Go Down On Art

Art Fairs of Weekends Past

2010-07-27T10:03:00.001-07:00

The first fair of the season, Cambridge Arts Festival. As you can see I still have my borrowed, small green tent. It still did the trick though.

This one is from Elora. Not a great venue for me. But I got to use my snazzy new tent!

New Jewelry!

2010-06-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Some anatomy inspired pendants of mine, ready to be sold at an art kiosk in dowtown Guelph's Old Quebec St. Mall. I'll also have some cards and magnets for sale.

Fun With Pierre

2010-05-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

I'm having urges to do some greeting cards, so I thought I'd experiment with some old drawings and try to give them a fresh twist. This is Pierre, complete with punchy colours, sexy pelvis, and treasure trail. Wouldn't you like him on your greeting card?

Tomory Dodge

2010-05-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Lately I've totally been digging abstract paintings. I just want to eat them up! This fellow's work is pretty yummy I think. Check out more of his work here.

Blondie

2010-05-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

The journey to new hair has begun. I thought I'd document it because it's not unlike an art project is it? My goal is to get my hair pretty light and highlight it with lavender and possibly baby blue. These photos are after two bleachings and a toner. It's decent, but I'm going to bleach it one more time to go for platinum blonde. I'll be giving my hair a break for a week or so, and a dousing of olive oil!

Kawasaki Wow

2010-04-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

I finally remembered to check out what Audrey Kawasaki has been up to lately, and goodness gracious she has been busy. I think one of the more innovative things she's done are these laser cut pieces shown below. What an awesome idea! I've posted a gazillion other paintings of hers on my flickr page, or you can visit her website here.

Hoot Hoot

2010-04-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, owls have been done ad nauseum, but have you seen one being abducted before? This is a block printed hoodie I made for my brother.

More Jewelry Fun

2010-04-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

I tried my hand at a couple new jewelry techniques... a collagey decoupagey type pendant, and a sort of bead cluster necklace. I'll tell you one thing, I don't think I could've done it without my tiny fingers!

GaGa Sketches

2010-03-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

I have an assignment right now to make two illustrations with the theme "Before and After". My first choice would be to carry through with these two sketches of Lady GaGa before and after, but I have a feeling my instructor, (Gary Taxali), will shoot it down like a lame duck.

They still need a lot of work, but I'm getting close to her likeness I think:

For the Birds

2010-02-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

A simple graphic piece I whipped up for a gift.

Artsy Fartsy Holiday Shots

2010-01-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

These are some shots of some of the lovely objects and textures I found at my parents' place over the holidays. Plus our dog Maddie...

Jewelry Creations

2009-12-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

Some different jewelry techniques I've experimented with, all of which definitely need tweaking!

Holiday Cards!

2009-12-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

I've designed a couple fun Holiday cards. I'm selling them on Etsy if anyone's interested!

Lust Group Show

2009-12-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Beverly Owens gallery, located at 1140 Queen St. W. Toronto, is holding an exciting group show centred around the theme of lust. It's the first in a series of shows inspired by the seven deadly sins. The show runs from Dec.3-Jan.3, and the reception is coming up this Saturday the 5th at 7pm. There are over 100 artists showing work, including me! It should be a sexy and stimulating show. Here is one of the pieces I did for the show:

A Peek Under the Pages

2009-11-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

I've made a zine entitled "A Tight History of the Corset". It's an historically accurate synopsis of the corset throughout history, complete with a cheeky narrator and Beardsley style illustrations. Here are a few examples.

If you're interested in purchasing a zine, they're $5.00. Just let me know at crystal.art@hotmail.com.

Webstore is Happening!

2009-10-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

After much fiddling about with tables and Paypal buttons, I now have prints for sale on my website. Through the site I'm offering higher quality prints than I sell at art fairs. My silk screened shirts will be available soon as well.

If anyone experiences any difficulties with the site, please let me know! My email contact is on the website. Here is the link:

Webstore

2009-10-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time again! Canzine! For anyone who hasn't heard of it, Canzine is Canada's largest zine and DIY fair. Last fall I was too busy to go due to OCAD overload, so I'm super pumped to be going this year. I'll be selling my usual wears, (prints, t-shirts), and will also have a couple surprises if all goes according to plan. There will be loads of exciting talent there, so if you can come out, do.

A Farewell Gift

2009-09-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

I made this little painting as a parting gift for a good friend. It's inspired by "Where The Wild Things Are". I miss you buddy!

Spreadshirt Shop

2009-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI that I have opened a t-shirt shop on Spreadshirt. It's a site that digitally prints artwork onto shirts. I bought a shirt, (pictured above), before opening the shop to make sure the quality was on the up and up, and I was pleased with the job they did. The result isn't as vivid as a silk screened shirt, but it's perfect for more detailed images.

The major drawback to this website however, is that they have strict "ethical" rules, and have rejected a number of my images due to nudity. I think this is ridiculous... they're just nipples for goodness sake! It's a bummer, because many of my designs will not be available because of this censorship.

Nevertheless, it's a pretty cool service, and you can check it out here. Maybe you can open your own shop!

Unintended Self Potrait?

2009-07-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I did recently, and I think it might kind of look like me. Strange how that happens sometimes!

My Little Radium Girl

2009-06-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

After being prompted by my teacher to combine 3 sketches into one, this is what I got. It's inspired by radium. Perhaps someday I'll bring it to completion with some wicked day-glo colours.

Gouache It and Wash It

2009-05-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I whipped up using a technique I just learned at school called a gouche wash-off. I named her Lily.

Masochist Tutu Revealed

2009-04-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

I mustered up the onus to photograph my undercover costume. It's missing a few pieces... the ribbons on the boots, the bodysuit and the head piece. But you get the just of it. I put a lot of work into this baby, and I daresay it paid off. My materials were: a thift store skirt, tulle, aluminum mesh, chicken wire, pattern paper, self-leveling gel, red wire, broken mirror, eyelets, black elastic, and transistors.

