My insides dropped a thousand feet when I heard that Ian Falconer, the set designer and father of Olivia the pig, died on March 7. He was only 63. Falconer created Olivia in his tiny West Village studio apartment back in the late 1990s. It was a tribute to his new niece with the little pug […]
Ian Falconer, Olivia’s Dad
Originally published in March 2023 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Milton Glaser on Attentiveness
Originally published in March 2023 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
“Attentiveness is the great benefit of drawing.” Milton Glaser said that. But becoming attentive to your life is a question for every human, not just artists. To pay attention without preconceptions is massively challenging. As Milton explained it, too much belief spelled the end to observation and understanding. Self-restraint, like listening, is an exercise in […]
Margot and Richie
Originally published in November 2022 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Wednesday Sketches
Originally published in August 2022 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
Friyay
Originally published in August 2022 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Monetize That
Originally published in July 2022 in Blog, Comic, Toronto Illustrators
Be An Agitator
Originally published in July 2022 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Jane Jacobs’ persistence moved mountains. She was dismissed in multiple ways: For not being an academic Of being “a troublemaker” Of being a “liberal agitator” For being a woman And finally, when nothing else worked, for being “wanton.” Yes, even Jane was accused of being an office slut by her managing editor at Iron Age magazine. […]
Does your boss make you work weekends?
Originally published in July 2022 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
It’s important that our bosses and clients don’t set Monday deadlines that pressure us into working on the weekends. (Working for yourself is another story). By speaking up en masse, we can steer our culture into recognizing that weekends are sacred time that are meant to be spent how we see fit: napping, doing laundry, […]
Your ancestors are cheering you on
Originally published in July 2022 in Blog, Surface Design, Toronto Illustrators
After your folks die, you spend years going through what remains. Sometimes what you discover makes you feel as if your relatives are wooting and cheering from the great beyond. To wit: I vaguely recall my family saying that my grandmother owned and operated a small restaurant in London in the 1950s. The Pier Restaurant […]
