The Avianettes: Cassowary and Booted Racket-tail Hummingbird

The Avianettes. 7 ladies who share an unbreakable bond with their avian companions. Here are the first two completed.

I took these pictures before I put on the gloss varnish because I just couldn't wait to see them on the wall.



These were the newest pieces on sale at Bazaar of the Bizarre. I'll be posting the pics from the table next.

Crockenspiel And Her Keeper print

Off to war, off to the market square, off to get some milk from the corner store. It's all the same to Crockenspiel and her Keeper.

Hand-vectored from the original on vinyl record.

Come see this and other items for sale at Bazaar of the Bizarre!

5 x7 Prints: Hibou À Trois Têtes and Bliss Listenings

The swift-legged, 3-headed Ground Owl uses all 6 eyes to keep tabs on predator and prey. Though flightless, it will climb trees with great speed utilizing 3 beaks and nimble toes to gain a better view before scurrying down to the ground to pursue it's target. A rare treat for birdwatchers but beware, they are extremely unpredictable despite their charm.


Second is a detail shot from a family portrait I did for me and my girls.

Come see these and other items for sale at Bazaar of the Bizarre!

5 x 7 Prints: Busy Morning

Busy Morning

I will be selling 5x7 prints like the one above at Bazaar of the Bizarre this Sunday (@ Pia Bowman Ballet School which looks like a great venue).

"Busy Morning" is actually from an eventual comic starring Crushida, who has appeared in a previous switch plate wearing a much more complicated outfit. Here, she is enjoying her morning stroll to work as best she can. She normally doesn't carry a shoulder full of brand new samurai swords to work, she's more a hand-to-hand kind of lady, but her first case today is a couple of blood-thirsty squid-men picking off cyclists in the Don Valley. You might ask, "why would you need 4 samurai swords? I mean, you can only use 2 at the most, unless you're a squid-man." Well the answer is very simple. Squid-men are, as you would expect, extremely grabby and sometimes it's just easier to grab a new one straight away than to try and take the one you lost back.

I'll post the rest of the 5x7's over the next 5 days.

Bazaar of the Bizarre

I am pleased as Punch to announce that I will be one of the lucky artists involved with "Bazaar of the Bizarre"! Check the facebook page for all the nitty gritty details. Below you will find a list of the staggering talent that will be peddling their wares at this eccentric event. I'm very excited and I'll be posting some new items that will be available at the show including 5 x 7 prints that I hand-vectored from some of the switch plates I've done. The posts will be coming more quick and dirty as the show grows closer so stay tuned.

Here's the Vendors List:
(I found links for as many as I could)

Plastik Wrap
Kaotic Ekko's
Clockwork Zero
Random Pretty things
ChiZine Publication
Beat Black
Dirty Little Secrets
Eden Bachelder Fine Art
Imaginary Thomas
Sci Feye Candy
The Original Face.ca
BinarySoul Design
To Die For Designs
Roxy Swing Creations
Skye Castle Publishing Co.
Plastik Haar/ Neko designs
Vintagelove
Munkybuns
Sew Scary
The Circus Store
Sadistic Vanity
The Generation
The Gnarled Branch
Sick on Sin
Garden Dub
Dreaming Tree Paper Company
Zom-b
Zirco Circus
MISSLEXIA
Creepy Christine
Jenuinekraft by Jenny Kuri
Papersnake Jewelry
Pamela Williams
Marionette
Epidemic Clothing Collective
BitchCraft
Cyclops and Owl ------------------<(Me!)
Positive Spin
Storming the base

Got their hair did #8

Here's the 8th and final piece. All of these were in the Movies and Makers show at Fox Theatre.
This one in particular went to the event's chief organizer, Lisa Pijuan-Nomura of Girl can Create.

She is giving this lady a very happy home.

#7
#6
#5
#4 SOLD!
#3
#2
#1

Got their hair did #7

Isn't she darling?

#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1

Shell Shock Couture

I'm obsessed with fashion far more deeply than most people know. And though I'm interested in all levels from ready-to-wear to couture I'm drawn towards the more drastic and dramatic designers like Viktor and Rolf, Christopher Kane, Jeremy Laing and Alexander Mcqueen. I love details. Any time I can get lost in drawing patterns or textures I'm overjoyed. You can see some of that here. Accessories are important. Cuffs, helmets, hats, goggles, boots. All are welcomed with open arms.

SOLD

2010, your front porch is delightful. May I come in?

What better way to start 2010 (a new decade!) than to be a month behind on the blog? Well, thankfully it's not due to lack of things to share. So much in fact that I don't no where to begin.

Switch Plate - "Surprise, lizard-lips"

He thought he had seen the last of her when he stepped out to grab some Pall Malls from the chemist's on the corner and never went back. But Clara was clever and determined to change his mind. He shed his skin so many times. And without fail there would be Clara lurking in his shadow with husk in hand.