John Galliano

2009-04-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine alerted me to John Galliano, a super cool fashion designer. Yes, he kind of looks like a pervy pirate, but his work is inspiring. We're talking dramatic and awesome here. Unfortunately I couldn't find many good photos online, (I think he keeps them pretty locked down). But no matter. To get how cool he is you really need to see his runway shows anyways. So here are a couple links!

Revel in this unusual and delightful runway show from spring 2006 here.

Peruse John's fancy website here.

Enjoy!

The Silk Screen Journey

2009-03-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

I spent a few months last year learning how to navigate the exciting world of silk screening, so I thought I'd share what I've learned so far. Following this entry is a five part tutorial which describes the photo emulsion method. This method is the most complicated and expensive, but it's also the most versatile. You can also attach a stencil to the screen or paint one on with screen filler, but you are limited to simple shapes with these mehods. I used this method for my first silk screen project ever, which was these cute Chritsmas cards.

You can also make stationery...

Or t-shirts!

So let's do it.

Silk Screen Tutorial Part 1 - Shopping List

2009-03-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm afraind you're probably going to have to buy a lot of stuff, and you can't get all of it at the art store either. We'll start with what you can get at the art store...

*Silkscreen(s) - The cheapest one I've ever bought was $28. There are wood frames and metal frames. The wood frames are cheaper, but they warp over time. However, the screen can be replaced on the wood frames.
*Sqeegee - There are cheap plastic sqeegees and more fancy squeegees. Honestly, the cheap plastuc ones work fine.

*Photo emulsion, sensitizer, and emulsion remover - Diazo makes a kit with all three for $25.

*Silk screen ink or extender - The regular ink is about $10 a jar. The extender can be mixed with acrylic paint so that it is safe to use with a silk screen. I've never tried the extender myself.

*Hinge clamps - These will keep the screen in place as you work. They run around $30-35 for a set.

*Screen coater (optional) - One of these guys is also about $30-35, and strictly speaking you don't need one, but I highly recommend investing in one. Trying to spread the emmulsion with a sqeegee is a nightmare.

*Huge piece of acetate (optional) - This will be really handy to register your prints. If you're only doing one colour then it's not that helpful, but if you're doing 2 or more colors, I'd spend the $2. Plus they are reusable if you wash them off.

*Piece of glass or plexi-glass that will fit in your screen - My art supply store cut one for me. It was around $8 I think.

From the photo place:

*250 watt photo flood bulb - Less than $5!

From the hardware store:

*utility lamp - Preferably one that is mobile and one that can safely manage the 250 watts. *Masking tape

Grocery/Department/Thrift store:

*sponges

*paper towels

*spatula

*small bowl

*j-cloths

*spoon
*toothbrush

Squeegees!

Screen Coater.

Emmulsion.

All of these items will make more sense as we go through the process. So let's begin!

Silk Screen Tutorial Part 2 - Do Your Image Right

2009-03-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

You will need to choose an image that can be easily reduced to a high-contrast black and white picture. For the at home method, the image should have little to no gradation in colour. This is because using a photo flood bulb is not precise enough for the gradation in colour to register on the screen. There are amazing fancy light machines with wild UV bulbs that CAN pick up extreme detail, (OCAD has one), but unless you have access to a machine like this, keep your image simple. I choose this image, which is an illustration of Clytemnestra:

As you can see, it is two colours, black and red. If I want my final printed image to also be two colours, that means I have to split the image onto two separate screens. Thus, I need to separate the two parts onto separate pieces of paper. So Clytemnestra and the bathtub will be on one screen and the blood will be on the other.

Clytemnestra, sans blood splatters.
Here is the blood. As I'm sure you've noticed, the red has been changed to black.

The next thing you need to do is get these two images printed onto acetate.

Silk Screen Tutorial Part 3 - Getting the Screen Ready

2009-03-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

First of all, wash your new screen with a regular cleaner and let it dry. You want to be sure the surface of your screen isn’t dirty.

Now you’re ready to coat the screen with photo emulsion. From now on, try to work in a dimly lit area. You want to keep the emulsion away from light as much as possible. Follow the package instructions for adding the sensitizer to the emulsion. Now, pour some emulsion into the screen coater. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so, to let the bubbles settle.

Take a deep breath, get Zen, and coat both sides of the screen twice. With the screen coater helping you out it’s really not that difficult. Here's a video of me pretending to coat a screen. I didn't record the real thing because I didn't want to expose my screens to any light.

Once it's coated lay the screen flat to dry in a dark place and keep it there until you’re ready to expose it. Make sure the screen itself isn’t in contact with anything. Let it dry for two hours or so. The screen is now "sensitized". This means that when it is exposed to light, the emulsion will harden. The sooner you expose, the better.

Silk Screen Tutorial Part 4 - Let's Expose Stuff!

2009-03-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is where you’re light bulb and lamp come in. Set up your lamp above a table. You can use a pie tin or tin foil around the light bulb to help the light spread more evenly. Prop your sensitized screen up under the lamp. You want the flat side of the screen facing down, but you want a space between it and the table. Place your acetate image in the middle of the screen. Put the piece of glass or plexi-glass on top of the image. (In my example here, the screen was a bit small for my piece of glass, so I had to just tape the acetate down. But the glass helps make a sharper image).

Arrange the lamp the appropriate distance from the screen, and turn it on. Let it expose for the appropriate amount of time. Speedball has a chart of guidelines regarding exposure times for a 250 watt bulb:

Screen Size . . Lamp Height . . Exposure Time
8" x 10". . . . . . 12 inches . . . . . 10 minutes

10"x14". . . . . . 12 inches . . . . . 10 minutes

12 "x 18" . . . . .15 inches . . . . . 16 minutes

16"x2O" . . . . . 17 inches . . . . . 20 minutes

18"x2O" . . . . . 17 inches . . . . . 20 minutes

When the time is up, take your screen to the nearest hose or sink, and rinse, rinse, rinse. Use cold water. You’ll need a strong blast of water pressure, and it takes a while, but you’ll start to see the emulsion rinsing out, leaving a stencil of your image.

