They Don't Make 'Em Like That No More

So, heading into the home stretch of my upcoming CD (that has been "nearly done" for the last 3 years!) and am now about to begin designing the cover art. I have been surfing the net looking at classic examples of "good" album covers, which includes the usual: David Bowie, "Aladddin Sane"; Led Zeppelin "Houses of The Holy"; Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon", etc. I look at these things to try to find examples of good graphic design, but also for inspiration in finding a title (I think I have settled on "Heart Full of Thumbs" --in reference to my clumsy, but heartfelt demeanor, and also a lyric from one of my songs)

Here are a few gems that never made any "best of" list. I think you'll find them as noteworthy, and inspiring as I did. I found them on this great little website called PopCult Mag.
















Ok, so I am not so serious about a couple of them, but I do really love this one:



Love to hear it sometime...

Where to put this sadness?

I am at a loss to describe how yesterday's fire on Queen West is making me feel...

We were driving home from the cottage, on the way to the Radiant Dark opening, blissfully unaware that the event had already been cancelled as the entire block was on FIRE...Made a chance phone call, whereupon Andrée hesitantly informed us about the fire, and then we quickly killed the ipod and turned to CBC. ...Disbelief followed, with a flurry of emotion-filled questions: My god, was anyone hurt?(no, but many without homes and jobs today) is the Burroughes building--a gorgeous and very old 6 story warehouse-- safe?(yes) Will there be smoke/water damage to the pieces in the show? (unbelievably no) What will Shawn and Julie do-- they have put so much effort into this show for the last few months?! (put on a brave face, carry on as best as possible, and collect donations for the fire victims) What will happen to this unique and iconic stretch of Queen Street? (too soon to say) Will some one swoop in and turn it into a mall or ugly condo? (entirely possible) Will the Radiant Dark show be cancelled completely? (no, it opened tonight instead)

As I walked down Queen today, on my way to help set up for the opening, I passed along the north side of the street, which is all fenced off as fire and demolition crews continue to clear away and extinguish smoldering debris. I passed at least 50 people, all standing looking worriedly into the devastation. Some with cameras, some without, and a few with that half-hidden, morbidly excited look people get when they come face to face with some one else's disaster. People came and went all day long. I would say hundreds of people came to the site today. I could see them from the 3rd floor window of the Burroughes building, where I spent my day.

I wondered if like me, they were wondering why they felt so grieved by the sudden loss of this stretch of our city. I can't really explain it--I do spend a lot of time in this area, but I live and work quite a few blocks in either direction. Yet, I do feel as though a vital part of the city-- my city-- has died. As Andrée put it: watching the news today, we recognize many of the people being interviewed about their homes and stores that are now gone. Literally. Therefore, their sadness is, in a way, our sadness.

I also had the strange notion today that if (god forbid) some one had died in this fire, we would know better what to do to cope with these feelings. We would bring flowers, set up makeshift memorials, write letters filled with wishes and memories and place them at the site of the tragedy. Basically, we would grieve.

But I don't really know how to grieve this fire.



image by JL1967 from www.torontoist.com

BE VERY CAREFUL when you make art!!!!

This is my worst fear! Very, very strange.

Visual Procrastination

In the city, it's easy to think that strangers have no time or care for one another...thinking about road rage, bystander apathy, people who bud the line in grocery stores...So it's easy to get jaded about human behaviour. But then something always happens that reminds me humans are actually wired for good and here is my one paragraph reason why:

I am working on two shows right now, both of which are loading in this weekend: Radiant Dark at the Burroughes Building and Come Up To My Room At The Gladstone. For both shows, I needed not only my designed piece, but images for various press kits and whatnot. My apartment is very dark, and I like to photograph pieces in context, so a little help was needed. So I asked around, and to my surprise, a variety of people came to my rescue, from great neighbours to complete strangers. Thanks to all of you: Cate, Ricky, Roger and Abby, for lending me your homes, faces and lapels.

I will post the deets of both shows in my next post.


Arctic Bookends:






Comfort Food: Maple Cookie Brooches:




On Ricky, Owner and proprietor of Shai's Cafe, in Kensington:


Roger, Owner and proprietor of Flashback and King of Kensington:


And Abby, Beautiful girl I see frequently in my hood, who was "grouchy" today, but still smiled for the camera:



Thanks again, you wonderful people!

And here's the french toast I ate for breakfast today. After two bites, my companion pointed out how very...appropriately shaped they were, given today's date.

Little Miss Everybody's Business

I had a small but strange experience yesterday that I can't get out of my mind.

There's a man here in the market who I see almost everyday, who I have never actually met. He is usually doing something industrious, sweeping or shoveling sidewalks, delivering things from one place to another, and I get the feeling he is an "odd-jobber" who probably keeps himself off the street with these little jobs for the local merchants. He seems well liked; he is of average looks and has long, slightly messy hair usually pulled back in a ponytail. He's in his late 30s, and has round, pink cheeks, and the appearance of someone who might smoke, drink and party quite heavily, or who until fairly recently, gave his vices a lot of freedom.

For no good reason, I have these opinions of him, and for no good reason, I think he is probably someone I might like, if I knew him, though he might not like me. In some ways he reminds me of my dad and his buddies, who tend to be gruff and rather scary-looking dudes on the outside, with big, jello-pudding centers. They were the kinds of guys who got up to a whole lot of no-good in their younger years, but who have mellowed out and aged enough so as to no longer cause a single eyelash to bat at the customs counter when they drive across the border.....much to their disappointment.

Anyhow, yesterday I saw this familiar character staggering up Augusta, dragging a large snow shovel, shaking violently, moaning and obviously in distress. Everybody was looking at him, and I realized he was having some kind of seizure. Without thinking about it, I walked over to him and said "Hey, are you okay? Can I help you" and placed my mittened hand on his back to steady him. He looked (and felt) like he could topple over himself at any second onto the cold, hard concrete. Of it's own volition, my hand started rubbing big circles on his back, the way they would if I was comforting a friend who was upset or feeling sick. He immediately stopped shaking, and came out of his seizure. He mumbled "ya, I'm fine" and walked hastily away from me.

I was instantly appalled by my actions. I must have embarrassed him terribly. People who experience seizures often feel nothing stronger than embarrassment afterward, and I should have just watched him from a distance and only jumped in if he was in real danger. ....Or did I do the right thing? I am not sure how quickly I realized it was a seizure. For a split second, many other possibilities went through my brain too: he has just been hit by a car, got beat-up, is over-dosing.... All I wanted to do was stop him from falling over and cracking his teeth or skull.

I know my actions were pretty much involuntary... I don't know if I could have reacted in any other way. I don't know if I should have reacted in some other way. What do you think? Should I be training myself to ignore these kinds of situations? It's not the first time I have done something like that, gotten "involved"... As of yet I haven't been punched in the face for my obtrusions, but perhaps I've been lucky so far?