Part 2

Help me raise some much needed funds for my travels!

"Hollow Night Eyes are only the First Step in the Process of Changing from Owl to Man"

Pencil and Gouache

$90

Email me at funiscool@gmail.com if you would like any more info about this painting.

I only have one more day left in Montreal also, but I'm planning on staying up really late tonight (or possibly staying up all night?) so I will most probably write another blogpost before I leave.

Read Some!

So in the last 2 days 2 of my most favourite artists have, well I suppose you would say "released" some new books/zines for your enjoyment. Here are there stories...

Oliver has made this super excellent book of lots of his drawings and sketches and more. He is amazing. If you ever came to/walked by my apartment when I was living in Melbourne, he is the one who made the giant cardboard letters that were in the window looking out over the laneway. Oh, sometimes I miss the old place...

That's a little off topic, but anyway, they are €6 each (plus postage) from Berlin. Ollie has only made 50 copies of this book, so I would suggest getting one quick before they are all sold out (I've already reserved myself a copy for when I have a postal address!), email Ollie at oliverofthesky@googlemail.com to buy/get more info.

Next on the agenda... something I have been waiting for for ages... NEW GIRLIE PAINS!!!! YES!!!! Mel Stringer has made 8 new mini comics which she is selling for the amazing price of $2.50 each. Or if you would prefer, you can buy all 8 for the discounted price of $16. I really like the way she has gone about this, it very much appeals to my like of having options so I can choose which zines I would like (although I'm pretty sure that I will want all of them!)

Go to Mel's shop GirliePains on etsy, or for easy access, here are links to all of your options separately: buy all of them!!!, option 1, option 2, option 3, option 4, option 5, option 6, option 7, option 8.

Next on the agenda, just a few other interesting books I have come across in my internet and real life travels...

BBB's diary. Molly Colleen O'Connell. $8, limited edition of 100. Here!

I can't even express my love of Matt Furie's art and comics with words. You can get Boys Club 2 here ($4.95). Boys Club 1 is a bit harder to find (it's sold out in most places), but I think you can still get it here ($5).

How To Disappear in America. Strange but excellent. If you are on the run from the law or some gangs or something, this is a very handy book to have. Not that I have ever been on the run from the law or from gangs, but it's good to have the information anyway. This version is a hardcover book (available for $20, here). The copy that I have of it is a handmade/purple photocopied version on really nice thin paper which I think is way nicer than this hardcover one, but I'm not sure if you can still find that one anymore. This book is also all over the internet if you don't want to pay money.

Oh man, I forgot to write about Matt Thurber's comic 1800-MICE. I suppose that will be another post for another time.

p.s There are only 2 more days of my etsy shop being open! Buy my things and support me in my travels! Today and tomorrow there is 20% off everything too which I have also mentioned in the previous blog post.

Oh, hello there

If you can tell by the tiny picture, my Ghost Kitty print and Acorn Pouch were featured in the latest issue of Dujour Magazine. Yay! They are nice.

In other news... I am taking my last orders in my etsy shop on the 20th of June (in 2 days!) (after that I will be away for the next 2 months or so), so if you want anything from me, get in quick. Also, I suppose if you are a reader of my blog I can offer you, lets say, a 20% discount on anything until I close shop for the summer? Just mention it in the "message to seller" part.

Just made the best frozen yoghurt ever with green tea and berries and so many other tasty things. Also, what's the deal with yoghurt being spelled "yogourt" in Canada? Oh wait, just wikipediaed it.There is no deal. Ok. 

Adventures...

(image from Keith Jones/nobodyland.com)

Yay for Toronto! I have been having so much fun here while I have been back this week for my show.

On Friday night I went to a really excellent art opening at a place called Hunter and Cook. They are a shop, a gallery, and a magazine. Super awesome inspiration.