Available at the CYCLOPS AND OWL STORE

Sneak Peeks

These are images from a project I started back in August and have returned to in the past week. The time away from it has been good for it I think and it will be better than if I'd finished it back then. I'll leave details for completion.

Pop and Strut

This switch plate is SOLD!

But I will be vectoring it in the future so you will see this stomping vixen popping up elsewhere for certain.

Next is the song she's stomping to. It stomps. Then it waves a finger at you in a "Tsk Tsk" kind of way. Then it skips and bounds right out the back door and leaves before you even realize your car keys are missing.

I've started writing lyrics and melodies to a lot of these songs. They always felt like they were little stories but now it's time that I make them more concrete and potentially ruin them forever.

But I can't wait and I'll always have a fondness for their original unsung state.

Enjoy!

POP AND STRUT by ROMANTIS


It has also been placed in the SOUND ADVICE DEVICE beneath the header for your convenience

The Bookmarks

They've finally arrived. Six Bookmarks printed from the original 8 x 3 inch plexi-glas pieces on heavy archival matte paper. The colours turned out great. The sass of these beauties remains.

Let them guard your page!

For sale at the CYCLOPS AND OWL STORE

Departure, Fulfillment, Return

I had so much fun at this show. I met a lot of talented and friendly individuals who I hope I'll be seeing more of in the future.

Here's the blog for the event: http://www.movies-and-makers.blogspot.com/

Above is my display at the event. Some of the stuff in that shot is hot, hot, HOT! As in new and as in saucy. They will all make a proper appearance on the blog and be for sale at the Cyclops and Owl Store very shortly.

This was my first sale and it was a real delight. Nothing sold like hotcakes but I never expected that. What I did expect, and what I got, was an up close and interactive experience with the public. It was exhilarating. With gallery shows I've found the interaction with the public is rather passive. You are not standing right next to your artwork (and it would feel so awkward for you and the viewer if you were). In the setting of the sale you are literally standing behind what you do. I was absolutely chuffed.

I'll save sharing the myriad reactions to my things for later but they were pretty satisfying. And I don't just mean the most receptive ones. Some of the best responses were rooted in confusion.

I had not really taken stock of the pieces I had amassed over the past while. It felt great to address the family as a whole, I guess. And I was proud to stand by them. I was also proud to have my cohort forever stand by me. She is my marvelous muse and it was totally icing on top to have her there with me.

I'm definitely going to chase this wonderful feeling of getting my world more exposed in the real world. So simple, right?

Thanks to all involved for putting on this show. Especially Lisa Pijuan-Nomura of Girl can Create and Andy Willick and Daniel Demois of The Fox Theatre.

"...If you're a PRO" Coloured Print

Prints, prints, prints!

Prints of the above illuminated manuscript will be available at the Movies and Makers arts and crafts show.

This phrase seems kind of silly out of context. It's fairly silly in context, actually. But it's a pretty satisfying ideal. Look, if you're going to be serious about something fucking buckle down and sharpen your steel. Have some finesse, though. Don't be a clutz. Stay graceful. No one likes a butterfingers. Firm grip. Be decisive.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

MOVIES & MAKERS!

I am very proud to announce that I will peddling my wares at the Fox Theatre in Toronto on Nov. 21st in the first ever Movies & Makers arts and crafts show.

Here's the blog with all the details: http://www.movies-and-makers.blogspot.com/

The big finale of the day is a screening of "Handmade Nation", a documentary chronicling the rise of the DIY, arts and crafts movement across America. I saw it when it made its Canadian debut and it is not to be missed. It features among many other DIY luminaries, The Little Friends of Printmaking.

I'll have originals, prints, switch plates, bookmarks and one of a kind buttons.

So please, come by and pick up something with a sexy lady on it and stay for a fantastic film that will leave you with fingers itching to create!

The Visitor and The Ranter

So first up is a commission for my friend, PJ. It's a depiction of his dream which he described to me so long ago he had forgotten it. I embellished it a bit. In the dream he said that he had a tinfoil hat and people started bringing him things. All PJ requested was that a wolf be involved. So I made his tinfoil hat extra extravagant and had him intercepted by a gift-giving messenger from some wolf-riding amazon race.

For the people out there who have dreams they would like interpreted please contact me about doing a commission. Much of my work is inspired by dream-like worlds. Worlds where pants aren't always necessary and there's nothing but trouble to get into.


Next is a clip from the field recordings I make while en route to work or home or wherever. Candid crazies, arguments, or any sound I happen upon that gives me pause.

This particular clip is from a very lucid ranter I heard on the street car. He seemed to be addressing not only those on the street car but the city of Toronto as a whole.

