The Mayoress of Cloud Town

Messing around & preliminary sketches for a new logo.

Summer Schemings

Some more pattern experiments from the past couple of weeks (click to make bigger).

I've also started working on some medieval-type border ornaments which is really fun - I'll post those a little bit later.

Tonight is also the end of year show at the Centre des Textiles Contemporains - I've got some work set up there, and will be showing visitors around the school throughout the evening. Everyone is welcome, and the show 'Passage Haptique' is up until June 13th. My and my fellow textile students' work will shown until June 2nd... then it will be our turn in one year to show our final projects!

Recently

It's been a long time since my last post, because I've been working away both at school and in my temporary studio at The Long Haul. I've been using my time at the studio to get back into painting and drawing and as a result I have become a bit obsessed with pattern designing - drawing things by hand and manipulating them in Photoshop... I've been loving trying some things out in that direction. Here are some of the latest results:

(I feel like this last one would be be perfect for gift-wrapping anything in Pee-Wee's Playhouse)

I've always loved hand-lettering and calligraphy so I've been enjoying practicing that too.

Lily Hammer

Lately I have been on a 'Figure Skating Moments In History' kick - I had never really considered how deeply the drama of early-to-mid-'90s figure skating affected my childhood, specifically this infamous incident, but I guess it must have.  There was something very operatic about the whole thing that appeals to me still (although the costumes are silly and the music is tinny).

Trying to draw hands has always been a challenge for me.

Last Post 'Til Next Year

This afternoon I'm doing my '2013 In Review' exercise, looking through agendas and sketchbooks to remember important events and just reflect on the days of the year that was.

Above all, this year has been, for me, a time of very stimulating and exciting creative growth. I was especially inspired by my summer in Newfoundland, and I'm hopefully going to be returning again next summer. Though this year wasn't as explosively eventful or ground-shaking as 2012 (though that's probably a good thing...), 2013 for me was about steady, progressive building and exercising enough patience and diligence to see a project through. I think I matured a lot professionally.

Keeping up this blog in a regular way has been very useful in many ways, and though I don't know if anyone else actually looks at it occasionally, but if they do, I hope they enjoy it.

Here are some last few drawings to round out 2013 - and bring on 2014!

Comix in Classez

I haven't posted in a while, but here's something I made up while taking notes in class:

All Bundled Up

This week's drawing!

Because the cold weather has now descended upon us, I've taken to the refuge of my overly large cozy granny sweaters, so this drawing is in that spirit.

And this week's inspiration -  today I borrowed a lovely little library book about 18th and 19th century wallpapers published by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The wallpapers are from the Réveillon Royal Manufactory and their successors, the Jacquemart & Bernard Manufactory.

(Trend forecast: Wallpaper is coming straight back - from 1781.)

Fun In Weird Hotels With Giant Fish

My friend Adam and I went on a photo-hunting adventure last weekend. Here are a few shots, but you can view the whole series over here on his blog, Montreal Street Life.

Click on the link above, the pictures will BLOW YOU AWAY.

I've also been doing some pencil drawings of algae, jellyfish and other cool organic shape-shifting thingies. I gave some of them names that sort of seemed to fit their personality.

Haggletooth Snafu

My friend Adam and I made some drawings on post-its at  his garage sale a couple of weekends ago while waiting for customers. Adam's great blog can be viewed here - he takes strangers from Craigslist on field trips around Montreal and photographs them.

And some pictures of food:

Stack O'Spanish Leather

Shots from a visit to the Centre des Métiers du Cuir de Montréal a couple of weeks ago:

In other news, the unthinkable has happened... I now have a Facebook page! (An artist page)  I don't really know how these things work, I guess you have to "like" me or something. Or maybe you have to "poke" me? I'll be posting more stuff as time goes on, but for now it's somewhere I can post new and old drawings all in one place.

Here's a couple for ya: