Studio closed Sept 22nd -30th

Please Note: I am moving this week and am closing my studio from Sept 22-30th.
See you soon!

Some of my Favourite things

Collection of wooden letters

Wooden hand and Antique tins
Plus David Rakoff, Sloane Crosby and Maria Kalman

U of T. Tea cup stolen by my dear friend Andrew from Hart House - part of our beloved Alma mater

Nunzilla and Co. (A reminder of a strict Catholic upbringing)

Wire shoe from The Bata Shoe museum

Beloved books

So I'm now packing with a vengeance but took the time to take a few pics of some my favourite things incase (God forbid) the movers lose them!

Favourite image from today

Steak Frites at the Drake Hotel with Zab.

File under WTF

Rob Ford is now way ahead in the polls.

My Loft Day 1

This space will be foyer/ bedroom /office and silk screen studio

Kim shooting my kitchen and what will be livingroom area.
Umm.. That kitchen lighting fixture will be going pronto!
(I am such a design snob):-)

My very long cement wall
Too raw for me and no good as a surface for hanging art!
Will be drywalled pronto!

A contractor that shows up on time = Dream come true.

Much ado about carpet samples

Exterior
My neighbourhood (West Queen West) has a ridiculous amount of construction going on at the moment.

Today I got the keys to my loft!
As you can see it is a blank slate and very cementy looking.
My Interior Designer friend Kim is bringing in her expertise and helping me warm it up.
Follow along to see a very dramatic Before and After!

Toronto Mayoral Arts Debate Wed Sept 29th

If you are an artist living in Toronto
Please try to attend this:

Toronto Mayoral Arts Debate at the AGO

Wednesday September 29th
Doors open: 6pm. Debate: 7:00 to 8:30pm
Art Gallery of Ontario | Walker Court | 317 Dundas Street West

A Night at the Bell Light box

Our new Bell lightbox. Love at first sight.

Isn't it beautiful?


Inside: Buzz buzz buzz.

O+B's Canteen Look: Breakfast Wrap 5 bucks!

A great visualization of how TIFF chose the 100 Essential films.
(Looks better in person. Go see it.)
ps. Here is the LIST.

Close up

Close up

Part of the Essential 100 Exhibit
Carl Dreyer's angsty Passion of Joan of Arc plays on a big screen - on a constant loop!

Really loved The Lives of Others. Glad it made the list.

An installation called 24 Hour Psycho Back and Forth by Douglas Gordon which plays Hitchcock’s Psycho on 2 adjacent screens, one in forward motion and the other in reverse!

This is playing tommorrow!

My brother Danny working on the Red carpet at Roy Thompson Hall
Yes Handsome Devil!

Requisite star siting: Michael C. Hall

I went to visit our new Bell Lightbox for the first time tonight. Got a lump in my throat when I saw it. Corny but true. Such a beautiful building. Designed by Toronto based Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB). Such a beautiful testament to our city's love of film.It was completely buzzing with people + activity and because it was open late it had that great 'pajama party' feeling. I peeked into Oliver and Bonacini's Canteen. It looks an adorable + affordable perfect spot for people watching.

I went to see The Essential 100 Cinema exhibition.
Favourite part was the 'Wunderkammer' or cabinet of curiosities room, which was filled with artifacts, photos, fantastic posters, and clips from TIFF's 100 Essential films.

I rounded out the evening with a visit to see my brother working the Roy Thompson red carpet and then an unplanned celebrity sighting of Michael C. Hall.

I am so in love with my city tonight.

Margot Austin's DIY Poster bed

mmm... This DIY Poster bed made by Writer/Stylist Margot Austin looks sooo cozy. I think I'm gonna try to recreate this effect in my loft. Closing the curtains around the bed and snuggling up with a book looks like it'd be a ideal way to retreat from our oh-so overstimulating world.
ps. Highly recommend Margot's design blog. It's well written, full of interesting design ideas and often quite hilarious.

um wow: Schwartz and Sons

Commentary from the Schwartz and Sons' website: "We concepted and created chic/bizarro headpieces, making the model a typographic stand-in for the "I" in the logo."

After poking around a bit I figured out that the brains behind Whitney Pozgay's quirky website is the amazing design firm Schwartz and Sons in NYC. They do incredible work (Fresh, Bold and Funny) and have a dreamy list of clients including Steven Alan, Jack Spade and the fantastic Jane Hotel. Have added to the list of people I'd love to work with.

