovely lady named amy cutler. her detail and sense of composition just kills me!

amy culter, cake toss

julie morstad, pride

video mundo

2006-01-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

happy belated new years! since the last post i have lost all my links as my HD crashed and couldn't be recovered. i had all my work backed up but sadly lost all my web links, photos and emails. sad how traumic this can be!!

here is a great videos of 05 link that i've been meaning to post for ages. my favourites are the sigor ros, smog, and royksopp videos (in that order!!). have fun!

puzzles

2005-12-06T19:09:00.000-05:00

i nearly lost my shit when jp showed me this link today. its unbelievable. there are more here as well.

the work is by peter callesen from denmark. he studied architecture and then art at goldsmiths college in london.

peter callesen

reminds me of those little metal sculptures at all the design shops by sam buxton. wonder who came up with it first?

sam buxton "MIKRO" fabricated sculptures

and this somehow got me to enzo mari who made this awesome animali puzzle which is very similar to an ark with animals that my family has from that era!

enzo mari "animali"

buggy

2005-12-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

the texile museum in toronto is having an exhibition called Terrible Beauty by jennifer angus which looks unbelievable.

jennifer angus "Terrible Beauty"

it reminds me of a piece by christine davis called Tlön which was shown here at the cmcp. its a wall of blue butterflies with images of stars and intersellar clouds projected on their opalescent wings. it was something that i visited numerous times while the show was on (back when the gallery was free admission!) because i just loved the feeling it gave me.

christine davis "Tlön"

lovely things & dilemma...

2005-11-29T18:30:00.000-05:00

lovely work byheather goodchild. she is having an opening in toronto on friday at katherine mulherin's gallery. go for me if you are in toronto!!

i am having dilemmas as to wether i should post peoples work on this site. i do not wish to infringe on anyone's copyright to their own work but only want to spread the love, but don't really know the protical...can anyone advise?

glows in the dark

2005-11-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

noticed that there is an article in border crossings featuring julie morstad who i just discovered in my wanderings yesterday. i'd like to be able to see her work in person, the images are so small! i'll go pick up the issue and hope the images are bigger in print!

got a terrific book a few weeks ago on a dreary sunday whilst doing my laundry. i nipped over to the comic shop which i was amazed was open on sunday when everything else was closed (ottawa is a sleepy town). there i discovered a chris ware book i had never seen. its big and beautiful. the book is called Acme Annual Report to Shareholders and Rainy Day Saturday Afternoon Fun Book. The book is a work of art in itself. it really is the perfect rainy day book, FILLED with detail. beware if you have poor eyesight as there is text that i swear is 2pt type!here is even a spread of the constallations done in glow in the dark - BRILLIANCE! i just found some of the drawings from the book. i assume they are coloured digitally.

to keep your ears warm

2005-11-25T13:18:00.000-05:00

had a fantastic time at the blacksheep inn last night (a magical place in a little riverside town in quebec), ohbijou, the acorn and snailhouse played. it was my first time seeing ohbijoux who play really pretty music and uses lots of fun instruments including a harmonium, cello, xylephone...

listen to them here: ohbijouxand the acorn

they are all touring together so if you're looking for something to do this weekend and are in kingston, london, toronto or montreal you should check out the show!

i like people who like to draw

2005-11-24T13:54:00.000-05:00

some work by a few folks...both of whom seem to be influenced by the royal art lodge, but how can you blame them?!

look for julie morstadhas a little dzama, jeff ladouceur and even edward gorey going on but still great in its own right.

julie morstad

and kenneth lavallee from winnepeg.

poster by kenneth lavallee for caribou

nyc drawing centre that i must try and go to one day.

oh and there are updates to both howie tsui and amfraser sites - go see they are both fantastic people as well as amazing artists living in this winter wasteland known as ottawa!

bit more...

2005-11-23T19:14:00.000-05:00

this sony bravia ad just warms my heart. hi speed one takes a while to load but is well worth the wait. there is even a fun making of piece - none of the shots are digitized which is just so great in this day and age of crazy digital animation.

some beautiful bedding and pillows i wish i could afford at amenity home

new pieces from small things. i just love the piece i got from her.

tiny vices

2005-11-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

i am hoping to do more blogging over the winter - my full time job has been a big adjustment!

tiny vices has some amazing artists on it. well worth a browse through. most of the artists i hadn't heard of, some great discoveries.

more to come...

mushROOM

2005-09-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

WOW this is crazy!

the piece is by Carsten Höller and is called Upside Down Mushroom Room
i would love to see this show but its in at the LA MOCA and i don't forsee going...
but at least we can marvel at it here.

you & me

2005-09-04T10:24:00.000-04:00

back from a week in maine
it was lovely lovely
sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean
ate lobster & corn chowder for the first time it was insanely good
didn't take any pics this year though

went to see me and you and everyone we know last night
it was so great i really loved it
miranda july is a pretty insightful lady.
i think i will probably see it again soon
it is the type of movie i want to show to people.

helloooo, yes i am still here!

