Lucknow Now

Right...sooooo... i don't post here anymore

2010-02-16T12:30:00.002-04:00

Since I moved to a new city, me (that's "Lucks", the alter-ego in this pair) and my counter-part (the real person behind Lucks... you might know who she is if you came here from her website but otherwise I'm going to remain mysterious and coy about it just for fun) decided to start a new blog over here:

http://lucksliveshere.blogspot.com/

I, or we, am/are very happy over there. You should join me/us...

Wow. Having/being an alter-ego is confusing (but fun!!!)... henceforth I/we will only write from my/Lucks' POV.

Startiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. NOW!

(I don't even know how that other, real broad got involved... yesh!)

OK. See you at Raymond Street.

may your holidays not be crappy...

2009-12-14T10:42:00.004-04:00

hi. happy holidays!

This blog is named after the street I live on: Lucknow Street. It's a fine street with nice neighbours. Sadly, I'm leaving this street in a few short days - though I'm looking forward to our new street (which is named after a dude who owned a sewing machine factory back in history) in Guelph, ON.

I'll probably keep this blog going in the new year though... we'll see.

In the meantime, enjoy your holiday festivities whatever they may be and keep the cat away from the tinsel (literally and metaphorically)! Chasing a frightened cat, tinsel hanging from it's butt, around the house in front of guests is not fun. Trust me. I know.

Also, thank you Nova Scotia generally and Halifax specifically for 5 awesome years. It's been magical!

thanks, you rock.

2009-11-27T13:37:00.001-04:00

why give them paper when you can give them a rock?

the patience of a saint

2009-11-26T15:16:00.007-04:00

wow. blog's been dry through november! work and the up-coming move preoccupying my brain... but here comes a long-winded ramble.

*****

i've long admired paint-by-number (PBN) paintings and have amassed a large collection of them (thrift-store bought, NOT painted by me). obviously they have a certain 2nd-hand/kitsch element that jives with my general aesthetic but i also really love the intricately combined areas of unblended colour. such nice shapes, such nice colour-schemes.

i've always imagined the paintings' painters toiling away and usually feel a little sad for them; adults colouring within the lines for endless hours instead of creating their own unique images, always - in my mind - banished to a cold corner of the basement whilst the more social family-members congregate upstairs.

but i'm not so sure about that impression anymore...

i've noticed, in collecting these things, that not all PBNs are created (or re-created) equally. i have a strong preference for specific colour-schemes and themes (mainly horses - which, in real life, i have no strong affection for) and even "style" (maybe "proficiency" is the better word - i usually only buy the works of superior craftspeople). in these choices, colour and theme, i guess i am sharing an aesthetic with the painter - presumably, they based their choice on similar criteria. (already they are becoming more "real" to me...)

today i attempted some PBNing and realized just how skilled some of those painters were and that i am truly the proud owner of some very fine pieces - masterpieces of the genre probably (oh how i wish they were signed)!

about a year ago i found a 2nd-hand, unpainted PBN. the paint pots were all dried out but i displayed the outline-y goodness in the house. recently, i decided i would "re-mix" it into a little typographic project (i will post it when it's finished) . today i started that project...

let me tell you, this shit is NOT for the faint-of-heart or impatient person (um - i'm both!).

what i post below here is 40 minutes of work and it looks horrible!! this project, i now realize, is not something i can crank out in a day and throw on the wall. it's gonna take a while and i'll have to limit myself to short work-sessions so i don't go batty! i'm not used to obeying lines that hold colour in one spot!

anyway, back to the PBNers and my changing impressions of them...

i realize now what strong technical skills they must have had to pull these things off so well: brush control, colour-mixing, project management, and the patience of a saint to boot! they had the skills to make quality "original" artwork so why did they choose to spend so many hours at PBNs?

i assume once you get used to doing them it gets less frustrating (it must or you wouldn't be able to do the huge ones) ... and that leads me to the conclusion that these very skilled people maybe used this hobby for relaxation. it was maybe even some form of meditation! i can't picture anyone of my T.V./internet generation having the attention-span to finish one of the big paintings i own! they must have found the process satisfying and felt proud when they finished them (i guess that's why they framed them)...