Hold your screen up to the light and be absolutely sure that all the parts of the screen that need to be open, in fact are open. You can use a toothbrush to scrub stubborn areas. If you’ve underexposed the screen, the emulsion will not be hard enough, and you may have chunks of the screen washing out that you don’t want open. On the other hand, if it’s exposed too long, the emulsion will be too hard and you won’t be able to rinse out your image, leaving you with a blocked screen. In the event of either of these cases, (and they’ve both happened to me), you have to wash the emulsion off with emulsion remover, and start again. Which obviously really sucks. If it does happen, don’t wait to clean the screen. Emulsion becomes impossible to remove fairly quickly.

Silk Screen Tutorial Part 5 – Finally! Pulling Prints!

2009-03-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Before you begin, make sure you set up all your equipment. You don't want to be scrambling around in the midst of printing. Also be sure to have an area clear for your wet prints to dry. A drying rack works well.

Attach your hinge clamps to the table or a large piece of wood. Tape one side of the large acetate sheet down to the table.

Check your screen for any holes where ink might leak through, and patch them with masking tape. You can also use screen filler if you want, which you can buy at the art store.

Clamp your screen. Prop up the corner with a roll of masking tape and spoon a line of ink onto the bottom of the screen. With your squeegee, push the ink to the top of the screen. This is called "flooding". You need to flood after each print you pull because it prevents the ink from drying out and gunking up your screen.

Now pull a print! Using your sqeegee, apply firm even pressure as you pull towards yourself. You want to print the image onto the acetate first and use it as a guide for all future prints.

Arrange your paper or shirt under the acetate and line up the image where you want it to be. Then flip up the acetate, lower the screen and pull the print. I usually go over it twice. Definitely do a few practice runs on scrap paper first. Add more ink when you need to. You’ll get a feel for it after some practice. Here's a video of me doing it to give you an idea of speed and pressure and all that stuff.

As soon as you’re done printing, use the spatula to scoop up the excess ink from the screen and put it back in the jar. The get to cleaning the screen! You do not want to let the ink dry in the screen. Warm water is ok, but hot could still damage the emulsion if it’s fresh. Hold the screen up to the light to be absolutely sure the stencil is completely clear.

Don't forget to clean off the acetate so you can reuse it. Just water will do the trick!

Now repeat this process for the other layer(s) of your design.

And here are a few more random footnotes:

If you've printed onto fabric, you need to iron the image. If you don't it could fade in the wash.
In terms of sufaces to print onto... different surfaces may require different amounts of pressure, or more or less pulls with the sqeegee. For example, if you're using glossy paper, you need less pressure, because too much will cause the ink to bleed. You have to experiment a lot. Generally speaking, I'd say more absorbant surfaces are easier to work on.
If you're pulling lots of prints, your screen can dry out after a while. This is where the squirt bottle can help you out. Using a few squirts and a sponge you can gently clear any parts of your screen that are getting blocked by drying paint. Then pull a few prints on scrap paper until the consistency is good again.
I usually keep my screens permanently. But if you want to wash it out, do it ASAP. The emmulsion is really difficult to remove and if you wait more than a couple days, it's pretty much impossible. You have to use the special emulsion remover I mentioned in the materials list.
If you're using the same screen to do multiple colours, sometimes the squirt bottle trick will be enough to clean the screen and start the next colour. But if you need to rinse the screen in the sink, you can speed up the drying process a lot with the use of a hair dryer.
If you need to, you can touch up your prints with a paint brush.

Worst Day of the Month!

2009-03-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd post my photos from Undercover today because I'm trying to get in the mood to be creative. Instead, sadness stalks the land, because apparently I deleted the photos from my camera without putting them on my computer first. I have searched and searched all the folders and the recycle bin, and they are gone gone gone. And I am so so sad. I don't know how this happened, but there you go. I won't be able to re-take the photos of my classmates and peers who participated in Undercover, which really sucks. There were some amazing costumes there! I still have my costume of course, although it's a bit worse for wear after the commute home. I'll try to arrange a photo shoot, if someone is willing to help me out. But shit, you know? Shit! I do have this one photo that I happened to post on Facebook before the senile deletion occured. Unfortunately, all you can really see is the veil. But hey, that's something.

Undercover

2009-03-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

My next big and exciting project was a costume! It's for an annual event at OCAD called "Undercover" and it's basically a fashion show/costume contest. I decided to make a tutu out of unconventional and dangerous materials. I did ballet for many years, and I wanted to express the masochistic side of this art form with my costume.

This is the pattern for the bodice, which will be corseted and made out of patern paper, which resembles skin. I made the pattern by wrapping duct tape around my torso and cutting it off.

This is aluminum mesh intended for screen doors. It will be filling out parts of the tutu.

This red wire will act as the bones of my corset.

I would never exclude broken mirror in such a project!

This mesh and chicken wire is bunched up to mimic the gathered tulle you normally see on a tutu. It's hard dangerous work bending this metal to my will!

Here's a piece of the tutu, with the chicken wire attached.

I'll also be making a birdcage veil, somehing like this.

Or maybe like this?

The Quilt... The Tears

2009-03-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

The quilt came to a painful end I'm afraid. All was going well, until my sewing machine began breaking down and getting jambed every ten seconds! I even bent my nail back trying to open the damn thing up. I also planned to have the three panels as one piece, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the inward facing corners, and had to rip the quilt apart. It was an unreal series of unfortunate events. When I finally finished sewing the thing, I went to press it with the iron, which randomly spewed out mega heat and burned the central panel of my quilt. I replaced it with a non-quilted centre panel for good measure. What an epic!

My design plan, before I cut it up and ironed it on the strips of fabric.

One of the side panels. These ones turned out the best because the fabrics were easy to work with.

The burns! Can you believe this?

This is the replacement panel for the centrepiece... minus the quilting unfotunately.

At least I took a photo before I burned the thing.

Resplendant

2009-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

This is the culmination of several weeks of work in my graphic communication class. We had to choose an animal and turn it into a graphic form using the confines of a grid. I choose the resplendant quetzal, a beautiful iridescent bird with incredibly long tail feathers. Next we had to take the first letter in the animals name, and morph it into our logo form in a minimum of sixteen steps.

