QUITTING TIME.

Something big happened a week and a half ago - I left my office day job! And I'm just writing about it now? Apparently I did the vast majority of my web stuff while I was there (shhhhh). 

I'm not generally a big risk taker, so this move was a pretty big deal for me. Big ups go out to my pals for encouraging me to take the leap. 10 days in and it's really feeling like the best decision ever. Scary and exciting.

Danielle and I can now devote more time to Falconwright (check out the new sewing machine we scored above - it's a beast!) and hopefully I will eventually settle into some kind of routine that will enable more drawing, more screen printing, more music making. Who knows!

The past week and a half has definitely been a bit of a blur. I've been to the burb-y outskirts of town looking for sewing machines and various leathers. I've printed and cut and taken pictures. I've been working on some wedding invites for a friend with my new favourite thing in the world: ink and a paintbrush. I skipped out of work on a Friday afternoon to drink wine in the park with Jason. My google reader has ballooned to a truly intimidating number of unread entries. There have been highs and there have been lows. And time has flown by much faster than anticipated.

So! If you want a scrappy illustration to accompany your article, to adorn your book jacket, to advertise your event - I am officially open for business. Custom (unrealistic) portrait? Sure, why not.

And I also caught up to the present day phone-wise and joined Instagram. If you crave more gauzy photos of screen printing, plants, snacks, leather, and baseball in you life - you can find me here: @dead__weight

LATELY: PAINT, LEATHER, GLASS.

What's been happening lately: 1. Super scrappy paint mixing experiments. 2. My "studio" looking tidy for once (this lasted for about a second). 3. Canary leather. 4. A canary leather makeover! 5. Thread city. 6. Printing haystacks and making messes. I'm thinking I should have painted my tabletop for a more cleanable surface, but this whole crime scene vibe is pretty cool too. 7. Transporting leather back and forth and back again - Danielle and I really need a joint work space! If only to save her from calling a leather storage facility home... 8. I've been breaking A LOT of glass lately. I can barely keep it in my hands. At least I'm not breaking mirrors? 9. City of Craft was this past weekend and it was a huge success! Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by, organised the event, and filled up the room with their awesome stuff. GOOD TIMES.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME.

Crappy pic of me wearing...the largest Blue Jays hat in the world! A totally reasonable umbrella. Not showy at all.

Baseball is back today. The new uniforms look hot and there is hope in the air. It's a good day!

I am ready for: the struggle, the heroics, the strategy, the double plays, the potential no hitters, the stupid Brett Lawrie tweets, the heart breakers, the blind optimism, the weird group activity that is cheering on a team ("Canada's team"), consuming more hot dogs than I should, the blown saves (by other teams, of course), Bautista's one million homers, sunshine, the open dome on warm summer nights, the comforting sound of baseball on the radio, and cold drinks on hot days. And no matter how sunny I sound to you here, believe me, I will still hate the wave with every ounce of my being...same goes for you, guy who will sit behind me at at least 2 games saying the dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life.

Amelie had a great post about her feelings about baseball on her blog. Check it out!

Really loving how the Blue Jays are being marketed these days too. Lots of moody drama. Deep blues, crisp whites, serious men!

MAGICAL THINKING.

Something fun? My band has a new song called Magical Thinking and our pal Ryan Mounsey made us this wild new video for it. In his words: "In the Magical Metropolitan land of Chatham; the King's number one Wizard set's out on a journey of self discovery and self loathing." It's pretty fun to hand your music off to someone and see what they come up with. Thanks, Ryan!

This video features all kinds of weird stuff: our friend Corey as the King Of Chatham, a wizard on a mission, and some very Toronto-centric appearances by Rob Ford (our total train wreck of a mayor) and Zanta (remember him?). Moose run through the streets, there are ads for baby sunglasses, and public transportation prices skyrocket. Doesn't it sometimes feel like the escalator is always broken? GAME OVER.

WISHBONED.

