Snakes

Oil on canvas

30" x 40"

2014

State shift

Oil on panel

20" x 20"

2014

Cry me a rainbow river

Oil on panel

24" x 18"

2014

Hello everyone! I would like to invite you to the opening reception of a very special group exhibition that I'm taking part in:

Poetic Poverty: Experiments in Living

Opening Reception

Thursday February 6th, 8:00pm

Creatures Creating

822 Dundas Street West

(Exhibition runs from February 6th-19th)

*The Starving Artist; an archetype which those of us in the creative world are quite familiar with. A romantic notion in theory but almost never in practice, the struggle to simultaneously create and sustain is reduced to a well honed balancing act. As creative individuals, we are starved for money, time or both. Wait tables for so many hours; paint. Landscape, and then sculpt. Check in with your temp agency, and then act. 

But a minor artist with no money goes as hungry as a genius. What drove them to do it? I believe that such people were not only choosing art, they were choosing the life of the artist. Art offered them a different way of living, one that they believed more than compensated for the loss of comfort and respectability.

Our collective works become reflections of this lifestyle, of these experiments in living. We strive to move forward, outward from the constraints of both money and time in order to create works which can resonate throughout our communities.

Featuring the works of:

Erin Loree

Stella Cade

Kevin Columbus

Tongson Chen

Mony Zakhour

Rosalind Breen

Jordan McKie

Amanda Boulos

Craig Skinner

Andre Kan

Chris Perez

Susie Julia

Christina Mazzulla

Curated by Erin Kjaer

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/132545256915891/

Fountain

Oil on panel

24" x 18"

2014

Swallowed up

Oil on panel

36" x 36"

2014

Wanderer

Oil on panel

20" x 20"

2014

Openings

Your way begins on the other side.

Become the sky. 

Take an axe to the prison wall. 

Escape. Walk out 

like somebody suddenly born into color.

- Rumi

Opening #1

Oil on panel

20" x 16"

2014

Opening #2

Oil on panel

20" x 16"

2014

Gusher

Oil on panel

18" x 24"

2014

From Yesterday to Tomorrow, Canadian Masters + Emerging Artists

Hello everybody! I wish you all a beautiful new beginning to the new year. May you experience love and wonder, adventure and endless creative endeavors. :)

I'd like to let you know that my work is currently a part of a group exhibition at Canadian Fine Arts in Toronto called FROM YESTERDAY TO TOMORROW, CANADIAN MASTERS + EMERGING ARTISTS. 

The exhibition will be installed until February 2nd, 2014. 

http://www.slateartguide.com/listing.php?lid=150601773265098116

Maze mountain

Oil on canvas

11" x 8"

2013

Outflow

Oil on canvas

48" x 36"

2013

La Selva

These are some of the acrylic paintings that I made while staying at the Sachaqa Centro de Arte in the Peruvian Amazon (about a year overdue!) :)

One

Oil on panel

8" x 6"

2013

1000 for 10 minis

As above, so below

Oil on canvas

16" x 12"

2013

Hey everyone! Two things are happening this weekend: On Friday Dec. 6th from 6-9 is the opening reception of Walnut Contemporary's Little Salon: These Post-Neo-Pop Like Days where I'll be exhibiting my painting, As above, so below. 

To see more information, visit Walnut Contemporary's website: http://www.walnutcontemporary.com/159476/upcoming


And on Saturday Dec. 7th, AKIN Collective is having their AKIN OPEN STUDIO/ HOLIDAY SALE/ COLOURING BOOK LAUNCH from 1-6:30 at the Akin Landsdowne Studio, 87 Wade Avenue, Toronto. Join us for a showcase of three floors of recent work by members of Akin Collective along with the annual holiday sale and the launch of our first publication, the Akin Colouring Book. 

Click here to visit AKIN's website: http://akincollective.blogspot.ca/

Gratitude!

I got a chance to give a short speech, giving thanks on behalf of the students at OCAD University last night during the Donor Thank You event. It was a lovely event and I was truly honored to be able to finally express my gratitude for all the emotional and financial support that I have received from the donors and from OCAD U. :)

Thanks to Jess Cimo for the photo.