i've always treasured these pictures because of their looks but now i also appreciate them as receptacles of someone's effort, joy, dedication, and perseverance.

below are some of my larger PBNs.

i have seen another one of these "last suppers" in another thrift store and mine is far superior (though i still wish i had bought the other one - just for comparison). this is about 1 foot x 2.5 feet.

these two are both roughly 2 x 2.25 feet.

the ship is heavily varnished unfortunately.

the clouds are usually my favourite parts in any PBN. these both have great clouds.

(sorry about the flash in my photos - i don't have a great camera and i'm not a great photographer... this is not likely to change)

door jam # ?

2009-11-01T10:59:00.005-04:00

(I forget what number i'm at with these "door jams" - there have been a few i didn't post...)

soundtrack:

Herman Dune - have you seen the moon

Herman Dune - glory of old

medium:

black sharpie on newsprint

concept:

i have a picture of charles and diana - for reasons unknown. it is positioned just behind some other items so that only charles' eyes are showing. they peer at me from across the room when i'm at the computer. they are peering now. i needed to procrastinate for a bit so i drew the prince. he is so easy to characturize that i can't help but think of him as silly-looking (if i think of him at all). so i was surprised while drawing - and actually considering him for the first time in my life - to find that he was a fairly nice looking guy. not "hot", but he looks fairly kind and gentle and i felt kind of sad for him - in the way that i feel mildly sad for all celebrity-figures who are born in to their celebrity and don't necessarily seek it. i don't think that sympathy comes through in the drawing - he looks slightly creepy - but i was just scribbling and not trying to convey feeling one way or the other...

hedbanz-party-ice-breaker

2009-10-30T12:48:00.004-03:00

i don't normally put "work"* stuff up here (never thought about why - it's not really a "rule" or anything - i just don't tend to do it...) but this rejected sketch cracks me up so here it is.

i don't know what i was thinking... i guess i was trying to popularize the game "hedbanz" amongst the classy, wedding-planning set of a state that shall remain unnamed.

chef, photog, and bandleader had to be "obvious" in the drawing. i forgot to put anything on the shelves.

the art director had never heard of the game. how is that even possible?

*so this is what "sketches" for work tend to look like for me... (those hedbanz weren't flourescent green in the sketch - i just forgot to switch the colour mode.)

large bears

2009-10-23T16:16:00.004-03:00

a photo of a quick pencil drawing i did from a small photo on the internet, then a bit of colour added in photoshop.

this is the "Groote Beer", the boat my father's family came to canada on.

the name (has nothing to do with beer) means, "big bear" and i find it fitting that my family - fairly large, lumbering beasts with all our grizzly personalities - were ushered to their new land by a vehicle thusly named.

after a recent visit from my dad, which involved a stop at Pier 21 before he went off to a reunion of his siblings, i got the idea that it would be cool to gather stories of the crossing from my aunts and uncles and make something (a comic?) out of it... it is a huge project that will only get 2nd billing to my career but i hope i can accomplish this!

i sent letters to all the siblings (7 uncles and aunts i barely know) asking for information, complete with self-addressed envelopes and stationary. i got my first one back in the mail today - from a man with an appropriate name, "Art"!!

a sad side-note to all this is that my Beppe (grandmother, dad's mom), who is 99, is not doing well. i hardly know her because we never lived near her and i'm not the sort to make much effort. i'm guessing that i won't get a chance to show her any of this project or even ask her about her memories... apparently she prays every night not to wake up...

