Art in Transit

Over the next two weeks see my work in the Art in Transit exhibition, across Canada. 

From Jan. 14th - 27th 

in shopping centers all over the country

My animals heads as photographed by the best, Owen Deveney  

along with Andrea Vander kooij's photographs of her amazing skills in knitting, 

will be apart of  "Hard Twist: Greatest Hits" 

curated by Chris Mitchell & Helena Frei 

and Art in Transit, an ad/exhibition program 

with Pattison OneStop Network digital display billboards.

Read about the Art in Transit program and more about the artists involved 

in this Thursdays issue of  the Metro Newspaper 

or get it online here. 

Find out where to view the exhibition here

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Make sure to see
Hard Twist 7: Touch Me, Feel Me

before we pack it all up on Sun Jan 27th. 

On now @ The Gladstone Hotel, Queen West, Toronto

3rd & 4th Floor. 

Try on a felted beard made by yours truly and post it on twitter #HardTwist

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Owen has just posted a mountain of wonderful shots 

sharing them with us via Flickr. 

Please stop by and check them out here.

enjoy!

Update: Jan 16th 2013

News about the Art in Transit program landed on the west coast.

read Vancouver's online new source Straight.com 

for all the details. 

New year, new happenings

Happy Newest Year to you!

With last year being such an eventful year, I'm looking forward to seeing what this year has in store.

Some highlights of the past year include...

- Interning for admired artist Suzanne Carlsen

- Finishing four month long graduate project

- Graduating
- Winning 'Best in Show' award for my work in our graduation exhibition

Joe Lewis, writer/editor for fibreQUARTERLY wearing Lion's Head @ OCC Gallery, Toronto

- Exhibiting at OCC Gallery in Toronto

- Participating in group exhibition Surfacing in Hamilton

Lion's Head on display @ The Knit Cafe, Toronto

- Exhibiting the Lion's Head at Knit Cafe in Toronto

Felted Slippers workshop @ The Knit Cafe, Toronto

- Started teaching felting workshops
- Leikey Designs now a full-time company

- Went to Montreal - First trip within Canada, outside of Ontario

Amanda McCavour's installation @ The Beehive Craft Fair, Hamilton

- Participated in several craft fairs including the very successful Beehive Craft Fair, pieceWORK and 401 Richmond

Felted Bear Feet slippers - available online

- Opened up online shop
- Featured in the Finishing School edition of fiberQUARTERLY

- Work on display at the Gladstone Hotel (exhibition extended to Feb 26th)

- Started renovations on the new place
And those are just the highlights.

We rang in the new year with a mid-reno party; a great excuse to have people over to the house. We passed around the camera all night and there were some great shots. Take a look at the rest of the photos here. 

photo from Owen Deveney on Flickr

So far 2012 has been kind, starting with a feature on the lovely Polish blog Pick Me Up , selling my first pieces of work in gallery from the Hard Twist exhibition, and just this morning - a featured seller on 100 Mile Finds blog.
In addition, the Gladstone has announced they've extended Hard Twist until February 26th. So all you lazy bones who haven't had a chance to go see it, you'll have extra time to make it down there to see an incredible collection of Canadian Textiles Art at it's finest.

The exhibition will run during the Hotel's popular annual event, Come Up to My Room and Toronto's IDS event, happening January 26th - 29th! Opening reception for CUTMR is Saturday 28th 7pm - 10pm. So go see both shows while you're there.

For now, I'm off to the post office to mail out some orders! Followed by a copious amount of painting, de-carpeting, de-wallpapering, and trips Home Depot and the reuse centre. I have a feeling we'll spend the majority of 2012 in a Home Depot.

Bonne nuit, Montreal

First: a lame french lesson with keiley...