The artist who's show the opening was for is called Keith Jones and I really love his work. The colours are so bright and fantastic, it's like Where's Wally (or Waldo for you from the Northern Hemisphere) but some crazy city that Wally would never go to hide in because he, the master of all hiding doesn't have the street smarts to get by in this city of litter everything/multicolour vomit buildings/faceless everybodies. Or whatever. I recommend you go to the show.

Oh man, also I went to this tiny farmers market this afternoon and bought some jellies made from berries and leaves foraged from the Canadian wilds. They were tasty.

Finally I'm telling you all the details of my show coming up in Toronto...

Yes.

Hi! I told you that I would tell you about it sometime...

The title of my show is "Other Wild Mammals" by Sarah McNeil. It includes drawings, paintings and prints. Including the above drawing, amongst other nice things.

The show opening night is on Thursday the 11th of June, from 6-9pm and it will run until about the 31st July at "Robber", 863 Queen St. West, Toronto.

Your are invited. Bring your friends. Fun fun fun. Facebook invite is here.

That's enough promoting for now. Hope to see you there.

Eats

Get some nutrients and fibre. Use up the oats in your cupboard. Have some tasty snacks.

Linseed and Oat Crackers.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups of oats

1/2 Cup of linseeds (flaxseeds)

Salt/Pepper/Spices

What to do:

Pre-heat your oven to 150º Celsius.

Put your oats, linseeds and some salt into a blender, plus if you want to add some spices (like cardamom or whatever) then add them too. Blend until everything is like a really coarse flour.

Pour your blended oats/seeds mixture into a big bowl, then combine with enough water to make a fairly hard dough. Save a little of the dry mixture for later on...

Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (so that it doesn't stick to your rolling pin) until the dough is about 1mm thin. Cut with a cookie cutter into whatever size or shape you want, dust the the side that is going to be on the baking tray with some of the dry mixture that was saved so that your cracker doesn't stick to the tray, sprinkle a little sea salt over top of the raw crackers, then put them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they are crispy.

Done.

I had mine with yoghurt mixed with garlic and chives and lemon juice. I recommend you eat these in moderation because of, ah, the, eh, high fibre content or whatever.

Here

Tim and I stayed up all night and in the morning before it got light we walked around old Montreal taking photos and eating candy. I came home and did some drawing, had a sleep, drew some more. I hope that I'm working hard enough, and that I am working towards something rather than simply working.

I want to make conceptual art. I want to create great empty spaces in tiny places.

There are many stray cats in the area where I live.

Cute

Hi! I'm going to be back in Toronto from the 4th-12th of June. On the 6th and 7th I will be at the above craft show (I should have coloured in the flyer before posting this, there may be an edit in order for colouring). With me will be some new items that I have been working on, plus prints and brooches and so on.

AND later on in the week, (on the 11th) I will be having a show of art at a lovely boutique shop on Queen W (more details to come in the next few days) (please keep that evening free).

Sunny today! Art supplies shopping soon! Yessssss.

oh, and...

I got to be the "guest intern picker" for Toronto Craft Alert this month. This meant that I got to pick five craft/art/niceness related internet things. Below is one of them, Coral Silverman's amazing floral paintings. To see my other picks, plus other excellent picks by some other lovely ladies,  click here.

Super Excellent Fun Things in Montreal

Yesterday was such a super nice fun day. So what if I didn't get that much work done...

First, basement art show/music at a house in St Henri (two different kinds of homebrew beers, $1 each, plus what they call "Swampwater" for 50¢ from the changeover between the two kegs because they only had only one tap) didn't stay there for too long though, sometimes I can't deal with some people's interpretations of noise music. Speaking of homebrew, but a little off-topic to my blog post, if you are in Brooklyn next month you should check this out.

Anyway, took a train to the Plateaux to visit a highly recommended bar/cafe called Le Cagibi. Suitably impressed. They have a strange licensing rule there where you must buy a meal to drink beer there, so that was good because I was hungry, although I don't recommend the nachos unless you are extremely fond of cheese.

