map-making for shoegazers

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 25

2011-11-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 24

2011-11-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 23

2011-11-03T00:01:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 22

2011-10-29T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 21

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 20

2011-10-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 19

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 18

2011-10-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 17

2011-10-04T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 16

2011-09-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 15

2011-09-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 14

2011-09-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 13

2011-09-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 12

2011-09-10T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 11

2011-09-05T13:18:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 10

2011-08-31T12:11:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT.9

2011-08-26T01:03:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 8

2011-08-21T00:57:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 7

2011-08-16T00:01:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 6

2011-08-11T00:01:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 5

2011-08-06T00:01:00.003-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 4

2011-08-01T12:33:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 3

2011-07-27T12:28:00.001-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 9

2011-07-26T00:01:00.002-04:00

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 2

2011-07-22T12:11:00.006-04:00

Last summer I went out to the Oregon Coast and had a day to wander around. I was struck by the cliffs, and the patterns found there.

I came back with this set of notations about the landscape - especially how in some cases it falls away leaving radial pattern behind, scattering out toward the edges.

LOOKING AT THINGS PT. 1

2011-07-09T14:53:00.002-04:00

Podcast

2011-07-01T15:29:00.004-04:00

I recorded a podcast with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery the week the biennial opened and got to talk about the Chatter Mark drawings. All of the artists in the exhibition have recorded content - have a look!

Advanced Coverage of KW|AG's 5th Biennial in Canadian Art

2011-06-10T08:40:00.007-04:00

KW|AG Biennial No. 5 - The Black and the White: An Allegory of Colour

2011-06-01T22:50:00.009-04:00

It's going to be a busy month. The TOAE 50th anniversary exhibition opens on Thursday June 9. Within a week of that, my work will be installed as part of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery's 5th Biennial, curated by Robert Enright.

I'm incredibly excited to be included in an exhibition with this group of artists in a space that I am quite fond of (and very familiar with). Robert Enright will be hosting a curator's talk of the exhibition on Thursday June 16 at 7 p.m., and the opening reception happens on Friday June 17 at 7 p.m. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood, please drop by!

In the meantime, here is a brief statement about the exhibition that I pulled from KW|AG's website:

When we use the expression, 'it's black and white,' we speak through a scrim of certainty. We know what we mean; we can easily assign value; we can even remember a time when the words had a moral connotation. But what if the terms are constantly moving, what if their meanings are contingent and provisional, maybe even reversible? What if they are susceptible to all kinds of blur?

The twelve artists who are exhibiting in the 5th KW|AG Biennial recognize the transitory nature of the black and the white. Within what is a limited palette, they have been able to make myriad, and dramatic, meanings. Things are what they seem, and then they are much more. It's in this expansive sense that I am using the term allegory. Allegory is supplement and excess and replacement. When we see a black fountain are we looking at a public monument moved indoors, or a symbol of the politics of oil? Are porcelain bones about making or disappearing? What do portraits of people who have their eyes closed tell us about them, and about us? Who is looking the hardest; who understands the most? What do dead animals in snow tell us about the world we live in, and the world we are leaving for others to live in? What is a painting that is a photograph that is a drawing? What happens when something never stops being replicated? What is black and white?

Looking Back at the Future: 50 Years of Art at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.

2011-06-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

I am participating in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibitions's 50th anniversary exhibition which runs from June 8 to July 16 at FCP Gallery in First Canadian Place.

The exhibition has been curated by Jennifer Rudder and features work by 50 artists who have participated in the TOAE and there are a few heroes included in there - which I won't name at this time.

The cocktail reception and fundraiser is taking place from 6:00 until 9:00 on Thursday June 9. Tickets cost $50, and proceeds go to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. If you're free that evening and want to support a great cause, please consider attending.

I have attached more information below:

50 Years of Art: Looking Back at the Future
Exhibition and Fundraiser June 9th FCP Gallery

Celebrating its 50th year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE) is Canada's largest juried outdoor art exhibition. Taking place every July on Nathan Phillips Square, it is one of Toronto's most vibrant public social events, and an economic and inspirational benefit to Ontario's creative and cultural communities. Since 1961, over 20,000 artists have shown their work at this annual art event in Toronto.

TOAE is kicking-off its Golden Anniversary festivities with a retrospective exhibition titled 50 Years of Art: Looking Back at the Future alongside a cocktail reception and silent auction on June 9th at FCP Gallery in First Canadian Place.

Curator, Jennifer Rudder, is a former TOAE Board Member, Jury Chair and Executive Director. She has selected innovative award-winning artists who push the boundaries in their work by breaking out of medium-specific conventions and restrictions. Unconventional pioneers in their field over the last fifty years, these artists have initiated shifts in the way we view art and craft in Canada today.

CTV Toronto's News Reporter, Natalie Johnson, will be the Emcee for the evening. Guests will enjoy music by Richard Whiteman, enjoy award-winning art and participate in a silent auction of small-format artworks. Catered by Allen's Restaurant, tickets are $50 per person.

Celebrated glass artist, June Pham has created a limited edition vase of etched and blown glass in commemoration of TOAE's 50th anniversary. Each elegant vase is unique and available for $150 plus HST.

