The news as they see it

Its great to be in a town where you can pick up a copy of the Onion, I admit it is like Vice magazine for people who read, but hey, once and awhile right?

There were no copies in this box just a hand drawn note that said "Shut your Fuck...Please"

See, grandma was right- politeness goes along way.

Chicago 2009

While Toronto kids had no outdoor services due to the strike, Chicagoan kids in this water park were having the time of their lives!

This massive glass monolith had projection screens in-bedded into the glass brick and would display video images of children smiling and eventually "geysering" water onto fellow children...that sounds weird now that I look at it.

Old Farm House

We were on a shoot in the town of Jordan. You may know Jordan as the town you pass by that old abandoned rusted masted boat enroute to Niagra Falls via the QEW. We went to this old farm and spotted this 1948 scrawled in the concrete and the abandoned house.
I liked the way the cement scrawl worked together from one entry to the next.

Sidewalk

I saw this today outside of where we were shooting in Leslieville. It made me remember all the scarred pieces of concrete from childhood, initials, one that said "terry blackwood' by my junior highschool.

More Guns

This is a simple little ink painting I did after the firing range of some of the characters I encountered there.This target was my best one, not as good as the old guys who were expert shots though. The guy more to the left with the hat, well he called me a "millerite" and treated me with suspicion as I may want to take his guns away.

The big guy on the right was, as the drawing states, a Zeus of a man- a great mane of hair and massive form in a dirty khaki shirt stuffed inside of some pants. He was talking about running for the mayor's office I kid you not!

We always hear about how people who shoot guns are just like you but every time I have met one, I am convinced they are crazy. Perhaps we are all just crazy, but these guys have firearms- that is the kicker.

I have a gub!!!

Well it was a strange invitation that I could not say no to- "do you want to shoot some guns with me?"

SO we went to this rather non descript office building in the west end, where, sure enough, guns can be fired.

In looking at this little clip, I noticed more my hair thinning than anything else.

Loop Gallery

Just a small plug here for Loop gallery, an artist collective on Queen west. I have recently been accepted to become a member so expect to see the flag of the International Art monkey fly over the gallery n the next 18 months or so, very excited over here.

Go to the Gallery's site, find out more- they are moving soon, check it out for those who care to know more about Loop Gallery click here

For those who care to know more about Lupins click here

sketches from London-Rubens to Paula Rego

When I was in London a few months ago, I had to go a few times to the National gallery in Trafalgar Square to see one of my favorite paintings, this lion hunt by Rubens. It is unfinished but I would like to think that he saw it as finished as it is- really bold and anticipates the romantics like Gericault and Delacroix by about 100 years.

It is a really fun piece to look at- the energy in this painting.

Below is a little sketch i did in my notebook, normally I just look at this painting for a long time.





In the nice restaurant at the gallery, there is this fantastic almost graffiti like piece that Paula Rego painted, based on the collection in the National Gallery. Her work incorporated the few images of females in the paintings. It is a long beautiful piece but you cannot get a postcard or anything, these are just a few sketches. It rifts off of Spanish/Portuguese painted tiles and always makes me think of that imaginary Synagogue that Salman Rushdie describes in The Moor's Last Sigh where the main character's mother is interpreting the tiles and telling the future.

Anyways, she is a fascinating artist (to me at least) and her paintings deal with childhood taboos, story telling she does a bit of it all.

click this link to see a minute or two of Paula talking about here studio and how she works