Got a new tattoo by Lissa at Pearl Harbor Gift Shop in Kensington Market this weekend. I'm no tattoo expert (this is only my second) but I really liked my experience here. Awesome people + great decor (the personified strawberry face in particular). Recommended! I'm already thinking about what I should do next...

GLAZING IS AMAZING PT. 2

My first ceramics class has officially come to an end. I didn't sign up for the next round of classes in time, partly because I didn't have the cash, and partly because my schedule might be slowly killing me. But I am now officially on the waiting list for round two, and really hope that someone reconsiders their ceramic dreams so that I might take their place! Obviously the inability to be involved has made the whole thing more appealing to me. Plus, there's something kind of meditative about making things out of clay which is very enjoyable. I would like to improve!

The best line I overheard during this round of classes: "I'm making stands for our snow globe collection." Of course you are! And yes, I also find it funny that I made small bowl after small bowl, vessel after vessel. How many fragile containers does one woman need? Answer: A LOT. I like plants and have one million errant bobby pins and hair elastics. And who doesn't need a comically tall, thin vase to hold all the singular flowers they receive? Answer: I DON'T. But I do like the way it looks.

ART CRUSH: LEFT FIELD CARDS

I recently connected with Amelie Mancini, a Mets fan/painter/printmaker from France who now calls NYC home. This beautiful set of letterpress postcards is from her edible all-stars series - baseball players with food names! She also has a series of bizarre injuries cards, as well as a tribute print to The Kid (Gary Carter) with all profits donated to The National Brain Tumor Society. Check out her card shop & paintings for more.

Anyone want to receive a postcard in the mail featuring a baseball player with a food name? Despite the fact that I am terrible at sending out friendly personal mail (cards/notes/etc) I'd like to write a few messages to 5 of you. If there are 5 of you interested out there in web-land, that is. Leave me your email address in the comments and I will contact you for your address.

Guys, it's almost baseball season...

SPRING INTO ACTION.

The past few weeks have been all about printing, sewing, picture taking, editing, and snacking. The end result? New Falconwright items are available now!

At the risk of repeating myself (more details on our blog) we're both really happy with this small leather army. These guys are bright!

We also took some more lookbook pics, which involve a babe (Michelle), pinball, french fries, bubble gum, Toronto, digital cameras, disposable cameras, and chocolate mint shakes.

Big ups to Tim Smith, Michelle Smoliniec, and The Pinball Cafe. And lastly, the biggest props of all to my very hard-working, very funny (especially when she's tired and hungry) partner in crime, Danielle!

ART CRUSH: KAYE BLEGVAD

I've long admired this wee skulls ring by Datter Industries (aka Kaye Blegvad) via my ever expanding Etsy favourites list, and finally brought it into my home and onto my hand. It arrived in the most simple/perfect packaging (red string!), and looked even better then I had imagined it would. I've worn it every day since. A new talisman to ward off evil spirits? Sure, who couldn't use that! Here it is modelled by Tara Bursey's plaster finger, which usually hangs out on my bookshelf and isn't weird at all.

Kaye Blegvad is a London born, Brooklyn based illustrator and maker of things. I love both her illustration and jewelery work a lot. She draws sword carrying ladies, hairy legs, healthy living, touches on themes of luck (one of my not so secret faves), witchcraft (another favourite!), and illustrates her day to day life in a way that is not just visually pleasing, but funny too. Art with a dark heart and a bit of humour to it really hits me in the guts in all the right ways.

Check out her shops (illustration and jewelry) and portfolio!

Her beautiful business card also features a hand. As does mine. I think this is a pretty good sign that we should probably be pals...

SNEAK PEEKS, SONGS, SUPERIOR PINKS.

I adopted 3 new plants this week, and I'm hoping I can put the Great Spider Plant Tragedy of 2011 behind me with some healthy new plant life. Will tragedy (aka my inability to keep indoor plants alive) strike again? My house is really deficient in the natural light department, so it's really only a matter of time. Updates on the future Aloe Disaster of 2012 pending.

