An Artists Affair

Coming this December 8 at the Artfusion Gallery, Citi Plaza, London Ontario is An Artists Affair is back and I am one of the exhibitors.

This is not your grandma’s craft show and will be a perfect spot to pick up unique gifts for Christmas. There will also be live music from fabulous, local musicians like Duane Lauzon and Leah Morise. This show is put on by the good folks at 379 Collective. I was at last year's event and it was really nicely done.

What I'll Have Available

Prints
I'll have my Forest City Prints. These are limited edition, hand letterpress prints on 130 lb Coronado paper, done in 4 different colours. Size is 12 x 16. Cost is $35.00 unframed, $75.00 framed.

 

 Also available is my Superman print. $20.00 in red or blue. 

T-Shirts
I'll have all 3 of my t-shirt styles available: the Kazoo shirt, my Surfer shirt and "Pursued by a Bear shirt". They are 100% cotton, pre-shrunk, AL Style tee that have been hand-silkscreened by the good folks at Fresh Ink Apparel. Cost is $20.00 each.

Right now I have a number of different colours in all different sizes for Men and Women. Come early for best selection as I'll be sure to sell out of some sizes before the end of the day.

Greeting Cards
I'll have some comic-themed greeting cards for sale. $4.00 each, or 3 for $10.00

 

Collectibles

I'll be bringing some items from my collection like this 2 LP set of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Broadcast ($10). Not sure what all else I'll bring, some comics and graphic novels for sure - you'll have to come by to see!

Lastly, I'll probably bring a few pieces of my own original art with me and some comics too!

For More Information
Admission: a suggested donation of $2 or a canned good in support of The London Food Bank. But no one will be refused!Parking available at Citi Plaza.

For more info and a full list of vendors, see anartistsaffair.com

Justin Trudeau - Comic Geek

Tonight it is widely expected that Justin Trudeau, Member of Parliament for Papineau, Quebec and son of arguable our most famour Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau - will formally declare himself a candidate for the leader of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada.

For all intents and purposes, it looks like he has a solid shot at winning. Why should nerds care? Because apart from being a fresh face on the political scene who brings with him some much needed energy, charisma and understanding of what people under 60 care about - he is ONE OF US.

Justin Trudeau - The Nerd
A few weeks ago, the Montreal Comic-Con took place (September 14-16 to be exact). I had a few friends who were exhibiting and others who were up for a few Joe Shuster Awards, so I was following coverage of the event pretty closely. I was more than a little surprised when I saw that Justin Trudeau, MP took in the show along with his kids.

"That's so cool that he did that. He's so down to earth" - I thought. Then he posted a couple of pictures of himself at the show on his twitter stream in French (yes he's fully bilingual too)

Bien fier d’avoir pu déchaîner mon côté geek en me faisant arrêter par des stormtroopers à #comicon #montreal.

And in English:

Went to the Montreal #ComicCon (for my kids, really!) and totally groupied out on Dark Helmet! Embarrassed, yet proud.  

He likes comics, he likes Star Wars, he likes Mel Brooks! ONE OF US.

Not that I really needed to be won over, because like many in the country I've been impressed with him since his speech at his father's memorial ceremony. Add to that that he's intelligent, well-spoken, shares the same ideals as I do, well what can I say? Plus he's dreamy.

Thought I'd end this post with some faux campaign posters my buddy Chip (aka Steve Murray of the National Post) recently did up:

Postscript

I went to University at Concordia in Montreal back in the early 90s. One grey, foggy Sunday afternoon, I was walking down Sherbrooke St.,  a person in the distance was walking towards me. Their gait and figure were so familiar to me I was convinced it was a family friend who I couldn't quite place.

I walked faster towards him, thinking I would recognize him when I got closer, and I was ready to give him a big hello. When I was within a few feet of the man, I realized it was Pierre Trudeau.

I slowed right down almost to a stop, he looked up at me, gave me a warm smile and a nod, then tipped his hat. I stood there like a dummy and nodded back, with a goofy smile on my face as I watched him walk by.

This must have happened to him every day. I was honestly proud that he could walk down the street by himself, no bodyguards or entourage in sight. It was a charming Canadian moment. I wish I had shook his hand though. Fuddle duddle.

Visual Fringe - June 6 - June 17

This Thursday, June 7th is the Opening Night party for the Visual Fringe and official kick off of the London Fringe Festival.

The Fringe runs from June 6- June 17 and is 12 days, 44 theatre companies, 35 visual artists, 350 performances. This is always a really fun time of the year and I love participating.

I'll be showing and selling the following works:

• Forest City Prints ($35.00 each, $75.00 framed)
• Behold Orion! ($125.00 framed)
• Destination Moon - SOLD.
• Krypton Crawl Prints ($20.00 each, $35.00 framed)

Here's a sneak peek of what it will look like (Rosie and Dave helped me hang the show)

Three in the Head, Two in the Back

OK - ready for a crazy coincidence? As many of you know, I've been working for several years now on a graphic novel about the life of Canadian scientist Gerald Bull.

Well, Passionfool - a terrific local theatre company, is putting on the play "Three in the Head, Two in the Back" based on Bull's life. When I found out about it way back in January - I approached the artistic directors and showed them my work to date on the project.

The result? They'll be using my artwork as backdrops for the set! I also created an original piece just for the production.

They specifically asked for a portrait of Bull as a young man in his happier days. In my view, Bull only really came fully alive when he met his wife Mimi, so the portrait had to be with her on their wedding day. Here it is.

A description of the production:
"Jason Sherman’s celebrated and fast paced thriller about a man brought down by his own illusions and the treachery of Governments.

Inspired by the real life murder of Canadian weapons scientist Gerald Bull, THREE IN THE BACK, TWO IN THE HEAD grapples with the elusive nature of truth as the action of the play shifts across conflicting versions of the past.

Winner of the 1994 Governor General’s Award for Drama."

Seeing the Play
I've only read the screenplay and have never seen a live production. I also haven't seen what my artwork looks like blown up in the sets. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm really looking forward to it! If you're in the London area, I encourage you to check it out.

For the official opening night - Friday, April 20th, everyone in the audience will get a free copy of "The Paris Guns", the mini-comic of the first chapter of my Bull book.

The play runs from April 19th - May 5th, at The ARTS Project.

>> For full information, check out Passionfool's website.

The Art of Social Media Seminar

This session at The ARTS Project will cover the basics of getting started in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, Linked In, Soundcloud, etc), with the artist and small business owner in mind. Presented by Melissa Cheater (Lunch Break Media), Robin Honey (Honey Design), and me!

I'll be covering of the perspective of my experience as an artist using social media - benefits, challenges, etc along with some case studies, practical examples, tips and tricks.

Seminar Information
FREE to ARTS Project members. $25 at the door for non-members (basically that means if you buy a 1-year ARTS Project membership, you get in for free).

Takes place Wednesday, April 11th from 5:30 - 7:00 PM
>> See the website for full information.

The London Free Press' James Reaney wrote an article about the seminar in Saturday's paper.
You can check it out here: "Social Media's been 'tweet" for London Arts Organizers".