Illustration Friday: Crunchy

collage and paint on orange crate

(click to view larger image)

When the Nutcracker arrived at the office Christmas party,

the usually affable Mr. Peanut headed for the nearest exit.

There was something about that Nutcracker guy...

I have to say that this week's IF topic, Crunchy, left me a little cold, but Mr. Peanut had been staring at me from the recycling box, and K had taken our youngest to The Nutcracker on the weekend, so as the French say, voila!?

Illustration Friday: Entangled

(click to enlarge)

collage and paint on cereal box

Undeniably fashionable, his hair-do was, nonetheless, ill-suited to his job

as Press-Operator

While this is, perhaps, not the best representation of this weeks IF topic: entangled, the potential for entanglement is implicit.

101 Frames, Sat. Dec. 5, 2009

Here is my contribution to this year's fundraiser for Gallery 101, 101 Frames. Here is all the pertinent info.


GALLERY 101FRAMES- SILENT ART AUCTION AND PARTY - THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS PRIDE
Saturday, December 5, 2009, 7pm
Preview: December 3rd and 4th from 12pm – 9 pm 301 Bank Street Art Auction/Party: Saturday, December 5, 2008. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets: $10 at Gallery 101 or Mags & Fags or $15 at the door

PRIDE
On Saturday, December 5th, 2009, Gallery 101 will host the second of seven years of THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. Each year artists interpret a different deadly sin. This year, G101 invited artists to make art that engages with the boldest sin in the bunch: PRIDE. We certainly want to show our PRIDE, and why not? This year, Gallery 101 is celebrating its 30th Anniversary of supporting Ottawa’s arts community, and we feel the need to brag, to boast, and to get a little narcissistic.

But that’s not the only way we are spicing it up. Other sinfully delightful features of this year’s event will be the best performance art, arrogant door prizes (including some very glorious big ticket items), and grand appetizers, all set to some choice tunes by the sauciest djs in a PRIDE-inspired setting. So come on out and show us you have PRIDE (for the arts) in Ottawa, indulge in a night of arts and culture, and support your local non-profit artist-run centre.

Proceeds from the auction help Gallery 101 maintain its services to artists and the community. This event is supported and made possible by our local artists, volunteers and friends. Special thanks to our sponsors Allen's Flowers, Bossarts - Beauty in Balance, Capital Xtra, Collected Works Bookstore, Giraffe The African Store, Hartman's Your Independent Grocer, Jack Of All Trades Design, La Bottega Nicastro Fine Food Shop, LaPointe's Seafood Grill Café, McAuslan Brewery, Mags & Fags, MediaStyle, Metro newspaper, Mikaza Home Modern Furniture, Patrick Gordan Framing, Pelee Island Winery, Pizza Shark, Pure Gelato, Schoeler & Heaton Architects Inc., Spins & Needles, The Scone Witch, The Village, The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro, Venus Envy, Vittoria Trattoria.

All frames generoulsy donated by FRAMES BY ROCKWELL. Gallery 101 greatly appreciates your support, which contributes to the long-term, financial stability and well being of the gallery.

Illustration Friday: Music

This is my entry for this week's IF topic "music" as well as my entry in the annual auction for Gallery 101, 101 Frames.

Just for the sake of context, Big Joe Mufferaw is the Canadian equivalent of American folk legend Paul Bunyan. Speaking of music, another Canadian Icon, Stompin' Tom Conners spins a few tales of the giant, French-Canadian lumberjack in his song "Big Joe Mufferaw".

Illustration Friday: Unbalanced

"Houses On My Street"

cereal box collage

These are all buildings in my neighbourhood. People move here because it has a "quaint", small-town feel. They buy quaint, small houses then knock them down and build ridiculously large houses . Unbalanced.

I'll be donating this piece to the annual fundraising auction at Saw Gallery, called Sketch, Friday, November 27, 8pm until 2am.

Bicycle Chandeliers at the 2009 Lumiere Festival

I hung the chandeliers in the trees early in the day. Earlier in the week they had forcasted rain for the weekend, but it never transpired. It was a beautiful day and a fantastic evening. It was my first time at this festival, both as an artist and spectator. The beautiful handmade lanterns that lit up the pathway along the Rideau River, combined with stilt walkers, magicians, musicians, fortune tellers and fire jugglers made for a truly magical event.

Here are my three chandeliers, first in the daylight, then lit up at night.

Hours later, when the lanterns were lit, they took on a very different appearance.

Illustration Friday: Modify

Here is a sneak preview of one of the three chandeliers I will be exhibiting as part of the Lumiere Festival this Saturday Night at Stanley Park in Ottawa. It will be the first time I get to see all three lit up with candles, hanging in trees and displayed within about 30 metres of each other.