2005-08-12T01:38:00.000-04:00

i know i've been gone for eons, i'm so sorry i've been so lax - summer has been hectic!
not much time for blogging lately, but i think i will be back at it when the weather cools down.
the last thing i want to do in my sticky apartment is put my warm laptop on my lap!

the russian doll show is coming down this weekend. it was a great success! i was soooo pleased with all the amazing work that everyone put into their dolls. and i was pleasantly suprised at how many sold! i posted some snapshots here on flikr so everyone could at least see what people did.

before i take my vacation i thought i'd post the pieces i sent to emoda gallery in louisville kentucky!
i found out they arrived safely today...always stressful sending framed work under glass.

sing and rejoice fortune is smiling on you

a thrilling time is in your immediate future

depart not from the path which fate has you assigned

good news will come to you from far away

vent monster

2005-07-06T16:20:00.000-04:00

here's a little guy i found the other day near my apartment.
i think he's great - it will be amazing if in the winter his mouth spews steam!

talented ladies

2005-07-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

found the montreal artist tracy maurice on tiny showcase. she did the cover of the arcade fire album as well as the packaging for a great band we just saw recently called malajube. her work is beautiful, reminds me a lot of eastern european poster art. here are a few pieces from her site:

images by tracy maurice

another great find via tiny showcase is jen corace. i just love her sense of colour and painting style.

lake swimming

2005-06-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

back from a weekend in sarnia. we went down for jp's family reunion (on his mom's side)
sarnia suprised me, i quite liked it. it actually reminded me a lot of oakville by the lake. i went swimming in lake huron for the first time. it was also my first outdoor swimming of the year - can't beat that!

jp found this video which made me giggle...
ok go
i wonder how many takes they had to do for it!!!

here is a piece that struck my fancy by faile
who seem to make a lot of posters

by faile

once upon a forest

2005-06-23T10:40:00.000-04:00

beautiful web art made by joshua davis through his art making application at once upon a forest

jp is going to a seminar with him in toronto at the end of july. he should come back all inspired i'm sure!

misprinted type

2005-06-21T12:39:00.000-04:00

tania sent me this great link today for misprinted type. he's from brasil and super talented.
his collages are fantastic but i fell in love with his drawings.
here are a few:

all work by misprinted type

the whole site is worth checking out!

yetis eating ziti

2005-06-18T20:15:00.000-04:00

if you haven't yet checked out other's stuff you really should. he's from montreal and will be in the russian doll show. we have this teeny tiny piece by him which i just adore.

"eary" by other

and i found megan whitmarsh via nebo peko...

megan whitmarsh

megan whitmarsh

megan whitmarsh

i think yetis are cool. jp and i use the word as frequently as possible in our scrabble games (along with ziti).

if cinderella's slippers were felt

2005-06-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

so i never knew slippers could be so elegant...but i am also a huge sucker for anything white on white!!

these are made by pia wallen who seems to be the felt genius.

and these are lovely necklaces...
sprout
would be hard to choose just one!

a great shop called day-lab so many nice things.
i especially love the bubble jewellery
and tshirts by heartbroken

a great piece i found onmyono

by myono

pretty finds

2005-06-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

the latest issue of tokion magazine has been yet another hotbed of inspiration.
the issue is called the hi-lo issue and has both high art and low art in it. some neat interviews.

this was one of the artists featured

Simone Shubuck

Simone Shubuck
Monifruit Tree

Simone Shubuck
Players Club Ball

Simone Shubuck
Victoria & Paul

You can see more of her work at the zach feuer gallery

I also found this work by artist
James Welling at David Zwirner Gallery

books and beds of paper

2005-06-11T16:27:00.000-04:00

i was just looking through sonja ahlers book fatal distraction again and was enjoying it quite a bit. i geeked out and wrote her a little note. i have to get one of her fierce bunnies they are soooo amazing. my friend tara has one and they are just so sweet.

sonja ahler's amazing bunnies:

here's a great web gallery in winnipeg called other gallery with lots of great people.

i saw this image of an installation by oritt raff
it really struck me - it reminded me of an art project which never made it to the light of day
were i had pictures on the walls (i can't even remember what of now...)
and a big bed of paper in the middle of the room
it was from a dream where i was at a wedding and everything was white and everyone was dressed in paper and gave a sheet of paper which was laid in a pile to make a paper bed
it was one of the most beautiful dreams i've ever had!

oritt raff installation:instatiable

postcard

2005-06-10T16:37:00.000-04:00

so here is the post card i made for the show at air gallery in new york. i'll pop it in the post now!

