London Studio Tour - April 15 - 17

The London Studio Tour is coming up and I've been hard at work preparing for it. The tour is a unique London event - during the weekend of April 15- 17, twenty-four local artists will open up their studios to the public. I've attended the event a number of times and it's a lot of fun. In 2009 I exhibited for the first time and had over 500 people through the studio!

The best part - it's free and everyone is welcome!  For my part, I will have original artwork for sale and on display including some comic pages. I'll also have all my comics and original t-shirts for sale as well.

For the kids, I will have some free comics to give away! Here's the information:

London Studio Tour
Friday, April 15th : 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Saturday, April 16th: 10:000 AM - 5:00 PM 
Sunday, April 17th: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM 
Website: http://www.londonstudiotour.com

Tree Series
Below is a couple of new pieces I've done for the show. They are the first in a new series I'm working on focusing on trees in London. Since we are the Forest City and London averages 12 trees/per person, I wanted to do a full exploration of what many take for granted in the city. The story is not all good. Many of our trees are not in good health and are dead or dying. Many trees that are healthy are non-native to the area and not particularly great for the environment.

ReForest London kindly supplied me with a lot of information and stats, and these will be making their way into the artwork. I'll be working on this series from now until October, and will post them as they are finished.

Bur Oak at 200 Collip Circle

As a place to begin with the series, I thought what better place to start than the "People's Choice" winner in last year's Amazing Tree Quest contest held by Reforest London, where Londoners identify their favourite trees. So I went out to 200 Collip Circle, near Windemere Manor to take some photos of the Giant Bur Oak there.

As I was wandering around, I wondered if I would recognize the tree from the photos. No danger there. Once you find the right spot to view it - it's stunning. Unfortunately it seems to have gotten damaged slightly with these recent heavy snows, but I know it will survive. The tree has a real mythical quality to it. It seems like it could spring to life and start moving like the trees in the Lord of the Rings.

Another View of Bur Oak Tree