On the way home, came across an art exhibition opening at Galerie Push. So good. The artists who were exhibiting were Suzanne Dery and Justin Stephens (I couldn't find an image of my favourite piece at the show, but if you go and have a look, let it be known that my favourite one is Suzanne's green/boot/stars painting) Recently I haven't really been that impressed with the quality of work at a lot of art exhibitions (sometimes I think I am a little overly critical maybe) but the work at this show was really good quality and gave me that feeling that good/powerful art (subjectively I guess though) sometimes brings that everything is important.

When I was almost home there were people giving out handfuls of free chocolates as a promotion. Perfect. The End.

Another little something that I am enthralled with...

...is this super awesome hand drawn mega owl brooch from Birds of prey.

This particular one is pinned to my cardigan right now so you can't have it (I also have a bird brooch that is similar as well but it is a finch of sorts and not an owl) but you can get one for yourself from the Birds of Prey etsy shop, or from the Glaciers of Nice shop. Glaciers of nice also has some other super nice things like cd's, shirts, posters, zines and other miscellany.

Drawing so hard in preparation for upcoming shows. No scanner at the moment either but hopefuly soon I'll take some photo's of my new things for you to see.

Tiny Joe and Junior in the Park

I was just about to do a blog post of all the things that I like which are my favourite colour (I believe it is called "Seafoam" or something similar) but then I remembered this screenprint by Steven Weissman, and decided just to write about this instead. Titled "Tiny Joe and Junior in the Park" it's from an edition of 90, includes my most favourite of all greens, and it only costs ONLY $10!!! Oh my.

Real Quick...

Haven't been in Montreal long enough to tell of any impressions of the city yet, but just wanted to mention that there is a giveaway over at Design for Mankind's blog of my husky print and some lovebird brooches. Leave a comment at the giveaway blog post to be in the draw to win , and the winner will be announced on the 6th of May. I mean mai.

Bye bye!

Goodbye Toronto! Hello Montreal!

...and so I spend my last night in the lovely wooden-floored apartment/studio/metaphorical cave where I have been living for the past few months. I should have perhaps said "Bonjour Montreal" in the title, but that is perhaps letting you assume that I will be perfectly at ease with speaking French when I get there, which will not be the case (though I will attempt to garble my way through mispronounced conversation from time to time).

To everyone in Toronto, it has been lovely meeting you, and I would like to let you know that I will be back for a few days in June if you must must must see me. I will be having a small art show at Robber, (more details to come) and you are very much invited.

I have also just re-stocked Katherine Mulherin Gallery (Board of Directors) with some more drawings (including the original "Power over Kitties") and prints, and I've dropped off a few more of my knitted animal brooches at Model Citizen in Kensington markets.

Hmmm, really should get on with packing then I suppose.

And if you are out and about in Toronto...

After you come and visit me at the Hunt and Gather show, there is another event that you should definitely take a look at. It's a tea party/live music/craft/fun afternoon being held by "Hibiscus and Rosehips" an organisation which has been set up to raise money and awareness of "The Hibiscus Fund for Hope", which is a fund to help assist the families of people who have Lyphoma cancer.

Here's the flyer...

More information about the show here...

Wednesday.

So Damien Jurado last night was AWESOME. I was really excited about seeing him play, mostly because his sweet songs have gotten me through the last 2 winters (which happened one after the other, resulting in me not having had a summer now for a year). I usually try not to get excited before I see a band in case they disappoint (anyone remember pop-folk band "Midlake"? Been to one of their concerts? Yeah.) but Damien was so so good. Making jokes in between the songs and generally just being great. He's touring Canada and the US right now, so I definitely recommend you buy tickets to one of his shows.

I just got prints made of one of my smaller drawings, called "Girl's Who Wear Glasses" (see image below) which can be obtained here.


Another thing... someone asked me the other day if I had a newsletter, to which my answer was no. Any thoughts on whether it is a good idea to have one or not? And if it is a good idea, how to go about it?

