Cabin Collage

This past weekend I went out to the whiteshell to a friend's cabin. We did all the normal fun cabin stuff that you can do in winter-went snowshoing, and skating, hottubbing, and we also did some collaging! It turns out that Keira has been hiding her collage talents from me all these years. Happily we sat in her sunroom cutting, gluing, drawing, and sewing things together. That's where I made the above image. Keira has a lovely collection of fabric scraps that she shared with us. It's amazing how someone elses' fabric scraps are so much more appealing than the ones that I own, because hers are unfamiliar to me. Thanks go to Keira for the lovely weekend, and the collage party!

Here in this Place Exhibit

I have several 12 by 18 inch photographs in the above exhibit which opens tonight.
(Click on image for details)
Also tomorrow night I have some photographs that were donated to an art auction. All profits from this event support HOME/OMUKA house, which provides a home and education to teenage orphans in Uganda. Art tickets are for sale for $50, anyone who buys an art ticket goes home with a piece of art. Here is a bit more info on the event that is being hosted at All Saints Church:
http://stbenedictstable.ca/
Please see this website for more info about the ministry it is supporting:
http://homeuganda.org/home

Chicken-Illustration Friday

I did this drawing in summer and never posted it, but it fits perfectly with this week's Illustration Friday Topic Chicken.

While in London for an illustration course, my class went to the Southbank to draw the people and the sights there. The Southbank is a walkway in London where street performers go to try to earn money off of tourists and there are a lot of people in costume who try to get paid for taking pictures with people and children. I sat down on a curb against a fence that faced the Thames River. Across from me was this guy in a chicken suit. When I sat down to draw him I was trying to imagine what it would be like if that's how I earned a living. From where I was sitting I couldn't really tell if he was happy with me or not for drawing him, because I actually was thinking that if that was my job I wouldn't want someone to draw a picture of it. But this chicken guy came over to me by the time I had finished and LOVED this drawing! He wanted me to give it to him, but I didn't really want to, and also I wanted to be able to bring the drawing back to my class and show my instructor. We exchanged emails so that I could send him a copy of the image, or talk about an exchange. The chicken man now had a name, his name was Mike, and he was from Poland.
I agreed to have breakfast with Mike in exchange for the drawing. We met up for breakfast, and Mike proceeded to tell me his story about how he became a chicken man: after moving to London from Poland, several connections fell through for him, and it was difficult to find a job. After some hard times that including worrying about where to even sleep for the night he acquired this chicken suit because it was left behind at a job site. He felt that God had blessed him with this suit as a way of making a living, and that it was his destiny to be a chicken man. I was humbled by his story, his faith, and his enthusiasm for earning a living as a performer on the Southbank. He promised that my drawing would be hung proudly in his home, and I was honoured to give it to him.

Deja Vu-Illustration Friday

An Illustration Friday for the topic Deja Vu. It is a drawing collage.

Sketchbook Project Drawings

Egg Foo Young


Let's Rumba!

All Alone

Going to miss you

Illustration Friday-Resolutions

This week's Illustration Friday challenge is Resolutions. Here are some of mine. I regularly create new resolutions for myself, about twice a year, sometimes more even, and usually I categorize my life so that I can achieve my goals professionally, spiritually, and in life in general. This one got all mixed together. My scanner is slightly smaller than my sketchbook, so a few items got clipped off in the scanning process. I think I could have refined the colour palette a lot more...but oh well, I can add that to my list.

Also, I was given a waterbrush pen for Christmas, which is just a great artist tool! I used it on the above drawing. It's a paintbrush that doesn't need to be dipped in water because the inside is filled up with water and the water comes out of the bristles. I tried one when I was in London, and it is perfect for traveling because you don't need to worry about anything to dip your brush in.
Here is a picture of it that I stole off of http://www.scribblers.co.uk/acatalog/Pentel_Brush_Pens.html

Best Art Blogging!(?)

Gian Lorusso from the art Blog ArtSediments sent me an email last week saying that he was adding my blog to his list of "Best Art Blogs." It's nice knowing that someone out there in the blogging world appreciates my posts. Lorusso states on his blog that:

"Art Sediments deeply believes that creating art is a human necessity, as love and friendship: art is in the nature of everyone of us. And Art Sediments deeply believes that art, as love and friendship, needs to be shared with others."

I'm happy to be included in a list with that kind of mandate!
Here is a link to the list of his best art blogs:
http://artsediments.blogspot.com/p/art-blog-list.html

Yesterday I headed over to a friend's daycare in Winnipeg to do an art session with some of the kids there. The plan was for them to tell me a story while I drew it. I supplied them with the bare bones of the story, sort of mad-lib style and they filled in the descriptive details for me. It turned out to be a really fun activity. I don't get to draw with younger kids anymore, I always work with high school students. We ended up with a drawing of an alien dude named Mr. Bob who wears a leather jacket and a speedo. His best friend is a dog named Stinker who has eyes on his ears, pogo sticks for legs, and has always dreamed of going to Catopia. Mr. Bob and Stinker live in a garbage dump, eat smelly cheese, and sleep under a giant mushroom. I didn't think of bringing my camera, so I don't have a picture of it, but I was very pleased to work collaboratively with the kids. Finally, people who like weird drawings of things!

Here a couple of recent drawings I did this week. I suddenly realized that the deadline for the Sketchbook project is coming up in only about two weeks, which means I have to have my moleskin sketchbook all filled up and ready to be sent out very soon. I think I have about 14 pages left, so I'll have to work hard at finishing it in time. Here are a few pages from the sketchbook. By the way, the numbers correspond with my ongoing image a day project that started at the end of August.

#114 I have cold hands. Collage with watercolours and ink



#115 Coffee Collage with watercolours and ink