wow. this gif is amazing. The smoke just flows and flows…
(Source: livingbehindashadow, via thesmallanomaly)
September 15th, 2012
Comiccon!
Yesterday was my first day ever at Comiccon - and it was so much fun! :)
I’ll be there for another two days so if you want to drop by, my booth number is 1418.
Hope to see you there! :)
The Facebook event is here:
September 12th, 2012
June 21st, 2012
Craft fair - Foire d’artisan 23 Juin
This Saturday 23rd I will be at the Café Touski for a mini-craft fair in the garden of a nice cafe. Last year it was fun :) so I’m sure this year will be too! Plus it’s going to be followed by concerts. yupyup.
Here’s the Facebook event where you can get all the details!
https://www.facebook.com/events/247534478695385/?ref=ts
Ca c’est l’évènement Facebook de la foire d’artisan à laquelle je participe ce samedi 23 juin! C’est au café Touski et ça sera suivi par des concerts alors je pense que ça sera vraiment le fun :) Venez faire un tour!
May 27th, 2012
translatingtheprintempserable:
An Open Letter to the Mainstream English Media:
Thank you; you are a little late to the party, and you are still missing the mark a lot of the time, but in the past few days, you have published some not entirely terrible articles and op-eds about what’s happening in Quebec right now. Welcome to our movement.
Some of you have even started mentioning that when people are rounded up and arrested each night, they aren’t all criminals or rioters. Some of you have admitted that perhaps limiting our freedom of speech and assembly is going a little bit too far. Some of you are no longer publishing lies about the popular support that you seemed to think our government had. Not all of you, mind you, but some of you are waking up.
That said, here is what I have not seen you publish yet: stories about joy; about togetherness; about collaboration; about solidarity. You write about our anger, and yes, we are angry. We are angry at our government, at our police and at you. But none of you are succeeding in conveying what it feels like when you walk down the streets of Montreal right now, which is, for me at least, an overwhelming sense of joy and togetherness.
News coverage of Quebec almost always focuses on division: English vs. French; Quebec-born vs. immigrant; etc. This is the narrative that has shaped how people see us as a province, whether or not it is fair. But this is not what I feel right now when I walk down the street. At 8pm, I rush out of the house with a saucepan and a ladle, and as I walk to meet my fellow protesters, I hear people emerge from their balconies and the music starts. If you do not live here, I wish I could properly convey to you what it feels like; the above video is a start. It is magic. It starts quietly, a suggestion here and there, and it builds. Everybody on the street begins to smile. I get there, and we all—young and old, children and students and couples and retirees and workers and weird misfits and dogs and, well, neighbours—we all grin the widest grins you have ever seen while dancing around and making as much noise as possible. We are almost ecstatic with the joy of letting loose like this, of voicing our resistance to a government that seeks to silence us, and of being together like this.
I have lived in my neighbourhood for five years now, and this is the most I have ever felt a part of the community; the lasting impact that these protests will have on how people relate to each other in the city is deep and incredible. I was born and raised in Montreal, and I have always loved this city, I have always told people that it is the best city in the world, but I have truly never loved it as much as I do right now.
The first night that I went to a casseroles (pots and pans) demonstration, at the centre of the action—little children ecstatically blowing whistles, a young couple handing out extra pots and pans to passers-by, a yoga teacher who paused his class to have everyone join—I saw a bemused couple, banging away, but seemingly confused about something. When we finished, they asked me, “how did you find us?” I replied that I had checked the map that had been posted online of rendez-vous spots, and theirs was the nearest to my house. “Last night we were all alone,” they told me. They had no idea it had been advertized online. This is what our revolution looks like: someone had clearly ridden around our neighbourhood, figured out where people were protesting, and marked them for the rest of us. This is a revolution of collaboration. Of solidarity.
The next night the crowd had doubled. Tonight we will be even more.