Apocalypse Ahoy!

Hello everyone in Melbourne. I miss you all heaps. 

As you may or may not have heard, Brunswick Bound's gallery on Sydney road is closing. Terrible news. However, they are having one last show, opening at 2pm Saturday the 18th of April, and you are invited to attend. It will a group show, featuring art by artist such as Marc Martin, Michael Fikaris, Eveline Tarunadjaja, Arlene TextaQueen (who also made the amazingly fantastic flyer for the exhibition), myself, and so many more wonderful artists. Please come to the show and celebrate the greatness that was Brunswick Bound gallery (plus eat pretty cakes and drink tea). More info, including all the artist names, directions to the gallery etc, on the facebook event page.

p.s... (click here) or look below a few entries on my blog to see one of the drawings of mine that will be in the exhibition.

Hunt. Gather.

You are invited to the Hunt & Gather a trunk show on the 19th of April (next Sunday!). It's at The Workroom, from 12pm - 5pm, and it will be the last trunk show I'm in in Toronto before I head over to Montreal, so if you would like to meet me (maybe buy some of my wares?) and eat cake/delicious snacks for free, I suggest you come around. 

If you would like more details, here's the facebook event page, and also the info from the City of Craft site. Hope to see you there.

Fieldguided will be there too! So good.

Apocalypse

One half of a set of two drawing that I have sent to Melbourne to be in the final show for Brunswick Bound's gallery next month. The show will be called "Apocalypse". More details to come.

Life Drawing

Part two (of three) of blog post for today. Last night I went to the first exhibition opening that I have been to in ages. Called "Life Drawing" (name brings up kind of bad life drawing class connotations, but really it was everything but generic university working-on-an-easel-looking-at-boring-naked-people art), it was at Magic Pony's new art gallery space place, called Narwhal Art Projects.

My favourites were the pink bright sexy happy cats from Ginette Lapalme (in an excellent matching pink frame), (its the picture below, but imagine the frame around it please) and a big secret mushrooms painting by Melinda Josie. Other artists in the show included Howie Tsui, Lauchie Reid, Lee Hutzulak, Marc Bell, Michael Comeau, Selena Wong and Tara Azzopardi.

I suggest you go and have a look for yourself. More information (including how to get to the gallery etc) is here.

p.s The prices for all of the drawings are also rather affordable, so you should buy some because they are great. Or you could just buy me the above cats and we can call it even.

p.p.s I think I need to practice putting my thoughts into coherent sentences, everything alway read kind of disjointed like the way that I think, and I am always hoping that it makes sense to whomever you are.

Happy.

...even though I'm listening to Magnolia Electric Co.  Just had a lovely day in Toronto. It was sunny and WARM (comparatively anyway). I went on a super nice adventure which included most of my favourite things; art, art supplies, talking to artists, exploring, various kinds of squirrels, cake and beer. Hooray. So glad that it is finally springtime, I thought I would never get through the winter.

Oh and the new friend which I went on adventures with today also works for one of the street press things in Toronto (called NOW), and she is doing a series of interviews about artists and their studios, which she interviewed me for last week, you can read it here (photos too!).

I have lots of things to say but I'm deciding whether to write a few more blog posts instead of just putting everything in one post. Probably makes sense to do it that way. ok, thats all for this post then. Read the interview. 

Nearly...

So yesterday I just started listening to music instead of podcasts and, in some amazing instant magical moment, I remembered how to make ideas and draw and it was fantastic. I think Kes represents everything that is important about being alive and nature and, well, if you haven't heard, just listen. Ideas and afternoon boat rides up a river in the wilderness.

I'll make this quick before I get back to work, but also I wanted to say that I'm up to 197 sales at my etsy shop. You should buy things so that I reach 200. 200th sale gets an extra special prize. Obviously. 

Back to pencils and music and dancing alone with cats.

Home

I know that I have a lot more traveling to do, but today I am dreaming of having a real home.