The sponsors for the retrospective exhibition and fundraiser include CTV, First Canadian Place, Brookfield, Government of Ontario, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Skylar Media Group, Steam Whistle Brewery and The Cupcakery.

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is a charitable organization supported by volunteers active in arts and corporate communities. TOAE awards $30,000 in cash prizes to artists and students exhibiting on the Square every year.

Fundraiser tickets and vases are available through the TOAE office at 416-408-2754.

50 Years of Art: Looking Back at the Future is open to the public June 8 through July 16 at FCP Gallery in First Canadian Place.

For more information, please contact the TOAE office at 416-408-2754 or visit the website at www.torontooutdoorart.org.

Review in Hamilton Arts & Letters Magazine

2011-05-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

The winter is finally gone, but the exhibition review for An Early Winter, which I participated in last November is released in the spring issue of Hamilton Arts & Letters Magazine.

Rui Pimenta wrote a generous description and interpretation of the exhibition, and has included some documentation including a sound clip of Eric Powell's installation - a bit of a treat in my mind considering that sonic elements to events like these tend to get lost in their documentation.

Hamilton Arts & Letters relies on its FREE subscriptions. If you like what you see, I would recommend subscribing so it comes straight to your inbox.

The next month is going to be pretty busy with exhibitions in Toronto and Kitchener, as well as the launch of my new website. More to be posted soon.

Exhibit 26, Top 5, and snow days!

2011-01-15T14:09:00.005-05:00

I've been building some new materials for collages and drawings... looking at barnacles and thinking of mountainsides, looking at driftwood and thinking of rapids - again. The new year is off to a good start and spending snow days in the studio has been a treat.

I'm going to be showing work in Montreal next weekend for Exhibit 26, co-ordinated by Nathalie Quagliotto. The lineup is great, and I wish that I could make it out for the weekend to see the show!

I was also excited to read that An Early Winter had been rated as one of the top exhibitions to take place in Hamilton last year on Stephanie Vegh's blog.

If you happen to be in the Kitchener-Waterloo region in January, be sure to see her exhibition at the Rotunda Gallery at City Hall!

Went on a trip this summer...

2010-11-29T23:41:00.001-05:00

This summer I ended up on the Oregon Coast and got to spend some time with my camera. I finally finished processing my film and came back with a few surprises, this one included.

An Early Winter - Reviewed.

2010-11-19T19:27:00.004-05:00

Thanks to everybody who came out to the opening reception of An Early Winter. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd last weekend. I had a great time meeting the community in Hamilton.

Stephanie Vegh was able to visit the exhibition this week and wrote about the exhibition. Tomorrow is the closing day for the exhibition and it will be open from 2 until 6. I'll be spending some time with the exhibition in the afternoon. If you're able to come out, please do. If not, Stephanie's description of the exhibition is quite descriptive - even down to the chill.

http://stephanievegh.ca/blog/2010/11/18/an-early-winter/

An Early Winter

2010-11-12T07:35:00.003-05:00

Tonight is the opening reception happening for An Early Winter, an exhibition curated by Ola Wlusek featuring work by Svava Thordis Juliusson, Eric Powell, and myself. I installed the work yesterday, and it feels great to see In_scape hanging again.

The exhibition is up at 118 James Street North in Hamilton until Saturday November 20. Tonight's reception is part of the legendary James Street North Art Crawls that happen on a monthly basis. I'm looking forward to meeting the community in Hamilton.

The reception runs from 7 until 10 this evening. I look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks to Ola for this wonderful opportunity, and to Diana Hull for her installation help.

Edge.

2010-08-16T19:20:00.001-04:00

Rapid.

2010-08-12T18:29:00.000-04:00

Catching Up

2010-08-09T14:59:00.004-04:00

The past three weeks have been pretty intense. I'm at the last major point on my trip. I've been collecting photographs, wandering near and far, and have managed to gather in a nice variety of activities.

Here are a few highlights:

Drawing everywhere.

The Drawn Festival was on in Vancouver, and the Portland Art Museum was hosting the Summer of Drawing. Highlights included Howie Tsui at Gallery Jones - although I wish that I had seen his drawing performance that involved drawing with fire the opening weekend of the festival, and Carol Prusa's delicate drawings at Jennifer Kostuik Gallery that reminded me of something that described the future and the creation of the universe - but from the aesthetic mind and toolset from the 15th century.

Lake of the Hanging Glaciers

This wins the prize for being the most rewarding hike I've ever done. Over four hours we conquered a 700 meter gain in elevation with a night's worth of camping gear on our backs. PK expertly guided us on our mission and found the hike. I was able to collect photographs instead of physical debris for the lack of space and having to carry it down the mountain. DFJ made recordings of icebergs melting, and SL documented the hike photographically. From what I understand 75% of us are planning on going back again sometime next year so that we can get a few days up there and amble along the rocky shore of the lake to reach the face of the glacier. Nothing sends a shiver down your spine like the sound of a glacier calving or an iceberg turning over.

Portland, OR

Wins the prize for the most coffee, and the most laid-back city I've visited. Anything goes and bikes win. I also met some great people through a friend in Toronto and got to do a studio visit with a photographer who creates panoramic photographs in her Holga by wandering around the landscape. It's beautifully intuitive.

The Oregon Coast

All cliffs. Foggy. Haunting. I stumbled upon the driftwood graveyard on a walk toward Newport from ML's place and wondered if I might have to take shelter in one of the makeshift huts found there when the sky started to turn black across the water and I realized that I was a few miles away from home base and might not make it on time to avoid the storm.

DFJ and I arrived in Brooklyn last night and have taken up post for a few weeks before returning to Kitchener in September. I'll be drawing and preparing materials for some new large pieces and working on the Shoreline Project. I'm looking forward to wandering and exploring as well. On the calendar this week is a performance at the Whitney for Christian Marclay's exhibition, and Samuel Beckett screenings and Julie Mehretu's Grey Area at the Guggenheim - just for starters.

Making Scenes, Schemes

2010-07-08T16:32:00.005-04:00

This is just a quick reminder that Making Scenes closes at Paul Petro Contemporary Art this Saturday.

The close of the exhibition marks the beginning of what is going to amount to an incredibly exciting and busy summer.

We will be going to British Columbia next week to go and soak up some dramatic landscapes - spending time around the coast to collect new materials to draw from and to also pull from new models (a.k.a. massive land forms). The highlight of this trip is a hike landing the meeting point between a glacier and a lake. I'll be posting more about what comes out of the trip as it transpires, but we'll be covering a lot of ground starting in Vancouver, traveling to Crawford Bay, then down to Portland, and landing in Brooklyn before heading back to Kitchener at the beginning of September.

I'll be broadcasting blips from the road along the way. Stay tuned for more.

Art Spin

2010-06-29T19:28:00.006-04:00

I'll be making my way to Toronto tomorrow night for the first Art Spin event of the year. Once I find a bike, I will be there with bells on.

Making Scenes is still up at Paul Petro, and they have posted some images of the exhibition for those who can't make it or haven't been yet. If you haven't had a chance to visit the exhibition yet, you have until July 10.

In other news, I have just been told that I will be hiking at the bottom of this glacier in 3 and a half weeks. More info to come soon.

Making Scenes

2010-06-09T22:34:00.002-04:00

I will be showing new work in a group exhibition of painting and drawing at Paul Petro Contemporary Art that opens on Friday. The exhibition is called Making Scenes and also features work by Julie Beugin, Leigh Bridges, Shannon Partridge, and Melanie Rocan. The exhibition explores ideas of domesticity and habitat, the material world and female consciousness.

The drawings that I am showing are based on the surfaces of pieces of driftwood found on the shore of Lake Huron and a continuation of some of the explorations that were begun in the work that was on display in Order/Chaos last fall. Each piece of driftwood was selected for its structure and shape, as each bears a resemblance to the flow of water in slow or fast-moving rivers, rapids, and swirling eddies. They're small, dense, and a little bit noisy.

The opening reception is taking place on Friday June 11 from 7 until 10 pm and the exhibition continues until July 10.

If you are in the area, please drop by!

Old Modernists, New Modernists: Radical Music and Painting from 1910 to 2010

2010-04-06T23:12:00.004-04:00

I have always been a sucker for a good concert, and while I haven't been going to as many over the course of the past year as I have historically, I am looking forward to going to the Old Modernists, New Modernists performance on Friday night as part of the NUMUS concert series.

Now the reason I am putting this up on the blog is not only because I am a supporter of the NUMUS society in the Waterloo Region (and a big fan of their Open Ears Festival) - but because my friend William Peltier has asked to show images of my paintings when his piece is performed by the Pendercki String Quartet, Simon Docking and the NUMUS ensemble.

If you're in the Waterloo Region or able to make it this way, it should be a good concert: pieces by some great composers including Elliott Carter, György Ligeti, David McEvoy, William Peltier, Arnold Schönberg and Anton Webern will be performed. I have a feeling that I'm one of the two artists with work in the show who are plugging the event.

Tickets are $24 at the door, or $10 for students. Concert starts at 8pm at the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall at Wilfred Laurier University - Friday April 9.

See you there!

TedX Waterloo & The Gig Theatre

2010-02-21T14:13:00.003-05:00

I will be hanging some of my work at the TedX conference that is happening at the Gig Theatre in downtown Kitchener this Thursday. For those of you lucky folk who were able to get your applications to attend submitted on time - I hope you enjoy it!

For more information about the event - please visit http://www.tedxwaterloo.com/event-details/

5 + 5 makers and artists lightning talks at kwartzlab

2010-01-23T16:47:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be giving a lightning flash talk about my work at 5+5 at the kwartzlab this coming Tuesday night, which should be a load of fun and as diverse as I can think of. I might develop a five minute activity - If you're in the Waterloo Region at all that night, you should come out!

Here's the rest of the information:

5 local artists
5 kwartzlab makers
5 minutes each
@ kwartzlab

We are bringing together makers and artists to talk about their work. Come join us.

Our speakers are:

James Bastow
Cathy Farwell
Gus Gissing
Jack Jackowetz
Sarah Kernohan
Denise Strong
Alex Williams
Karl Williams
Darin White
David G. White

Our friends from CAFK+A and the UW Critical Media Lab will be attending.

When : Tuesday, Jan 26, 7pm to 10pm. Speakers to start at 7:30pm.