When we actually crossed the 'boarder' to Quebec, only then (reading the traffic signs) did we realize our neglect in preparing translations and learning common phrases like, 'Pleased to meet you', 'No, just looking thanks', and 'Can I turn right on a red?'. Having only taken french for our province's standard of 4yrs, I was at a loss in most cases. And I can honestly say, in those 4 yrs I barely absorbed anything. But as it turned out, the area of Montreal we stayed in was super anglicized and could switch between french and english without hesitation. 

The only conversational french I'd picked up, prior to Quebec, came from movies and television - which is ultra sad. Nerd Alert! I picked up 'bonne nuit', good night, from an episode of Futurama. As it turns out this is actually a sort of endearment and not something you should just say to a random person. Bonne soiree, means about the same - good evening - but is more appropriate for acquaintances and requires little to no introduction. 

For anyone reading this, you're probably laughing at my incredible ignorance. But I have to say, 99% of the time it was great not know what was going on. It was a little more adventurous that way. The other 1% of the time was only annoying because it can cause traffic jams. Things like menus, signs and non tourist areas were tricky and not predominantly bilingual, but it's fun when you don't know which part of the subway line you'll end up at, or exactly what you're eating. But enough about my incompetence...

Here for your viewing pleasure - the third installment of our Montreal minimalist photo album.

We biked all over the city and visit many of the regular touristy things and their lovely museums. 

These are some pictures from our adventures. 

'soft light, no chin'

Imagine, walking into the foyer of the 4th level of the Museum of Fine Arts and in front of you is a grand marble staircase with a royal blue runner leading your eyes up to the plateau. And at the top of those stairs in bright neon blue, a florescent sign floating above a chorus - line of spotlit mannequins, dolled up for the main event.  

Simply amazing, the custom mannequins are cast from the very models that wore the garments on the runway. Not only that, but a video recording of each model was then projected on the mannequins face and accompanied audio recording of their engaging chatter, singing and dialog. Superb!

Jean Paul Gaultier Exhibition - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Crazy amazing detail, fantastic collection and innovative exhibition. 

He is a master of simulation and manipulation of any material, not just fabric. 

In the above collage are some of my favourite highlights from the exhibit - the Eiffel Tower slingback heel, simulated alligator stockings, the laced-up lace bodysuit and a hand-beaded leopard pelt gown that took 1060 hours to construct..

Off to the island...

A weird place to want to trek to in the offseason, but it was a sight I couldn't wait to see - the geodesic dome from the '57 World Expo in Montreal. 

We were fully Buckminster'd. I can die happy now. 

Actually much larger than I had thought it would be, and relatively easy to get to via public transit. The Biosphere museum actual gives a discount on admission to patrons with proof of their "green transportation" to the museum. Because it was the offseason, there was hardly anyone around and we were able to savoy a bike ride and observe the dome from around the island; checking out the surrounding parks and gardens.

We were honestly, not the best tourist - as you can see, we didn't actually take many photos. 

The Rialto Theatre

For those of you that follow on twitter, I mentioned this theatre, the Railto. 

Well, we were invited to take pictures of the place. And this is where we took most of the photos from our trip. So tune in later this week for another post and photos of the remarkable Rialto.   

But for now, good night. 

Montreal, with a full belly

Montreal was lovely. The people, places, weather but especially the food. 

Everybody's got their favourites, but these are mine. This post is a collection of my favourite eateries and my favourite menu items. Along with a site link to each place, I've included a map link, incase you're planning a trip.

Tiny Drinks Day!

When it came to food, we were spoiled for choice.
There are many different places to eat and enjoy yourself in Montreal no matter the size of your wallet.

Top left to right clockwise:

1. Apple cinnimon crepe - Faberge Resto

2. Smoked meat sandwich - Schwartz

3. Alfajore (Chilean Pastry) - Barros Luco

4. Homemade Ratatouile - Famers market

5. Passion fruit macarons - Fabrique de Cornet (middle)

6. Fairmont Bagel's New York Style Prezel + homemade butter + contraban mustard from Macaroni Bar

7. Chilean custard doughnut - Barros Luco

We went out for most meals. Most of the places were delicious, but these are the ones we wanted to mention.
Favourite places to eat:

Breakfast: 

Fairmont Bagels - Fairmont St. 

