Torontunian

Art and antlers

2008-07-14T14:39:00.004-04:00

Call me stupid, but I was expecting something quite different from the Toronto Outdoor Art show - namely, outdoor art (sculpture, installations and wot not, specifically for displaying in the public domain), not just art being sold outdoors. But enough of these semantic preoccupations. It was still a very pleasant way to spend a weekend afternoon, although the oppressive weather conspired to make walking around 900 stalls selling loads of art even more of a marathon than it would be normally.
Julie Moon, whose work is way out of my price range, provided some sublime eye candy and I enjoyed the playful mixed media works and drawings of Meghan Barton (not least because they feature lighthouses and antlers, and I've just returned from a trip around Nova Scotia).

Cartoon politician

2008-05-09T14:22:00.004-04:00

The fluffy white hair, the slightly over-sized head, the grey suits; thank goodness these are the only things that Toronto's David Miller and London's new Mayor have in common. Dear Lord, it's taken more than a week for the news of shamblingly idiotic Tory Boris Johnson's London mayoral election win to sink in, and me to commit anything to paper.
As a northerner, I have resisted jumping aboard the anti-Cockney 'all Londoners are self-serving prats' wagon in the past. But perhaps I was wrong. After all they just voted in a self-serving, possibly racist, definitely homophobic Etonian into office. Yes, the man who took the post from Ken Livingstone's only managerial experience is as editor of The Spectator (robustly conservative UK politico mag).
So, am I glad that I am now living in a progressive Canadian city where people at least appear to give a damn about each other? Of course. I will never complain about Toronto's under-funded arts scene again. Probably.

Idle Tigress

2008-04-14T13:51:00.006-04:00

Rather seasonally, my writing life has finally begun to bloom in the last few weeks. It's a positive development for my purse, but less so for the blog, which got relegated to back burner for a few weeks.

Still, so much to report in those weeks! Namely the fact there's another Yorkshireperson in Toronto. Ok, that may not be surprising in itself, but when you consider that person is a electro noise-making pixie called Idle Tigers who uses Jake Thackray (late poet and singer-songwriter from Pickering, North Yorkshire) and the Bronte sisters for lyrical inspiration, plucks away at a red mandolin and wears a neckerchief, by eck, it's worth an essay in itself.
I'll save that for another day however, and suggest you read my review of his gig (with Seattle's Throw Me the Statue, April 4) in next month's Exclaim! instead.

The return

2008-02-22T13:00:00.004-05:00

A trip home to England explains my tardy posting. Such was the whistle-stop nature of the visit, I didn't get to a see all my friends, let alone a computer.
I did however, manage to get a small arts and culture fix. The BBC's Culture Show was heralding the rise of the YBF - the Young British Female recording artist. Following in the wake of Lily Allen and Winehouse, the Joni M-likened Laura Marling, Wales's Duffy and London soul-jazz starlet Adele as do suggest they are on to something. The latter (the new Amy Winehouse apparently) plays Toronto on March 26, so we can make up our minds then, I suppose. The artists on Later With Jools Holland, the UK's long-running music show, were uncharacteristically disappointing though, except for nerd electro-ists Hot Chip of course, who I managed to get a ticket for when they play the GTA in April. Hurray.
It made me realise how much I miss the BBC's cultural programming, digital radio and warm beer. Not the weather however, which, in an apparent disregard for my visitation rights, was unexplicably cold (minus 6 one day). No respite from the Great White's chill or weatherspeak then...

Craft attack

2008-02-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Lucky old me gets to attend this exciting symposium at Harbourfront in a couple of weeks....

Landmark symposium delves into the history and innovations of Canadian Craft
Crafting New Traditions: Canadian Innovators + Influences Symposium
February 22 and February 23, 2008 at Harbourfront Centre

Crafting New Traditions: Canadian Innovators + Influences Symposium is the first time that Canada's craft practice will be explored from a historical and contemporary artistic perspective - through the minds and voices of some of Canada's most influential curators, artists and academics. This symposium includes three keynote speakers and ten respected researchers from across Canada examining the influences and accomplishments of prominent Canadian craft pioneers working in ceramics, glass, metal, textiles and wood. These presentations coincide with the launch of the book Crafting New Traditions: Canadian Innovators and Influences - published by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (as part of their Mercury series), in collaboration with Harbourfront Centre.

So, seemingly, my arts and culture blog has metaphorphasised into a craft blog. But frankly, Toronto already has plenty of quality craft blogs. So, what should I do?

Boulevard of broken seams

2008-01-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this rather wonderful and witty title is actually borrowed from the name of a alteration and clothing store on College where I tried to get the vintage dress I just bought fixed. It was closed. So instead I enlisted the help of Karyn at the Workroom to help ME fix it and I now have a dress which skims not suffocates. Right now I am feeling rather pleased with myself having mended a pre-loved dress and saved myself a buck or two.
More news soon. Meantime, I am busying myself at the desk my boyfriend has lovingly dubbed 'the button station' creating everlasting button bouquets, clocks and such for the fast-approaching Valentines Trunk Show.