New Work: United Airline's In flight magazine

Here is a cover I just completed for United Airline's In flight magazine called Hemispheres. The illo corresponds to an article on "Three perfect days in Paris". Art director Christine Bower-Wright of inc. publishing requested a sophisticated Parisian woman with a silhouette ala Betty Draper.

An Idea and a book: Collaborative Consumption

Authors Rachel Botsman + Roo Rogers believe a 'Big Shift' is occurring in our lifetime: a shift away from the 20th Century defined by hyper-consumption towards the 21st century Age of Collaborative Consumption.
Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, and swapping which has been made possible through technology and peer communities. I love love this idea as it's good for you, your community, your pocket book and the planet! I am hoping to begin a collaborative consumption group at Artscape where members can not only swap books + dvds but also their skills and expertise. A good way to live methinks.
Watch a groovy video on the concept here.

TIFF piece for Globe and Mail

In honour of TIFF I'm posting a piece I wrote for the Globe + Mail on Sept 9th 2005.
Note that most of the behaviours and scores are still applicable today although if I was updating it for 2010 I would change #5 to "Nab an invite to Canadian Film Centre BBQ" for a score of 86 and in #7 I'd swap out Molly Parker for Ellen Page!

Inspiration: Whitney Pozgay + WHIT

Kate Spade's niece Whitney Pozgay (what kind of fantastic name is that?) has just launched her own clothing line called WHIT and it is full of crisp, smart, Polka dotty goodness! Witney's clothes are inspirational to me but even more so is her whimsical styling (including models with wineglasses and eggs on their heads) as well as her quirky website. The clean white background of the site combined with photos of carefully curated items reminds me a lot of the 'behind the curtain' section of the kate spade website. (One of my top 5 places to go for inspiration!)
Clearly Whitney was influenced by her fabulous Aunt Katie.

There is officially too much going on.

Tonight I went to a Mayoral Debate at the Gladstone.
5 Words: Rob Ford must be stopped.

New Print: Blue Brogue Shoe

Inspiration below:
Andy Warhol's shoes from the 1950s


My friend Zab made a special request for the brogue shoe screened in blue so I printed a new edition of 10. The print measures 22" x 10".
Fun fact: My shoe drawings were in part inspired by Andy Warhol's illustration work of the 1950s. He is a huge influence on all my work.

Strive to be Boring

Really love this Packaging.
via Uncrate.

Inspiration: Tracy Wright

Tracy Wright 1959 - 2010

Last night I attended a public memorial for the wonderful Toronto actor Tracy Wright who died on June 23rd of this year.
It was a special evening which included film clips from her career along with many moving tributes from friends, family, fellow performers and ofcourse her beloved long time partner Don McKellar.
Her life is an example of one well lived.

Panel discussion: The Future of Media at the Drake

This looks like it could be interesting.
Wednesday September 8 7:30PM
FREE
More details here.
Be there or Be Square.

Speakers include Jordan Banks (Facebook Canada), Anjali Kapoor (The Globe & Mail) + Mark Evans (MESH conference).

Sunday morning

GASP! FLOR carpet tiles

Great colour combos


Juicy Chartreuse (My fave colour)

Yum.

With my sale completed I'm moving back into nesty mode and working on my loft.
I visited Barton Carpet in Parkdale and tentatively chose a sandy sisal for my livingroom but then later on in the day my stylish friend Natalie introduced me to this incredible company FLOR. Their carpet tiles are both gorgeous + very environmentally friendly. I gasped when I saw the website.
Stripes, checks, juicy colours - How does one possibly decide?


Here is the Sandy Sisal I picked out earlier at Barton carpets.
Still might work nicely altho not as exciting or flexible as the carpet tiles.

ps. If you have any carpet recommendations you'd like to share - Don't hold back!

Inspiration: Saul Steinberg DVD

DVD sent from Steinberg's niece and director of the film Daniela Roman.

Love this image with combo of line and small slice of photography.
Saul was a Master of collage.

Enclosed Card


French cartoonist expressing his feelings at the sight of Steinberg's work.

Saul's iconic piece for the New Yorker

Exciting for me to see footage of him actually drawing.
Has inspired me to experiment with using pen + ink rather than just marker.

I ordered this DVD on Saul Steinberg from his niece Daniela Roman who co-directed and produced the film along with Thierry Fontaine. She sent it to me from Paris and included a lovely Saul postcard with it. It's a great doc which I know I'll replay again + again for inspiration. Favourite line from film:
From the French Cartoonist Cabu "When I saw Steinberg's work I thought I should put down my pen and find another job". I know that feeling.