(part of) what i wore (for part of) today - part 1

2009-10-21T11:48:00.010-03:00

there are a lot of "what i wore today" blogs out there (and i enjoy them immensely - don't get me wrong!). recently i've also noticed quite a few illustrated versions of the same concept. i even considered doing this myself but, besides the fact that i'm not an especially note-worthy dresser, i was kind of like, "what's the point? i can just go outside and people can SEE what i'm wearing..."

however, the other day i was prancing around the house in this little get-up and thought, "now HERE's an OUTFIT!!" that's when i decided to start a sketch-series depicting the sartorial choices/accidents no one gets to see under normal circumstances.

without further ado, i now present Part 1 of "(part of) What I Wore (for part of) Today": the absurd frockage of a freelancer in her natural habitat, the home office.

- toque: made by step-mother, owned since highschool but created long before that (possibly older than me??), worn to flatten the hair

- grey/dark-grey sailor stripe teeshirt: salvation army, boxy and unflattering but so soft and so comfy and i love stripes

- floral boy-cut undies: american eagle outfitters, purchased about a year before i got married - making them about 7 years old!!! should be thrown out but i really like the pattern. the stripe/floral combo is where it's at!

- no pants: who needs 'em?

- black mary-janes with 1.5 inch heel: salvation army, naturalizer brand, "mint condish" but a little tight, wearing them around the house in an attempt to "break them in" (oh what women do for shoes!!)

invisible rider with cape

2009-10-20T15:07:00.001-03:00

stage one of something i'm working on.

a big part of me desires to leave it like this and not ruin its simplicity with my complicated plans.

ink, an unforgiving mistress

2009-10-19T21:41:00.004-03:00

ink and i aren't getting along very well right now.

i've always been a little shy of the liquidy mediums but i'm trying to get it on with them these days... they however keep giving me the smack-down... i'm starting to feel a little hurt.

remember that "preview" of a comic i showed a while back? well, i basically destroyed it...

the only thing i could salvage was the last panel and i offer that to you below.

(i brought it into photoshop and played with the colours obviously but other than that, the linework was done with a small 5/0 brush and black india ink. the lettering was done with a pen - too fast and sloppy. i swear, comic artists must be the most patient people on earth!).

so yeah, this article about "ink and commitment" struck a chord with me today...

Shrine on you crazy diamond...

2009-10-15T10:23:00.006-03:00

a "foreign" friend's shock/amusement/disgust about that special breed of North American parade-crashers we call "Shriners" inspired this one.

i put "foreign" in quotes because white Irish people don't seem that foreign in this (red)neck of the mainly-white-woods.

white people are so weird... all the other colours are weird too - but it's not polite to say that so I stick to bashing my own colour. (i just listened to a chris rock interview on CBC so i'm all about boldly making race-related statements for the next 5 minutes...)

shriners are a pretty good example of old-white-man-weirdness. apparently they do some good things - like using their excess money to build hospitals (especially burn units i think. kudos to them!) - but mostly i picture them drinking, practicing their parade maneuvers in secluded parking lots, and generally acting like they are 12.

eventually the shriners take their acts (miniature vehicles, fez hats, and sometimes poorly-done drag) on the road to various vegetable festivals around the county. my hometown festival, which honours the humble potato, actually had to put a cap on shriner participation in its parade because they were squeezing out the local acts! they are like cockroaches though - they come back stronger and harder and scarier.

i have never seen a "foreign" shriner...

(by the way, still learning about watercolour here. not totally happy with the results but at least this one isn't a total "fail"...)

steampunk dunny

2009-10-12T21:13:00.013-03:00

maybe i've been under a rock but i only heard of the term "steampunk" about a week ago (via this cool friend). i'm using it loosely today to describe this little fella because he is a modern vinyl toy i painted to look like antique Delft Blue.

i purchased this Dunny when i was in New Orleans two years ago. i only bought it because the merchants were still doing very poorly then and i found myself in a neat store having a neat chat with the owner. i wanted to buy something as a show of support but i didn't want anything too large. the Dunnies were the right size but they were sold as "surprises" - so you didn't know which one you would get.

i never liked the one i got (lunch-bag-let-down!!!) but since it was my souvenir, i never threw it away.

so, realizing that Kidrobot wasn't beating down my door to design one of these toys*, i took it upon myself.

