More Pop Poppies...

Breaking down the shapes with Photoshop, I like the happy accidents. The way the flowers are suspended on the almost too thin stalks:

Posted by Arna.

Poppy Pop Art...

Because we couldn't resist...

Posted by Arna.

Poppy Power!

We have a big fat poppy plant in our front yard. The flowers came into bloom two days ago, but they don't last long. They are about 7 inches across. These shots are pretty much as they came out of the camera, not touch-ups. The scarlet is so saturated, it almost repels the green at the edges!

Photos:

Top one: afternoon, JvB.

Second, third: 8 am, Arna.

Fourth one: afternoon, JvB.

Bottom one: afternoon, Arna.

Watching Jasper...

Those of you lucky enough to live with a cat will recognize this daily ritual:

No T.O. transit today...

More ROM sketches with Smook...

Posted by Arna and John:

These are more drawings from the day we went sketching with our friend Mike Smukavic at the Royal Ontario Museum. They didn't make it into our earlier post so here they are now!

Harvey Chan's Skateboards

Posted by Arna:
Hi guys! Here's a peek at some of our friend Harvey Chan's gorgeous painted skateboards. Harvey is a noted Toronto illustrator and he was my first sculpture teacher at the Toronto School Of Art a few years back. Check out Harvey Chan's portfolio site for more terrific examples of his work.

These boards are part of a group show this weekend in Montreal:
Life Styles at Yves Laroche l'Autre Galerie

Enjoy!

ROM Sketches With Smook

Last week we took the opportunity to meet our friend Mike Smukavic at The Royal Ontario Museum for a sketch day. We took some snaps too, before our camera battery conked out! We had a great time with Mike, who's about as talented as they come, and also great company. Here's some images from the day (all from the main floor Chinese sculpture exhibit).

Check out Mike's (Smooks) ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) post here.

The totem pole in the main stairwell has always been one of my (Arna's) favourite things since I first visited the museum as a kid. Here's a shot taken half way up. The stairwell is four stories high, so that gives you an idea of the size of this pole:

Here's Smook snapping a shot. Notice the resemblance to some of the statues...?

Several of John's sketches:

One from Arna:
This next batch are John's:

John's brush marker sketch of one of the same wooden 'Luohan' monks from the grouping above:

Smook must have been a Buddha in a former life...

This griffin was a challenge to capture. I'd like to go back to work on him again. He's pretty spectacular, and the drawings don't quite capture his furious expression:

That's all for today. Thanks to Mike for joining us at the ROM. Wait till you see his sketches. Great stuff.

Cheers!

~Arna and John

Fresh art from Planet Of The Apes...

Here's some new art from Salgood Sam (aka Max Douglas, Arna's son): Enjoy!

More Niko...

Posted by Arna:

These shots are slightly out of focus, but they show the other views of the sculpt posted below, so I figured people might like to see them. I took these shots with a Minolta point-and-shoot camera, in black and white film, then scanned them in colour.

The model, Niko, is a latin dancer who performs from time to time at Lula Lounge in Toronto. I think he'd been dancing till late the night before, because he'd come in to our Saturday morning classes and sit for us and look more and more sleepy as the session wore on. I think he was a good model, sleepy or not.

Niko...

Posted by Arna:

I did this two years ago in a sculpting class at the Toronto School Of Art. The model's name was Niko. I think I spent about four, three-hour sessions on the piece. He's just a little smaller than life size, made with Tucker's low fire white clay.

After I took this shot, I cut the head in half and hollowed it out. Then I put the head back together. He's been lying around since then, because we had no facilities to fire him. Now, I'm hoping to finally see it finished. A kind instructor at Central Technical School offered to fire him! Can't wait to see how he turns out...

Bloor in black and white...

Posted by Arna.

I noticed after posting these images, that there are almost no people in them. I took these on the first night of Passover and the street was kind of quiet. Dunno if that's why it was quiet.

The intersection of Avenue Road and Bloor Street:

The work on the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto as of last week:

A walkway near the museum on the same night:

Pay phones on Bloor near Spadina:

Psychic reading, anyone? The handwritten sign on the door reads: "People wanted to deliver flyers full time. Apply within." On Bloor Street, between Spadina and Bathurst:

Prismacolour portraits...

Posted by John.

This first one I drew in my parents living room in the summer of '79. The T-shirt is from the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, where I'd worked the previous year. The image on the shirt is by the Canadian artist Dennis Burton.

This second one I drew from a photograph my dad took of my friends and I as we were clowning around at my cousin's bridal shower. At the time, we had a 'punk' band called The Clumps. We were a true punk band in that only one of us -- and it wasn't me -- knew how to play an instrument. Can anyone recognize the painting behind me?

Springtime fresh!

Time for a change. Different colours, and a banner! With art that was actually done in the sixties!! It's kind of a throw back, yet...NEW!!! You're welcome to tell us what you think of the revised look. Like it? Hate it? Don't care?

We appreciate the feedback.

Cheers,

A & J.

doggy doodles...

Just for fun, here's a quick doodle in Flash. Saw this dog today waiting for his master to finish shopping. I did a few variations that made me think of kids room wallpaper.

And this one is a photoshoppy dog border, also a kids room sort of thing.

Posted by Arna