Sunnyside Beach Juried Art Show and Sale

The Juried Art Show and Sale at Sunnyside Beach from September 9-11 marked the finale in my stretch of summer exhibitions. My experience at Sunnyside Pavilion taught me that there is credence to the common phrase, ‘save the best for last’. It was a weekend filled with unique opportunities to convene with emerging and established fine artists from various cultural backgrounds and creative practises inside one of Toronto’s historic architectural gems. Favourable weather and an enthusiastic, intelligent crowd were also highlighting elements of the well-operated, successful show. I was fortunate enough to meet several talented personalities whose unwavering dedication and passion for their art set a standard for my own. Feel free to browse the portfolio links of OCAD marvels Kate Hogg and Melissa Charles; James Bentley, Jen Lipski, Irina Koulikova, Marta Ogonek, Corey Waurechen, Maliha Rahman and Olga Hutsul to name a few. I would also like to offer my congratulations to the sponsored award recipients, Caitlin Doherty and Jillian MacLachlan; and the People’s Choice Winner E.J. Davy.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the Sunnyside Beach Juried Art Show and Sale organizers and assistants Jazz Morrow and Michael Romaniuk for their tireless efforts and optimism.

The spectacular Sunnyside Pavilion on Toronto's West-End waterfront.

I was located in prime real estate of the Greco-Roman marquee, with two open tent faces which allowed for copious sunshine.

The lower level of the Pavilion, complete with a cafe and outdoor tin type photo studio.

No better pairing than Homer's The Iliad and a cup of Tyski on the beach.

Fan Expo 2011

Once the evenings begin to cool and our minds refocus on the start of a new semester, we acknowledge the fact that we’ve crossed the threshold into an Indian summer. Taking place annually on the last weekend of August, Toronto welcomes FanExpo Canada--a haven for lovers of the science fiction, horror, anime, comic book and gaming entertainment genres. For every year I have attended, the show has never been short of thrills or interesting finds. Only there will you witness throngs of people gather for the man who evokes equally mixed feelings of love and irritation, William Shatner; eyes bedecked with steam-punk goggles, Marvel superheroes pacing red carpets or Fearless Fred.

I had the opportunity of exhibiting alongside my talented friend and classmate, Miko for a second year in the event’s popular Artist’s Alley. Our experience as first-time exhibitors at Fan Expo 2010 ultimately prepared us for the presentation and trends we capitalized on in the following year. We also had the benefit of being surrounded by some major talent in Sheridan Illustration. I want to express my utmost thanks to those of you who visited our booth and offered your help and kind sentiments. I missed you all throughout the course of the summer and in the case of some, Fan Expo represented a pleasant reunion.

Now for a few updates before I dive into the riveting four-day Fan Expo weekend:


The Hobbit, Chapter One: An Unexpected Party

A 75 % work in progress, completed in gray-scale just in time for printing. I have since endeavoured to add colour and breaks of light between the oak leaves, despite the fact that the scene itself occurs at night.

The Hobbit, Chapter 6: Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire

Our polished booth, located at A7 in the Artist’s Alley.

Miko’s brilliant arrangement for his Tolkien-themed merchandise. I am more than pleased that his initial design for Dwarven Mead coasters became a reality.

Miko, thank you for another expo enriched by your creativity, good humour and hard work.

The view from our booth, overseeing the entire Artist's Alley.

Marvel’s Thor descends from Asgard to greet Fearless Fred and his Big Sexy Comics team of illustrators and writers:

Carnage gets camera-ready:

Nostalgia at best. The father from one of my favourite childhood television shows, Reboot.

Custom-built, imported Samurai armour from Japan.

Dobby the House Elf follows a Harry Potter fan into the photo-op for Tom Felton.

Posing for a photo-op with Fearless Fred from The Edge and Teletoon fame.

He’s grotesque, unsightly, and he’s all mine. Weta’s impeccably detailed Catapult Troll maquette from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy films. 

A pre-thesis gift that I feel compelled to share with everyone :). Peanuts is my philosophy go-to.

A Guide to The Hobbit

This August I will be exhibiting at Fanexpo Canada for my second year in a row. The four day event promises another weekend of monumental attractions, celebrities, comic creators, artists and as always, a bustling crowd. To the delight of fans anticipating the two-part release of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, I have chosen to dedicate my efforts into illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien’s much beloved novel as a small introductory book. Filled with a compendium of facts from Tolkien’s Middle Earth mythopoeia, fans of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy films and books can learn about Bilbo Baggins’ There and Back Again journey and its major players through pictures and accompanying text. The illustrations will profile each group of dwarves as represented in different scenes from the novel.

Thankfully I am able to design Tolkien’s characters with little to no influence from the film, with the exception of what few images exist from pre-production concept art. Jackson’s dwarves deviate from our pre-conceived notion about the appearance of these underground dwellers and are instead keenly tailored to their personalities as well as culture. There were some reservations, however, about how far the director was willing to tamper with the classic visual characteristics of dwarves and their racial values. Thorin Oakenshield and Kili, for instance, fail to meet the Longbeard standard with their ostensible grooming and lack of facial hair. To be fair, after the handsomeness brought onscreen by Aragorn and Legolas from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he had to appease the female demographic watching for hunks ;).