Where : kwartzlab is at the corner of Duke and Breithaupt St, 100m west of the train station, first floor of the former Boehmer Box Company.

Parking : on Breithaupt St (on street and in the lot) as well as on the south side of the building along the train tracks.

Sustenance : this is an alcohol-free event (sadly), but we do have lots of NA drinks for sale from our Giant Fridge of Glory. We’re also providing some light snacks.

Help spread the word : here’s a 5+5 poster

Cost : this event is free-no-pay.

Happy making,
DW

Start Date:

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 19:00

Location

kwartzlab

Unit 106 - 283 Duke St. W

Kitchener, ON

Canada

43° 27' 18.2196" N, 80° 29' 46.9716" W

See map: Google Maps

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 23:00

In_scape

2009-11-23T10:30:00.005-05:00

December marks the end of an incredibly busy and productive year. In_scape, which marks a culmination point for it, opens at the Rotunda Gallery at Kitchener City Hall at 6pm on Thursday December 10 and runs for the entire month of December.

In_scape presents one new drawing that courses the entire length of the Rotunda Gallery at Kitchener City Hall, totalling at a length of 30 feet and continues my ongoing explorations - this time around a piece of coral. This drawing explores the limitations of memory and vision, seeking what happens when "scape" is penetrated conceptually, emotionally, physically, and psychogeographically. Kernohan's artistic inspiration traverses subjects far and wide--grand landforms, waterbodies and glaciers, geology, the painted landscape, alternative book forms, panorama, cyclorama, myriorama, and cosmorama.

I would once again like to extend a thank you to the Region of Waterloo ARTS FUND in support of this project.

Below are the details for the exhibition - I hope to see you at the opening.

In_scape

December 3 - 31, 2009
Opening reception: Thursday December 10, 6-8pm
Rotunda Gallery - Kitchener City Hall
200 King Street West Kitchener, ON
Gallery hours: 7am - 10pm, 7 days a week.

Order/Chaos

2009-10-06T11:36:00.005-04:00

I love the smell of fall, and how somehow fittingly when the weather starts to cool off, things spring back into action, it's as if "things" need to keep warm.

To warm up the fall season, I will have new work in ORDER/CHAOS, presented at XPACE in Toronto. The exhibition features large-scale drawing by Thomas Del Baso, Dagmara Genda, myself, Alexandra Mackenzie, Jonathan Nicolaou, Dan Rocca, and Ryan Solski.

Here are the details:

Order/Chaos brings together new work by seven artists who use drawing as their primary means of expression. These artists use drawing to construct personal narratives, derive order and understanding of intangible and unintelligible spaces.
Condensing visual signs from the natural and synthetic worlds, these artists approach the world with a constant creative lens – some to engage with life in a more performative fashion, some scientifically. An obsessive approach to drawing unites these distinct approaches within a hypothesis of style to bring order to chaos and to disrupt the order.

ORDER/CHAOS
October 16 - November 14, 2009
Opening reception: Friday October 16, 7-10pm
XPACE
58 Ossington Ave.
Toronto, ON

Panel Discussion with Dan Rocca, Luke Painter, and Sarah Kernohan moderated by Derek Liddington
Friday November 6, 2009
7pm

Extended daylight hours

2009-06-25T01:13:00.002-04:00

I am happy to kick off the summer with the fantastic news that I have received funding from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund to produce my exhibition that will be happening at the Rotunda Gallery at Kitchener City Hall this coming December. I am making a drawing that will span the entire width of the gallery that harkens back to traditional panoramas and delving further into my current obsession with geological processes.

This is fantastic news as I will be able to devote more energy to the project, and I am incredibly thankful to the folks at RWAF for their support in the project.

This is one of many under my belt at the moment. I am producing new work for an exhibition that I am also curating to fill an as-unyet-named space in Waterloo with twelve exciting artists for October; a collaboration with an incredibly ambitious composer, and gearing up for a few exhibitions in September.

I will start posting images of works-in-progress as things on the other side of life start to slow down a notch.

Local 26102 take on spOtlight

2009-05-31T17:17:00.003-04:00

Things of Desire, Canada's alt-art blogzine

2009-04-09T10:17:00.004-04:00

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking about drawing with Mike Landry of Things of Desire last week after we had completed installing the exhibition at Gallery Stratford. You can read the article here.

Sunday bests.

2009-04-07T14:29:00.006-04:00

The opening of It Has A Lot To Do With A Thought this Sunday was a success and I want to thank everybody who was able to come out to Stratford to help us celebrate. Here are a few photos that my friend Pete was able to snag of the opening festivities. Congratulations to Gareth Lichty and Jenal Dolson on their exciting new work for the show.

I will be hosting a drawing workshop in response to the work in the exhibition on the afternoon of May 2nd at Gallery Stratford. For more information, please visit their website.

It Has A Lot To Do With A Thought

2009-03-23T16:13:00.004-04:00

It's hard to sit still for this kid, especially when the weather starts to feature comfortable temperatures and starts becoming more hospitable for long walks and bike rides. The added daylight hours along with an incredibly refreshing trip to New York brought me back to the studio geared to dive back into long drawing days and I am happy to be counting down to installing the next exhibition, which opens up with a public reception at Gallery Stratford on Sunday April 5, from 2 until 4 pm.