(* ...and they never will now because desecrating one of these is likely some kind of vinyl-toy-sacrilege!)

here's his bum...

and the side-view showing where arms once attached. i took them off to paint but couldn't get them back on - so now he's an amputee.

and lastly, "in situ" with a bunch of other precious junk.

whale tail - fail tale

2009-10-09T17:28:00.005-03:00

normally i try to avoid passing judgement upon "gym-people" because a) i AM "gym-people", b) we're all just there attempting to keep our bodies in good-working-order and c) it's not really nice to be judgy (but so so fun, i must admit).

this lady though, and this shirt...

mockery had to be made. it was too ridiculous.

part of me wanted to ask her if she'd had some kind of horrible thong accident that morning. another part of me wanted to wrap a blanket around her and say "there, there". still another part just knew it would be fun to draw when i got home.

in real life the shirt was HOT PINK but it WAS that low cut.

her hair was a more natural colour but it DID look like it might be toxic to small children and pets.

she was maybe a bit younger than i made her look here.

the parts of her breasts that showed between the tank-top and "whale-tail" portion of the shirt were jiggly and glistening and wrinkly.

all in all - the shirt was very disturbing; both her choice to wear it and the fact that it was even designed in the first place. (seriously, it was definitely sportswear but it threatened wardrobe-malfunction at any moment!)

you could maybe, MAYBE pull this off if you were starring in Barbarella.

comic sans

2009-10-01T14:08:00.005-03:00

no... not the font.

this is a sneak-peek of me trying my hand at comic-making, sans any real experience with story-telling.

that's the problem really. i've always wanted to make comics but i could never decide where to start story-wise. so i'm taking a seinfeld approach here and making my comic about "nothing". so far it doesn't even have a name.

i thought i'd be clever and call it a "meta-comic" - thinking i'd coined the term. wikipedia revealed the truth to me - that concept is already well-established.

i'm currently dealing with my second comic-problem; fear of finishing. i know i shouldn't be so precious about these things but i'm seriously nervous to attempt "inking" this... i have no idea what i'm doing... well, i probably have some idea... but i don't feel like i do... i guess that is why i'm posting this - to break the ice a bit...

morning-mark-making

2009-09-29T10:27:00.004-03:00

this is door jam #5 (i think).

edel rodriguez's drawger page was open on my laptop and there was a photo of a large wall mural that looked like this. there was no mention of where the original was or who did it... but the arch form and the primary colours resonated with me.

and here is one of my recent art-experiment-fails that i kind of resurrected as something else.

originally i was trying to draw in my usual (tight, thin-lined) fashion on a different ground (some thick, textured fabriano paper) and it wasn't working out for me. i think i was going for too much detail. anyway, after the fail i just went for vague shapes with chalk pastel... which worked out a bit better and salvaged the experiment.

less talk, more draw

2009-09-18T15:25:00.005-03:00

just looked back at my older posts and noticed i tend to jabber on. i'm going to attmept to say less about the images/sketches i post... but i can't guarantee that i will always be able to stay shut-up.

the experiments continue though i've not been very good at getting away from simple pencil drawing.

yesterday i said "goodbye" to my old-yellow-bike. gave it to a cousin who just moved to town...

i had that bike since i was 18 and was a little bit into mountain biking. it wasn't getting much use lately because there are two of us in the house and only one bike - so we tend to walk everywhere. we live in a very walkable city currently. soon though, we are moving to a more spread out city and we plan to buy TWO bikes when we get there. more road-style, less chunky-mountainy-style. soooooo i'm pretty excited about that up-coming consumer-adventure (will probably be drawing a lot of "dream-bikes") and it made it not-so-sad to say goodbye to the old yellow avenger. it's going to a good home where it will get more use.

any suggestions on good-value, city-commuter, not-too-fancy bicycles are welcome. holla' at me.

facebook

2009-09-16T12:30:00.003-03:00

a quick sketch of a face off the internet.

i just found out that the life-drawing studio i signed up for has been cancelled due to low interest - so i'm bummed because i was really looking forward to getting out of my hobit-hole and meeting and drawing with other people.

i feel like i'm stumbling around as an image-maker right now. no clear direction where to go but wanting to go somewhere...

ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-09-15T15:29:00.005-03:00

well... i wasn't really happy with the painting and even though it was a learning exercise/gift, i still wanted to get to a happier place with it. so i went back in and made some changes.i do like it more now though i still can't say i love it...

i went over to Salvation Army and found a frame to refurbish. not only is it more economical (only $3 for the frame instead of $20+), i think it has more character than the cheap one i would have otherwise bought at the art store.

i forgot to take a picture but originally the frame was greenish and the mat was dark green. i turned the mat over to show the white side and cut it a little bit bigger using the mat-cutter i have. i painted the frame black and switched the hanging-mechanism from horizontal to vertical and voila! better than new! plus, i have this funny picture of a baby fox now - it came in the frame. it needs a speech bubble but i'm not witty enough to come up with something hilarious.

and here is the final thing, ready to be gifted.

nest not empty

2009-09-15T09:25:00.003-03:00

a little painting for some parents who's youngest (of 6) just left for university. they are feeling a little weirded-out by the "empty nest" but now they have a heart for each child instead of an egg to mind. they are all dolled up because they can go on to go on lots of dates again.

this is my first attempt with watercolours (since childhood). it was harder than i thougt it would be and of course things got muddy and heavy-handed... but i'll keep trying. eventually i'll land on something that works for me.

circle the wagons

2009-09-10T20:29:00.007-03:00

this day is all about circular things.

door jam #3: 31 circles. one for every year of my life. done without tunes.

(side note: i have this "bracelet" - which is acutally a wrist-sized "O-ring" from a tractor. i started wearing it while working on my brother-in-law's farm one summer. that was 13 years ago and i have worn it everyday (24/7) since then - except for during my wedding ceremony (i guess i was trying to look pretty or something). anyway, it seems to be stretching out lately and falls off from time to time. it's probably only a matter of time until it breaks or i lose it... i'm not too sad to see the streak end. it's just one of those "huh" things that are kind of interesting... but maybe this "jam" is a bit of an homage... "the great black circle")

(another sidenote: door jam #2 exists but, although this blog is partly about getting over the fear of sucking boldly and publicly, the truth is - i'm afraid. #2 started fun but got frustrating and ultimately ended up too embarrassingly bad to post.)

here is a different shot of the t-shirt cowl i made yesterday, with a more appropriate shirt/collar pairing. i like it now.

oh nine!

2009-09-09T11:12:00.007-03:00

happy 09.09.09 to you! here's a celebratory doodle.

(trying out my new Pitt Pens and white acrylic ink.)

and here is a recycled t-shirt necklace that i made right quick this morning.

i have seen this idea circulating around the internet and since i was about to get rid of this shirt i thought, "wok da heck!"

it's cute but realistically i don't think i'd wear something like this very often. it's a bit too fiddly and impractical and you'ld always be explaining it to people.

door jam #1

2009-09-04T15:55:00.003-03:00

i tend to draw on a very small scale - partly due to not having much room for large-scale endeavors/storage...

today i rediscovered some large paper (leftover blueprints actually) i'd stashed behind a door and simultaneously realized i could tape said paper on to said door and do some big, messy, throw-away drawing.

so this the result of my 3-song-mark-making-door-jam-session.

the flowery shape was not planned, i just drew for the length of 3 songs.

it reminded me a lot of warm-up drawing exercises we did at school.

moving my whole arm and body was fun.

i'll try to do more of this.

freezer paper shirt

2009-09-02T08:55:00.014-03:00

i've done some silk-screening before but this is my first attempt at a freezer-paper-stencil-shirt. i only needed to make one print so it was the perfect method. it was fun and easy and i would do it again. i won't post a "tutorial" here because they are abundent on the webs but i will offer these process shots.

the shirt is a gift for a friend named Don who is just about to defend his Master's thesis - and who earned the moniker "MastaDon" while posing with the mastodon statue at Mastodon Ridge.

original drawing and stencil prep:

ironing on the stencil:

inked in pink:

OK glitter-letters, time for your close-up:
the final product, modeled by A:

packaged with an optional "G Unit":

signed, sealed, and ready for delivery:
aftermath of the bi-products hanging on the door:
the happy recipient (note the curly hair):

extracurricular activities

2009-09-01T16:10:00.006-03:00

a few illustrations done for friends recently...

straight-forward projects that didn't use much brainpower in the "conceptualizing" phase...

