Panda One

I tried my hand at painting this weekend and created "Panda One". I uploaded it to my renewed Etsy store - "renewed" because I am giving original artwork a shot (this is mainly to avoid having to pay for expensive ink to turn my Epson 3800 into a usable gadget, instead of its current use as a some-kind-of-ugly side table).

So-far I've put a few original drawings and the one painting up. I am enjoying painting a lot, especially now that my daughter also spends time with me painting her own creations. I've loaded up the images, enjoy!


Panda One


Painting Area


Daughter's Art



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On the Japan Tsunami

One of the artists I follow on twitter: @meghunt, have rallied the artistic community to join her in an art auction called: "Art for Japan" - I've emailed her and have enlisted to donate a piece of art. The news coming out of Japan is horrific, and I am compelled to do something. If you're artistically inclined, please join. Otherwise, when the auction goes up, look-around and see if there is any art you're interested to purchase.

Hand-Drawn Imaginations

I have been away from my Etsy space since December. I have actually pseudo-closed the shop by saying I am "on vacation", but really, I am just contemplating what I want to pursue. My printer ink ran out, my work was busy, and I was really thinking a lot about everything. That said, I am still confused (aren't we all?) but know that three dear loves of mine have the potential to really form a new path: art, writing and cooking.

A long time ago, at a cross-roads, I decided to pursue a technology major over english and fine arts. Isn't it funny that my passions are at seemingly opposing ends of a continuim? I still love them all (including the technology bit).

I have decided to re-open the shop this weekend, but without the technology. Instead of the digital prints I have been creating in the past, I plan to create original hand-drawn and painted pieces and put them up to share with the world. I also plan to write a little something along with each new piece.

I feel that this is a journey to re-tap a dormant creativity, when once re-found will open doors that I left closed for too long. Secondly, I hope the art I may create will offer smiles to those whom find it.

With no further ado, here is a glimpse of what is coming!! Ready to rock!

Studio Work: Beginnings

In recent weeks I have been inspired by a few youtube personalities and one of my friends in Toronto. They make videos: short and entertaining videos that they share online. I've been itching to make videos for years. Telling a story was one of my passions: I have very much neglected this passion for years and years. As one grows up, they forget who they really are. There's just more and more grown-up things to take care of that typically revolve around buying stuff: mortgages, bills, working to deal with the aforementioned.

This afternoon, I decided to take the Sugar And Cream universe that whirrs around in my head (and sometimes shows up in prints on my etsy storefront), and expand it into animated shorts. I will aspire to fill those films with stories that will be memorable and entertaining enough for people to smile and be happy.

The sketch above is a glimpse into the Sugar and Cream world. I'm excited! I'm storyboarding tonight, it's gonna be fun!

Doodles with Daughter

I love to spend time with my daughter drawing. She tends to get bored after a while, so I have to keep things very interesting. These are a few of the sketches / stories that we made this morning!

Ping Pong Tournament

I made this poster for my workplace. I'm a founding member of the social committee (ha), and this is our 2nd ping pong tournament! I hope everyone at work will find it as whimsical / funny as I do. :)

(Names have been replaced for privacy) :)

A new print: Rockstar series continues!

I have put up another print in the store.  This is part of the on-going Rockstar series and centers upon the leader: Charlie.  She was inspired by some strong women rockstar leads, pre-Lilith fair.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the musicians during the Lilith-fair era, but I really liked some of the artists around the 1994/95 time-frame.  The likes of Garbage, No Doubt, and.. Lush.  I loved Lush.  They were amazing...

Here it is: Rockstar Fender.

sketch: may 13, 2008

Things are big, and underway, and lots of changes - coming. Outside the weather is turning to summer, and if you can believe it, it is already May 13th.  This means that we are going to be 11/24 through the year in about 2-3 days.  If we were making an analogy against a 24hour day, it would be 11am.  Almost lunch-time or brunch. yum.

I find it amazing and astounding how time seems to accelerate as one grows older. Is it because we end up having very structured routines? Too many responsibilities and not enough paying attention to playing outside, chasing butterflies, lying on the grass, kicking a soccer ball around, playing catch?  Who knows what it is!  But time definitely seems to be moving quickly!

I am not lamenting, just observing. :)

Sketch: May 9, 2008

I don't have a lot to say today.  Fridays are like that.  I did make a sketch here.  I dunno how it came to be, but here it is. :)

What is this surprise?

