A Manifesto of sorts. That moment when you say screw it and do what you want.

There comes a time when you should do the things you want to do. Sometimes these things can be completely new territory, and sometimes these things can be revisiting old ground. In my case I reverted to older ways of working. I have gone back a bit and started over. Can’t explain it, and I can’t predict the future, but I think I’ll do what I want to do.

What would you rather be?

Everyone has thought about what they would like to be in their lives and careers. Artists are no different. We all dream about what level of success we’d like to achieve in our careers. So I thought it would be interesting to put together a career poll for artists.

The 5 to watch. Funny guys.

This is a weekly list I’ve decided to do for fun. It is a list of 5 things, persons, events, or places that I think are worth watching…some probably from a safe distance. To make things easier and less contentious the list is alphabetical.

This week’s list is about funny Prince Edward Islanders who have provided laughs, subtlety, outrage, puzzlement, and pleasure in various measure. Each of these creative funny people lives or has lived and worked on Prince Edward Island.  Some are well known, and some should be famous. Each has a web presence (sort of), and I hope you check out their work. The descriptions below are gleamed from various websites.

1. Dave Atkinson is a dad, homeschooler, writer, journalist, cartoonist, broadcaster and knitter. For ten years, he reported for CBC Radio from Ontario, New Brunswick, Nunavut and Nova Scotia. His work has appeared on programs such as The Current, Sounds Like Canada, As it Happens, This Morning, Sounds Like Canada, Maritime Magazine, Maritime Noon, Tapestry, In the Field and various regional radio shows across the country.

2. Patrick Ledwell Raised on PEI, and then returned to it, Patrick Ledwell draws on his experiences growing up in an Island family and the funny trials of staying true to his roots. He successfully delayed entering the workplace with degrees in literature and technology. After six years of teaching college, he had built up enough casual days (and e-mail nights) to supply more than enough material for a comedy career.

3. Rob MacDonald of Sketch 22  fame is a writer. Sketch comedy mostly. He acts. Comedy mostly. He directs. Surprisingly hard to find biographical information about even though he has been an active performer for over 20 years.

4. Ponderings was created by Jeremy Larter and Robbie Moses in the winter of 2010. Jeremy co-created the hit web series Profile PEI with Adam Perry in early 2008. They also worked together on Adam’s web series and feature length film, Jiggers in 2009. The videos are for a mature audience only. Viewer Discretion is Advised (NSFW)

5. Graham Putnam‘s creative endeavours include performing, writing, editing, and directing in mediums including stage, film and video culminating primarily in the comedy group called Sketch 22, and a Parody of  the 9/11 truther series Loose Change. Graham Putnam creates a compelling argument that the destruction of the first Death Star was an inside job—orchestrated by none other than Darth Vader himself.

If you like this list check out my other 5 to watch lists.  Previous  Next

Let there be light.

I’ve never been too fussy about light quality in my studio. I like to have enough light to be able to see what I’m doing, but I’m not the sort to go on and on about the perfect North light. As a result I’ve always been able to work in just about any space I’ve had to. I guess if I was a portrait painter or a landscape painter I’d be a bit more concerned about light quality, but as it is all I really need is to be able to tell what colour I’m using and where the tip of my brush is.

On toys and models.

Toy plane.

I was watching my son play with one of his toy airplanes, and he was holding it by the tip of the wing and pretending to fly it through the air. He would stop in mid flight, and then spend time looking at the airplane from different angles. I remember doing the same thing when I was a kid, only what I played with was Airfix and Revell models of airplanes. I would spend many hours building the kits, and when completed I would hang the models from my bedroom ceiling.

My sons toy is an odd thing. It looks like it was made by someone who had a vague idea of what a WW2 P-47 Thunderbolt might look like, but it’s all wrong. The wings look like they came from a dive bomber, or maybe a P-51 Mustang. I like the oddness of it, and so I decided to paint my own version. I combined two of my favourite models that I built as a child, and so my painting is a mashup of a Spitfire, with a little bit of aHurricane.

Airfix.