I come home from these protests euphoric. The first night I returned, I sat down on my couch and I burst into tears, as the act of resisting, loudly, with my neighbours, so joyfully, had released so much tension that I had been carrying around with me, fearing our government, fearing arrest, fearing for the future. I felt lighter. Every night, I exchange stories with friends online and find out what happened in their neighbourhoods. These are the kinds of things we say to each other: “if I loved my city any more right now, my heart would burst.” We use the word “love” a whole lot. We feel empowered. We feel connected. We feel like we are going to win.
Why don’t you write about this? This incredible feeling? Another example I can give you is this very blog. Myself and a few friends began it as a way of disseminating information in English about what was happening here in Quebec, and within hours, literally hours, volunteers were writing me offering to help. Every day, people submit translations to me anonymously; I have no idea who they are, they just want to do something. They come from everywhere. They translate what they think is important to get out there into the world. People email me corrections, too. They email me advice. They email me encouragement. This blog runs on solidarity and utter human kindness.
This is what Quebec looks like right now. Every night is teargas and riot cops, but it is also joy, laughter, kindness, togetherness, and beautiful music. Our hearts are bursting. We are so proud of each other; of the spirit of Quebec and its people; of our ability to resist, and our ability to collaborate.
Why aren’t you writing about this? Does joy not sell as well as violence? Does collaboration not sell as well as confrontation? You can have your cynicism; our revolution is sincere.
Sincerely,
The Administrator of Translating the printemps érable.
Photo Credit: Monica Eileen Patterson
Addendum:
As a perfect illustration of the incredible collaborative and generous spirit that is emblematic of this movement, within two hours of posting the above letter, I received, unsolicited, the following translation of the song that is features in the video. This is who we are.Lyrics:
You tell them
You tell them
That it was instinct that
Drove you up to here.
You tell them
You tell them
That your senses were screaming
Deeply driven
By a strange force
Let it be your base camp.
Let it be your base camp.
You tell them
You tell them
That it was intuition that
Drove you up to here
A carelessness
So necessary every now and then
Let it be your base camp.
Let it be your base camp.
*Translated by Ian Truman, submitted by Mary Lee Maynard.
May 12th, 2012
We are a big fan of Jack Kerouac. We think this quote will get us through the weekend for sure.
(Source: aliceandolivia)
April 25th, 2012
April 24th, 2012
February 22nd, 2012
A giveaway… and my sketchbook project
Here’s a little boat sailing out into the “Uncharted Waters” of my Sketchbook Project - you can see the whole thing here.
On another note, I’m happy to say that I just sold a print for the 3rd time on the Tophatter auction site - and to celebrate that (as well as the fact that I just got to 250 likers on my Facebook page), I’m organizing a GIVEAWAY! The winner gets a 5x7 art print of his/her choice sent right to their doorstep. :)
to join the fun, click here.
February 9th, 2012
February 3rd, 2012
The suitcase
This is an old collage-painting I made 3 years ago, that represents how I feel tonight.
Sitting on layers and layers of undefined stories, emotions, thoughts. The baggage of the subconscious.
on another note, I think I want to redo this painting.
January 11th, 2012
Tendrils of thought
This little guy (who sold at my last exhibition!), Pierrot, is exactly how I feel these days. Some sort of jellyfish blob dreaming, searching. These past months definitely have not been the easiest in my life. Which isn’t a negative thing: they’ve also been full of surprises and laughs and a lot of learning.
One of those lessons is learning that YOU CANT DO EVERYTHING. what?? really? well. if you want to stay sane, that is.
Let me explain.
There were more than a few moments in my life where I wasn’t expressing my creativity to the fullest. And then I moved to Montreal. I don’t know what it is about this place, but it wooed me with its charm and beauty and lovely people and tiny nooks and crannies and cold winter days and bikes whirring through the streets and artists creating and alternative lifestyles and amazing musicians.
So my creativity bloomed. And flourished. And MAN am I having fun :) I hope everyone at some point will be able to experience that feeling of personal self-fulfillment I derive from creating every day. From letting loose. Jumping into the unknown. Delving into the unchartered waters of your imagination. Not caring about the result, just loving the process, loving the process.
And loving it that much more when you stop, and the result feels right.