Open 24hrs!
A hole in the wall, local gem tried and true. There were line-ups here all the time.

I highly recommend the pumpernickel, onion, sesame and the incredible garlic bagels. The New York style prezles were great with melted butter & mustard. 

Fabrege - Fairmont St. 
Cozy restaurant with eat-in and cafe lounge area. And they play retro cartoons like Bugs Bunny, Transformers and TMNT on the flat screens. 

They really know how to poach an egg perfectly. Try the mushroom eggs benedict or even their simple eggs in a nest on homemade cheese bread. And above all, their breakfast potatoes are so good!

Lunch:

Barros Luco - Fairmont St. 

A Chilean restaurant that makes everything from scratch. Delicious breads and desserts. I recommend their signature sandwich - the Barros Luco and their delectable aifajore sandwich cookies. 

Rumi - St. Laurent

Nice Mediterranean menu restaurant with a patio.
We had a pretty quick dinner here one night. I was pretty busy and I think they were understaffed, but the food was really good!

Recommend the falafel wrap with dill pickle, mint leaves and their homemade greek yogurt. Unexpected and super delicious.

Dinner:

Big in Japan - St. Laurent

Hope you're hungry. This place describes its menu as Japanese comfort food. The place is a dive and seems very underestimated but well loved - the kind of place that seems like a well kept secret or something. The food and atmosphere was like stepping in the 50's - 60's when Japan became obsessed with American culture  - complete with beach boy and buddy holly music. 

With chop sticks in a milkshake glass at the end of the diner table, we tried their special tataki tuna, seared with a blowtorch. I tired the Sweet and Sour Chicken on rice, with homemade tartar and pickles beet fries. 

It sounds strange, but strange is tasty and filling!

Dessert:

Kem Coba -  Fairmont St. 

Homemade sorbets, ice cream, soft serve and gelato. 

Incredibly flavourful and smooth, they'll even recommend combo-flavours and let you sample the menu until you're happy! I recommend everything really, but my favourites were...

the lime mint sorbet, passion fruit and vanille, and their chai and chocolate combonation.

After writing this out, I noticed a trend in the places I favoured. We traveled all over and ate at restaurants all over the city but my favourite places were the ones just down the street from our homestead. So if you're visiting Montreal, St. Laurent and Fairmont is the place to eat. 

Will have more pictures up next. 

Still to come - Jean Paul Gaultier, Buckminster Fuller & the Rialto Theatre.

Salut Montreal!

Owen and I recently got back from our mini-vacation in Montreal. 

After 2 months in Albert shooting a feature film, Owen and his partners spent a week driving across the country setting up promotions for their film Lift and taking in the scenery. 

The result, Owen got the travel bug and decided it was time for a vacation.

So off to Montreal we went. 

Local enough that we didn't need passports and could drive there. 

Arts, culture, shopping and easy metro - system.

Just a nice relaxing getaway. 

rooms

We stayed in a great little apartment on St. Laurent, in the Plateau Mont-Royal area. A great location, there was tons of food and farmers markets, street festivals, super cute shops and just generally close to everything we could want.

kitchen and Fairmont Bagels for breakfast

The building is owned by an interior designer who actually lives and works out of the building, so everything looked super pro. The place was gorgeous and recently renovated. I think we might have been the first to rent since the upgrade. Most notable was the kitchen, which actually took up half the apartment. With a huge stainless steel countertop and integrated cabinet fridge and freezer. the kitchen is so inviting. We made ourselves a locally grown/preserved ratatouille with Quebec Brome Lake duck and for dessert - truffles and Portuguese tarts from Seraphin Bakery just down the street. Yum!

We're looking forward to going back to Montreal again, and staying here.

More pictures of the trip up next and my top  six favourite restaurants we tried during our visit.