My dwarves resemble more of the Iron Age Scandinavians I envisioned with my first reading of The Hobbit. In addition to referencing clothing and armour from concept art produced by The Lord of the Rings Trilogy art department, I consulted museum imagery of preserved Iron Age bodies recovered from bogs in Sweden. With their pointed caps and shoes, the bog people embody the true essence of the dwarves Tolkien would have scribed about from Norse mythology.

Sketch for Thorin Oakenshield:

“We are met to discuss our plans, our ways, means, policy and devices. We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us (except our friend and counsellor, the ingenious wizard Gandalf) may never return” 
An Unexpected Party; pg. 17

Sketch for Ori, Nori and Dori:

“There was a howl of anger and surprise from the goblins. Loud cried the Lord of the Eagles, to whom Gandalf had now spoken…Other birds flew to the tree-tops and seized the dwarves, who were scrambling up now as far as they ever dared to go” 
Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire; pgs. 100-101

The Space Between Opening Reception July 21

As soon as the activity and splendour of the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition subsided, I realized that I had approximately two weeks to prepare my final pieces for The Space Between collaborative exhibition. The race to opening reception taught me more than a few lessons in effective time management. In summary, I am working an entire painting simultaneously rather than allotting my time to marginal, precious details. An obvious suggestion that has only taken hold of my stubborn ways recently.

Thursday, July 21st marked the opening reception of The Space Between at Gallery 1313 on Queen Street West. Rachel Idzerda, Kailey Lang, Celia Krampien and I’s work welcomed an overwhelming crowd of attendees. It was a successful night and I must extend my heartfelt thanks to all the students, faculty, friends, family, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition goers and passer-bys that came to opening night or visited the show during its 10 day duration. As for my fellow exhibitors, you guys are gold. Working with you was such a joy, thank you for bringing your talents to this experience.

Photographs of pieces exclusive to the gallery show. I will post scanned versions soon!  

In-studio process work for previous postings Prince Lindworm and Oedipus Rex. Notably listening to theYoutube audiobook for The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in both :)

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition July 8-10

I was more than honoured to have had the opportunity of displaying my work as a student exhibitor at the 50th Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this year. Up until that point the show garnered a considerable reputation among my art teachers and peers in the visual arts field, but I had only ever attended once. The weekend of July 8-10 was ushered in with a great deal of stress, but to much avail. Never had I seen art glorified on such a scale. I spoke with a variety of people from the arts background, gallery owners, authors and collectors, many of whom took enthusiastic interest in my subject matter and endeavoured to help me find new folk tales to illustrate. Unbeknownst to me, more than a few of the tales I painted represented an important era in the lives of those who witnessed them at the show. Show-goers from areas of Eastern Europe especially noted that the stories of their nation’s childhood have long been buried in the graveyard of oral storytelling, but they were once used as subliminal weapons of freedom. More than once a person would thank me for delighting modern eyes and ears with them. Two people signed my guestbook with the comments, “Glory to Slavic Ariyen Culture!“ and “Thank you for bringing them to life again”. This experience reaffirmed what the brilliant Joe Morse noted in one of his lectures, that you never know where stories are going to travel or how and who they will affect. Maybe children’s literature will be my destined path. I want to thank everyone who attended and took the time to visit and assist at my booth area. Your support and thoughtfulness are much appreciated.

I’d like to give a shout-out to a few outstanding student artists I met while at the exhibition. Both are incredibly admirable and talented individuals. Annyen Lam debuted her intricate paper creations at TOAE this year, and I cannot begin to express how meticulous her cut-outs of cultural architecture are. A single artwork would consume nearly a box of exacto blades.

http://www.annyenlam.com/

Adrienne Dagg won the student category for Painting at the 50th Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Her understanding of the human body’s form and colour is impeccable.

http://www.adriennedagg.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adriennedagg/

The weather was excessively hooottt!! Thank you to all you caring benefactors who brought me cold beverages (and my cherished coffee) during the weekend.

Kim and Lindsay dropping pennies into City Hall's interactive wall sculpture :)

On the third day, we experienced our first bout of rain after pure sunshine.

The Space Between

While at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, I will be promoting The Space Between, a collaborative exhibition of upcoming Sheridan illustrators Kailey Lang, Celia Krampien , Rachel Idzerda and myself at Gallery 1313. The Space Between is a visual study of the ties that bind us as a race, culture and society. We arrived at the theme after recognizing the innate, mutual connections we shared as artists participating in the same Illustration program. These common interests laid the foundation for exploring areas of difference. Our ideosyncrasies, cultural backgrounds, ideologies and personal taste all contributing factors to the artwork produced for The Space Between. The exhibition is open for public viewing from July 20-August 1st. Approximately 2 weeks before opening reception on Thursday, June 21st! I hope to see you there.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Entering into its 50^th year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is a juried showcase featuring contemporary fine art and craft that takes place annually at Nathan Phillips Square every July. As the largest juried show in Canada, TOAE is an ideal environment for established artists, undiscovered talent and creative students to sell their work to the admiring public and forge connections with art dealers and collectors.

I was fortunate enough to have had my work selected by their jury for the 2011 exhibition taking place on Nathan Phillips Square July 8, 9 and 10. I am located at Booth 306 in the Student Area of the exhibition. For a detailed floorplan of the event, please visit the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Website at link. Come and visit me if you can! I hope to see many friendly faces.