More Current Concerns

So far this blog has been documenting things that happened years prior to any of the posts; this time I wanted to mention things I'm currently working on/doing. As it stands I work full-time at an art supplies store in dowtown Toronto. After work I paint in my third-floor-bedroom in a house I share with my mother.

Italian Nightscape

I'm painting a 24" x 36" painting based on a photo I took. The photo was taken in Florence at dusk, on the South side of the Arno. Something about it summarizes my experience there in a way I can't put into words. OMG! I guess that's why I'm trying to paint it!
That goes for most of what I do. In crude terms, I'm trying to "render the emotional and psychological content a certain image suggests to me." -Tim Comrie

Short Film

I'm also working on a short film with two of my friends in which I play the protagonist. It's hard to find days when we're all available but we've finished the script (well, Nat did) and started filming and I'm excited about the long and terrible road ahead.

EP

I recorded the fourth track of an EP I'm working on that should provide proof that I am in fact a unique and industrious rapper with a broad vocabulary. I can't say when it will be done but it's getting there. I want to put on at least one more song but I'm not happy with the beat I've been performing it over.

Comic Book

When I got back from Florence my friend lent me some comics by Joe Matt. For those of you who don't know Joe Matt, he's a Philadelphia-born comic artist who spent several years living and producing autobiographical comics in Montreal and Toronto for an independent publisher called Drawn and Quarterly. I can't overstate how honest his comics are. No don't make me.

I loved them so much that I immediately got back into comics and started my own.

A page from his last book:


Another Canadian comic that got me excited was Pope Hats by Ethan Rilly from Montreal; his line walks...the line...between controlled and expressive like a lily opening for a rock-hard shaft.

http://www.popehats.ca/

Right now my comic's in the vein of Woody Allen, Garry Shandling, Joe Matt, R. Crumb and Harvey Pekar in that I'm speaking frankly to the (")camera(") about my issues in a delightful, charming way. I think other influences and approaches will surface as I get more into it.

Bjork's Retirement from Acting

Some recent painting sales have reminded me that other people see value in what I'm doing and that it makes sense for me to keep painting my main focus. It's what I'm best at and I would like to one day have savings.

Ideal Work

There were times when I was out of work for extended periods of time during the past year. I did a lot of modest commercial art and commissions for modest pay to stay afloat but I learned that I need a regular job to stay focused on my dream one. Ideally I'd like to be able to work part-time at a standard job and work on my paintings the rest of the time but I'm nowhere near that option right now. The important thing is to not treat dreams like dreams, I think.

Florence

I actually did very little painting my first year back at OCAD after my two-year hiatus; I focused on finishing my liberal studies and doing Integrated Media electives.

LATER:

The most involved I've ever been in my painting was when I decided to apply for OCAD's Florence Program; I think it was the best move I've ever made. I was accepted into the program and found myself living in Italy for my Thesis year.

When I first got there making art was the furthest thing from my mind--I was too overwhelmed by what I saw. I'm not a good enough writer to describe what it was like to land in a place like Florence so I'm not going to try.
Anyway, I'd never been so inspired as in that strange and beautiful place and I was ecstatic with how it affected my content and aesthetic.


I also did a performance and a video and I'll post these either here or on the website I'm working on. Godspeed.