Falconwright leather all cut, lined up, and ready for printing. There are some bright new colours on this table, but the black and white keeps their secret for now...

Pattern printing time. Rinse and repeat! Lines, dashes, triangles, woven squares, art deco haystacks, slightly askew v's, and more. Deadweight is feeling jealous of all the time I've been spending with Falconwright. Deadweight needs to toughen up.

My new highly technical set up for burning screens. Dear Charlotte: the glamour of my home set up in full force! Old broom handle to hang bulbs from, crappy mint yoga mat to stand on while I print, paper all over the floor, vegetable oiled transparencies, etc.

Opening a fresh paint container for the first time is one of my favourite small pleasures in the print zone. They never unscrew as easily again. I recently decided to try out some Permaset inks, and this glow pink is far superior to Speedball's neon pink in almost every way (almost because it costs twice as much).

And lastly, while we're in black and white mode, my band recently made a video in our practice space. It's called Fine Lines and will appear on an upcoming EP release! New songs, forest murals, chicken lamps, calm boys, serious faces, deep breaths, frantic instruments - this video has it all (well, all of that).

GLAZING IS AMAZING.

These are a few things from my first couple of ceramics classes all glazed up (and in the case of the last photo, oxide-ed up). The first one will house a new plant in the near future, the second ones have taken over for some boring old ramekins in the salt and pepper department, and the little city at the bottom will turn into a small army of garden markers come spring. Edges = rough. Lessons = learned. Status = beginner. I'm really looking forward to my second attempt at glazing this week!

DEADWEIGHT X LEMONADE: NO.1 (DOGS)

My pal Caitlyn (aka Lemonade) and I have started a collaboration adventure. We plan on releasing different projects over the course of the year, and this is project number 1: a collection of 6 dog postcards featuring some of our very favourite dogs! Though my very favourite dog is the golden lab, which I didn't draw? Major oversight on my part.

We just happened to draw our dogs facing in the opposite direction too. This was not intentional and I wonder what it says about our brains? You can purchase this set of 6 postcards at the upcoming Love & Rummage show at The Workroom from Caitlyn (who will also be selling a bunch of other excellent items of her own - cards/prints/etc). After Love & Rummage we'll put some up on the web!

So, send your favourite dog loving friend a greeting! Or if you're like me and can't have a dog of your very own at this point in time, keep them for yourself, name them all, and get real weird about it. We got together last night, tied them up into packages, and the verdict is in: we're both really happy with how they turned out. This is Caitlyn (and her excellent hair) showing off the goods.

UNDERGROUND.

The past two weeks have been a frenzy of activity. My phone tells a calmer, darker, more moody-filtered (and badly lit) version of that story though: 1. Leather shopping for Falconwright. 2. Practicing for this show on Friday! 3. The left side of my work table featuring: a lizard painting by John Malta and a ceramic skull by Julie Moon. 4. The right side of my work table featuring: coffee and neglected recording devices. 5. The Bird and Banner scarf which hangs above my bed. 6. A completely typical subway shot. If only my station was built into a real castle. Frank's Castle. 7. Ceramics class. Our class symbol? A a crescent moon. This is the only non-underground shot. Apparently, I've been spending a lot of time in basements...

DAMN WRIGHT.

Spent a large part of this weekend with good friends, taking photos and eating prop cheese. Then the rest chained to my laptop. The end result? Falcowright's shop is now live! Check out the lookbook on our new website for more pictures! YEAH.

This is the first time I've ever helped plan a photo shoot of any kind, and it turned out way better than Danielle and I had imagined. All thanks to Tim's expert camera wrangling and Shayna's whole being a knockout thing, of course. Hot damn!

That last photo up there of Danielle and I only begins to illustrate how happy we are to have made it through the weekend without any major setbacks. Big ups to my partner in crime - you're the best.

LATELY.

After the ridiculously wordy last post, here are a few quiet pictures from this week: printed some packaging for Falconwright, picked up some wool to attempt a scarf (black, of course), and begun setting up my home studio.