The exhibition is called It Has A Lot To Do With A Thought, and is featuring myself and Gareth Lichty and Jenal Dolson. I will be featuring two new drawings along with some that were premiered in Toronto this past fall.

I am excited to be showing new work in such a beautiful space. It runs until May 31st and I hope to see you there.

More of This, Less of This

2009-02-13T19:42:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to figure out if it's unseasonal February sunshine and thaw that has had a strict effect on my mood, or if it's that I'm getting to be in the studio more. It does help when some musical surprises show up and provide a soundtrack to what could eventually be labeled as 'mundane'.

I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to cut back on my outerworldly responsibilities, and just hunker down in the studio to focus on finishing the new drawings for the show at Gallery Stratford.... and it feels amazing.

But to wrap up in a nutshell, if I could wrap myself up in drawings to keep myself warm through this last bit of winter, I would. In the meantime, I will keep warm on energy from momentum alone, and assuring myself that a mid-winter holiday to New York will be the cure to what ails me.

Running in Cycles

2009-01-12T22:57:00.004-05:00

January has rolled around, and things are pretty similar to where they were a year ago, with a few subtle differences: I'm balancing two part time jobs and I'm about to build a third wall in my studio.

I have been busy working on a few things, and things are back to their rolling pace in the studio, which I am incredibly happy about. I am happy to be working on some new drawings for my next exhibition that will be happening at Gallery Stratford in March with Gareth Lichty and Jenal Dolson. As a warm-up, though, I am happy to be including work in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Best of 2008 exhibition, which opens this week at First Canadian Place Gallery. The exhibition runs until March 6, but the opening reception is happening this Thursday. Here are the details:

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Best of 2008

First Canadian Place Gallery (Ground Floor, near Adelaide Street entrance)
100 King Street West
Toronto, ON
Gallery Hours: 11am-3pm, Monday - Friday
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 15, 6 - 8 pm

Line Art Auction

2008-12-01T00:04:00.003-05:00

This is going to be an exciting week. After the rush of Carte Blanche, I am happy to be including work in this year's Line Art Auction, for which the proceeds will be going towards the LGBT Youth Line. The work will be on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario from December 2 - 11, and there will be an opening preview party this Tuesday (December 2) from 7 until 9 pm, with the auction happening on December 11. There are a lot of incredibly exciting artists also participating in the event. I hope to see you out and showing your support for the Youth Line.

Accumulation

2008-11-10T18:20:00.007-05:00

I told myself that things were going to calm down a bit after the last of my exhibitions came back to the studio, and as drawings have been removed from walls, packed up, and put back into storage I've been allowing myself to enjoy what is happening around me, all the while pretending to recuperate from an amazing fall, and sorting out future projects.

I took a weekend off and ran to Montreal to get out of my element to a certain degree and catch up with a few friends, check out an art fair featuring only work on paper, and what was on offer at a few galleries. I had a great time, and great company for the roadtrip down the highway in my bright yellow rental car.

My last road trip was a whirlwind mission to North Bay and back in one day to pick up the exhibition at the White Water Gallery. It was a short trip, and Gareth and I were only in town for a matter of hours where we got the work in the truck and then grabbed lunch with some friends It was a beautiful day to go for a drive through cottage country, after taking a roll of film from the window (I've yet to develop the roll, but I've got my fingers crossed for streaky sunbeams and muted colour), subjecting Gareth to a double americano filled with coffee (not water, which leaves me with the feeling that baristas on the outskirts of Orillia are a little bit crazy), and landing in Kitchener in time to sit over a bottle of wine before we both ran out seeking distraction.

This coming weekend has me off on another road trip, this time to Toronto to celebrate the release of Carte Blanche Vol. 2: Painting, a book released by the Magenta Foundation which celebrates the state of Canadian painting today. I am happy and honoured to be included with this incredible group of artists and look forward to seeing the exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

I'm back at work building new material for my exhibition at Zero to One in June of 2009 and will post photos of the work as it comes to fruition. In the meantime, here is the information about the book launch and exhibition opening.

Saturday November 15, 2008
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
General reception 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
925 Queen Street West (at Shaw)
Toronto

Gearing Down And Enjoying The Ride

2008-10-02T17:14:00.004-04:00

I am happy to say that the whirlwind of September (including the rainy backlash of Hurricane Ike) was a fun experience. This is the first time that I've had work up in a number of places at once, and I'm very fortunate to have been able to do the associated travel to go up to North Bay and spend time in Toronto. Thanks to everybody who came out to show their support. Things are starting to gear down and as the shows progressively get taken down in the opposite order of their installation and I am hoping to make it out to Nuit Blanche and getting the opportunity to see Art in the Fall at 401 Richmond in all of its glory and participating in some of the activities happening there: Nathalie Quagliotto's Maturity Correlation, the Canadian Drawing Team's All-Night Draw-A-Thon.

After a few weeks of running back and forth between Kitchener and Toronto, it will be nice to sit still in Kitchener and work on some small-scaled projects. In the meantime, I hope that you will enjoy the recently updated website.

September Must Be Exhibition Month

2008-09-09T16:46:00.005-04:00

As mentioned in my last post, September is going to be a busy month for exhibitions. The first of three opens up this Thursday at 401 Richmond in Toronto for Art In The Fall. I have one drawing being shown as part of Art in the Halls. The exhibition runs until October 9th. It will be up during the Queen West Art Crawl and Nuit Blanche.

