Think of all the great Canadian singer/songwriters. None of them until now has ever won’the Grammy for Best New Artist. Not Shania Twain, not the BNL, not Alanis Morissette, not Bryan Adams, or Sloan, or Nickleback, not even Avril Lavigne, Hedley, Drake or The Weeknd. Not even Paul Anka. Yes, there have been some comments made that the […]
Sometimes I will teach painting classes and a prompt I like to give is "the Wonderbread truck stuck in a snowstorm." You begin by asking yourself what that would look like. I know, I saw it this one time – large dots suspended in a blizzard. Perhaps laughing at a funny image is the first step […]
I like to think of artists as the velociraptors of the career world. You may create all kinds of boundaries; put in place rules and policies that encourage conformity; yet frequently, it is the artist that pushes at the edges of societies and finds a way. “You clever girl!" to quote Jurassic Park. Not too […]
What was your favourite place as a child? I wonder if the Moulou Theatre is still there. My favourite place as a teen? The library of course. My favourite place as a young adult? The third floor of 80 Spadina, the commercial galleries that loved and supported Canadian artists. It’s not there anymore. The time […]
Art and authorship can bring difficult and open subject matter to a general audience. This time of year and this year in particular the general subject of monsters is seemingly everywhere. "It" is an immense theme. So how do you go about tackling huge ideas? Photographer and artist Ludzar Vandermolen […]
Don't you love acronyms? SASE, SEO, CV, CMS, these are all important terms in use today. Every sector has their own lingo of words that make sense to insiders, leaving the rest of us in a daze of confusion and newbies feeling very green. Artists are no exception and there are some acronyms you […]
Did you know that you can help us maintain the art books in our collection through careful handling and by asking for help? That way, everyone can continue to enjoy the library's treasures for many years to come. A good art book will cost you. A good art book will cost you like the perfect […]
The short answer is she was an essayist of some import in the American 1960s-80s, or that is when the bulk of her work was published. She was reflective, against the materialism of her time and above all else a serious person. Though I had never heard of her fame, all her books […]
Orange, blue, black, sharp lines, bold two-dimensional compositions filling the space. The images I have in my head belong to Norval Morriseau, also named Copper Thunderbird. As we look back on our history this year and reflect on what makes us Canadians, it is also a time to reflect on our indigenous communities and their […]