Thanks Dave at THIS magazine for making my work looks so good! The May June issue just arrived and I love the text and the colour, it looks great with the image I think.

A couple of weeks ago the final disk for Catherine Manoukian's Elgar recording showed up in my mailbox.

It was a pleasure to work with violinist Catherine and her talented conductor husband Stefan Solyom on designing the disk packaging, and Berlin Classics very graciously took over my design files and did a seamless job having the packaging manufactured. I don't do a lot of graphic design these days but I do enjoy working on projects with friends, and this was a great pleasure to do, all the more since I was able to attend the concert in Weimar, Germany, of which this disk is the live recording. Knowing that Catherine and the orchestra only had two chances to record this concerto made the performances electric: everyone was totally present in that moment and in the mindset to perform at their very best. What an experience! Thanks Catherine and Stefan for thinking of me and for including me in the exciting creative team that helped launch this recording into the world.

That creative team included the Staatskapelle Weimar (orchestra), J Henry Fair (studio photographer), Tara Vongpaisal (liner notes), Jaimé Campbell Morton at Artspromo (social media) and Tristan Cook and Zac Nicholson who did videography and concert photos.

Check out this short video about Catherine's recording of the Elgar violin concerto.

Today I started archiving some files on my computer. The large desktop I have in the studio is getting maddeningly slow, and I need to reclaim some space on it. Going through old photos and illustrations from the past few years is a really welcome and warming trip into good memories. Really sweet photos of my son, and some neat re-discoveries from sketches, half-completed projects, files containing image research, and other inspiring tidbits from a rather fully lived life, if I may say so. One of the things that surprised me was remembering this design, which I did for the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST) at the University of Toronto in 2009. Usually I don't like my design-sense, because I tend towards making things too busy and packing up all the space. Even though this is true of the design (below), I still kinda like it, with the contrast between the soft and hand elements, orange and blue.

The illustration above was another cast-off from that project, which included an original illustration about "the history of science" for this flyer promoting the department.

Jamie Lawson, Albedo | Opening Friday May 11, 7pm-midnite | Sylvia Nickerson studio, 126 James Street N, 3rd floor

Jamie Lawson is an artist and designer living in Hamilton. Albedo is a collection of paintings from the last few years, encompassing a time of significant personal change. The pieces in this show are united through the theme of transmutation, evoked through references to various personal and universal mythologies, philosophical traditions and a highly individualized narrative.
See some of Jamie's work at jamielawsonart.com

Sylvia Nickerson studio gallery hours: When you see the sandwich board out, come on up! Or otherwise by appointment or by chance. Please e-mail sylvianickerson@gmail.com to book a viewing.

Thanks to Becky Katz, Michael Byers, Dushan Milic, Matt Junkin and Matt McInnes who just closed the Third Floor Stories show.

A strange effect of reusing paper is layering a new idea onto a previous idea. Eventually the lady-figure was cut out and added to a different background.

It's nice to look back and occasionally find something (good) you did that you forgot about. I was poking around in a folder the other day and found this sketch that got killed for a job I did for the Boston Globe. I like the geometry and space of this one:

But this is the sketch that got finished, given that the art director felt it implied more directly that kids get better with vaccines (the thesis of the article).

This was the final, which I finished literally minutes before I had to leave to catch an airplane...one of those times I've done a ton of work in a short period of time for a newspaper deadline thinking, never again!

However, experience has proven that I happily do it again.

The other thing you discover is that sometimes your incomplete work was more interesting than your finished work. Something about this look is nice...which might bring about a fresh idea for the next assignment.

3rd floor stories
Work by Michael Byers, Dushan Milic, Becky Katz, Matt McInnes & Matt Junkin
****Opening Friday April 13, at 7pm, and continuing to May 7****
At Sylvia Nickerson studio, 126 James Street North, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA

Hey some artists I really admire have some work up right now in the open part of my studio space. Come by and check it out if you're in Hamilton! If my sandwich board is out, I'm open so come on up. Otherwise, e-mail me and we'll figure out when I can be here to open the show for you. We might also have a show "closing", date TBA.

Opening at the studio on the next Art Crawl, Friday March 9 at 7pm and continuing to April 11: Carey Jernigan, Some Things.

Carey writes: "Carey Jernigan lives in Toronto where she's working for a furniture maker and waiting for her sister to have a baby. She became interested in art in Halifax, Nova Scotia, collecting wooden beams and decorative trim from demolished buildings and creating installations in collaboration with other artists. Recent projects have incorporated film and stop motion animation as her work moves from an investigation of the spaces people live in to the people themselves. Some Things brings together small sculpture and video projects created in Halifax, New York, and Toronto, 2009-2012. For a taste of past projects, check out careyjernigan.weebly.com."

Thanks to Dan Haartman who is closing out his Mind Maps show from February.