I've had a book stuck in my head for a couple of years now, called The Winter Vault, by Anne Michaels.
Life, death, water, earth, love, grief... Cycles. A novel written with such poetry that I couldn't shake it.
The image above is probably the least planned image I've created in a long time. I didn't have a plan beforehand, I just started painting.
The flower is fireweed, a native plant that grows after a forest fire, when everything has burnt to the ground... I thought it was suitable to the main character, Jean, thrown into grief after the death of her unborn child and to the story overall.
So there are more images I've been chipping away at and I'll post them as I finish them.
In the time that I've been an illustrator (about twelve years now), I've been drawn to collaboration. I've done so through group shows, organized get-togethers for coffee, or a few drinks, workshops in my old studio, or through volunteering at ICON.
I did it because I needed to. There have been so many moments when I've felt stuck, frustrated and bored. Surrounding myself with those whose work I admired spurred me on. It helped me reassess what I was doing. I took comfort when some confided that they were also struggling and celebrated their successes, even when I was envious. In those chunks of time when work was at a stand-still, it was a way to stay focussed on what I really desired, to remain an illustrator.
Last year when I was in Prague, I went to many galleries and museums, but the thing that excited me the most was a place called, Orbis-Pictus. The event was titled "leporeloHRA", an interactive drawing project that invited visitors to make creations of all kinds, using paper, drawing implements and a variety of rotating machines and instruments. The project demonstrated that creative play can function as a universal means of communication without language or age barriers.I could barely grasp the concept at the time (no English explanation could be found). I loved the feeling of the place though. Collaborative work, freedom to play - it felt very fresh to me, something I'd been craving.
Through many conversations with friends about my trip to Prague, what emerged was a desire to have a space where we could learn from each other, collaborate, share ideas, work, and play. In Toronto, illustrators have never had a central place where they could show their work, get reliable industry help, rethink, retrain, and share what they know.
