Oh goodness, lots and lots to discuss here… Plenty has happened lately, INCLUDING my recent move to Toronto! That’s right, total re-location! Lots of changes and therefore not as many posts as I’d like. But unpacking is very nearly finished, the place has been painted, and my studio has been set up! How about that? Now that things have started to calm down, regular posts will return in February! I, for one, can’t wait.

This is it. The one. The tip of the top. The creme de la creme.

Ok, enough colloquialisms… but this IS pretty exciting. Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, is THE FIRST Gothic Horror. Oh yeah, this is where it aaaaaall started. Well, theoretically. But generally speaking and historically speaking,  this is the beginning of the genre. Whether or not it sparked the genre, or was simply the first of a movement that was starting regardless, who knows.

Either way, this is the big one.

Flourished story, flourished cover.

The Gothic text was a dream to carve. Seriously. I was also watching Star Trek the Motion Picture while I did it (the old one, not the new one… you know, with VGER. Oh man…), so I guess everything just really came together that day.

Haha, does it take away from the image when I reveal stuff like that?

Oh my. Lots of stuff. This past weekend, I was all set up at the Queen West Art Crawl in Toronto. Which was a lot of fun… other than an event like that you don’t really get the chance to stand there with your work and see how people react to it. Pretty cool. And there were lots of nice people, too. Aaaand the weekend before, I was all set up and stuff at the Sunnyside Art Show and Sale on the Lakeshore in Toronto. And there were lots of nice people there, too! Oh my. Lots of stuff.

And speaking of stuff, my back-log of prints to post has gotten pretty big, so let’s just jump right back in, shall we?

Now The Devil-Fish isn’t actually the title of a book, but rather a chapter from The Sea-Travelers by Victor Hugo. But that’s ok cause it’s only a half-size book cover. And it’s only a half-size cover because I originally made this print to be part of a print exchange, and 3.5 x 5 inches was the maximum print size. Pretty convenient considering my regular book covers are all 5 x 7.

Anyhow, I printed the editions on a big sheet of Stonehenge paper and cut them out after. I’ve done a second run of it since, so take a look!

Had to allow for a 5 x 7 sheet size...

The page in the corner turned into bookmarks...

Hey! And here we go!

Once in a while (so like twice, ever), I get asked about my lino print working process. AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS that I have some photographic evidence of just that. Believe it or not, it’s actually pretty involved, so get comfy!

Technically speaking, step 1 would be reading the book. But I don't have any pictures of that. Let's just start here.

First I start sketching out some ideas… this was the beginnings of Kipling’s “The Phantom Rickshaw.” I work out the format and how I want the type to look. Here you can see a lot of my research drawings. I like to go at it with as much background as I can. There’s even a sketch of Rudyard!

Insert Caption Here

Uh, next I do a final drawing, and then transfer it to my rubber lino block (which isn’t reeeally a “linoleum” block at all) and then I carve the crap out of it! I don’t think that’s too vague…

Hey, haven't you posted this before? What a ripoff...

Aaaand then the printing! I think I’ll post a picture of my bookmarks sometime soon before I run out of them, but there’s a bit of a peek at how they work in this photo. How do I pack SO MUCH into one post? My goodness.

Well, there you go! More or less. Some need more sketching than others, but this one is a pretty good example of whats it is thats I do.

Wow, it has been a looooong time since I’ve posted any paintings on here… So why don’t I do just that, hmm?

Back in May (I think), Jessica and I had this grand idea to lure friends to our house with a promise of lunch in return for a little modeling. You know, like dinner and a movie, except instead of dinner it was lunch and instead of a movie it was a portrait. Makes sense if you think about it…

Anyhow, long story short, only the first one turned out to include lunch, the second was a light dinner, and the third I think just a cup of coffee (and I might have been the only one to have any). But in the end we ended up with four obliging friends and three paintings before the whole idea, uh, fizzled out… and here they are!

Ms. Jaime Stief and a partial second-pose

So Jaime was the first. All three ended up being about two hour sessions. Being the first though, this one is a little rough, but Jaime’s already agreed to do another sometime. Haven’t you Jaime? (blackmail, yessss.)

Fusca and Fischer, the two Dans

This one was a TWO-FER!!

Ms. Saroja Ponnambalam

And finally was Saroja! This one is weird cause I swear that depending on when you look at it, she’s either got a smile or a sneer. I think it may have to do with the fact that we were watching some questionable TV at the time. I knew I should have brought Star Trek…