looking like a girl

2005-06-09T15:42:00.000-04:00

found a couple of great blogs
one fine bumblebee hours of hunting which i will save for a rainy/uninspired day
and
nebopeklo

tonight i have a swanky opening to go to at the ottawa art gallery, its an art auction which i have three little pieces in. its a rare occasion for me to wear a dress and look like a girl!

was working today on a little owl girl postcard which i'm sending off to a show in new york. FUN! i'll post the piece once it dries and i can put it on my scanner!!

working at home

2005-06-08T16:43:00.000-04:00

this morning i shipped my work off to paris. so sad i will not be able to go!

so i'm getting back into the groove of working from home again.
got a few projects lined up now so i'm not fretting quite as much as i was.

here is a mock up i've done for the russian doll show...
the original idea was to make a russian looking invite
but i ended up going with a more scandanavian look!
consesus so far is leaning toward the blue version.

maman

2005-06-07T19:01:00.000-04:00

some really pretty clothing from susan harris design. i got a skirt for christmas last year (which i posted) from her and she now has her lovely site up.

went over the weekend to the market and went to see "maman" loise bourgois' spider sculpture. it was fantastic. i'm so happy we have one here. i had seen two others before, one in montreal and one at the dia beacon but this one is much larger than the other two. incredible, i love the shadows it casts!!

it was also my nephew john's third birthday.
here he is on a pretty cool gift his uncle gave him!!

all in all a pretty good weekend, the weather was fantastic. yesterday was a scorcher. i stayed indoors mostly and caught up on all sorts of odds and ends that needed to be tied up over the last few months. went for pho with a good friend who i haven't hung out with in ages.

tomorrow i will mail off my work to paris and voila, i will finally have a show in a world class city!
now i have to get back to the studio and start making some new work!!!

purging

2005-06-02T10:06:00.000-04:00

found this gorgeous sketchbook by keri smith

she also had this brilliant idea of putting her studio into a box.
very inspiring i have been needing to clean up/out my studio for ages i think i will start this weekend.

i feel like i always want what i don't have, i didn't have a studio and worked from my apartment so i wanted a studio. now i have a studio and i wish i had a space to work at home instead. i know its irrational and i need to just work harder at WORKING. i keep reading articles on artists who talk about how their art isn't an effort or they have boundless ideas and i just find it so contrary to my experience. i love creating but most of the time its pretty hard to produce anything i'm happy with.

the stuff that does work out IS effortless usually which makes the rest of the time so much more difficult!
i should take a page from keri's books and start creating every day for the sake of creating.

montreal

2005-05-24T20:01:00.000-04:00

went to montreal for the long weekend
it was really rainy most of the time which put me in a bit of a funk
but it was super nice to see my girlfriend who came up from toronto for the visit
we shopped and looked at art and ate lots of great food.

some places i really enjoyed:
ginger
16 AVENUE DES PINS EST (at St. Laurent)
the most delicious sushi and lychee martinis!!! the main dishes sound amazing too. somewhere i always go to when i visit montreal and i'm never disappointed. the dynamite roll is out of this world.

chuchai express
4094 RUE SAINT-DENIS
amazing vegetarian thai restaurant. have the mock chicken in peanut sauce with crispy spinach - you won't be disappointed!!

la grand mère poule
1361, avenue du Mont-Royal Est
i just discovered that there are a bunch of these restaurants in montreal. it was a terrific brunch spot with loads of selection. rosti potatoes, lots of variations on the benedict and waffles and crepes. i had a decadent spinach, cheese and poached egg in filo pastry with hollandaise sauce which was to die for!

bily kun
354 AVENUE DU MONT-ROYAL EST (nr St. Denis)
great place to have a drink and listen to a dj. if you check out this link i found you can see a picture of the ostrich heads that line the wall. its surreal!

since then i've finished up my contract (wow how 2 months flies by!) and already been up and down about finishing. i will really miss those regular paycheques! the people were great as well, i felt really comfortable there. but they may ask for help again later in the summer. we'll see.

for now i'm heading back into the studio. first to get my show ready for *paris*!!! its been a long time in the works and its finally arrived. i have made some great little prints of my owl girls. of all the prints i've had made of my work these definitely turned out the best! i will likely put them on my site for sale at some point. but if anyone is interested in getting one give me a shout and i can email you the images of the ones i had made.

new additions

2005-05-11T22:12:00.000-04:00

i just added a bunch of links to my sidebar
you should take a moment to enjoy these finds! ---------------->
my favourite by far (tonight anyway) is
supermundane
his stuff drives me crazy its so good!!!

and a crazy schronicity that i found tonight (it doesn't JUST happen to me!)
the work by becky brisco from toronto
and the work by lisa solomon from oakland
it was so strange to find both people on the same night...