I will also be presenting Infinite Intimate, a dual exhibtion with Gareth Lichty at the White Water Gallery in North Bay. The exhibition will run from September 13 to October 4, with an opening reception in the afternoon of September 13th. Please visit the gallery's website for information.

Last but not least, I am happy to be presenting new drawings at Paul Petro Special Projects Space for the last half of the month. The exhibition is open from 11 am - 5 pm Fridays to Sundays, and by special appointment. The opening reception will be the evening of September 20th beginning from 7 to 10 pm.

In the meantime, I am gearing up for the road trip to North Bay on Thursday to get out of the city and into a new place. I look forward to seeing you at the shows!

Autumn and Everything

2008-08-23T01:36:00.004-04:00

I've been keeping a little bit of a low profile since July, and am happy to say that things are kicking back into full gear. With fall just coming around the corner, and cool nights making themselves known, things are a-brewing back at Zero to One.

I'm gearing up for two shows this fall, which will both involve a little bit of travel. In a few weeks, I will be showing work in North Bay, Ontario at the White Water Gallery with Gareth Lichty. I will also be having my first solo exhibition at Paul Petro Special Projects Space in Toronto. Both exhibitions will be happening in the last half of September, and I will post the fine details within the next week, along with some images.

Toronto Outdoor Success

2008-07-14T23:21:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everybody who came out to visit my booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this weekend. It was a really exciting weekend, and I was happy to be able to do it again this year. I love doing the show and getting to meet so many people and share the work. The new drawings were well received and I pulled out of the weekend winning the best student drawing award (again). It was great to hear your feedback, talk with you, and receive your support.

I will be updating my website over the next month and include new documentation. Until then, I am taking the week off and heading up to the cottage and take in some sanctioned downtime before getting back to work.

2008-06-30T09:28:00.003-04:00

I just got an email that said "I can't believe that July is almost here," and I couldn't agree more. Much has happened this month: I convocated from OCAD and received my degree marking the end of a four year academic marathon (including the two year break that I took when I went to New Zealand in between my first and second years at the school). The following day marked the beginning of the spOtlight festival, and Dan Rocca and Ryan Solski's arrival to Kitchener for the drawing party. They were quickly introduced to the community, ate free ice cream, and were initiated only after participating in a group suicide photo shoot as part of Andrew Wright and Stephan Rose's project Death By Chocolate. The drawing party was a success thanks to everybody who came out to draw with us.

Since that weekend, Zero to One has witnessed a flurry of activity, and I've been steadily working away on a new set of drawings for the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition opening in just under two weeks. I'll be stationed at booth 828 at the far northwest corner of Nathan Phillips Square. Last year's show was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to this year. It's a bit of a mission to be able to get a chance to have a good walk around, but I've been looking at the lineup and I can't wait to run around on a mission to see new work by some of my favourite people.

This summer has started off on a good foot and I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out. It will officially kick off the weekend of TOAE, with a warm-up at Peak Gallery for Gareth Lichty's exhibition (the ballroom at Zero to One has been alive with loom operators and rug hookers in anticipation for this new exhibition). We'll see you at Nathan Phillip's Square! Here are some details:

2008 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition | Booth 828
July 11, 12, &13
Friday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.... Take Two

2008-06-29T20:57:00.003-04:00

Time is swiftly counting down to my next long weekend in Toronto, which is going to have me at Nathan Phillips Square manning my booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. I have been busily working away in the studio and will have some brand new work to share, which I am really excited about. I will be at booth 828 (in the far northwest corner of the square) tucked away in the shade.

The past month or so has been a lot of fun. The drawing party was a success and I owe much of it to Dan Rocca and Ryan Solski who came out from Toronto for the weekend to get involved in the festivities accompanied with the spOtlight. We opened up the weekend with some music at the park for the opening of the Tapestry Festival, and made our way up to Waterloo and participated in Andrew Wright and Stephan Rose's project Death By Chocolate

steady goes it

2008-05-27T14:46:00.003-04:00

It's been two weeks since the grad show packed up at OCAD, and after a particularly hectic week, it was great to sit down with the work and enjoy the exhibition. Since the show came down, I've been back at the studio at Zero to One gearing up for the next few months. It's going to be busy, and really exciting.

I will be co-hosting a drawing party with Dan Rocca as part of spOtlight, which is an arts festival happening all over Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge, Stratford, and other communities in Waterloo County. We will be at Globe Studios on June 7 & 8 with plenty of paper and drawing supplies. Come and draw with us!

I am also happy to announce that I will be showing at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition again this summer. Here are the details:

July 11, 12 & 13, 2008
Friday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

I am rebuilding my website, but in the meantime, I will wrap up this transmission with some new work.

Showtime

2008-05-01T11:36:00.004-04:00

After about four months of steady hiding, I am out from undercover and out of my studio for a short while before diving back in to work headfirst. There is a lot of work to do, but for now I am sitting back to celebrate a little bit. I wrapped up my final semester at OCAD a few weeks ago, and am now gearing up toward the graduate exhibition to which I am happy to invite you to.

