SUSTAIN.

Days one and two in the woods have consisted of giant power tools, putting up drywall, hammering in salvaged trim and other stuff with my Dad. And I'm pretty okay with that. Day three is the beginning of isolation (with the exception of quick jaunts into town on my bike.... like right now to the only local coffee shop with wifi) & some quality dock/art time.

But while I'm up here - back in Toronto, this poster I designed and illustrated is a part of the Subtle Technology Festival to promote sustainability... and in this poster's case, the Deadly Nightshades.

So go check out the festival and poster exhibition, curated by Lorena Salome:

June 4 - 6

Innis Town Hall

University of Toronto

WALDEN.

One night we were going to a concert, when a friend found this on the ground outside the Biltmore in Vancouver. And I have to say, I'm all about to do lists (especially this one). Firstly, you feel an instant sense of accomplishment in writing one. And secondly, there is something unbelievably satisfying about crossing something off.

My never ending to do list is comprised of many things. One of which is to live at my family's half finished cabin for a while.

to live at the cabin for a while.

done.

So moved out of my apartment. leaving behind barren walls and better acoustics. And instead have headed north with a duffel bag, bicycle, copious amounts of art supplies and a fully stocked ipod.

For me, art & music have always gone hand in hand. So today, instead of a drawing (as there will be many in the weeks to come), a mixtape of sorts.

1. it's a long way to the top - disco drive

2. oh, alberta - elliot brood

3. undercover martyn - two door cinema club

4. birdies singing - kelley stoltz

5. kassell - the clips

6. fight and kiss - we are wolves

7. my year in lists - los campesinos!

8. baby boomer - monsters of folk

9. the gayest of sunbeams - pink mountaintops

10. cannibal resource - dirty projectors

11. consolation prize - julie doiron

12. when i'm small - phantogram

13. you can't say - white denim

14. stay (just a little bit more) - the do

15. little bit - lykke li

16. the gardener - the tallest man on earth

17. great lakes - rae spoon

18. horny hippies - the dodos

19. tan lines - valleys

20. 100 pound eyelids - chad vangaalen

21. don't ask - grizzly bear

(...you can anticipate a considerably more bushwhackeddockrockcabinfever version in a months time. Get ready for my impending insanity).

WORN.

So, I was asked to illustrate a button for WORN fashion journal's 10th issue launch.

If you're in Toronto, check out their awesome launch party this friday at Cinecycle (which is a gem all of it's own).

Also, who doesn't love vests?

HEATWAVE.

The last few days officially marked the beginning of summer. I find myself at the end of the weekend with hair that smells like campfire smoke, a sunburn, more money, less stuff to pack or throw away, and sand.... everywhere. Strange how this time of year all i want to listen to is old punk bands I loved in highschool, east coast hip hop and never ending motown - as though nothing else seems quite as satisfying.

And so my favouite motown track & some sketches from this past weekend to kick off the summer.

Heat Wave – Martha and the Vandellas

MP3 search on MP3hunting

PURGE.

I move in two weeks.

Packing is a dangerous thing. Because packing leads to sorting. And sorting leads to finding all of those things better left forgotten. The ones you wonder why you've kept for so long. Items that once meant so much, and now mean so very little. Or rather mean something else entirely.

I'll be the first to admit i'm a pack rat. But an organized one if that's possible.

I began collecting vintage suitcases when i was thirteen. And now each one sits, brimming with tokens intending to be memories.

And so in an attempt to purge before the move, I sorted through them for the first time... ever?

Least favourite finds include: angsty cassette tapes of me and my guitar in early highschool (yikes. drama... although found a song about my roommate's dog, which is pretty funny), a script involving the entire character casts of star wars - the original obviously - indiana jones and batman foever (my 11 year old self = the worst...or best?) & extensive comics about my best friends in middle school (yes we were superheroes, no you can't see them).

Most favourite finds include: MY POGS (as if!), hoards of long forgotten photobooth photos (grade two neon jackets, to blue hair, to no hair, to friends i don't talk to anymore, to ones i surprisingly do, etc etc). And finally, this epic shot my sister took while i was finishing up grade five (or perhaps wrapping up a hard life on the road?).

...and for the record, the next person to take photobooth photos with me WINS. I knew something was lacking in my life, now i know what - an awkward succession of overpriced miniature photographs, equalling instant nostalgia.

DEADLY.

In the past little while I have been reminded why I love my bike gang as much as I do. Aside from impeccable style and adventurous spirit (such as playing bike polo for the first time the other day. terrifying & hilarious - I don't recommend using one's large cruiser, as tight turns are impossible and I nearly impaled myself multiple times on oversized handlebars), if nothing else, fierce loyalty & integrity go a long way in my books. Kudos kids.

And a sample of one of the new fonts I designed for our new & upcoming website.

NEST.

I’ve been a bit of an insomniac lately, and when i do sleep, it’s been full of strange dreams.

Yesterday i had three. You know the type, the ones that bleed into the next.

In the first, I was sailing a gigantic ship over enormous waves in the middle of cottage country. But the ship would bend over each wave, like a rubber sole, so that the masts would cross. Despite being thrown about the rigging, everyone (being miscellaneous friends i couldn’t place) seemed pretty happy. The sun was blinding, and we would high five every time the masts bent close enough.

And then, it was night and David Suzuki was trying to teach my crew, the “dangers of isolation while ice fishing,” by dramatically faking a suicide and throwing himself off an ice flow (why one would fish off an ice flow is beyond me). But, just as we were getting worried, he popped back up grinning wildly, and lifts something above his head. “Don’t worry I have a secret rope!” and pulled himself back up and out of the black water.

And then, I woke up the next morning to find a birds nest at the back of my head. Literally. My hair had been woven into a tiny basket. My dream self was confused as to how this might have happened, and eventually concluded that a group of swallows must have come and done it while i slept.

And then my real self woke up (it's always strange waking up twice), and thought it was such a bizarre and pretty little image that i had to draw it immediately.

RESOLVE.

It was my birthday friday.

A weekend where the air was heavy with spring rain. Thunderstorms that have been skirting the edges of the weather forecast for the last few days.

A weekend of grainy slides projected across darkened living rooms, and my nephew blowing out my candles before i had the chance. A weekend of crowded backyards and clusters of bicycles like metal bouquets. A weekend of campfires and the silhouetted backs of houses. A brick fortress with blackened windows.

For as long as I can remember, it’s a day that feels more like new years than january 1st. It’s always coinsided with the start of warmer weather, the end of school (when that was remotely relevent), and I suppose the illusion of a fresh start. If I were the sort of person to make resolutions I might do them now. But I find it kind of silly to make promises to yourself only once a year. I’d like to think that one can be capable of change and/or challenging oneself at any time, and not strictly during the first few weeks of january.

So in the spirit of change and of challenge, the largest pen & ink piece i’ve done to date - a commissioned work, inspired by the series did back in 2008, measuring 2’x3’.

Funny how i’ve now done not one, but two, queen of hearts portraits, as she is probably the one whom i relate to least in a deck of cards.

I’ve always been a fan of the queen of spades myself.