So, I let the blog die for a while. Sorry folks! But there wasn't much news that interested me, beyond taking care of our new baby, for a little while. But now I've just completed a raft of updates, and am back working and happily making items that I can contribute to the web site.

Here's something I did last month bust just had some time to scan in:
The Fraser-MacCallum house - ink, watercolour, mylar, collage on paper - 2010 - Collection of John Fraser and Elizabeth MacCallum.

Waiting, January 25, 2010.

Last night we went to check out the What Next? festival of new music presented by the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a pretty good show featuring chamber music by Bartok, Schnittke, and Canadian composers Gary Kulesha and John Burge. The paintings in the background were made by Paula Arciniega, inspired by the music of Gustav Mahler.

So, this arrived in the mail today. Strangely enough, it seems like I've been nominated for an illustration award from the "Dog Writers Association of America". This is for a series of illustrations I did for Dogs in Canada magazine (below).

It's not exactly a Society of Illustrator's Gold Medal or a profile in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual, but, I'll take what I can get.

The usual crowds gather streetside at James and Cannon.

The Factory Media Art Centre screens "Exile", a video installation by Toronto-based artist Vessna Perunovich.

The OK Food Fair store frontage at 237 James presents "Beauty Industries", all night electronic music featuring Miramichi, Jelly, Ollie and Jeremy Greenspan.

The New Harbours Music Series and Hamilton Artist's Inc. present Cotton Museum, Sick Llama and Fossils at Christ Church Cathedral.

You Me Gallery presents "Pájaros: the bird is the word" by Bryce Kanabara

music and art at Socald Gallery

and my favourite work of the night: Maureen Paxton's exhibition of oil paintings, "Threshold", at the Artword Art Bar and Gallery at 15 Colbourne Street. I wish I could afford to buy one of these for my living room. Sadly, I sold a painting that evening to a guy from Toronto who I cut a deal to because he was a Ryerson student. He later decided to brag about what a deal he got over on the Skyscraper forum. Stupid me for giving someone a deal I guess.

This is the photo he posted of my Pigott Building painting (on the left) as it now hangs in his office.

Last night was Drawing Nite at the Assembly, home of Hamilton design collective Ampersand & Ampersand. Thanks guys for hosting! There was amazing music being performed and a very relaxed vibe. At the end of the evening we were inundated again by music emanating from the practive rooms in the basement of the Sonic Unyon building. Thanks to Matt McInnis from the Print Studio for organizing. I showed up and discovered that my colleague Lori Waters, scientific illustrator extraordinaire from BC, happened to be in attendance. What a pleasant surprise.

Below is a fuzzy picture from the event, and my sketch.

Well, I left Hamilton for three weeks, on my first visit to Europe in nine years. I was doing research in the field of 19th century British history I work on when I'm not illustrating. It was a fabulous trip to London UK and Berlin, Germany. Now I am back on the ground in Hamilton where it is surprisingly cold and grey. Winter is approaching, as we eat up the last vestiges of food from the garden.

In any case, on to illustration related topics. MOST IMPORTANTLY, my cell phone died when I plugged it in in Germany, so if you're trying to reach me by phone to inquire about a job, I can be reached at the studio at 607-351-0989. I should have the 905-730-3288 number serviceable in a few days.

I am now working on two projects, one of which is a cover illustration for the next special issue of The Dominion, which is looking at the "underbelly", so-to-speak, of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I am having a lot of fun drawing athletes. I have not reached a breakthrough on what the cover image should be yet, but I am getting psyched to hopefully do more Olympics-related illustrations prior to the start of the Vancouver games in February. Sketches below.

As it stands, this last sketch needs a catchy byline, like "DECENT OF THE XXIX OLYMPIAD". But anyway - I'm still working on these....

Sketch for the illustration, "Music over New York".