* * * * *

for a contest about re-conceptualizing "Farmer's Markets".

a friend put together an entry that centers around the idea of having neighbourhood produce parties - like a Tupperware party i guess...

i had to do this one pretty fast - no time for redrawing parts i didn't like or fancy colouring...

there is a lot about this drawing that i would have done differently but the friend liked it so that's good!

this one was a wedding present for Andrea & Marcus (obviously).

they put the details of their wedding online and just sent out these postcards invitations.

it isn't very often that i have to make my drawings look like actual, real-life people. i enjoyed the challenge and think there is a likeness!

love, me

2009-08-27T16:29:00.003-03:00

i'm trying to try different things - well, not different from the general art-making crowd but different from my normal ways.

i like how the word "love" came out here but it seemed rather plain on it's own and i ended up adding a scanned texture on the computer (adding a computerized touch is almost impossible for me to resist these days) ... maybe next time i should start with a ground that is more textured on it's own... i have a lot of learn... but i'm so lazy...

real-life still-life

2009-08-21T18:33:00.006-03:00

THURSDAY

I'm not a night-owl so when I'm out-and-about past 10pm it is nearly impossible for me to do anything when I get home. Hence, the first picture today is a shot of some earrings I made - and should have posted -yesterday. They are old chess pieces from a set that was already missing too many pieces to play anymore. Two pawns on one side and the king and queen on the other. I like how they kindof glow.

FRIDAY

Here is the first drawing/study of a still-life I will try to paint.

I recently realized there are several little groupings of interesting objects in my home that would make cute paintings. This group of thrift-store objects has been hanging out in the kitchen for over a week now... but it was only after I started drawing them today that Ace VanJeet pointed out a possible name for the work, "cock ring teaparty"*... so now I'm extra-inspired to complete the work.

*(I haven't drawn it yet but on the tin are 3 people having a tea-party.)

yay blubberries!

2009-08-20T09:04:00.004-03:00

this should have been yesterday's post but we got home late at night after picking blueberries and then dinnering with friends... then we had to load all the berries into the freezer. it is full-tank with berries! seriously, no room for any other foods!

the picking was free and it was hard to leave the field with so many berries left on the bushes. i almost felt guilty about all the free berries i was getting... i was a greedy little blueberry-monster.

i tried to sketch with some berries but apparently high-bush berries are white inside and don't give off much blue... who knew? orrrrr... maybe they weren't infact blueberries afterall....?

commemorative sketch

2009-08-18T14:55:00.007-03:00

i mostly make coffee at home these days so when i decided to splurge on an icey treat this hot, hot day i had a major case of sticker-shock when i went to pay. by the time i added a small tip my medium iced chai latte cost me nearly $5!!!

i decided i better do a quick sketch of the drink to commemorate what is likely the last one of these i'll have in a long, long time. the iced-coffee i made myself at home yesterday was close in quality and probably only cost me around 50 cents... i just can't thoil the extra expense.

i do sometimes wish i had some social-enhancing vice though. smokers and public coffee drinkers have all the fun... you can tell from all the photos of the happy people on the throw-away coffee cups.

(oh yeah... i was away on vacation the last 2 weeks... but i'm back now... um... obviously...)

recent scratchings

2009-07-20T22:16:00.005-03:00

I'm not sure whether this is true but apparently not-so-great tattoo artists are called "scratchers". Sometimes I feel like the illustration-world equivalent of a scratcher. I haven't been pushing my personal development as an artist in recent months (or years??).