(from "Lastleaf")
(from Alice Saunders)
(from "Yava Glass")
(from "Down From The Mountains")
(from Sophie Jade)

Lola

Recent commission. I like her, she is like a storybook kitty.

100th blog post!!!! Yeah!!!

Not that it is all that exciting or anything, but oh well. I got some new prints made this week, by popular demand, of my drawings "Tattoo Sweater and the Colours of Everything Inside" and "Branch from the White Forest" (links go to the prints of you got that).

Hardcore drawing weekend this weekend. Getting some nice fresh new paper, some avocado on toast, and getting down to business.

Live in the wilds

That's it. I've decided, I'm growing my hair out, long and wild. I will be a girl who lives with nature and thus it will be necessary for me to have untamed tresses (this may take quite a while though, since right now my hair it approximately 1cm long).

Hair inspiration...

(from "abdabs")
(from "there's a ghost in my backyard" )
(from Wendy Bevan)
(also from "there's a ghost in my backyard" )

If snow was warm and soft and not cold and melty

Over the past few weeks, I have been looking back repeatedly to the photographs of Theresa, aka Simple Moth. They make me feel happy and like things are important.

Here are two of my favourites from her, and you can see more of her photos here.

Rain rain rain

So the good news... it's warming up a little here in Toronto. Bad news? Rain. Not that I don't like rain, but I can't go outside right now because my shoes are not in any way "water resistant" (they are full of holes and I don't like owning more than one pair of shoes). Hopefully the new shoes that I ordered online will arrive next week. I don't think I really ever buy anything from real life shops anymore, other than food. Last year when I was getting an eye exam they asked me about payment at the end and I misheard and started quoting my paypal address.

Starting some new art projects this week, had a burst of inspiration this afternoon which was awesome. Now I have eaten too much lunch however, (mmm walnut bread) and I can never concentrate on art after eating too much. I just feel too contented. My desk is set up so nice right now, I have my little collection of art and my paper bag full of knitting projects all within reach. I was going through some of my papers and documents yesterday and rediscovered the wonderful narwhal painting that I bought from Oliver Hunter from the Lines on Paper exhibition I curated last year...

I love the galaxy of his face.

Over the last few days Tim and I have been discussing what we want to do with our lives, after our trip to Canada and the U.S is over at the end of the year. We've come up with some ideas that I am kind of excited with, regarding places where we might like to live, jobs we could do etc. As much as I like traveling around, adventuring and seeing new things, I feel like it would be nice to have a more permanent home some time. Perhaps with a little garden with a pear tree in it.

Commission

Recently I have been doing a few commissions of people's cats...

This is Tula

I've done a few others (one particularly that I though worked out really well) I'll how you some pictures as soon as the person who ordered the commission gets it (I don't want to ruin the surprise).

Ahhh too much coffee

So when I woke up this morning, I had a little message in my inbox with a photo attached of a tattoo someone got done of one of my fox drawings. I guess its like the ultimate complement when someone wants to get a drawing that I've done on their body... forever. Pretty cool, and the white parts of the fox actually seemed to come out quite well. The girl who got the tattoo also asked me for permission before she got it too, so that was especially nice.

I think next time if anyone wants to get a tattoo of one of my drawings I would like to be a little more involved in the process though, by designing a piece specifically for someone, and maybe have a chat or something with the tattoo artist.

(Secret message to Androniki of Bhavani or whoever owns the original fox drawing that I did: "...hey that drawing you have is on someone now! from Sarah")

Lets see... oh man, got Mel Stringers "Cream Suck" zine in the mail this week. It's so good. It's for girls. Mel is one of the most amazing artists ever, I love her work so much. Inspiration. Apparently she is working on a new zine/comic at the moment so I will definately have an update when that happens.

I'm slowly taking better photo's of all my things, and as I usually like to have photos with my blog post, here are some of them...





P.S If you are from Toronto and know of anything that is interesting in the way of art or music, let me know. I must leave my house some more.