Skull and Enneagram

I met Kevin the other night by beckoning to him from across the room so I could have a closer look at his tattooed arm.

I was surprised to learn that Kevin's sleeve was done by Yann at Glamort who is well known for his sketchy line art, evoking Tim Burton images of Voodoo Girl. But what intrigued me the most what the super fine line negative drawing of an enneagram. What is a enneagram? I asked. A nine pointed geometric figure was the short answer.  The longer answer involves the ennegram of (9) personality types. I took a online test and turned out to be a peacemaker.
Yes love! No war!

Snow and Mona Sharma

Head down, tuque, scarf, mitts, down jacket, hood, big boots.
We are now (sort of) ready to trudge into the depths of Quebec winter.  If you have read my previous posts on snow here and here, you can come to the safe conclusion that I am not a huge fan of winter and cold.
But alas, here we are again in the -20celcius department, onward we go!

While I was trying my best to tuck my head into my neck, two glowing blue portholes caught my eye.

Despite the cold, I felt compelled to examine articule's beckoning window installation. As I pressed my cold nose to the glass this is what I saw:

What I was looking at was a seascape of soft sculptures by Mona Sharma.  This dreamy yet brooding scene was fitting for a cold dark night.

Pleased to have stumbled on some art amidst the blustering weather, I walked away visually satiated and my nose just a little bit colder.

Bill Cunningham New York

Today we have another documentary that centers around the New York Times.  This film follows Bill Cunningham, an 80ish year-old bicycle riding photographer for the New York Times' street fashion oriented "On the Street" column (and video version with Cunningham's awesome commentary!) and the society event oriented "Evening Hours" column.
Throughout the film I was wowed by Cunningham's staunch moral and work ethics, his passion, positive energy, and endless knowledge of references.

Here's a couple of gems in Cunningham's words:

"Damn you New Yorkers-so extravagant and wasteful."
"To be honest and straight in New York is like Don Quixote fighting windmills."

But despite his moments of expression of disdain, what he clearly embraces is the beauty, the imagery and the self-expression that can be transmitted through fashion-often exclaiming with unfiltered enthusiasm when something catches his eye.

While I don't want to give away too much-you'll have to see the film for yourself-I'll leave you with this insightful interview with the director Richard Press.

Matryoshka Dolls

Tis the season for gift-giving guides online, in magazines and beyond. What to get for your mom, your dad, your super cool BFF, your babysitter, the hostess gifts, your dog, the woodsman etc.  These are all usually conveniently attached to links for where to buy-should you be online shopping.
I'd like to give my version of this guidance trend, with another trend in design, the matryoshka doll.

I saw these dolls at my friend Andrew's place, his girlfriend's sister had picked up this lovely set of nesting dolls in Russia. Apparently these get updated when a new president comes along.  In case you weren't sure, from left to right is: Putin, Yeltsin, Gorbachev, Stalin and Lenin.  There's an Animal Farm reference here somewhere....

But on with the gift giving!
How about some art? Society6 has more images than you can sift through! A quick search of "nesting dolls"gave plenty of options.

My personal pick is Ariel Wilson's Haida Nesting dolls.  Native to British Columbia and Alaska, the Haida's imagery was popularly depicted with the use of Nike shoes by artist Brian Jungen.

This is the DrinkUP Babushka bedside carafe-her head becomes the drinking cup!  While I gave you a UK based link, I just saw this little lady at Zone (among with many other Matryoshka related items.)

For those who want a luxurious yet unobtrusive set of dolls, might I suggest the Maison Martin Margiela Russian Nesting Doll Set?

But at the end of the day, the real gift I'd like to suggest is right here.

Happy holidays!

Pearls Before Swine

This past weekend my favourite jeweler Pearls Before Swine had an atelier sale of handmade silver jewelery.  I have been a long time fan and am always excited to add a new piece to my collection.  I will now fantasize about this piece for awhile, thank you very much.

Also at this intimate sale was handmade natural soaps by Carriage 44, delicious soaps (with great design!) made with shea butter and essential oils.  I picked up a couple for my mom, I think she'll love the lavender one.

While we're on the topic of Pearls Before Swine, I'd like to take this moment to share the comic strip of the same name by Stephan Pastis.  This is a clipping I've kept since 2009 that resonated with me for it's optimism/pessimism of what art can bring to the world.  Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you like!

Cease Holiday Flea Market - Fresh Paint Gallery

"Better late than never," I said to Sterling Downey, the brains behinds the Under Pressure Fresh Paint pop-up gallery, as I walked into the space for the first time since it's opening in August of this year.  The gallery's semi-dilapidated charm was playing host to the multidisciplinary Arab Winter exhibit and the Cease Holiday Flea Market.  Scroll down, I'd like to share some art for sale with you.

Our favouritre art collective En Masse was representing with some prints documenting their awesome contribution to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' Big Bang exhibit.

Other eye-catching prints at the sale were the graphic imagery (and jewelry!) by Curse of the Multiples, illustrations by Regimental Oneton, and vintage style pop art by Antoine Tavaglione. I did not leave empty-handed, as I picked up one of Antoine's prints for my flat-I will concentrate more on Christmas shopping soon enough...

One of Everything for the Boys

Good theatre, I hate to say this: is hard to come by.
I was relieved to say within the first five minutes of SideMart Theatrical Grocery's production of Whiteman's Whiskey Comedy Revue: One of Everything for the Boys, that this was awesome theatre!
They sing! They dance! They sure can act! And golly jeez they write their own material!
Created as a jazzy revue to entertain troops in a fictional land, the play is full of tongue in cheek witticisms including blatant sexism and racism of the days gone by- SideMart hits the nail on the head with just the right tone and balance of the faux-pas of yore.
Already critical darlings in the media, try to catch them while you can in small intimate venues like MainLine Theatre before they step up to the Centaur next spring, so you can say "Oh SideMart? I knew them back in the day!"