Here are the details:
Evolving DNA: OCAD's 93rd annual Graduate Exhibition
Friday May 9th - Sunday May 11
11am - 6pm (Friday 11am - 8pm)
Ontario College of Art & Design
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON

I will be at the space for the duration of the event and will be showing the drawings that have occupied the majority of my time this year.

After that, I will be back at Zero to One studios in Kitchener gearing up for a weekend-long drawing party that I will be hosting with Dan Rocca as part of Celebrate our Artists weekend in Kitchener from June 6 - 8. It will be an exciting weekend and we are in the midst of confirming our location.

The next few months are going to be very exciting, and as I will no longer be commuting to attend classes I will make time to post more about what is happening at the studio.

I look forward to seeing you at DNA!

A new year, new work, and a new exhibition

2008-01-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

It's time to dive into the world of blogging all over again for this kid, and for just reason. I have just launched the new website, and with that I've decided that it's just time to start keeping a log of what's happening in the studio. The next year is bound to be busy: I'm heading into my last semester at OCAD and am hoping to get things rolling.

The holiday season was a great time to sit back, take things into focus, and catch up with friends and family and it all came to an abrupt end last week. I work at the KW|AG as part of the installation team and we set ourselves up to install three shows. At the same time, school started off with a full course load, I got slapped with the flu (never a pretty thing), and a tight deadline to boot. I came out on top, thankfully and am happy to be showing brand new work at the Toronto Outdoor Best of Exhibition that opens up this Thursday at First Canadian Place at 100 King Street West in Toronto.

To recuperate and to get myself ready to really get the studio in high gear I built a new wall so that I can work on two pieces at once, and got my studio cleaned so that I can start with a fresh slate. I've got two large pieces on the go right now, and I'm hoping to get another smaller piece started so that I can start adding "smaller" work into my vocabulary. Working on a large scale is a rush, but I've learned that it can be a hinderance when applying for group shows.

I'm hoping to update this page on a weekly basis... so please keep your eyes peeled. You never know what can happen in the space at Zero to One.

Road Trips and Exhibition Openings

2007-11-08T00:05:00.001-05:00

There are always firsts, and this is probably one of the more exciting firsts of late. Next week, one of my drawings will be hung as part of a curated exhibition about drawing down at the Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport, Conneticut. I'll be driving down for the opening reception (partially because it gives me an excuse to visit Dia: Beacon as i'll be close by). I can't wait to see what's in the exhibition as most of it is a mystery to me at this stage.

Otherwise, things have been incredibly busy here in the studio. I have some crazy deadlines coming up for school and have three major drawings on the go... the largest being 20 x 6 feet. I was trying to give up coffee for a while, but I think that the stimulant is going to have to be my friend until the end of the semester. I just got my memory card back for my camera, so I should be taking photos of work in progress soon.

I have also been notified that the Florence exhibition at the Great Hall at OCAD will be hanging a while longer until November 18th. If you're in the neighbourhood, come and check it out.

2007-10-21T13:01:00.000-04:00

A week ago, we shut the doors to the show at Zero to One and with that came the time to move on to other projects. I brought my work to Toronto on Thursday to get ready to hang it in a group show at OCAD as part of an exhibition of work that was made with the Florence Program last year. This week I have to sort out shipping for an exhibition that I've been asked to participate in in Bridgeport, Conneticut. Three shows in a row is really exciting, and now I just have to get a few projects on the go for the spring so that I can feel like I'm working toward something that isn't just school.

I've been letting myself be distracted this past week, and I think that it's been really good for me. On Monday night I went to see Spoon with my friend Alex, and yesterday I checked out the D.I.Ynot? Festival at the Starlite and wrapped up the day by dancing my butt off to Woodhands and Bocce. Tonight will be a little more low-key and intimate when I get to see Sandro Perri, Andre Ethier, and Shagbark Hickory. I'm listening to some Polmo Polpo right now in preparation.

But, before I head out tonight, I do have to get to work. I've been working on these little books that I'm calling atlases and seeing what I can get out of them. I bought some mylar yesterday and the mission is to make a book today so that I can get drawing in it tonight. I also need to finish drafting on my newest large drawing. The studio is going to be really quiet for the next month or so as Gareth is in Germany traveling and participating in Vogelfrei. It'll be the perfect opportunity to hunker down. Photos will be posted soon.

One Long Weekend Later

2007-10-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

It's been just over two weeks since the exhibition opened in the ballroom here at Zero to One, and in that span of time, we have traveled over 600 million kilometers together. I've been visiting Ian's odometer every morning to see how far we've gone since opening. At 3:47 am this coming Wednesday, we'll hit 1 billion kilometers. We're thinking of having a private party to celebrate.

With all of that perpetual travel, things have been slowing down and I have been trying to get my head above water so that I can finally balance academic life with regular life. Thankfully academic life involves making art full-time, and I'm able to get away with drawing an awful lot, which is really nice after spending a few solid weeks doing nothing but manual labour. I remember talking with a few people at the opening for the show, and one person asked me how I was still standing and I told them that if I was to sit down, I would be out for the night. I love how powerful adrenaline can be.

