walking tour.

london wanderings: motorists do it yourself shop, tumbleweaves, flower market & crafty street art.

london called.

in london (the original one) for a few days to perform. please brace yourself for images and terse tales of indie art and street beauty. today, misty mornings, blooming spring flowers, and giant john waters.

 

convenience store.

newest in my collection, is this wonderful new painitng by toronto artist, amita sen gupta. i could not be happier with it, in no small measure because of the fact that it came from an image of a building in the heidelberg project. i love it!

 

no fun.

i just got word that one of the most fantastic stores in the world, uncle fun, is closing its doors at the end of january. aside from being totally fantastic, this chicago landmark was possibly the first store i ever sold my buttons to. i remember walking in there a decade ago while i was in town performing and meeting billy behind the counter and having just about the best experience ever. as both a seller and a shopper, i love uncle fun. i can't even count the number of things around our home that came from there. it has also been home to the world's largest spray string sculpture, it was the first (and only) place i learned to circuit bend...i could go on...

if you are in the chicago area, they are having a big sale until they close - including stuff from their amazing warehouse. oh, it would be a bittersweet sale to go to, but i would go if i was in town. in fact, part of me even felt like planning a roadtrip through this blizzard just to be able to be there one more time. i have ten days until i go on tour again. who knows? but until then, here are some pictures from our years passing by our favourite uncle. i even did an artist residency in their window!

 

the future is now.

happy new year!

the items pictured above were procured at city of craft - isometric risograph calndar by paper pusher and hibernate pennant by stay home club. they very much sum up my current state - forward moving yet slothful.

 

resurrection (or how to be middle aged and new all at once).

this is a time lapse i made overnight of the resurrection plant i got aitor for christmas.

tomorrow i turn thirty five years old. neither of my parents made it to seventy. middle age.

i am hoping that this next year is better than years past. lots of wonderful things have been going on for me creatively, they always do. i am incredibly grateful for all of that - for my friends, for my work, for my collaborations and for my partner in life. and yet, it's hard to shake this feeling that my head has been full of goo since my parents passed away. it's as though things got cloudier and sleepier. don't get me wrong, i have a lot going for me but i miss being a little more awake and bright-eyed. and i miss engaging with you, friends and strangers from all over the dang place.

so...some questions to start of my thirty-sixth year on planet earth:

are blogs dead? (this is a pragmatic question)

what gives you clarity and/or focus in your life?

what's the best way to get rid of unwanted goo?

you replies are most appreciated.

happy valentine's eve.

from city to city.

my friend serena has made an amazing book about her years in one of the most incredible places i have ever visited on this earth - bruno, saskatchewan. my encounter and subsequent relationship with bruno and her/tyler brett's then project there, all citizens, is definitely a highlight of all my years touring arts and crafts across this continent.

serena is launching the book in toronto on wednesday, december 12, 2012. i am really honoured to have been invited into the proceedings as a panel speaker.

wednesday, december 12, 2012
8:00pm
the gladstone hotel
1214 queen street west
toronto
$5 or free with book purchase

below are some of my favourite images from my visits to bruno, surrounding areas and all citizens. it was hard to choose.