A bit of this and that

Thanks again to everyone who came to the Steamwhistle show this month! Yesterday was the final day, and as always I had a great time working with a great group of artists.



This piece is one I did for the Glenn Gould Foundation this week. It's rare that I try to do a full painting from sketch to final all digitally, but I had a lot of fun with this, and I think it's something I'll explore more in the future.



This is a piece I did for my Grandma's 75th birthday, a family tree featuring all of her descendants. I love my relatives, but boy are there a lot of them!

Smiling Antimatter pics

Thanks a heap to everyone who came out to the show last week! And thanks especially to Hyein for running everything, the rest of the artists for putting such a great show together, and Steamwhistle for being such great hosts as always.

Here are a few pictures of my pieces, if you missed out on the opening you've got until the 1st of July to go check it out (Steamwhistle hours are here). Sorry they're not clean scans, they're a bit too big to fit on my scanner. Thanks to Ilichna and Hyein for the photos!

Smiling Antimatter

Coming up this Wednesday at the Steamwhistle Brewery is Smiling Antimatter, a group show featuring some great Toronto illustrators, and me as well. The show runs until July 2, so if you can't make it to the opening, be sure to stop by some time, have a frosty beverage, and enjoy some great artwork. Here are the details:

https://smilingantimatter.wordpress.com/

Participating Artists
Vicki Nerino • Britt Wilson • Roben Nieuwland • Selena Wong • Ale Diaz • Ilichna Morasky • Ty Dunitz • Eric Overton • Hyein Lee • Franzisca Barczyk

Opening Reception June 1st, 2011, 7-11PM
Exhibiting June 1st - July 2nd, 2011

We heard the news. Scientists finally produced mysterious antimatter atoms for the first time. We don’t know what it means, but we know that the future is here. We live in a science fiction world, the world our previous generation hadn’t even dreamed of. We converse with people on the other continents face-to-face using video chat, watch movies on our cellphones and tweet our daily routine to everybody. How does it feel like to be living and depending on high technology? What would tomorrow bring?

“Smiling Antimatter” is a mixed media painting exhibition. Each artist captures the anxiety underlying the experience of living in a science fiction-like society with humour and carnivalesque grotesqueness.

Hope you can make it!

This Place Show

Here are some photos from the show I did with Not an Octagon last week. It was at Balsam Bistro, in Toronto's Beaches neighbourhood, which is always a great spot for a show. I had a great time (despite being pretty under the weather), and we're all tremendously grateful to everyone who braved the heat and made it out to see us.

These are just the paintings I did, to see more be sure to check out Not an Octagon's group blog here for more on the show.

This piece was inspired by the G20 protests here in Toronto a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a portrait of Beaches native Glenn Gould. I think I'll be developing this one into a larger piece somewhere down the road.

Some leaves floating in the water at my grandparents' cottage.

And a collaborative piece I did with Hyein Lee. She did the drawing, which I painted over. While I was painting it, there was a huge house fire on my street, which may have contributed to the colour scheme. I'll try to put together a clean scan of it soon.

Hitting the Slopes

Here's a card I did for a lawyer here in Toronto. I'd previously designed his business cards, and he asked that I maintain the same graphic motif as the business card and adapt it into a seasonal image. It was an interesting challenge! The business card design is below: personal information has been obscured to protect the innocent.

Silver and Gould

Here's the artwork for The Glenn Gould Foundation's new Christmas card. Thanks again to the Foundation for taking the illustration route!

On a somewhat related note, here are a couple of photographs of the billboard I did for them last month in context. Sadly, its stay in Toronto was a short one, but I'm told it's on its way to Caracas, Venezuela where it will be hung permanently(!)


The Glenn Gould Foundation also hired me to be their embedded photographer, documenting the entire week that the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was here in Toronto, and I have to say it was an amazing experience. I'm hoping to post some photos of the week's photos soon!

Gustavo Dudamel

Here's an ad that's going to be printed more or less as a billboard and displayed at the Four Seasons Centre at Queen and University. Gustavo Dudamel (new conductor of the LA Philharmonic) is conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, as part of the Glenn Gould Prize Celebration of Music Week. Big thanks go out to the Glenn Gould Foundation for giving illustration a try! The piece is digital, done in Adobe Illustrator, from an original photograph by Chris Christodoulou.

The Side Show continues

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Side Show last night! For those of you who couldn't make it, the show goes until next Saturday, so it's not too late! Here are my two pieces. And below, you'll find the crew that made it all happen. Missing: Irma Kniivila, the bottom of my face.

The Side Show!

Hey everyone!
If you're in town for Nuit Blanche tomorrow night, come check out my new show with Not an Octagon! Here are all of the savoury details:

The Side Show, at 2nd Half Gallery, 250 Queen St. West (across from MuchMusic, between Starbucks and Tribal Rhythm)
Opening Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 7:00pm, running until October 10th.

Featuring:
Pat Butler - http://www.patbutlerillustration.com
Wendy Ding - http://www.wendyding.com
Greg Hill - http://www.ghillustration.ca
Irma Kniivila - http://www.irmakniivila.com
Hyein Lee - http://www.hyeinlee.com
Eric Overton - http://www.overton.ca/eric
Liz Pignataro - http://www.lizpignataro.carbonmade.com
Jack Shepherd - http://www.jackshepherd.ca
Hieng Tang - http://www.hiengtang.com
Jhosephine Taniwidjaya - http://www.jinguj.net

There will be merch and food for sale there too, so don't miss it!

This post refers to you.

Here's the cover I did for Miss Maya's new EP, which you can pick up tonight at the Beaches Jazz festival! It was fun to try and extend the photo outwards into something that that is more of a stylized design element, but still make the transition look convincing. Maya will be playing with MINT and a slew of guest artists at 1910 Queen Street East, from 7-11 tonight. Plenty of other funky and amazing bands will be performing there as well, so don't miss it!


Photography by Emma Ercolani and Shawn McPherson. See more of Miss Maya at her site, www.mayism.com

Lonely Robots 2: Eclectic Boogaloo

Here's the final piece for the Lonely Robots show at Magic Pony.

Daisy, Daisy
Acrylic on Wood Panel
16"x20"
$400

The work is up from July 13 - July 19, and the reception will be on Thursday the 16th from 7-10. Magic Pony is located at 694 Queen St West here in Toronto.

Just look at all of these cool people who are participating! Tell your friends!


For more info, go check out http://lonelyrobot.ca/artshow

The Good Show Roundup

A big thank you to everyone who made it out to last night's show at Balsam Restaurant! We had a great crowd all night, and I think everyone had a pretty good time. I'll be posting photos of the show soon, as will the other members of Not an Octagon. Special thanks to Pat Butler for organizing the show!

For those who couldn't make it, here are the pieces I had up. Three are new, one I've posted before:

Moonlight Becomes You
Acrylic on Wood Panel
Approx. 8.5"x11"
Available for $200



Nature's Bounty
Acrylic on Wood Panel
Approx. 9"x12"
Available for $200



One with Sprinkles, Please?
Acrylic on Canvas
12"x12"
Sold



Portrait of Sophia Perlman
Oil and Acrylic on Wood Panel
12"x24"
Available for $350