In a small attempt to get out of my comfort zone, I have been trying to draw in public more often and even try to catch a quick likeness here and there. I'm so shy of getting caught though... so they are very quick.

I'm also trying to not worry too much about the outcomes of these quick scratchings, knowing if I just do lots and lots of them, eventually I'll get better at them (and it's not like I'm doing them permenantly on skin). So I guess I'm posting some here to hold myself accountable to them and to be able to maybe mark some kind of progression... or something...

He kept looking the other way (to watch the boats) so his profile is mostly made-up and not a great likeness.

We went to the mall to get the husband a tie for his defence. Then he read the textbook of his external examiner in the food court while I caught a few of the senior-snackers in action.

oh! canada...

2009-07-01T10:14:00.000-03:00

so long MJ

2009-06-29T09:32:00.003-03:00

It's way old news by now that Michael Jackson died on Thrusday.

There's nothing interesting for me to say about it. I basically have all the same kindergarden-era moonwalking memories that everyone else my age has.

The overarching feeling for me was summed up in one of my friend's Facebook statuses: "I've never lived in a world without Michael Jackson." For all his greatest and weirdness, he was always there and now his story has come to an end and it's just analysis from now on... and that just feels... weird... sort of the same way you feel when a distant relative dies.

I won't say he died too soon though... maybe not soon enough...

a far superior button

2009-06-26T13:05:00.005-03:00

my drawing brain has been occupied with work-drawing so i did something crafty yesterday instead.

this vintagey-printed shirt from the trift-store had a lot of cuteness-potential but was cursed with very ugly buttons. so i switched them up with some vintage buttons and yellow thread.

i'm quite pleased with the outcome - the new old buttons are a better match.

i think the shirt still needs some darts - to enhance it's cuteness further and really ensure it doesn't hover around in old-lady-territory.

In other news, the world provided me with a place to organize all my textile projects. The dumpster from the building next door practically forced this plastic set of drawers upon me. i came around the corner and tripped over them.

i know it's not pretty but it's fine for the "studio" and it does exactly what i need it to do - which is remind me, with it's see-throughability, that i already have a lot of clothing-fixer-uppers to work on and i should probably curtail my scavenging... especially since, let's face it, i work at home and really don't have occassion to wear most of this stuff anyway...

ahh but it's a hobby...

another rainy day...

2009-06-24T10:17:00.002-03:00

there have been rumours of sunny periods this afternoon. so far they are just rumours. i remain skeptical.

...

agent skully

2009-06-23T10:06:00.003-03:00

I started with so much vim and vigour at this here blog... then the weather got soggy and I reverted to my regular sleeping routine.

...

in the early morning cats

2009-06-17T08:10:00.002-03:00

cat gestures

cat with pillows and disembodied legs

So I'm trying that thing that some writers and artists do where they get up early to work in the pre-distraction hours of the morning (6am is the best I can do though - none of that 4 or 5am business)(6am is pretty early for a person who doesn't have an office/boss/job to report to!!) I just do one hour and then stop for breakfast... and actually, it's more like "play" than "work".

I'm using the time to practice and warm-up the drawing muscles (mainly the brain), experiment with materials I don't normally gravitate towards, and basically just create whatever I want without thinking too hard (worrying/stressing/judging) about what I'm doing.

Yesterday was mostly a wash. The only real accomplishment was that I actually got up and sat near my drawing table. I DID learn that I should unplug the router and leave the radio off. I felt awkward and lame today too - but it was better than yesterday and I had some good flow by the end of the hour. I learned that I really need/would like to get myself to some life-drawing sessions.

Cats don't hold poses for very long unless they are sleeping... and a sleeping black cat in low-light is mostly a lump.

Sayings of Wisdom

2009-06-16T11:28:00.000-03:00

Inspired by the bright pink ninja-slippers I found recently.

(Confucian saying modified slightly by me. Rubbing taken from actual "KUNG FU SHOE".)

