Girl from the Moon: She rises!

This image is for The Girl from the Moon, the sequel to The Boy from the Sun. The pair constitute one thematic work inspired by very unique ideas from controversial art historian, Alan Gowans. I recently received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to complete the Moon story. I have a lot of study to do for the book. It should take me a year to complete the text and illustrations. The image below is based on a smaller etching I produced for an international competition to illustrate Yann Martel’s book,The Life of Pi. Tiger Dream features a boy who tells three stories to dissuade a tiger from eating him. This image is from one story, but substantially different from Martel’s telling or the tale that inspired Martel to write his novel – the story called Max and the Cats by Moacyr Scliar about a Jaguar in a boat with a boy. Tiger Dream’s thematic layout and moral underpinnings are also inspired by Alan Gowans – primarily his concepts of art objects revealing a battle to fight or support Heaven to Earth Movements that have shaped humanity since we began to communicate.  Gowans believes the best of popular art fight such movements.

Recruitment Campaign

Along with Michael Rapino (CEO of Live Nation Entertainment) and Shy-Anne Hovorka (singer-songwriter) we are aiding our alma mater in recruiting students. It’s quite an honour. I’m apparently featured in bus shelters in Toronto, and there’s a billboard image of me and my work in Barrie, Ontario. Images from The Boy from the Sun were featured in T-shirts – 3,500 of them given away in a promotional campaign in Toronto.

Art Zoom: Revitalization and the Arts

I’m organizing more than 30 artists and musicians into over 20 retail locations, including galleries for this annual event. I’m taking over for local artist, Linda Dell, and, with assistance, trying to put my own spin on events. Art Zoom is a great way to get hundreds of people into shops and seeing art they otherwise wouldn’t without this event. Local businesses are stoked and the artists are competing for spaces as the crowd that gathers is excited.

Constellations Art Show: Aug. 21 – Dec. 23, 2009

Over 100 original works of art are on display at 12 St. Paul St., Thunder Bay, ON. Over sixty people attended the opening and I get about 30 people a day. Special Thanks to Dorothy Hanson! And thanks to Shaw Cable, CILU Radio, The Source, and The Chronicle Journal.

Christmas with LuAn Mitchell

I was a guest at the “Banff Mansion” over the Christmas holidays with LuAn Mitchell, one of Canada’s most famous entrepreneurs, and one of the top 40 in the world. LuAn and her wonderful children made me feel at home.  This was my first trip to Banff. LuAn is now a writer and speaker who was the owner of Mitchell’s Gourmet Foods. LuAn gives talks and attends events all over the world. She is a philanthropist and donates her time to worthy causes. I had no idea who she was when I asked her out for a coffee in Victoria. We met waiting for an elevator. LuAn has been a great inspiration.

Science Fiction Pilot Images

Actors will be green-screened into these  images created for my brother’s upcoming project, a pilot for a half hour sci-fi comedy series. The image on the left is from a photo of mine taken in the Metropolitan Museum of New York. The Egyption hawk is from the Montreal Museum.  The computer room is from an old collage I did for a literary journal. Bottom left is from an oil painting I did for my poetry book. The ‘Space Dock,’ right, is from a photo of Peel station in Montreal when I lived there. I had to erase all the people standing on the platforms. Planets, actors, spaceships, and backdrops can be added and changed in these scenes and all made to move. These and a couple more images took me 16 hours to produce. 

Northern Writers Festival

 

Me, Steve Heighton, Heather Cariou, David Hayes, John Geddes, Alistair MacLeod

I had the honour of reading before Alistair MacLeod at the ‘Sleeping Giant Writers Festival.’ I read my short story, ‘The Archer.’ Alistair read from his novel, ‘No Great Mischief.’ I sat in on Steve’s great poetry workshop. Heather was full of advice. My workshops were packed with enthusiastic future authors. I wish I had more time to chat up the other authors. Special thanks to the organizers for their invitation.

‘Spacesnake’ and ‘Castle Keep’ at the Thunder Bay Film Festival

Castle Keep, created for the Thunder Bay Police department, is about a family returning to their home to discover they are victims of a break and enter crime. I did the story boards, direction, and images, requiring hundreds of paintings of objects, backgrounds, and characters. Story by Dennis Austin. Spacesnake is the animated version of my book.

Latest Drawing

The surreal backdrop around Steve (www.steveball.com) is my allegorical extension of his music. For me “progressive rock” music often inspires large thematic images and feelings. I have a few more sketches to do for his use.

ART SHOW at the T-Bag

This year, 2008, I had 96 works of art at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, mostly of from my picture books hung on yellow walls. Adult themed works for my poetry, portraits, and others were hung on white walls.  Above, three people are gathered by my most recent oil painting. Scott Pound, a professor at Lakehead U studies an image in one of my “drop sheets.” 

Kady MacDonald Denton speaks on opening night as we stand in front of my illustrations for Night Wall. Kady’s work for her popular picture book, ‘A Visitor for Bear’ was brilliantly displayed in an adjacent gallery.