Safe under covers

Oil on canvas

29" x 24"

2013

Pathways

Home away from home

Shifting Self

My new piece, "Shifting Self", that will be given to Gary Slaight, the 2013 recipient of the Business for the Arts prestigeous Edmund C. Bovey award for a lifetime of philanthropy in the arts. 

To read more about Gary Slaight and the award:
http://www.businessforthearts.org/awards/edmund-c-bovey-award/gary-slaight-winner-of-the-2013-the-edmund-c-bovey-award/

Akin Collective - Colouring Book

Akin Collective has decided to put together a fine art book in the style of a colouring book that will be distributed at MOCCA, Articulations (the art supply store), and hopefully Art Metropole (the art book store). It will be printed and ready for the Open Studio + Sale which will likely be the second weekend of December. I will post more details as they come! 

http://akincollective.blogspot.ca/

Each artist had to figure out a way to convey his or her preferred subject matter and aesthetic values in an image that is only black and white and is conducive to being coloured in (ie. has bold lines and empty white sections).

Here is my page that will be included among many, many others :)

Lovers

Art Toronto | 2013 Toronto International Art Fair

This weekend my painting, Purge, is being exhibited, along with other OCADU graduates, in OCADU's booth at the Toronto International Art Fair at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in booth 1404. See you there!

A wave of painting has begun in the new studio :)

Work in progress

Art with Heart 2013

I'm so thrilled to say that my piece "Caught in the Rain" will be included in this year's Art with Heart collection to help raise funds for Casey House. The painting will be in the Emerging Artist section in lot #38. 

Art with Heart Details

TD Bank Group Presents the 20th Annual Art with Heart, a benefit for Casey House. Canada's leading auction of contemporary Canadian art features an exciting curated collection of emerging & established artists raises funds for Casey House, Toronto's HIV/AIDS hospital. This year’s 86-lot collection features work by some of the most esteemed contemporary artists working in Canada today. Ticket price includes open bar and food.  

  20th Annual Art with Heart

  Canada's premier charity auction of contemporary art

  Exciting curated collection of emerging & established artists

  Raising   funds for Casey House, Toronto's HIV/AIDS hospital

  Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at The Carlu

  Tickets $175 at www.artwithheart.ca or 416.962.4040 ext. 238

www.artwithheart.ca

Kristy Gordon, Recent Work

Hello everyone! 

I hope you're all feeling energized by the crisp fall weather :) 

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the opening reception of my close friend (and incredibly talented artist) Kristy Gordon. Her new paintings are on display at Cube Gallery in Ottawa until October 13th, 2013. If you get a chance to stop by, you will be moved by her beautiful portraits. Her sensitivity to detail and colour, as well as her thoughtful and honest approach to painting are sure to inspire :)

You can visit her website here: http://kristygordon.com

And more info about the exhibition here: http://www.cubegallery.ca/exhibitions/2013_09_17_kristy_gordon_2013

Some words from the artist about the work:

"My paintings investigate the sensation of moving through the unknown,” she says. “They explore the idea of remaining buoyant through  transitional periods and often depict creatures that create their own light.   They embody the idea that one must create one's own light to stay positive through these in-limbo periods.  My paintings explore bipolar  oppositions such as light and dark, soft and hard edges, the beautiful and the  dangerous.”

Here's a sneak preview of the show:

The underbrush

Oil on canvas

40" x 30"

2013

Rio Cumbaza

Oil on canvas

12" x 16"

2013

Collective Unconscious: Members Show

Without beginning, without end

Oil on canvas

36" x 48"

2013

Into the tangle #2

Oil on canvas

40" x 36"

2013

At the Collective Unconscious exhibition at Creatures Collective with Kevin Columbus and his beautiful explosion paintings :)

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the opening last night! It was such a wonderful experience! If you haven't had a chance to see the work, please stop by 822 Dundas Street West, Toronto. The show will run until the 21st.