And finally, we had to compose a poster with these sixteen pieces... a poster which communicates some aspect(s) of our animal. I choose to represent the quetzal in its environment, which is high altitude cloud forests. The paper I used for the background has a swirly cloud like pattern and the large surrounding shapes are intended to evoke an airy forest. I also wanted to express the quetzals fragility by choosing the most delicate shapes to make up its body. In terms of the colours, I choose green for the background because it's a natural and organic colour that is dominant in forests. I choose to use black for my images because I knew it would stand out better than any other colour. Since the quetzal is such a magnificent bird, I wanted it to really pop off the page. I used gouache to paint it, cause black gouache is my hero.

Bread and Roses

2009-02-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis have organized an annual juried art exhibition to celebrate International Women's Day. They posted a call for entries from comtemporary women artists, and I figured I may as well answer that call. The show will be titled "Bread and Roses" after James Oppenheim's poem of the same name. The poem refers to the Lawrence textile strike which took place in 1912. This strike for better wages and working conditions was led to a great extent by women.

I entered this piece and now I get to wait in agonizing anticipation for the jury's verdict. The exhibition is looking for art that celebrates women and highlights then need for continued action to secure and maintain women's rights. I thought this piece would fit the theme of the show because there's a certain violence present, as well as sadness, acceptance and transformation. I get the sense that the girl in the picture is somehow assaulted, yet very wise. But I say too much. I love to interpret and explicate my own art, but then I remembe that I hate interpreting and explicating my own art.

The show will be hosted by the Alma Gallery from March 3-11. Wish me luck!

Grouper: Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

2009-02-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

I owe a few good discoveries to Pitchfork, but Grouper has got to be in the top five. When I began checking out their list of the best albums of 1998, (many of which were a let down for me), I tried out Grouper, who ranks at number 37. Here is what they had to say about her album:

"Grouper is Portland, Oregon's Liz Harris, drenched in so much reverb that she sounds almost intangible-- like a voice calling up from the bottom of the ocean. On Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Harris' third full record as Grouper, a few meager shafts of light are finally allowed to penetrate the mix: A gently strumming acoustic guitar reappears regularly, and Harris' words are, for the first time, occasionally discernible. These tiny hints of accessibility are just enough to deepen the music's essential mysteriousness, to make us feel tantalizingly close to Harris before she's gone again, the echoes of her breathy coo humming in our ear." --Jayson Greene

I couldn't put it better myself. She's a new favourite for me. You can listen to one of her songs here, or read more about her on her label's site, Type.

Fun With Fabrics

2009-02-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

I've started mucking about with fabrics now. I went to a thrift store and picked out a selection of colours and I'm pretty pleased with what I found. Especially the fluorescent pink, which is from a kid's sleeping bag. I'll be using that colour in moderation though. Once I had my fabrics, I was ready to try my paint and string designs in a new medium... transferable dye.

I just recreated the effect of the paint and string on paper, but used the dye instead of the paint, like so.

Then you place the paper face down on your fabric, and iron on the design. I tried the transferable dye on scraps of all my fabrics. You can see that the dye is more vibrant on some pieces. This is because the transferable dyes are intended for synthetic fabrics only. Thus the more cottony fabrics, such as the gray and light pink, create a softer effect. I have to say, I'm happy for the variations. They range from a stark x-ray look to a ghostly imprint. It will create a more interesting pallette for my quilt.

Here's an example of how much of a difference the temperature of the iron makes. The darker image was pressed at a higher temperature. This can get dangerous though, because some fabrics melt or shrivel at high heats.

I also tried out a little applique. I heard about this great product called "Steam A Seam" from some quilting experts I know. It allows you to fuse applique shapes directly onto your work without any sewing! Wow, right? Well, I tried it out, as you can see, and it was very simple to use and I give it four stars. My only problem with it is evident from my above photo: this stuff is supposed to prevent fraying at the edges, but that fabric is clearly fraying.

Here is my applique with the flourescent pink fabric. There was less fraying with this one, but as you can see, I need to keep my iron temperature low when dealing with nylon, or it'll melt!

Drink and Draw

2009-02-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have now attended two artist get togethers in Guelph, fondly known as drink and draws. They were organized by illustrator Michael Byers, whose excellent work can be perused here. These gatherings have been a great way for me to meet some working artists who all have a lot of wisdom and experience between them. It's also bee a great way to relax between all the school projects, and I ususally feel refreshed after a night of drawing just for kicks. Mike has set up a blog to exhibit some of the group's creations which you can check out here.

Here are some of the drawings we've come up with.

2009-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few recent sketchbook pages. It's not too often these days that I get to draw whatever I want!

A haunting model with decorative carnivorous plants in her hair.

A cool mod chick.

I enjoy the nestled squigleys in this one.

And some canteloupes!

Mr. BeeSean

2009-02-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

I came across this amazing artist today and almost creamed in my pants. You can check out more of his art here.

The Branches of Completion

2009-02-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been five months in the making, thanks to the intense work load at OCAD, but I've finally finished this painting, which was my first commissioned work. My customer is picking it up on Monday and I'm horrendously nervous about how she'll react to it. Nevertheless, it feels great to be finished!

This piece is mixed media. I used a variety of delicate and textured papers along with acylic paint.

Playtime!

2009-02-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

One of my current project involves expanding and developing a technique we loved as a child. I used to make these as a kid with paint, string, and folded paper. I'm happy to say it's just as fun now as it was then! The quilt(s) I'm going to to be creating are the result of expanding this technique to fabric.

Judith Content

2009-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

I'm about to embark on creating some small art quilts. I was inspired to do so almost solely because of the work of this artist, Judith Content. Most art quilts I find hideously tacky and overdone, but hers are perfect, zen, and beautiful, and I can scarcely tear my eyes away from them. See for yourself!

My Paper Ribcage

2009-01-25T19:14:00.000-08:00

My first fine arts course at OCAD is proving to be loads of fun and I am so relieved to have made the decision to switch out of design. The course I'm taking is 'Experimental Production' and our first assignment was to create an adornment for the human body. It's definitely the most exciting project so far at OCAD. And since the process is a huge part of the project, I thought I would document it a bit.