synchronicity

2005-05-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

so here are the three pieces that are going into the art auction at the Ottawa Art Gallery...
i was really happy with the way they framed up, it was just as i had pictured the final pieces to look!

and as I was surfing tonight i found antler girls by i'm smitten,...
we have a very similar aestetic but really...that's too much!! well, i had already thought these would be the only three i would make...this just confirms that thought!

some fun links to peruse...
motel gallery i could spend all day here
the carrot box, nice kimono rings
lulette, wish i had found this link when there had been snow on the ground!!

threads

2005-05-05T22:41:00.000-04:00

thank you to all who welcomed me back to blogland, it had certainly been a while.
i've settled into the new job now and can get back to things.
i started the blog to keep me inspired over the LONG Ottawa winter, and i never expected to meet so many great people through it.
it really is an amazing community
and each time you go on you find new and inspiring people who do great things.
tonight i discovered:
my little mochi
which in turn let me to:
bird in a skirt which i will definitely have to check back at and see what they have thats new
designsponge
i have yet to check them out fully but i'm sure they will also lead to great things.

i've been thinking about webs, because i'm so fond of scribbles and lines, but i should spend some time thinking about thread...how things link to each other and how something thin and delicate can be so strong and binding...and then thinking about thread makes me think of silk which makes me think of silkworms which bring me back to spiders and webs...ah everyting is so connected...

very exciting news, i FINALLY ordered a gocco. YAY! it has probably been a year since i have wanted one but never had the extra money to order the kit and all the fixins.
i got it here from a woman in calgary for anyone out there in canada who needs gocco stuff she's got great prices.

i will have to post what i do with it...so many options and ideas in my tiny brain!
right now i envision screens of scribbles on my paintings...
but i have to make the paintings first!!

tiny villages

2005-05-02T20:54:00.000-04:00

found this great artist from the uk named ladybird on woostercollective. her work is magical! she makes moss!!

been thinking about stuff to paint on my studio walls ever since i saw the mural piece by these guys at the Ottawa Art Gallery. Jp will be doing the site for it soooon which is very exciting. Its great, the bunch of them will be doing a mural in San fran which is fantastic. The new mural is even better than the last one. I'll post some pics of the mural in a day or so.

I came across this site for a hotel in san fran, hotel des arts where they got artists to paint on the walls...food for thought.

antlers and trees entwined

2005-04-06T19:25:00.000-04:00

oh my gosh, its been so long since i've been on the blog i've forgotten all the html tags!

work for last week was insane. it was a whole new experience laying out a (wee) magazine all by myself. good experience for sure.
glad i'm through it now. next month should be a lot easier. i'm finally feeling back to normal and properly rested and relaxed. boy what a difference from my low key freelance lifestyle i was used to! but paying off my bills bit by bit feels really good.

oooh look at all the pretty things at morningcraft. and some of the stuff on the site is by stina b, an ottawa local!

i was daydreaming in the car about painting trees on the walls of my studio and rachel salomon's work (found via tania) is so inspiring!

and this is absolutely the most beautiful coat rack i've ever encountered.

well, my entries may be spottier for the next few weeks as i'm still on my contract but check back again a bit later and i should have more...
enjoy the flowers!!!

wanderings on pooh and animation

2005-03-29T18:23:00.000-05:00

so it was my second day of work at my new job.
its been good, i like the people and i like the place.
and its so nice to be able to run errands at lunch or go home for leftovers and have a visit with jp.

had a nice easter dinner with family last night.
my mom had her old original winnie the poo books out
the illustrations are just so sweet. the illustrator was EH Shepard. disney really ruined it for me.

i'm happy that films like the triplets of belleville can marry computer animation with traditional animation to make it feel like traditional animation. there's something so special about traditional animation that i find has gotten lost in a lot of newer computer made films.

another fun animated film i saw a while back was spirited away some pretty amazing scenes in it.

last week we rented the incredibles which was a lot of fun and amazingly animated. it shows how far computer animation has come in the last few years even. but i think it still would have been richer if it had been animated with at least backgrounds that weren't made on a computer...but maybe i'm crazy.

half the fun of these animated films on dvd is watching the extra features where they show the making of the film.
we have a friend that is an animator and his story boards are just so neat. his drawing skills are amazing!
its cool, on some cells of the storyboard he'll put on a sticky note to show how something will animate.

sunny saturday

2005-03-19T18:34:00.000-05:00

ah, i've had simply a lovely day!
it was so nice out.
went for a wee brunch with jeeps
then allowed myself to go to the record store (there was a sale on!)
listened to a bunch of stuff that i thought i would like but didn't
then had the lovely lads suggest some things
i ended up with four new albums
and i had enough credit (from used cds and records) to pay for the lot!