Gareth, Ian, and I are all really proud of the exhibition and really excited about what we can do with the space in the future. While scheming on big plans for the future, I'm still working away in the studio on new material... mostly for myself so that it can be used toward my thesis. I still feel a bit behind and as a result a bit lazy about taking care of some basic things, like cooking. Things were getting a bit weird for a while: I lost my wallet, a stranger come up to me and make a comment about being jealous of my last name, a squirrel try to run underneath the tires on my bike, there was a dream where everybody had the same speech impediment. I also ran into Ozzy Osbourne playing air guitar to old Metallica with a stack of kids at Ted's on College St. on one of my last trips into Toronto... the list goes on. It all came to a head when my old ipod gave me the sick face and decided that it didn't want to play with me anymore.

While I'm screwing my head back on straight, I will be posting images of work in progress, and hopefully start writing more about goings-on in the studio in relationship to my own work. In the meantime, I will leave you with some photos of the exhibition.

It's all coming together

2007-09-03T22:52:00.000-04:00

The last long weekend of summer is officially wrapping up, and with that so has the mass-destruction/clearance of our studio. Some people go camping on long weekends, here at Zero to One Studios, we renovate. Today, I had the honour of dismantling a massive shelf that once housed a stack of old film projectors, a myseterious fan, and stacks of massive discarded
photographic prints. I felt guilty throwing them out because I knew that they could potentially make great collage material, but at the same time, in the spirit of starting clean, we opted to get rid of all of them. It's been a lot of fun, pretty tiring, but when we finish fixing up the walls and really cleaning the place, it's going to look amazing.

It's also been a rush to work in the same space that I'm going to be exhibiting in. For the first time, I'm getting the opportunity to step back the twenty feet that I need to see how effective my work is at a distance. I've read about some artists who work on a large scale who photograph their work in progress and tinker around with things in photoshop to get an idea of how the whole composition looks together from far away.

This coming week is basically going to consist of working on the space and hopefully having it ready to install work by the end of next weekend, and drawing and painting as well. It's nice to have a flow going, and even better, it's all just in time for classes to start up on Thursday. The bi-weekly trek to Toronto will definitely be welcome, and after full days of classes, there will be good excuses to catch up with friends before hopping on a bus back to Kitchener. I think that it will definitely give me the distance that I'll need to focus to make the body of work that I've got stacked up in the back of my head.

One Month Until Showtime

2007-08-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

Well, the invitations have been sent to the press, I have a half-completed drawing on a table that is slowly working on itself. This is the last-hatch effort to get as much work done as possible before labour day comes, and the month of September fills up with hanging schedules all over Kitchener and classes start full-time. It's my last year at OCAD, and I expect that it will ten times more trying than the pressure that I put myself under while I was in Florence last year.

I've been doing my best to fight off end-of-summer fatigue and hope that a daily morning ride to Waterloo on my bike will do the fix. I have also managed to travel around a fair bit over the course of the summer, and although I didn't get a chance to go camping, I'm pretty happy with what I've managed to get in since the holiday started.

The next few weeks are going to be manic, though. I'm sure that a bit of hair will be pulled, there will be a few restless nights (my work is already calling to me in my sleep, which is relatively disturbing), and the odd fuse blown. I'll be posting photos of the new work in progress over the course of the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled.

Learning to Sit Still

2007-08-16T15:36:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Map-making for Shoegazers. It is my goal to use this space as a place to share what's happening here in the studio, and also to keep you informed about the latest goings-on in relation to my own work.

This is basically a point of departure for where some of my more work-related entries in my travel blog Time-Lapse Geography were going when I putting thoughts down to pixels while I was studying and living in Italy over the course of this past year. I've since returned to Canada and have landed in Kitchener, Ontario where I am sharing a studio space with Gareth Lichty. It's a beautiful space, and I can't wait to spread out over the walls in here. My studio-mates in Firenze could easily vouch for me being a bit of a space-hog when it comes to the space that I end up taking up when I'm making work. I'm a bit of a walking explosion that way.

Anyway, back to this blog. Here we'll be looking at what I've been looking at, what I've been making, and essentially what are driving me at the moment. This could vary completely, but let's just start with where we're at right now.

I'm finally getting settled into being in Kitchener, and so far it's been really good. I've met some great people through Gareth, and am really excited about meeting more people who are involved in the community. I've still been running back to Toronto to spend time with friends and to check out the odd event, gallery show, or just to meander. While I'm not calling Toronto my official home, it still feels that way. I've found a few cafes that I'm hoping to be able to call home soon, and I'm learning where to go to find things that pique my interest.

At the moment, I'm working on some new material for a show that we are putting on in the ballroom toward the end of september with Gareth and Ian Newton. It will be happening at the same time as CAFKA, when a large part of Kitchener turns into a large public art gallery. We're hoping to build something epic, and if I can keep my focus and stop meandering to find my niche and my hiding spots in the city, and successfully hide from summer distractions, my new monster of a drawing will be done on time.

With my final year at OCAD starting up in just a few weeks there is a lot of stuff that I want to get done. I'm wrapping up the design of my website, and waiting for my Being Abroad sketchbook to arrive in the mail, and want to get started on my own personal atlas for a side project, and starting to think about how I want to go about building my thesis this year at school. There's a lot to take into consideration, and what I'll have to do is channel my energy into staying put more and riding my bike less.