I'm making a ribcage inspired corset out of wire and pattern paper. I've printed anatomical drawings from Gray's Anatomy onto the paper before gluing it to the wire frame. To strengthen the pieces I'm coating them in gel. In these photos you can see the pieces hanging to dry. They are like little animal skins. I'm pleased with how they turned out. The translucence and shine give them a nice grotesque look. The gel also makes the pieces very flexible, which will be important when this adornment is worn.

My First Commission

2008-09-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a painting of some branches for a co-worker and so far it's going well. I thought I'd post photos of my progress...

These are some of my initial sketches.

This one is the sketch we decided to go with.

Off to the art store to buy some warm colours and fancy papers. I decided that the base of this painting will be a paper collage. This will add texture to the piece. Also, I don't like painting on canvas.

Some experimentation with paint and paper before I went to work on the canvas. I'm adding green to compliment the red berries.

This is what I have so far... there is still lots to be done. I think I'll have time to work on it this week a bit because school has briefly quieted down. I can't wait to paint the berries!

Ironically, I forget to smoke pot...

2008-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

The man and I just moved to a beautiful apartment. I couldn't be happier about it... really. It has everything we need... lots of light, a balcony, even a washer and dryer. Not to mention hard wood floors! I'll be taking some photos soon, cause it's that exciting for me. We came from a dismal, carpeted basement.

Nevertheless, moving is a stressful event. I'm finding myself very irritable and on edge. I had to come out to a public cafe to get online, and finally, as I'm sitting here goofing off, it occurs to me... why the hell haven't I smoked any weed for the past week? It's like I got so distracted by the move, by all the stuff I needed to do, I forgot that there was a nice easy way to chill the fuck out. I can avoid becoming a neurotic stressball. Forgetting about weed and its awesomeness has happened to me before. I always laugh at myself, because for me, weed is kind of like vitamins. Taking it regularily has a positive effect, but I will still foget to take it, especially it seems, when I need it the most. This essentially makes me an aspiring pothead. Hilarious.

As soon as I'm finished this coffee, I'm heading home for a nice plump bowl of pot and some Radiohead.

Into The Wild?

2008-08-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

I watched Into The Wild the other day. Ok, so this Chris McCandless guy seemed like a bit of a pompous prick, at least based on the way he was portrayed in the movie. Where does he get off preaching to everyone he meets? But I digress. The film got me thinking about the whole fleeing civilization method of "enlightenment". Hermit in a cave, wanderer on the road, monk in a monastery, whatever. I totally see the appeal. It's difficult to live in the modern world and not feel disgusted and disillusioned a lot of the time. "I'm not in love with the modern world, it just brings me down", (thank you Wolf Parade). Freedom in this day and age, also seems allusive. I think that many people are becoming more aware that all the comforts of modern life do not bestow freedom, but rather that they potentially thwart freedom. Yet, we feel almost powerless to avoid consumerism, our dependence on material things, our dependence on other people and on our own self-image. In Eastern philosophy, all these things are referred to as attachments. People, places, things, ideas about yourself and about the world... all of these can be attachments. And when we are attached to something, we are entangled, we are not free. They literally tie us down to suffering.

So, ok. We can completely fuck off and go on the road or into the wild. No more possessions or committed relationships. No job, no family. Perhaps in some cases, no more ego. (Although this clearly was not the case with our friend Chris). And let's be fair, giving all this up is a hard fucking thing to do. Brutal I imagine. And maybe it's the most efficient way to dissolve the desire which the Buddha identified as the root of all suffering. Yet, I question it. I question whether or not it is a short cut, whether or not it is genuine. In some respects could it be seen as avoidance? Isn't it much harder to let go of our attachments while still living in the modern world? Isn't that the true challenge? Avoiding something with a stoic austerity or asceticism does not mean you've truly let it go. Yoga teaches that we can be in the world, but not of the world, meaning that we can participate in and enjoy life, but not become entangled in it. Not an easy achievement of course. But what a beautiful state it would be!

No Edge on Etsy

2008-08-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm just gonna say it... I am getting fed up with Etsy. It is overwhelming and discouraging sometimes. I spent loads of cash on silkscreens and shirts and prints, and haven't sold much of anything through Etsy. It makes me depressed sometimes. I thought that stationery and shirts would have a better chance of selling on Etsy than art prints, but my silk screened stuff is getting almost no views! Sorry to be so negative, but sometimes I just need to let it out. My patience is waning. Needless to say, I appreciate the hell out of all the awesome people who have purchased something from me. Without you how would I persevere? Anyways, I'm not giving up. I just needed to vent. I'm reading "The Tipping Point" right now... it's an interesting book about how trends, ideas, and diseases spread among populations. Hush Puppies for example, became a nation-wide craze all because a few hipsters in an isolated community of New York decided they were cool and started wearing them. Hopefully my Etsy shop will reach its tipping point and plummet into success. Or something like that.

Art on the Street

2008-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's more than one month later, but here is my booth at Art on the Street! I had a very sucessful and hot day, and even sold an original painting! Thanks to everyone who supported me... my friends, my family and my patrons. I look forward to doing it all again next year!

My Very Own Doll Face Dress!

2008-07-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

This doll face was a doodle that my partner did. I thought it would look sweet on t-shirts, so I made a silkscreen of it. I decided to put it on this black dress and I'm quite pleased with the results. There are also doll face tees for sale in my Etsy shop.

Dominic Besner

2008-07-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Could this guy be any more incredible? His work makes me feel as though the rug has been pulled out from under me. These things speak for themselves.

If you want to silkscreen with florescent pink...

2008-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

I've been making loads of t-shirts this past week, and have learned yet another valuable lesson about silk screening. I thought hot pink would look fab on black t-shirts. So I bought the Speedball florescent pink ink. To my dismay, it barely made a mark on the black cotton. I kept doing more and more layers, but to no avail. The design remained so faint as to almost be invisible.

I was close to giving up in exasperation, when I had a brainwave. What if I added some white to make the pink more opaque? The result was good. It made the pink a little more bubblegum and a little less florescent, but I'm happy. And the various layers effect turned out pretty cool as well.