That doesn’t mean it’s like that every day. But those moments are so precious, that they make you forget those other moments, the ones where self-doubt and frustration spread their tiny tendrils and try to take root.
But there’s another side to this.
When you’ve been holding back on your creativity, and you start letting it loose, like I did, there’s always a risk. A risk that that creative trickle becomes a stream a river a waterfall: your imagination, your subconscious, whatever you want to call it, becomes obsessed with finding a way out; overwhelmed with the desire to express itself. Every moment that you’re not creating, new ideas, new projects, new developments pop up and you’re changing this idea and adding to that one and wanting more and creating more and wishing you had more time and wanting to split yourself in a thousand little pieces to be able to make all the thousand insane ideas become a reality. Overwhelming. Fear of loss.
That’s the risk. Is it worth it?
Yes.
So I’m learning. I’m learning that noone - other than myself - can stop me from creating. Which means there’s no urgency to do all of it now. Real life (=work) is valuable. Necessary. The fear of losing ideas is ludicrous. Our mind is vast, bottomless. Millions of thoughts arise from its depths each and every second. They’re not lost. They’re just wandering.
I think my role is just to hear them. Put images on the ones that are there when I am there to catch them. Let the other ones drift away.
They’ll be back.
December 15th, 2011
My last craft fair of the year!
As the title indicates, it’s my last one before Christmas and VACATION (that’ll feel so good)! I’ll be participating in the CEASE holiday flea market for the first time and I heard that last year was a lot of fun :) There will be a gaggle of talented artists that I love such as The Lonely Pixel, Nicole Aline Legault, JP King and Kirsten McCrea. (yes I just used the word gaggle. According to our friend wikipedia: A gaggle is a term for a flock of geese that isn’t in flight. In terms of geese, a gaggle is equal to at least five geese. By no means, is my use of the word an insult to any of those involved, on the contrary - geese are pretty frickin cool.)
For the technical info, it will be on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm at the Fresh Paint Gallery, 180 St Catherine East!
The link to the Facebook event is here
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November 1st, 2011
I’m exhibiting!!
I’m happy to say that this month has been pretty active and that next month will continue to be just as active.
I took part in an exhibition called “Monsters International”: a group exhibition where the main theme was, you guessed it, monsters. Three of my paintings were chosen to be a part of it and I was excited since it was my first ‘official’ exhibition! So many people came by to the opening, to show their support - filled my little heart with joy :)
And on Thursday the 3rd of November is the opening of the group exhibition at Usine 106U in Montreal,where you’ll be able to find 11 of my paintings, all nice and framed with mats that I spent HOURS cutting with my mom (thank you for your unbelievable help!!!!!)! I’m super excited and would love to see people there, so if ever you want to pop by and say hi, please do! If you don’t know the gallery, it’s a bit of an alternative/punk gallery - a lot of the paintings can be quite shocking but there’s also some really interesting artwork there! Mine is pretty different I guess so it’ll make an interesting mix :p
Here’s the Facebook link of the event.
Oh and here’s the latest drawing I made :)
October 19th, 2011
Mini-art magnets and Halloween craft fair
Sooo I finally decided to create little magnets with my art prints!! they’re super cute and are currently covering our fridge…. they’re a little bigger than a business card. I’ll be putting them up on etsy in not too long, but if you can’t wait, I’ll also be selling them at the Old Skool Crafts Halloween craft fair!
I’m going to be all dressed up for the occasion (I still need to find my costume actually… yup. oops.)
Of course, there are going to be a ton of other artists and crafters that create unique (and local) stuff. so come on by and say hi :)
(the poster for the craft fair is SO cool, I love it).
October 5th, 2011
Sampanink Zine
A preview of a 34 page zine I made!! :)The text of this little story was written by my very talented friend Julie Delporte. This story is in French, but I also have one story in English, an absurd (no-word) mini comic, as well as many little pictures in it, including my bike :)
If you want to get it, it’s here
or if you don’t want to sign up for etsy, you can do a 5$ +2$ (shipping) payment through Paypal! (my email is marienoelle.wurm@gmail.com - That’s all the info you need, you just have to send me your address).
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