i'm excited to find pictures from deanne cheuk's new book mushroom virus girls
they look like collage but they are actually oil paintings
you can see more here,
all those mushroom pieces make me giddy!!
sooo inspiring

she's incredibly talented, does the art direction for tokionmagazine (all those lovely hand painted typography) and puts out a tiny magazine called neomu which i've only got two copies of but they are so sweet.

it all makes me excited to go into the studio tomorrow
i have to take the bull by the horns and just START some new work
i've been dawdling
if i can get some paintings done in the next month that i'm happy with i will reward myself with getting the book...
that should be motivation!!!!

new new news

2005-03-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

hey! YIPEEEE - i got a new new job!
crazy how i'd been looking for 2 years essentially and get two offers in two weeks - life is crazy.
so my new gig will be starting easter monday at capital publishing

they publish a bunch of magazines here in little 'ol ottawa
i'm initially filling in for someone on vacation for two months
but we'll see what happens, they are actually down a full time person

the best part is the office is in a big old house a few blocks away from my apt!
i can go home for lunch or go to the Y next door.
the work won't be quite as creative as what i'm doing now
but it also won't be as stressful!

so i'm feeling good
we're celebrating with some tuktuk thai (delivered)
mmmmmm can't wait!

picture day

2005-03-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

as promised here are some pictures of the goodies i received from tania's gift bag!

these are from a 1969 vogue pattern book
i'm in love with all the clothes and fabric!!! and of course all those amazing hats!!!
makes me want to see the original version of the stepford wives again.

there were all these amazing prints of old black and white photos and a bunch of wallpaper!!! YIPEEE!!

here's a stamp i picked up ages ago and haven't posted

and here is the my illustration that got printed!

finally back

2005-03-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

whew! its been a crazy lately and i've missed my beloved blogging!!!

i've officially been working full time for one whole week. it feels like so much longer.
its been a bit stressful, a bit hectic and it was tough getting back in the swing of things
but i think i've (almost) adjusted.

best thing this week was the wonderful package i got from tania!! what a sweetie! i will show pics from it on the weekend so stay tuned...right now i'm downloading the music she sent me to listen to at work. they play godawful soft jazz and blues on repeat and a cheesy version of the girl from ipanema gets stuck in my head when i leave or when i'm falling asleep.

went to see the Darger documentary. i think i was pretty tired because i wasn't all that excited by it. though i definitely did enjoy it. for ten years he kept track of the weather and noted on articles when the weatherman had incorrectly forecasted!!! too funny!!!

but oh his art is quite something. there were little girls with ram horns! crazy.

haven't had a chance to go into the studio for the last while. i did a poster over the weekend for anti missile defense. bit of a rush doing it after work hours but i managed to finish it up.

had my first article published in the weekly here. a review on two art books and i also had an illustration printed in a local magazine. i'm just doing a bunch of different stuff to keep myself out of trouble lately...but of course it still hasn't worked. heehee!

big news

2005-03-02T18:09:00.000-05:00

so the big news is i got a full time graphic design job starting tomorrow. this means i'll probably be pretty lax on my blogging for the next little while though i will try my best as i do enjoy it!

i'm more than a bit sad to go back to full time work after freelancing from home for almost 2 years but the freelancing just didn't cut it. i think the first few weeks will be tiring but i'll get used to the old grind in no time. HA!

i'm hoping i will still have the time and energy to keep up my art-making and my gym-going - but i'll have to see how busy it is.

tonight my friends' band the acorn are playing and will be a nice send off for me...
into the land of 9 - 5...

here are lovely pieces my friend yvonne made...she is one of my very favourite artists!

heavy metal and tanuki bears

2005-02-28T10:45:00.000-05:00

had a strange night last night. instead of being outraged at the mediocre awards made by the academy at the oscars we watched a documentary on the band metallica. it was really long but quite entertaining. they ended up hiring (for $40,000/mth) a therapist to work with the ego clashing band.

the best part about the movie was the drummer lars ulrich's private art collection. it was truly stunning stuff. at one point in the movie he decides to sell it all. here is the basquiat piece he owned which is about 7 x 13 feet and sold for 5 MILLION dollars!!! who would ever have thought a drummer in a metal band would have such great taste in art.

it made me think what would i have in my collection if money (and space!) weren't an option. here's my list.

cy twombly
robert rauschenberg
joseph cornell
jasper johns
agnes martin
robert ryman

over the weekend my friend howie mentioned tanuki bears, a japanese raccoon. i had never heard of them and on my surfing actually bumped into this picture of a stuffed one taken by derrick hodgson.

they're so crazy cute, they really look like anime.

new additions

2005-02-27T13:06:00.000-05:00

changed my sections a bit --------------------------------------->

put in an illustration/collage section with some fabulous stuff to check out.
added lillian piri to the lovely section as well.

i've also stumbled upon a link to a store called excellent virtu where you can buy prints of some of these artsits. tinman alley also has work for sale from some great folks.

ligers? ligers!

