Marie-Soleil Michon

The october issue of Elle Québec's culture section features the very charming television personality Marie-Soleil Michon, shot by Daniel Cianfarra at the Centre Phi.  I had the pleasure of pulling some looks for Michon who was a pro: focused and so easy to work with. The look we finally settled on was a fits-like-a-glove cotton dress with an elbow length sleeve and that awesome paint drip pattern by Jonathan Saunders.  Over the dress, we threw on an oversize coat from Topshop and finished it off with Prada suede booties. Click, click, click and we were done.

Province Apothecary

While in Toronto I managed to squeeze a visit to the studio of Province Apothecary and the very busy woman behind the brand Julie Clark.  Formerly working in the fashion world in NYC, Julie has single-handedly created a covetable, holistic skincare line that is free of chemicals, petroleum, and synthetic ingredients. 

All of Province Apothecary's products are handcrafted from their studio using wild and organic primary ingredients all while supporting Canadian suppliers to keep the products local.  While I am blessed with non-fussy skin that has a devil may care attitude, I do think it be unwise to act that way.  I've been in the process of phasing my products to look like my fridge: as whole and natural/organic as possible.  My well loved Vichy toner is no more, now replaced by witch hazel, my deodorant is now Waleda and random lip balm is now PA.

Glitch

My MacBook's been a bit cranky these days and while switching between programs and windows my computer has been taking its time to recalculate the images.  During the minute moment of processing, I saw the life of my laptop flash before my eyes: I wondered if everything was backed up as I reacted fast enough to grab this screenshot of beautiful happenstance.

Inside the Lightbox

TIFF's three year old, five storey, super fancy home, the Bell Lightbox hosted many of the festival's films.  People watching of attendees racing to their next screening was in abundance.

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all together now
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all gone

Packing for TIFF

Heading to Toronto for the first time in about three years to see friends, friends of the family and of course TIFF!  Bought a couple of tickets for some shorts I worked on and the British mini-series Southcliffe directed by Sean Durkin of the Martha Marcy May Marlene fame.  Our visit will be quick and dirty and jam packed.  Commence the bag stuffing of the travel/wardrobe essentials.

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Of course by essentials I mean three pairs of shoes and a pair of flip flops for four days.  This picture does not even include outerwear and sweaters, but with all the erratic weather we've been having this summer you just never know.

Chihuly.MBAM.MMFA

The latest mega show at Le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal is Chihuly:Utterly Breathtaking featuring multiple site specific installations of the renown American blown glass sculptor, Dale Chihuly.  Back when the show opened in June I thought that this would be a great exhibit to attend with my mother, who was a smitten fan from the very first time we eyed Chihuly's work at a modest gallery in Toronto's Distillery District.  I gave my mother a ring and proposed an art date, to which she replied: "I already saw the show."  Smitten fan indeed.  Fast forward a couple of months and I ventured into a crowded museum to catch the show before it was too late.

The show is composed of eight installations and one of the most stunning is the Chandeliers and Tower room.  Holy STUNNING! The non-functional chandeliers are suspended over a small platform topped with black plexi that provide a reflection and another perspective of the works.

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Citron Balboni Chandelier, 2013

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looking at the underside of the chandeliers, into the plexiglass base 

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getting up close to the anemone-esque Pallazo Ducale Tower (1996) and its steel armature

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The tower seen through its reflection

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The reflection of Crystal Turquoise Chandelier (2010)

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As a fan of Dan Flavin and neon works, it was a wonderful surprise (no, I don't read up on an exhibit before a visit-suspense!) that Chihuly's argon and neon Glass Forest made an appearance.

Glass Forest #6 (2013) was one of the installations specifically designed for the Museum.  I couldn't help but conjure the image of melting, deformed flamingos

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last look, from the back of the room