...

from cheery to eery in 3 simple steps

2009-06-10T11:48:00.000-03:00

This started out as a doodle of an unknown kid's face that happened to be on my computer screen. It was all rather cheery to begin with but took a dark turn somewhere along the way. I didn't plan it that way.

One time I heard Tony Dekker of The Great Lake Swimmers interviewed about whether he was a sad person because his music is often so sad-sounding. He said he actually feels like a pretty happy person but that's just the way songs tend to come out of him. Maybe this is the same deal.

Musical Downshifting

2009-06-08T21:45:00.000-03:00

Allow me to tell you more about the magic of this ukulele.

The first 3 times I went to look for music to play on the uke here's what happened:

1) I went to a site for a local uke group and they had posted images of about 15 songs, unlabeled. I clicked on one, small, random thumbnail somewhere in the middle of the batch. It was a famous song that happens to contain my very own name (which is not actually "Lucks")!!

2) A few days later I went to another site that had a boggling list of maybe 150 songs. Again, I clicked randomly on any old link. The song that opened was one I had never heard of, "Lydia The Tattooed Lady". Here's the weird thing, I had, earlier that very day gotten a new tattoo from - you guessed it - my tattooist, Lydia - who is a very tattooed lady!

3) I decided, given the Stanley Cup Playoffs are featuring my favourite team (Penguins) and all, that I should learn "The Hockey Song" (by Stompin' Tom). I googled this and clicked on a youtube video near the top of the list. It turned out to be the wrong "Hockey Song" (CBC's old theme song instead) BUT, the guy playing it is AMAZING and and AND!!! he is from Cole Harbour - home of my favourite player on said favourite hockey team!!! What?!?!

I swear I am not making this up - you can ask my significant other. It is just the magic that is the ukulele.

Note: Y'know that movie "A Beautiful Mind" where the crazy guy ends up with his office full of strings connecting various things all over the place?... sometimes I worry I'm a little like that. I see/love "signs and wonders" a lot.

sketchmo x2

2009-06-04T12:57:00.000-03:00

Quick sketch from memory of the man in front of me in line at the coffeeshop this morning. I'm really into men these days. I enjoy observing them - especially in groups. I've spent a lot of my life learning about feminism and womanish struggles. I've kind of overlooked menfolk/man-culture (some of this relates to my interest in sports these days - especially as played by men). I really enjoy the company of men. I love living with "my" man. I like my lady friends just fine and I definitely need a few close ones to talk lady stuff with but in terms of just hanging out and having fun, it is easier with men or a mixed group (maybe this is because I'm a flirt?). I think I'm getting in touch with my "masculine side"... whatever that means.

And here is a herd of joyful elephants.

Fang Q Card***

2009-06-03T16:04:00.001-03:00

Some friends recently went to Romania and were planning to visit the castle of Vlad III, a.k.a. "Dracula".

I jokingly asked them to bring me home a vampire-snowglobe.

Now, these are fairly new friends - not ones I would request a sounvenir from under normal conditions. Also, I don't really collect snowglobes... I'm attracted to them but I never set out to amass a collection of them.... though I seem to own quite a few now... OK... I just realized maybe I DO collect snowglobes...

Getting to the point, I never believed a vampire-themed snowglobe could possibly exist and that's why I so boldly asked for one.

But guess what!

Apparently I have a lot to learn about snowglobes because vampire-themed snowglobes DO exist! One is existing in my kitchen right NOW! And let me tell you, it is the KING of snowglobes. It is snowglobe perfection (see diagram).

It has a pen-holder incorporated in it's design - making it both decorative AND functional!

***I drew this as a "thank you" card. "Fang Q" kinda sounds like "thank you"... vampires have fangs... I know, it's a stretch but at least I'm trying.

a kind-of-a-comic thing

2009-06-02T15:05:00.000-03:00

maybe me

2009-05-21T13:59:00.000-03:00

hello my name is...

2009-05-20T10:06:00.000-03:00

Testing...

2009-05-11T19:59:00.001-03:00

this is about to be a blog...

about to watch the pens/caps game here on lucknow.

Go Pens!