2005-02-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

ok, all you napolean dynamite fans may be suprised to find out that Ligers do exist!
jp found them online and they are massive beasts!

crazy!!

weewonderful's posted the most lovely japanese book...it nearly killed me with its cuteness.
goes well with this fabric i found...

something to see...

2005-02-23T18:31:00.000-05:00

watched i heart huckabees last night, it was a really fun watch. i have to admit though i have a soft spot for marky mark - heehee! the music is by the same guy who did eternal sunshine and was great the whole way through. i definitely want to see it again sometime.

i've just revisted the paper source...oh how i love that store, i wish we had one in ottawa!

oooooooo

2005-02-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

went on to velocity's site to see if they had any more work of amy's up and look at them all! they are just so lovely!!
here are a few favourites:

i have such a soft spot for birds. velocity also has these lovely tomas paul plates. i especially like this one:

so many pretty things!!!!

poor things

2005-02-21T20:37:00.000-05:00

here's a picture from a piano magic cd that i have. its a response to tania's entry today.
i loved the packaging and these strange scenarios made with tiny dead animals.
its so cute but so morbid!

they remind me of the cat my lab partners and myself had to dissect in first year "anatomy for the arts" class. we called the cat "our poor thing"

speaking of unfortunate beings here are a couple of sketches for my new series...

not sure yet if the final pieces will be primaliry paintings/drawings or collages...but i guess we'll see!

giggles

2005-02-19T16:59:00.000-05:00

here is a nook of my studio

look at these adorable knitted dolls, and these gorgeous handmade dolls from a lady named rosa

i'd love to get one for my neice!

here is a funny animation called swami jeff i saw on zed. thanks to jp for remembering its name so i could watch it again. it makes me giggle sooo much!

enjoy!

white on white

2005-02-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

lazy day today
didn't end up making it to the studio
but will spend a full day there tomorrow
and will buy a bunch of boards to experiment on YAY!
very exciting
will try to make some white on white work...
something i have wanted to do for ages now
(i've been talking about it since i started this blog)
they seem like work i really should be doing while there's snow on the ground!

while i was back there i was admiring again jp's little muji speakers.
they came packed flat in the cutest little ziplock bag.
muji is so cool, i've only ever seen a few things at the moma gift shop in nyc
but jp said he would take me to a muji store if we ever go to britain (or japan HA!)
but for now i can admire their logo-free items online.

we work for them

2005-02-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

first news is anne is ok, she didn't break her wrist, i guess its sprained. still no fun but at least she won't have to wear a nasty cast!

there are so many great books at you work for them, i'm totally in love with
klaus hapanami book. here are a few pics...

and two pics from a book called romantik which look like paintings...

but there are so many others...

broken wrist projects

2005-02-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

well it sounds like anne broke her wrist today snowboarding. i can't believe it, the poor thing! jp went to wait with her at the hospital. i hope they don't have to wait too long.

last night my power adapter pooped out. well, it actually got fried. goddammit, its an expense i wasn't expecting to have to deal with at the moment.

i am considering applying to mags and fags for a part time job. haven't decided for sure if i will do this or not...its been so long since i've done retail...and i've tried to stay away from it for soo long but the sad fact is i need a job.

today during brunch (mmmm french toast made with cinnamon raisin bread and fruit) i thought of some new ideas for artwork. i'll have to go in this week and see if i can get any of them to pan out. but i'm excited to try them out.

here is a neat little wv ad, i quite liked.

and this is an artist featured in the latest issue of tokion named ashley macomber. she too combines animals with people as well as other animals. i think these are older work which i quite like.

she did the packaging for the cd that came with this issue of tokion. the cd is put out by tylenol. i can't believe tylenol has deemed this a demographic they want to go for, i guess its the extreme sports folks they are going after, crazy. they even have an ouch website which is actually kind of interesting. what is the world coming to???

funnily enough she's involved in this project called the broken wrist project. it was/is a collective of artists based out of LA. its worth poking around on. ooh, i found work by a guy named ryan wallace off it, its great! here are a couple pieces off his site...

yay fun friday!