These shirts and many more will be for sale at Art on the Street, July 19th downtown Guelph.

The Zen of Silk Screening

2008-06-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

After my long hiatus of doing nothing, I have come out of a two-week silk screening haze with 450 adorned pieces of paper and 450 matching envelopes, making approximately 30 sets of stationary. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is a lot. Yet despite the mass quantities, I didn't find myself procrastinating or getting bored. Once you get going with silk screening, once all the kinks are ironed out, it's quite soothing. You get into the zone, you feel the Zen. My armpits did get pretty tired though.

The stationary designs were inspired by the ocean. Pictured above is my favourite, the Blue whale. It is part of a trio that comes on gray paper, which also includes Killer whales and Sperm whales. The other set of stationary is on ivory paper, decorated with Sea Stars. Brittle Stars, spotted stars, and pointy stars. All sets come with colour co-ordinated sea kelp envelopes. There are many colour combinations to choose from. They come in packs of 12, (envelopes included). They will be for sale at my booth at Art on the Street, (July 19th). Any extras will be sold in my Etsy shop.

Hallucinogens as Healers

2008-06-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I watched a documentary yesterday about hallucinogenic plants, always a fascinating subject. (It was called 'From Peyote to LSD'). The documentary dealt largely with indiginous tribes of North and South America and their use of hallucinogenic plants in healing rituals. Peyote for example, is often used to treat alcoholism. At first, I couldn't really conceive of hallucingens having healing powers, aside from perhaps increasing spiritual growth and thus overall well-being. But then some of the healers/shamans spoke of the specifics of the guided visionary experience.

First of all, the experience is surrounded with sacred rituals, such as purification, incense burning, chanting, etc. This alone would set up the state of mind for a very intense experience. Anyone who's done hallucinogens understands the extent to which your environment plays a role in the quality of your trip. Then both the healer, the sufferer and any other participants ingest the hallucinogenic plant(s), and the healer serves as a guide on the ensuing journey. From this point on, the participants have entered the "spirit world", which I believe can also be understood as the psyche or the realm of archetypes. In our minds, concepts such as fear or courage are represented by archetypal images, such as a wolf or a lion. During a hallucinogenic journey, these images can be directly confronted and experienced.

In the case of healing, it appears to me that with the guidance of the shaman or healer, the illness of the sufferer is personified by an archetypal image, such as a wolf. In the documentary, one helaer spoke of "confronting and defeating the wolf". I expect you yourself are personified as an image as well, such as your spirit animal. (Animals are the most common symbols for these rituals). Then with the help of the healer, who directs you and guides you, a journey unfolds, a quest inside of your own body and mind. The end result is the defeat of the wolf, the illness.

You have to ask yourself, what sort of effect would experiencing this intense scenario have on a person? My personal belief is that it would be a very effective method of healing. It is like affirmations and visulizations, but it is far superior. The body does have the ability to heal itself. There have been cases of people curing themselves of cancer without any western medicine using visulization. One woman who had breast cancer constantly visualized white blood cells enteing her tumor, which did in fact disappear. Similarly, a man with a brain tumor visulaized his white blood cells as star wars x-wing fighters attacking the tumor. His tumor disappeared as well. Incredible, obviously. So going through this intense visionary experience, where you literally do battle with the illness that is living inside you, and you defeat it... that's got to have an incredible effect on the body and the mind. Fucking intense!

A Postmodernist All Along...

2008-04-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've been reading "Postmodernism for Beginners" and finding much comradery with Postmodern theorists and artists. I think anyone living in this day and age already has an intuitive understanding of the situation that Postmodernists have observed in their theories, even if we haven't written complex discourses on the subject.

The basic idea is that globalization of our culture has caused a type groundlessness in our society. Because there are so many traditions existing side by side, they lose some, if not all of their meaning. Lyotard called these larger traditions Metanarratives. A familiar example of a Metanarrative would be the Christian worldview that used to utterly dominate European society. When an entire society ascribes to the same Metanarrative, then all the smaller ideas stories, and customs, (Micronarratives), fit into the structure of the Metanarrative. But an overriding Metanarrative is something we definitely lack in today's world. And what is the result? A huge gaping void of course.

Another issue raised by Postmodernism is what theorist Baudrillard termed 'the death of the real'. It seems to me that this situation is a symptom of the void left behind by the dilution of Metanaratives. The death of the real is a condition brought on by mass production, television, pop art, and other forms of media. Our reality in the modern world revolves around commercial goods and entertainment, none of which have any substance in and of themselves. One could even argue that Capitalism has become the new Metanarrative. But what does such a Metanarrative teach us? What does it have to say for the individual? Is it helpful?

Even though Capitalism may be a narrative that snakes its way all throughout our society, we can't ignore the fact that existing alongside it are hundreds of other subcultures and micronarratives. We also can't forget that it is made up of non-real parts, mass produced copies which are inherently meaningless. And this situation is fairly unique in terms of our history. Certainly metropolises existed in ancient times, like Alexandria for example, but the synthesis of cultures doesn't compare to today's world. Not to mention our current level of mass production and commercialism, which is unprecedented. These days you can pick and choose from whichever religion you feel like. You can buy copies of a buddha statue at Zellers. You can eat any kind of food, quesadillas in an Irish pub even. You can study whatever you want, read books written by Caucasian Buddhists. The choices are endless and they are for the most part, shitty copies of the originals, or simulacra, as Baudrillard would say.

And in some ways, this is appealing isn't it? It sounds like more options equals more freedom. Mass productions means Buddha statues for everyone. But I think within all this choice lies a catch. I read an article called "The Paradox of Choice", (there is a book as well with that title), and it illustrated this catch fairly clearly. There are two major elements to it. The first is the groundlessness. The second is the responsibility and increased chance of regret.