Where to begin?  Around 2.5 weeks ago, Laura-Jean of Fresh Baked Goods and the Fresh Collective saw my Etsy Shop.  First, she bought a print (yay!).  And then she asked me if I'd be interested to put my artwork in her store.  This was a very exciting moment, and I am pleased to say that as of Sunday, my prints are now available in the Fresh Collective.  There are a few really cool things about this:

1.  I already knew of the Fresh Collective because Queen West in Toronto is my absolutely favorite area of the city

2.  Fresh Collective is a very local scene store, supporting local artists; I really like this idea, a la Deep Economy

That's my surprise!  On the weekend, Kittie, Mackenzie and I traveled down to the store, and gave LJ a large selection of the prints, a display box and some framed photos for her store.  She set it up, and let me know how things were going today. :)

I love doing creative work.  It is very inspiring!

sketch: april 10, 2008

I have enjoyed today.  I had a very encouraging and exciting email exchange which I haven't been able to follow-up with properly.  I will remedy this tomorrow; I am, indeed very excited!  More to come in the next few weeks.

On a sidenote, I did not win the YouGrowGirl Haiku contest, but I have embedded the haiku within my sketch. :-)  Have a nice spring day, and tomorrow's Friday.  Friday means the start of the weekend, which also gives me time to hang out with this little nuclear family and do some art (between baby naps). :)  I am smitten with the nearness (is this a word??) of Friday!  Bring it! 

community changes

Frankly, one little voice will bear little weight in the economic roadway of progress.  I feel a little bit defeated, but I am also glad that I took part in the democratic process.

I don't know what else to say.  So I decided to draw.  Unfortunately, my chest still feels tight in that butterfly-why-do-I-feel-so-crappy-and-tense kind of way. :)

New Print for the Shop

I have been MIA this past few days.  Things have been fairly busy.  I won't get into the details, but have been away from the computer a bit.  I hope that you have been having a good spring (for those of us in the Northern hemisphere)!

The weather was extremely nice (for Canada) today.  We were up to 12 or 13C.  This means, light jacket and melting snow.  We ended up walking to our local grocer, and swung by the park for little Mackenzie to play around on the swings and slides.  It was nice seeing neighbors outdoors, getting their garden ready or doing general cleanup.  There were many "hi's" and "nice day ehs?" to go around!

I also spent the morning doing stuff for the shop.  I played a lot with Illustrator and came up with a new print!  Yeah, I like how it turned out.  I am doing some final adjustments, but it should be up in the shop sometime early this week!  I posted it here:

April 2, 2008

Inspired by many things lately:

1. There's a new zine out at design for mankind

2. Speak Easy Craft shows

3. Brisk Sunshine

4. My wife making funny doodles on her computer

5. New music: Stars - Midnight Coward

6. Did I say, Stars - Midnight Coward already? :-)

Sketch: April 1, 2008

I have been spending a lot of time exposing myself to a lot of different ideas, and trying out new styles and techniques.  I haven't been doing enough crafting of my own, or creating.  I am however very happy to be visiting new blogs and seeing just what people are doing.  This is pretty fantastic.

It's drizzly, foggy and warm up here in Toronto.  Things dipped colder again tonight, but we can see the robins playing around outside, and we know that spring is around the corner!  Bets are, there will be one more snowstorm! :)

Sketch: March 30, 2008

I hung out with my family today.  My brother came back from an amazing trip, and had a slide show to go through the pictures and videos.  He's a really interesting guy; he is enthusiastic, energetic and super creative.  It was really good to see him today.  The sketch below is a bit of a departure from what I've been drawing lately, but it's a throwback to a decade ago.  When the art was well, a little more raw.

Artist #4: Jenna Rose

One last artist that I loved very much @ the One of a Kind Show, was: Jenna Rose.  She is a printmaker and textile creator.  Her prints are then turned into fantastic products.  My favorite is definitely the Audrey Hat, which I have shown below:

Sketch: March 28, 2008

The weather here in Toronto is warming up.  The big pile of snow on our little front lawn is almost all gone.  Springtime is upon us!  Tomorrow is the Earth Hour.  Our city is participating, and we will be shutting down all our lights and electricity for 1hour!  I think it will be beautiful! Let's see how many of us will participate!

Sketch: March 27, 2008

I found out about this new craft show in Montreal called Pomme Pomme (via Toronto Craft Alert).  It takes place in mid-July.  Right now I think I'd like to definitely be a visitor, still thinking about whether I should apply to join the craft show.  It happens a week after the jazz festival (boo, doesn't line up) and it looks like Woody Allen is going to be at the jazz festival performing clarinet.  Yes, you read that right!  I made a quick sketch below.  I have been inspired by wallpaper and patterns.  So I thought I'd give it a try here:

Artist #3: LU Prints

LU prints had some pretty kitchen linens and clothing at the One of a Kind Show.  They screen print their designs onto fabric.  We really liked Ulla's work.  We ended up buying a handkerchief which we plan to frame and add to our gallery at home.  She's from the West Coast, so it must have been a long trek to get out here!  I'm glad she came!

Sketch: March 26, 2008

I entered the haiku contest at yougrowgirl a few weeks ago.  I wonder how I will do, it's been some time since I wrote a poem.  :-)

I drew a sketch, I'm really into fuscia lately.  That was the color Kittie picked for our wedding, black and fuscia!