The chandeliers are made up of bike wheels and all manner of items that I have been collecting the past few months (some I've had for years). I've also had items donated from friends and neighbours. The candles are placed in jars of various sizes that hang from the spokes of the bike wheels. When lit, my hope is to illuminate the beauty in these everyday objects.

From the Archives: 1992

Whilst cleaning out the shed, I came across these slides. No kidding. They were in a bin in the shed.

This was taken at the old sculpture studio at U of Ottawa. I was doing these large abstact paintings at the time and had constructed a screen of found debris to hang in front. The hanging piece was meant to echo the shapes in the painting and it, in turn was painted with black and white.

The viewer was invited to walk in the space between the painting and the hanging.

This may have been inspired by seeing footage of Jackson Pollock painting on clear glass, the viewpoint being from the other side of the glass.

Illustration Friday: Instinct

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Instinct collage and paint on panelling

Illustration Friday: Celebrate

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Standing By collage on canvas board

I like to squeeze in an accordion whenever I can.

Illustration Friday: Time

Time Machine 5"X7" mixed-media

Mixed-media, you ask? This piece is a 5"X7" canvas board with a section from a found map, magazine cut-outs,photo-copies, a piece from a Hilroy notebook cover, packaging from a cough and cold remedy, images on tracing paper, paint, a section of vinyl tape measure, 2 sections of metal tape measure, acrylic paint, a raffle ticket and varnish. The text is courtesy of my portable Olivetti typewriter--don't drop it on your foot.

I have had an etsy shop in limbo for quite some time and am looking at trying to get it up and running this week.

Illustration Friday: Flawed

click image to enlarge

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys mixed-media

This one is dedicated to my Mom, whose birthday it is today--Happy Birthday Mom!!!

My friend Katie found this little cowboy on a gravel driveway while on a studio tour last summer. Sunbleached and missing a leg, she rescued him and passed him on to me, thinking he might inspire a collage or something. He seemed like a natural choice for this weeks IF topic: Flawed.

In my sons' world of play, the pervasive influences are knights, pirates and spacemen, but for me it was cowboys. I still harbour nostalgia for simpler times, ridin' the lone prairie and singing a cowboy tune. I've had this Waylon Jennings song rattling around in my head, although it's always Willie Nelson singing it when I hear it. Recently I've found myself plucking it out on the ukelele. Here are the lyrics:

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys written by Ed and Patsy Bruce

Cowboys ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold

they'd rather give you a song than diamonds or gold

Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levis

And each night begins a new day

If you don't understand him, and he don't die young

He'll probably just ride away.

Chorus:

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks

Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

'Cause they'll never stay home and they're always alone

Even with someone they love.

Cowboys like smoky old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings

Little warm puppies and children and girls of the night

Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do

Sometimes won't know how to take him,

He ain't wrong, he's just different, but his pride won't let him

Do things to make you think he's right.

Illustration Friday: Climbing

Lunch Hour mixed-media

This story is rooted in reality.

Illustration Friday: Pale

Winter Postcard (mixed-media on cracker box)

Think of this as a post card from today. We were out on snowshoes, walking along the Ottawa River, the horizon blurred by a mid-january squall. Hope you had an equally sublime day!

Illustration Friday: Contained

Contained mixed-media on old board

One of my resolutions for the New Year is to sort through all my papers. It is an uphill battle.

Illustration Friday: Resolve

Riding Mower Joust collage with paint on rec-room panel

With this first post of 2009, I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year and share a hope that your gardening implements not be raised in anger, but put to good use in fertile plots. Good Cheer!

Illustration Friday: Clandestine

Clandestine collage on plywood

click image to enlarge

Illustration Friday: Rambunctious

Rambunctious collage and paint on cereal box

Another cereal box collage. I used images from some old encyclopedias, my old Cub Book, and incorporated a cancelled cheque written by my grandfather in 1974 which I recently came across in an old copy of The Journals of Kierkegaard.

Illustration Friday-Similar

The Common Nail collage and paint on cereal box

There are almost as many types of nails as there materials to nail them into. Be very careful in your selection of the proper nail as an incorrect choice may cause weak joints, instability and loss of sleep.

101 Frames at Gallery 101, Sat. Dec. 6

Here is my piece for the Gallery 101 fundraising auction 101 Frames. The gallery provides the empty frame and it is up to the artist to fill it. The topic for this year is LUST. I chose to use the wholesome Quaker from the Life cereal box, who has popped up in previous collages. The words that are partially obscured by the chain, read goodness inside. I got to use the security chain from my old apartment and behind the crack in the door there is a mirror, so it looks like there is light and movement behind the door.
The auction takes place this Saturday night at 301 1/2 Bank st. (upstairs) and proceeds go to this non-profit, artist-run centre in downtown Ottawa.