The groundlessness is the knowledge, whether conscious or not, that whatever beliefs you ascribe to, there are so many other options. Whatever you choose to do with your life, there are so many other options. This can only plant seeds of doubt. Or maybe you don't choose much at all, because you see all these options for the facades that they are. None of them are real or true independently. The only way to make them true is to believe them, and how can you do that when you know they aren't really true? Just imagine how much simpler it would be if you were born in an isolated society, where there was only one worldview, which you could choose to either embrace or reject. Limiting maybe, but so so much simpler. I sometimes imagine what this would be like with longing. As it stands, I feel paralyzed by the groundlessness and emptiness of the choices which lay before me. So much so that I feel my life is in stasis. Sylvia Plath's image of the fig tree from The Bell Jar illustrates this point beautifully. The figs are choices, potentialities. While she watches the tree, paralyzed, not knowing which fig to pick, each piece of fruit shrivels and dies.

The other problem with choice is the liklihood of regret. As human consciousness allows, we are aware that when we make a choice, we ultimately erase any other options we may have had. Thus each choice can also seem like a loss. Even when we pick a fig, it inevitably means that the other figs will die without us experiencing them. We cannot help but reflect on the past, thinking 'I should have'. And we naturally blame ourselves. The article I read gave a good example of how this works. Imagine you are going to buy a bottle of wine. If you go to a huge LCBO, where there are hundreds of types of wine, you are going to be overwhelmed with choices, and will probably have high expectations for the bottle you choose. If there are this many choices, one of them must be perfect. If you're disppointed with your bottle wine, it will likely be because you feel that you should have chose something different. On the other hand, if you go to a liquor store which sells only five types of wine, you are going to have much lower expectations. Thus you are less likely to feel disappointed and regret your choice.

The end result of all this fakeness and lack of cohesion and cofusedness, is ultimately a void, much like the void that the Existentialists purport. Depressing? I'm not going to lie and say that this never gets me down. It does. But like anything else in life, we have a choice about how we react to this situation. It is a unique challenge that human beings have never had to face before. So we don't have a cultural Metanarrative to make sense of the world for us. So we are surrounded by simulcra. So we have an infinite amount of choice. What can we do with that? That is our challenge. Postmodern artists are rising to it. More on them perhaps in my next blog...

Juicy Crayons

2008-03-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recommended Sark to me. Unfortunately, the library only has one of her books, but it inspired me to bring out my inner child with some crayons. Since these are the only creative objects I've made in over a month, I thought I'd post them for good measure.

Honestly, Art is Hard

2008-03-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

No blogs in over a month? Random chance? Coincidence? I think not. Here is the reality of me and art. It's the longest on again off again relationship in my life. Some would say it's flat out dysfuntional. Me and art, we've got the love-hate, co-dependant, fear of intimacy, lack of trust, based mostly on sex kind of thing going. Like a fuck buddy, I do art only when I feel like it or when I have something to gain. This leads me to wonder, is this love or merely infatuation? Can I take this to the next level or should I break up with art once and for all?

Since I had an interview at OCAD only two weeks ago, these are questions I'm going to have to face. Sure, art school will give me that concrete purpose I'm craving, (i.e. something to gain from making art), but what about when art shool is over? Then what? Will it be back to avoiding my sometimes lover, avoiding a real relationship with it?

Sketchbook

2008-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

These are just some pages from my sketchbook for the next Shadow installment. This painting is going to be underwater... the figure and some ominous jellyfish. I've been sketching aquatic items for years now, so I'm really excited to be using them in a finished piece. I'm having a lot of trouble with the colour scheme... but it's always hard to plan with pencil crayons because the colours are way too bright. Progress is slow, but it's coming!

The Birds

2008-02-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

The Birds is the second piece in the Shadow Series. This painting sat half finished for over a month, but I finally completed it a couple weeks ago. The Shadow of course, is ever-looming, hovering around us, waiting to swoop in and entangle us.

The Twins

2008-02-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is the first piece in my Shadow series. In my experience, the Shadow has been a paralyzing influence, at times rendering me as incapacitated as these twins.

Shadow Series

2008-02-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

Before I began this blog I started a series of work inspired by Jung's Shadow archetype. Simply put, the Shadow is all the aspects of ourselves that yet remain unconscious. These elements are not necessarily negative, but either way, if they are not uncovered and integrated by the ego, they can manifest in damaging ways. For most people this means a distortion in perception and in thought patterns. All or nothing thinking, projection, focusing on the negative, and expecting failure are all example of such distortions.

Despite the fact that these habits are of no use to us, (in fact they play a major role in both anxiety and depression), we cannot seem to let them go. Our Shadows keep feeding us bad food and we swallow with little to no hesitation, largely unaware of how we are hurting ourselves. Because of the way we are taken in by the Shadow over and over, I began to see it as a seductive, entangling force. A lure with a hook.

In the artworks, I hope to capture this formidable force through images of ominous beauty. It's time for me to start revealing my Shadow.

Eye Art

2008-01-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Why not?

Svadhishthana Origami

2008-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Recently I have begun work on the second Chakra, Svadhishthana. This Chakra, orange in colour, is a centre for creativity, sexuality, and desire, and is also associated with our emotions. Svadhishthana is of particular interest to me because it shares many elements with my sun sign, Cancer. Along with the emotional and sexual nature, it shares its symbols with Cancer. Its element is water, its metal silver, its planet the moon.

When it is balanced Svadhishthana fosters an exuberance for life, especially its sensuous aspects. This makes sense since its vehicles are emotions, sexuality and creativity, which are the spheres of our psyche where we experience the conscious appreciation of being alive.

Because of the comradery I feel with this Chakra, I may stay here for a bit longer than I would typically. It also seems to be an important Chakra for artists because such a large part of what we do involves being able to stop and see the hidden potential in ourselves and in the world around us.

To externalize my focus on Svadhishthana, I have decorated my meditation altar in orange, including a couple orange fish, which is an animal associated with this Chakra. I even managed to find some beautiful old Silver trays from a local thrift store to add some weight.

Muladhara Origami

2008-01-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

During my last yoga lesson we took a look at the Chakras. The Chakras have always intrigued me but I only had a vague knowledge of them before. Studying them appeals greatly to someone like me who likes structure, symbolism, and colour. So recently my yoga practice has been focused on the Chakras. I began at the bottom with the Root Chakra, Muladhara. This Chakra is about basic needs, security, and the survival instinct. Its colour is red. During the period I worked on this Chakra, I thought it would be fun to decorate my meditation altar to externalize the Muladhara Chakra. I used a red candle of course, but I also made some red and gold origami stars. In addition to being red, they seemed like little platforms, or foundations, which also echoed the characteristics of the Root Chakra.