TORTURED---


I've provided a transcript of the rantings below so you can follow along? Just in case his genius was not immediately evident.

"...somehow are awarded some of my qualities unto yourselves? I don't think so. I think you're vile. All my qualities tell me you're vile. I tell you I'm being tortured and your like, 'that's what I said. You know?' There's a frickin' difference actually. I have a ludicrous pain tolerance, you might not, eh?"

"No, no, you're not allowed to make fun of me, eh? You're only allowed to send me those fake concerned looks that are more insulting and scarier than anything imaginable. 'Look at me! I can fabricate a fake concerned look. I'm like a George Bush.' Eh?"

"I've been studying reasoning my entire life, Toronto. My entire life. And your arguments as a population are moronic at best. And it would require torture for you to nod 'yes' to those moronic arguments. Are you being tortured, Toronto? Are you just sick and pathetic? Uh? You're just greedy little bastards. I kind of fantasize about being tortured instead of being greedy little nothings."

And then he got off. Wow.

The Queen's Accusation REVISED!

So this is an older piece posted before that has been revamped. When a friend came over and thought the queen was a fly I knew she needed to be updated. It's one of those weird mindset's you get in where something seems like it should be obvious but is clearly just a projection. So here she is, with an addition that, I hope, makes her more bee-like.

She's also on sale HERE at the Cyclops and Owl etsy store.

What a rental.

Alright. I'm not one to be loyal to brands but I love Budget when it comes to renting a car. I love Budget because I hate Discount.

When I arrive to claim my reservation at Discount they say they do not have the car I have reserved but they can offer me a Mini Cooper or a BMW, both of which can not be insured through Discount's insurance policies. They say I will have to call my credit card provider and arrange my own insurance which will, no doubt, be more expensive than the Intermediate car.....which I RESERVED. They say they MIGHT have some cars coming in later, maybe --- they never know. Yes, that's what they said. So I took the subway to the place I had initially planned on driving to. Then 4 hours later they call saying they finally have a car for me. The above was drawn on the subway on my way back across town to pick up my quaint little Chevy Cobalt with nostalgic manual locks (they still make those?) The drawing made me feel much better.

I apologize for the rant but if one person steers clear of Discount then it was worth it!

As a comparison, every time I have reserved an Intermediate car from Budget in the past year they also didn't have that particular car ready for me when I arrived. But THEY gave me something like a Dodge Charger for the price of the Intermediate car every time. The End.

Got their hair did #6

#6 in the series of 8. The ol' Swoopty-Floop.

#5
#4
#3
#2
#1

Got their hair did #5

#5 in the series of 8. B-b-b-b-bangs!

#4
#3
#2
#1

Got their hair did #4

SOLD!
#4 in the series of 8. No Bump-Its here. Bouff-Its, maybe.

#3
#2
#1

Also, this is apparently my 100th post! To celebrate I will try to get to sleep before 3 tonight. I'm not promising anything.

Got their hair did #3

#3 in the series of 8. Pop them collars, you clever minx!

#3
#2
#1

Got their hair did #2

#2 in the series of 8. There must have been some serious hairspray tycoons in the 60s. Good-bye Ozone!

Full story here

Got their hair did #1

Over the years I've accumulated a lot of unique surfaces that I have left unfinished or unbegun. It ends now. From an old Operation game board to a raw matryoshka nesting doll, (both now in progress, thank heavens) they start to haunt you. Once they were fiercely inspiring but left to grow dusty on the shelf they become ugly goblins, mocking you as you stroll by.

What the piece above (about 2.5'' square) was painted on is definitely from the crypt. This series is painted on half the stained glass pieces from a salvaged hanging lampshade. It was grabbed one night on a walk--- from what was technically garbage (garbage picker!). I brought it home and quickly dismantled it with some tin-snips. The pieces have been in a drawer long enough to be moved to a new apartment and I moved almost 2 years ago, so, SHIT!

60's Hairdos!

There are 8 in all. They will be sold separately in the Cyclops and Owl etsy store once the hangers are applied.

The Cyclops and Owl Gentlemen's Club: Vonnegut

Did I say daily posts? Such is life. Quit living in the past.

Now. Here is the first of a series. The Cyclops and Owl Gentlemen's Club. Inductees drawn in sultry red with my parallel pen.

The first is a posthumously inducted juggernaut of the written word, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I fell in love with Vonnegut rather late in life. In highschool my only exposure to his genius was the short story "Harrison Bergeron" which I loved but was merely a inkling of the love affair that was to come over a decade later. I wish I had his novels to escape into back then. Instead I've gorged myself on his novels over the past 3 years and I'm still insatiable. There's just no one quite like him. So it goes.

All of the inductees will be made available through my etsy store eventually so stay tuned!