2005-02-11T21:17:00.000-05:00

wow, i feel so much better than i did earlier! i went to the gym (homer simpson pronounces it gime) and did a longer workout than i had been doing just to try and get me out of this slumpy mood. thankfully it worked!!

when i came back i had two presents waiting for me!
shary boyle's book witness my shame

and
dave cooper's book under belly
woo hoo!!!

and the other exciting news is i won an old mail order catalogue from ebay today. i'm hoping this will bring me some inspiration for some new artwork! here are a few shots from the listing of the cat...

yay!!!

tonight is aaron's bday so we're heading to the shanghai for kareoke. i wonder if i will have the guts to get up and torture a whole crowd of people...guess that depends on how much i've had to drink!!!

things things things

2005-02-09T12:13:00.000-05:00

photomontage.com this artist has a bunch of sites and does so much work it boggles the mind, i wish i produced half as much as she does!

i found this neat art swap site called 20 things. i've signed up but who knows if anything will ever come of it, sounds like they're a bit overwhelmed with the response from people wanting to participate. i still haven't received a piece back from the swap i did in lethbridge. i wonder if the show is over yet.

oh no, 2K finally put their shop online, my tshirt habit is in trouble!

here's a shot of the commission i was working on,

ways of working

2005-02-08T01:02:00.000-05:00

finally got a chance to watch rivers and tides.
it was neat to get to see what andy goldsworthy's personality is like.
i think it still suprised me somewhat HOW connected to nature he is...it seems so foreign to todays world.
in the film he describes how words are sufficient but he can say so much more in the work that he does.
his work speaks volumes! i think my dad would have really enjoyed the documentary. jp was definitely pretty blown away by it!

so i figured out the other day how i work best. i think my work is best when i respond to my materials as oppose to force my will onto them.
i guess this sounds obvious but it was a bit of a revelation for me.
figuring this out means i understand that i have to find things to respond to,
which takes a lot of looking and a lot of time

i think the first piece i made this way was in florence.
it was a piece of wood that stood on its own with a nail sticking out
i put a key on the nail
and some sweet old scuffed blue leather kid's shoes in front of it.
simple. it worked.

i still have the little shoes in my studio, and now they'll remind me to work this way.

other stuff:
music video: you can find a joanna newsome video if you can find her section. its quite sweet, i like the blackboard animation and of course her fantastic harp playing and pretty dresses.

artist: gary taxali

fun lights: weplight for my love of lighting and things that come in flat packages!

an affordable interiors chain we went to in nyc that i quite liked called west elm

fabric and ribbons

2005-02-05T18:20:00.000-05:00

was good and staved off the record store for another day.
it was difficult, last night we stayed in and played records and i felt a lot of my records are sorely outdated!

carl leant me his copy of rivers and tides which i'm hoping we'll watch later.
will be great to see andy goldsworthy in action!

the studio was good today. the commission is coming along well.
its very exciting.

i love this fabric site...it makes me want to make stuff with fabric and ribbons...oooh its so hard not to buy some!!! i mean how can you resist robot fabric?

or zoo animals...

i need to get a sewing machine!

oh and for anyone who ever wanted to leave a message before but couldn't, you can now, so go for it!

ginga bread

2005-02-04T19:06:00.000-05:00

i'm enjoying a gingerbread latte (WITH whipcream) tonight...mmmmmmmmm
a guilty pleasure.

i've been meaning to post a picture of this

its my childhood towel. i wanted to document it because it is getting so old.
i'd like to find some more some day.

i can add it to my tadalist. its great fun for anyone who likes making lists like me!

i printed out images of the picture i'm using for the commission piece today...
i'll go to the studio tomorrow and work some more on it.
we'll see how it goes.

mmmm lasagna

2005-02-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

pretty domestic day
did the dishes
cleaned the litter
did the garbage
cleaned the stove and put new element covers on
(there was a strange odour eminating from that general area
i think it was the thai curry...)
and 7 YES SEVEN loads of laundry!
made a lasagna
and then won at scrabble

here's my little still life
with oranges and hello kitty bubble bath jp bought yesterday

ooooh jeeps just found this awesome illustrator
ghostshrimp.
i have to go look some more.

switching gears

2005-02-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

so ever since i found the cathy daley drawings i've been in a bit of a pickle. i don't think i can really go ahead and make the work after i've seen the ones she's done. i know mine would be different and mean something different but they would be too easy for people to compare. i think i gotta do something else instead. its so funny because i really thought my drawings were something new that hadn't been done...geesh (you have to say this like napoleon dynamite)

"its a liger
its pretty much my favourite animal. its a mix between a lion and a tiger. bred for its skills and magic"

ah, it makes me laugh! if you need a napoleon fix they have clips at the link above.

so i think i just have to go back into the studio and play around. see what happens. do some secondhand shopping for some new inspiration. funny how that works!

i went to cbc3 this morning and WOW was i ever suprised at all the amazing sessions they've put up. i've only gone through a few so it will keep me busy for the next few morning coffees.

jp and aaron both launched their new sites today. looking good boys! i get to help jp choose a print of amf's in exchange for him doing his site, its going to be hard to pick!

here are a couple of my faves (for very different reasons)

hey neat, jp just came across this postal service video made by the director of napoleon dynamite, its funny too!

the 6 degrees

2005-02-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

its such a crazy weird time right now, i feel unemployed. i seem to be doing a lot of waiting. waiting for design projects to start or come back, waiting to get stuff to finish that art commission, waiting for my wrist to heal...and of course waiting for cheques to come in!

