Shop Signs of Lower Villeray

Doodled while sitting & waiting around in the laundromat. My neighbourhood has some weird and wonderful typography that I enjoy very much.

Old Man Winter (Extended Remix)

I haven't posted for over a month, but lots has been going on... things are in the works at the moment and I am biding my time for warmth and sunshine to return so I can get all energized and do lots of stuff all at once.

One sure sign that winter's days are numbered is the traditional Nuit Blanche festival, the night where thousands upon thousands of young antsy Montrealers find themselves jammed together inside the Belgo building. My personal favorite event is Monastiraki's awesome collage party; Billy and Emilie are co-owners and they are super-duper people. They have a new baby but they were willing to stay up 'til midnight so everyone could collage their brains out. Here is my creation:

The one thing I have been enjoying about the winter in a purely visual sense are the frost-flowers on my windows. I find them so pretty that I feel compelled to record them for potential visual references in my work.

 Some of them look like tiny sea creatures.

A couple of weeks ago I did a presentation at my school for the first edition of CABARETEXTILE, a sort-of Pecha Kucha night loosely based on anything textile-related. I showed some pictures of weird macramé jugs, ugly crocheted capes, matching sweater sets and also a photo of a banana cream pie that went over really well. Here's a picture of me from that event looking kinda crazy.

Credit goes to Adam Cantor for digging this one up.

Warning: This Post Contains Jamaican Bad-Words!

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:

Crazy 'Bout Ribbins & Hosiery Too

From a 1919 ribbon craft catalogue found in my school's library.

 

(I would be extremely surprised if any of these mills still existed. I imagine they must have provided at least some economic support to those small towns.)

And some other textile mills and machinery that have gone the way of the small-town American ribbon factory (from this book):