If planting a garden is an expression of hope, so is making art.
Drawing our fav pets with Nadifa, Isorine and the young women of The Esplanade.
Organized by @JamiiEsplanade.
Happy Pride!
June 24, 2022
During Pride Month, I’m remembering Keith Haring, one of the gentlest humans to have walked this earth.
We owe it to ourselves to keep his irrepressibly hopeful art dances going.
Cue up Keith’s friend, Madonna:
Everybody spread the word
We’re gonna have a celebration
All across the world
In every nation
It’s time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day to come together to release the pressure
We need a holiday!
Happy Pride!
Mid-Century Modern Memories
June 21, 2022
My latest commission is personal for two reasons:
1. It’s a digital watercolour drawing of a mid-century modern brick bungalow that my dad, Trevor, designed back in 1966. The home was demolished by a developer in 2017 and replaced with an out-of-the box McMansion. Thomas Allen (whose devotion to Hamilton’s heritage is beyond beyond) described the house in The Inlet as having “a tranquil courtyard, barrel-vaulted roof with celestial windows, mid-century interior, and austere brick exterior, [all] strong symbols of modernism.”
2. My client (the son of the original owner) grew up in this house and was my neighbour. We played dolls for hours in the grassy meadow between our houses. And we are friends to this day.
I am pouring today’s sun-dappled gorgeosity into my work. I like quietly drawing away on a sunny Saturday. I don’t feel the need to be playing outside. Doing this work brings to mind what author Susan Cain says about life: that joy and sorrow are forever paired and will carry us forward.
Shoe History
June 9, 2022
From Rome’s gladiator sandal to Moscow’s Ballet Russes satin slipper to New York’s ribboned espadrille on Slim Keith to Amazon’s ankle strap flats by Dream Pairs, the ancient through line in shoe design is unmistakable.
A Visit to Manet’s Studio
June 2, 2022
I went to Edouard Manet’s studio this morning to learn his direct way of painting flowers.
Illness is keeping him away from Parisian society (his definition of torture), so his friends are bringing him bouquets from his favourite florists. No one does cut flowers like the city of Paris.
Manet places the bouquets all over his studio, moving with the raking sunlight to capture each arrangement as it takes its turn in the spotlight. I bring him lilacs from my Roncesvalles neighbourhood in Toronto, and he thinks they stand up well with their French cousins.
Manet shows me how to lay down a wet tobacco-coloured undercoat, then how to outline the arrangement using a dry brush loaded with white. Most of all, he shows me how to paraphrase with lots of dash and drag brush movements.
He’s too proud and polite to admit he’s dying from syphilis. I can say it, though. It’s 2022, not 1880. His despair over his impending death intensifies his expressiveness and engagement with the flowers.
I say goodbye for the last time, hoping I have absorbed some of his sparkle and constructive wit with paint.
This painting was inspired by the book, “The Last Flowers of Manet” by Robert Gordon and Andrew Forge (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986). I remember picking it up during a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.
A Power Shift in Storytelling
May 9, 2022
There’s a reason why brands have thin, prickly skin right now.
#ContentMarketing #NFTs
Working For Free
April 13, 2022
Building your castle on someone else’s land is deceptively simple and attractive … until the landlord changes the terms on you.
Etsy sellers are facing a 30% hike in their transaction fees.
The plugins exist to go out on your own.
Sure, it will take time, but what you get back in pride and ownership is priceless.
Choose Your Life
April 12, 2022
A friend of Benjamin’s parents took him aside and bestowed upon him his best piece of career advice.
“Just one word, Benny: Rebar.”
#Toronto #CondoBoom #ShitTonOmoney #ChooseYourLife
