Drawing Clubs in Montreal

Imagine you are in Patzcuaro, Mexico where it is hot in the sun and cold in the shade. You are tired of seing things to buy and so you wander into an old convent-turned-art museum where you discover the most amazing array of masks. You sit down on the cool stone floor to capture them in watercolour and Indian ink and at once become a sort of spectacle as people step up to you and peer in asking you polite questions in Spanish and smiling. Well! Imagine later you are looking at these odd sketchbook renditions and your mind wanders to envision that all these strange faces are in fact the same person in the throes of an orgiastic sexual encounter, huh! (Either that or trying to change a bolt with the wrong sized spanner.) What if that person's name was Jesus and they were especially capable of faclal manipulation and transformation? That would explain these two pages.

Drawing Clubs in Montreal

1. Drink & Draw

2. Galerie Rye

Atelier Graff

O lallalalalla... I am printing right now at the very french Atelier Graff on the Plateau. It is a small and lovely print studio and reminds me of Barbapapa (you can see the official website here -->x, but please note it is quite boring). I used to love this show!! I think it affected me very deeply...
Here watch a Barbapoppa episode in Deutsch.

Ummmm this one is for the birds

I donated this intaglio print to Le NIchoir Wild Bird Rehabilitation Centre in Hudson. Tomorrow is the barbecue and cocktail pardee for zee artists.

My mum

O here is my mum at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, UK. She's in a red sweater on the front right side, sitting in the audience of the VERY cheeky "From Freak to Clique" a show by the performer Matt Fraser. Check it. Hello Mumsy!!!!!

The Puppet Theatre

Well I made this miniature theatre from a popcorn maker box. It is a small version of my October 2009 circus installation. The sign in the back reads "Free Rose" and is part of Matt Soar's Farine Five Roses projecto.

Cloche Art

My contribution for Mathew Forbes' bell jar sharing Cloche Gallery. It is a VIP Trinidad und Tobago carnival party of course.

Noh Theatre

Wednesday nacht I went to the Botanical gardens near Pie IX (for the very first time!) to see Japanese Noh theatre. O lalallalalallalallala what a treat! Amazing. I felt lucky to be so enchanted. The presentation included 3 languages, Japanese, French and English. It was fun when a joke was made. The language groups laughed accordingly. First Japanese speakers tittered, then the English and then the French. In fact I was so delighted I didn't even mind the requested audience participation singing. Usually I baulk and cringe, but no, there was I merrily singing along. Very fun. After Katja & I went and laughed and did sidelong spy glances and ate good food served 2 feet from the floor where we were sitting on cushions, oy Tampopo!!!

Once upon a time

I went to Manitoulin Island with my mum. I am not a photographer, but somehow I guessed the right shutter speed and managed to stay still enough to take these pictures. This is what I saw.

DIASPORArt: Strategy & Seduction by Canadian Artists from Culturally Diverse Communities in Works from the Collection of the Canada Council ArtBank

This piece which is cheekily-tongue-in-cheek called Thinking of All the Famous People I know is currently on display in the DIASPORArt exhibit at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. It was bought as part of the Canada Council Art Bank's Purchase Program.

This piece came about during my residency at Atelier Circulaire in Montreal in 2008. It started as a monoprint which I later developed with indian ink, watercolour, acrylics and gold leaf.

The image is a snapshot of a moment. In fact, everything has been caught mid-movement and nothing is actually still, except for the Egyptian-inspired mummified dog figure on the bottom left. This figure is a reccurring motif that I use, and whenever he appears is silently paired with the phrase "Where are you going please?". He is a self-portrait. In the image's centre are three Mickey Mouse figures arranged in a triangle. Mickey Mouse is for me the polite version of blackface, reminiscent of early cartoon depictions of African-Americans. The 3 skulls are cheerful memento mori. These tumbling figures are topped by a clown head. The fish head on high with mouth opened wide, the floating anteater head, the parroquet, the golden arm offering a golden handshake and the ibis have more nebulous roles.

The characters depicted are from my imagined perfect conceptual circus. The circus is a recurring theme that I work with. I am fascinated by the circus as a social barometer for definitions of normality and glamour. My inspiration comes from Calder's circus, Banraku puppet theatre, the street performers of Covent Garden, Hieronymous Bosch and records of ancient street theatre. I am currently working on my Concordia MFA graduate exhibition of a circus installation that is prompted to perform as the audience presents itself.

For more information on the show you can check here :

CBC National – January 31, 2010: “Outsider Art”

and minute 29:07 of CPAC's On the Bright side.
Season 8, episode 2, aired September 27, 2009 about 7 minutes in

Synchronicity

In December of 2009 I was at the Montreal Notre-Dame Salvation Army checking out their awesome toy collection and trying to decide which ones I would pimp for my bazaar table at the Puce Pop craft fair. Now as I was wandering around I could hear in the background a group of spirited and humorous men talking amongst themselves. I could sense it was a bit of a performance they were giving. I had seen them before at this particular S.A. and was always curious to know if they worked there or were just hanging out. They seemed to be treating the place a bit like a clubhouse. Anyways, it turns out I was caught on film. The funny part is that the film, which I learned I was in through friends of friends...was directed by my art studio neighbour!!! literally I am 32A and he is number 32 and I'd never met him!!! The film is called Too Many Things and the neighbour is Donigan Cummings.

And I learn again and again that life is lovely and surprising, koo koo choo look at you.

2010 summer to-do-list

(I write it here to make sure I do it)

skinny dipping
sauna
berry picking
ice cream making
Montreal Planetarium
Botanical Gardens
drive-in movies
country bonfire with ghost story telling
road trip a
see the (an) ocean
soccer skills
document St. Henri in watercolour story
sing
eco-museum to see the owls

Snake Collages

Tail, shadow, tongue.

Watercolour magic-realisms

(Needs some gold.)

Bring on the Bling

mmmmmmmmmmm

I like to pimp my artworks. I use sequins, glitter, gold, rhinestones...ya basically anything that’s anything shiny. I want the work to glitter-and-glisten and catch your eye. Is it trashy or magical? I don't care, I put gold on everything. I can’t help myself, it’s part of an over-decorating gene I come by honestly. I’ll be looking at something I’ve made and I’ll be like, “hmmm what’s it missing?” and the word gold will whisper through my mind. Sometimes I want to cover the whole thing in gold, until just a little bit is peeking through. Gold makes everything look good.

On the Metro

My doll show was on the July 6, 2010 Montreal Metro!!! On page 14. Fun!! Good thing someone told me because I had no idea.