yesterday i found something interesting...i was looking up work by john kissick (because frankly i just don't get the appeal of his work) and i found a site called newzones. i was looking at a few of the artists and i came across these:

by cathy daley. i know and love her work but never had her as a teacher at OCAD. someone at my last open house commented that my new work has similarity to hers but WHOA, that is crazy similar!

i think i might have to start another body of work while i'm working on the scribble series. it makes sense to do some more collage work...hmmm, but what would that be...i'll just have to go rooting around my wee brain for something fun.

ooooh, just found work by cybele young on the newzones website. i first saw her work at the ago rental gallery. its so lovely and sweet!!! here are a couple of details of the work:

wowowowls!

2005-01-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

my mom gave me a call right after i finished my entry today. we decided to hang out. she told me about seeing an owl out in kanata. so we headed out (sceptically) to see if we could see any. well, we saw SIX!!! it was truely amazing. some of them were really close. i even got a few shots.

the most amazing was seeing them fly. these are all great grey owls and have come down from their normal habitat (which is around thunder bay) to feed. so they may not be back in these parts for years.

it reminded me of the time in the summer when a butterfly came and landed right on my hand...seeing them was magical.
and of course our very own magical animal

balmy sundy

2005-01-31T13:30:00.000-05:00

had a good sunday, it was a balmy -2! went for brunchie brunch at the manx with jp and anne, then came back for a game of scrabble. those two went for a mega skate from end to end on the canal while i went out to wander around bank street getting items for a thai curry that night.

ran into susie and mady and invited them along for curry goodness. it was a nice night, howie, mady, susie, anne and rolf stayed for dinner, music and chatting.

susie has informed us 2LDK stands for a 2 bedroom with livingroom, diningroom and kitchen in the japanese apartment classifieds. i totally got the title messed up. but a highly entertaining film, i quite enjoyed the gratuitous violence. it was neat to find out that the two actresses both got the flu within the eight days of filming, so they look completely convincing.

jp is helping lise and ryan move into their new house today. i feel a pang of guilt for not being able to help but it sounds like they've got it under control. maybe i can help with the unpacking or picking paint colours.

oh yeah, i haven't written since the cast came off. it was quite an ordeal...the doctor i saw told me i needed another two weeks in the cast i had on (right after telling me how well its been healing), i was in shock and made a fuss, telling them the other doctor had told me i could be in a splint at this point. i finally got to see the doctor i had seen before (who seems to be the one in charge) and he said i would be ok in my splint but to not use my wrist much.

what i didn't realize was how pathetic my wrist would be, it was so crazy limp! the cast gave me so much support that i could actually do things with it (like frame work, do dishes, etc.) but suddenly my wrist was useless again. i got a bit down about the whole thing, i think the cast gave me the feeling like it was really healed and would be fine when it came off. i had planned on having a solid weekend in the studio. well, i dropped that idea and took the weekend off. its already feeling stronger now but its going to take a lot longer to heal than i expected. live and learn i guess.

found this link i'm smitten off tania's blog, i think its lovely stuff.

harp music

2005-01-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

just listening to joanna newsom for the first time. its great! she plays harp!! i'm loving it, its so whimsical. thanks to howie for reccommending it. it will be great to make art to.

just waiting until one when i'm getting picked up to get my CAST TAKEN OFF!!
thank GOD. i will be FREEEEEEEEE!

k, i'm on my second listen of the milk-eyed mender , the lyrics are stunning. this album may be my new neutral milk hotel...

And all that I've got
and all that I need
I tie in a knot
that I lay at your feet.
I have not forgot,
but a silence crept over me.
(So dig up your bone,
exhume your pinecone, my sadie)

best muffins

2005-01-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

wow, jp just made the best muffins EVER. i'm so lucky!

last night went for dinner at rolf and susie's for yummy veggie lasagna. mmm. rolf introduced me to an ottawa musician that was terrific. i have to go get his $6.99 cd! he's the guy from the new autumn line. maybe that will be my afternoon outting (ooo i haven't been to the record store in ages, DANGEROUS). supposedly he's putting out an album a month for the whole year - talk about ambitious!!

then we watched this absolutely CRAZY japanese movie called dc12k or something. the title didn't make any sense so i can't remember it properly. it was super violent but thoroughly enjoyable. two actresses who end up as roommates who are competing for the same part. it gets completely out of hand but its pretty hilarious.

just found ben gibbards 2004 top ten list, gotta check out the stuff i don't know!! yippee!! i love top ten music lists. i'm sad that i lost my archive of them i had on my old system.

here are some shots jp took when we were out on the canal yesterday.

its nice and sunny out there but my handy weatherpopapp says its -20 out there...nasty, that doesn't take into account the wind chill.
brrrrrrr!