Questions for Crafters

2008-01-21T15:23:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have noticed the Questions for Crafters section I have started writing for Toronto Craft Alert. A weeklyish addition to TCA where we give the interesting crafters, shop owners, galleries and co-operatives of our city the third degree, each profile attempts to to find exactly what out exactly what kinds of crafting goodness are getting interviewees inspired, wired and tired.
In case you don't check that wonderful blog spot, you can check it out here

Sustain in the brain

2008-01-19T21:02:00.001-05:00

It was at an unGodly hour this morning that I found myself heading out to Owen Sound's Tom Thomson Gallery for the Making Matters: Sustainability and Craft Practice symposium. (Being up for a 6am departure was always going to be a tad painful, and sure enough I was frantically running to the TTC having barely dragged a brush through my tousled hair - only in Canada would the train be pulling into the station as I arrived!)

Thankfully my bleary mind was greeted with a lively and inspiring debate around the issue of sustainability and craft, which was well worth the winter white-out which the car had to suffer on the way.

The event was programmed to coincide with the Makers Return exhibition - a show documenting the activity of Makers, an craft co-operative run by local artists and craftspeople between 1981 and 1985 in downtown Owen Sound, who upheld the philosophy of handmade production. A small, but lovingly curated show, it brought together the suprisingly undated ceramic, silver and cloth work of the 14 members, of which only two continue as full time craftspeople.

Most interesting was how it was not only the favoured eco footprint buzz words which came into play, but issues surrounding how to sustain a craft business/co-op, craft as a form of resistance and how craft can bring together the earth and art and inspiring and inventive ways.

Sweet thrills

2008-01-09T18:29:00.000-05:00

Button-mania is upon me again. I have been accepted to vend at City of Craft's Valentine's Trunk Show over at The Workroom. Organised by Becky Johnson of Sweetie Pie Press with Karyn Valino of The Workroom, it's a pint-sized informal craft sale where all 15 vendors have just one suitcase in which to squeeze their wares. I must say
the list of talented creatives involved is a little intimidating, but at least I only have only one wee suitcase to fill!

A New Year's Eve Tranzac - tion

2008-01-01T16:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so missing the 2008 countdown during the push towards Tranzac's main space was a little anticlimactic (a belated Auld Lang Syne and complementary bubbly soon got festive cheer flowing again however). Similarly, last orders at two was met with disdain (my friends had only just begun the construction of large, interesting shapes on the dancefloor). But, all in all, a merry time was had by (almost) all, it seemed.
A sparkly tie-sporting Gentleman Reg was certainly alluring, but Laura Barrett (think female Jeffrey Lewis with a side order of sugar cubes) had to be the highlight. Witty, beguiling and open to audience heckles, the kalimba-wielding, sweet-voiced folk songstress was perfect antidote to the onset of seasonal affective disorder with her cautionary tale of nylon tails and clockwork hearts, Robot Ponies.
Oh, budding Tranzac washroom graffiti artist (work pictured) take note.

Sew far, sew good

2007-12-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was fortunate enough to find myself squeezed on to the Sewing Machine Essentials course at Parkdale's newly opened sew-and craft-by-the-hour space, The Workroom. Karyn Valino's space has only been open two months, but it's already gaining plenty of attention with a range of courses which include a three-hour basic sewing machine class, as well as longer weekly ones in making wrap dresses, quilt samplers and more.
Chock-full of sewing ideas, gorgeous designer fabrics that you won't find anywhere else in the city and rent-by-the-hour sewing machines, the alluring little shop is a sanctuary for the hobby or serious maker. You'll also find a button press, ironing equipment, books, sewing equipment and a small kitchen where you can make yourself a well-earned cup of tea.
Karyn, a seamstress with a background in media arts, has warm, helpful and, most importantly, calm manner (perfect for allaying the fears of snags, breakages and frustration that come hand-in-hand with a sewing machine). I left with a warm, cosy feeling, lots of inspiration and a gorgeous printed cushion that I'd just made all by myself.
A fantastic idea, and now as one of my class mates suggested, perhaps it's time for further creative, by-the-hour spaces. Scribe-by-the-hour for lonely writers, anyone?

Moose-spotting in the GTA

2007-12-15T12:58:00.000-05:00

The new blog, which was to be titled 'Moose-spotting in the GTA'. That was when my moose obsession (they have such enormous heads, after all) was in full swing - before sightings of the naff cow-parade-style painted moose located across the city.
For now, this will be an irreverent romp through Canada's real capital city, from a legal alien's point of view. Expect rants (why the hell did I come to Toronto to live in wintertime), raves (when I find some) and self-reassurance (it's not me, it's just the way they do things over here).