I plan to continue this trend. In fact I have already begun working with the second Chakra and will be posting about that soon. Because yoga and creativity are both cornerstones of my life, I like to take any chance I have to intertwine them. The psychology of our bodies and minds finds its expression through art. Why else would each Chakra be represented by a physical symbol? (Muladhara's is a golden square). Carl Jung recognized the benefits of expressing our internal experiences through artistic expression, both on an individual and collective scale. For the individual Jung called this process Active Imagination. Today it is more popularly referred to as art therapy. I figure, why not incorporate yoga here?

My origami stars are certainly not "art". But they are a physical representation of an abstract idea. This unique human talent allows us to be midwives of expression. It's quite an honour, if you think about it.

Christmas Cards

2008-01-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

It feels like it's been forever since I've written here! The holidays seem to slow me down. It's like I was a huge hunk of fruitcake trying to maneuver my way through a landscape also made of fruitcake. But the holidays are finally over, and I do have some things to show for it. I spent my time making gifts of course. As a result, I feel more like a crafter than an artist right now. I'm just trying to go with it...

The little Christmas cards pictured here are special because they were my very first silk screening project. It was definitely a learning experience. I tried using the "positive" drawing fluid method first, but when I added the screen filler on top the drawing fluid, the images blurred quite badly. I'm sure there's a knack to it, but I don't have it. So, I ended up just using the "negative" method with the screen filler alone. It was time consuming, (and that screen filler is a bitch to clean off the screen because you have to apply a pretty thick layer), but it worked out well enough for the cards.

Next year I hope to be a bit more ahead of schedule so I can sell some cards on Etsy.

Doll Photo Shoot - Hanna

2007-12-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

I've done another set of doll photos! Along with sharing these, I thought I might mention how I got inspired to begin working with dolls as an art form. As I mentioned earlier, it was a childhood hobby. But it had settled in with all those almost gone memories until I came across the work of the surrealist artist Hans Bellmer. He created life size dolls out of wood and plaster and photographed them in all sorts of creepy and beautiful ways. His work is certainly dark, but it hooked me. Each time I look at the photographs I am still drawn in like a moth to flame.

Bellmer was working on his dolls in 1930s Nazi Germany. Wikipedia states that his dolls were intended "to oppose the fascism of the Nazi Party declaring that he would make no work that would support the German State. Represented by mutated forms and unconventional poses, his dolls were directed specifically at the cult of the perfect body then prominent in Germany."

But as with most statements on Wikipedia, this must be taken with a grain of salt I think. There seems to be a good amount of literature out there which points to Bellmer's Lolita-esque/Freudian sexual frustrations as the source of his inspiration. Even Wikipedia mentions the three events which apparently served as catalysts for his first doll. These three events were "meeting a beautiful teenage cousin in 1932 - and perhaps other unattainable beauties; attending a performance of Jacques Offenbach's 'Tales of Hoffman', (in which a man falls tragically in love with an automaton); and receiving a box of his old toys. "

Here are a couple links if you're interested in learning more:

Wikipedia
Essay by Sue Taylor, and art historian from the University of Chicago

Kazine

2007-12-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

We all know how fantastic zine culture is right? What a great way to fight the stagnation of culture brought on by large corporations and their ways of mass production. Recently a great group of people started up a zine in Guelph called Kazine. It has a lot to do with music because it's affiliated with Kazoo, a bi-weekly music show, (often featuring bands from the local label, Burnt Oak). Kazoo has gained enough esteem to frequent the e-bar, a classy place downtown Guelph which has seen the likes of Ohbijou, Born Ruffians, and Sarah Harmer. But Kazine covers more than music. It's got articles on local political and social issues, personal essays, poetry, and of course, art! I contributed a the piece pictured above to issue no. 4.

I'm very grateful that I had such an oppourtunity. It's these sorts of grass roots efforts that keep us all going. I definitely recommend that you check out Kazine. You can get it at the Kazoo shows or at Daydream Nation.

Here is a link to their myspace page, if you want more info or are thinking about submitting something yourself:

Kazine MySpace

Bloc Print Stockings

2007-12-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Quite a while ago I bought a couple of kick ass shirts from my friend Sami. Upon inquiry she told me how she fashioned them using linoleum bloc prints. I thought to myself then, 'This is something I must do myself.' I finally made it after all this time.

My first design turned out to be jellyfish. I just sat down with my little linoleum block and my sharp little tools, and a couple of jellyfish just slid out. I've been watching a lot of ocean documentaries lately. Since I can't live under the sea myself, I must settle for ocean art.

Due to my obsession with stockings, I shockingly decided to print my jellyfishes onto a pair of stockings! They turned out alright. I used an oil based bloc paint for durability's sake. Oil paint doesn't mix well with impatience however. As you can see, there are some unsightly smudges on the leg to the left. I got a bit hasty and just had to try one on before it was completely dry. Lesson learned right?

I can't wait to make more hot stockings! Perhaps I will develop enough bloc printing skills to sell some tights on Etsy. I'll keep you posted!

If you want to see a pro in action, check out Sami's Etsy store at:
EverythingOk!

Doll Photo Shoot - Abigail

2007-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this project for a while, and last night I finally gave it a whirl. My boyfriend Brendan makes fantastic sculptures out of second-hand Barbie dolls. They have been whispering "photo shoot" at me for ages. My first shoot was done with Abigail. She totally loved it. You will too if you're into bondage, dolls, or creepiness. There will be more to come!

Mondo Magazine

2007-12-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start off this blog with something really exciting. A little over a month ago, my friend Kerry featured me as artist of the week for Mondo Magazine. Mondo is a cool online magazine of art and culture based out of Toronto. I posted a link to their page in my list at the bottom of my blog. It's well worth checking out on a regular basis.

My interview can be found at the following link:

Mondo Interview