Hieronymus Bear

A Collected Collection - The Details

2012-01-11T23:42:00.001-08:00

In a mighty feat of strength and mental fortitude, I have spent most of the day in front of the computer, designing various items to do with the show. One's pretty crucial - the invitation!

Apart from getting the invite off to the printer, I also worked for many hours on the book portion of this project. Presented below (with little comment as it is nearing 3am) is a sample spread for my little tome (is that too much of an oxymoron?). It's not fully finished, as there is quite a bit more typesetting to do, but I'm happy with how the spreads are turning out thus far!

And now, sleep, as tomorrow is stuffed full of book design, apartment tidying and, oh right, homework (school started up again this Monday. More on that later). Phew.

Pigeon on the GO

2011-12-30T20:08:00.000-08:00

Despite the crazy schedule that always descends around this time of year, I've finally gotten around to starting (and almost-finishing in one sitting, take that, busy-times!) my three-dimensional antler-pigeon. The base of this bird has been sitting around my apartment-and-then-studio since September 2010, so it only took me, oh, a year and two-ish months to get the thing feathered. On the bright side, it's getting done now.

I didn't have my proper camera with me for the progress shots, but you should be used to crappy photobooth images by now, right?

The feathers begin:

Feathery expansion:

Antler-pigeon says HELLO THERE:

I promise a proper update, possibly featuring some photos from my recent trip to New York, soon.

Even More Progress!

2011-12-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Now that school is pretty much over, I'm working on spending as much time as possible working on The Show. I made some major progress on the weekend, getting a new large piece started and continuing the process of giving R.W. Brackley, my main character, a proper face.

The first piece on which I worked is the second in the anatomy series - this one's a great auk, and his main washes are almost done!

And of course, Brackley, now more than just a series of pencil lines!

I'd also like to continue on my sharing of inspiring videos. This one's got music from the Fleet Foxes and is directed by Sean Pecknold and animated by Pecknold and Britta Johnson. The characters are designed by Stacey Rozich, who just happens to be one of my new favourite illustrators!

The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

(I'd recommend viewing it in fullscreen so as to enjoy the incredible visuals)

Bears & whales & squirrels & Brackleys, oh my!

2011-11-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

As of this moment, I have exactly TWO projects left to work on for this first semester at OCAD. FANCY. I was up until all hours last night getting my final drawing assignment done. It was to be a 12-frame storyboard, but, being the keenest keener, I convinced my prof to let me create the thing in grpahic-novel mode. It ended up being six pages of painstaking drawing/inking/watercolouring and took me an obscenely long time (sequential art - it's tough, guys!) but I'm pretty happy with the result:

To the left is the envelope/cover I made by hand (at 1 a.m. Somehow the folds and flaps all lined up despite the lateness) and to the right is the establishing shot/first image of the story. When I get it back I think I'll scan everything and post the entire project here - the story I ended up creating is pretty entertaining (maybe someday I'll even continue it).

Between final assignments, I found time to photograph and work on some personal painting. First off, a better shot of my huge curiosity cabinet piece, plus a cephalopodian close-up:

Then, some whale-details. First, the point at which I realized everything looks terrifying without pupils, a.k.a. BELUGA WHALE OF DOOM:

And some more comforting shots of non-possessed cetateans:

I also managed to finally get my main character's face down on paper (she has been eluding me for months), and got her background wash done to boot. It is with great pleasure that I introduce the one, the only R.W. BRACKLEY!!

I'm looking forward to getting some paint on the lady, as then her character will really come out.

So that's that - school is almost done, which means I'll soon be able to devote all of my spare time to getting the rest of my pieces/smaller illustrations done for the show (I'm quite behind, but have hope I'll get it all in order). Onwards!

Late Night Inspiration

2011-11-16T21:43:00.001-08:00

I'm currently working on a school project that's being exceptionally difficult and causing me acres of hair-tearing, huge-sigh-inducing frustration. Since pleading with Illustrator to just make the layout WORK already is not helping, I decided that it was time to watch some inspiring things on the Internet (in the hopes that some of the brilliance would rub off on me).

My favourite two selections from this jaunt:

#1: An absolutely stunning music video. I...I don't even know what to say. It's hypnotizing and gorgeous and somehow very sad.

Bubble from Elliot Dear on Vimeo.

#2: I'm sure I've made clear how much I love cephalopods. This video has many (and is darkly wonderful).

OCTOPUS from Mari Kanstad Johnsen on Vimeo.

Own-Art Progress

2011-11-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

Guys. GUYS.

I have finally made some time in which to work on my own art (seeing as I have that show coming up in, oh, 2.5 months). This time is found between the hours of 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Good thing my brain is productive at night.

As per usual, here are some crappy photobooth shots of one finished piece and one in-progress one. On the bright side, I found my camera. Now I just need to find some batteries.

First off, I finished the whales!

I also had the time, post cetacean-painting, to lay in some more colour on this lovely lady:

Her story shall be revealed as soon as she's finished. It's a doozy, I promise you.

I also promise that all of my new pieces will soon be reposted with much better photos and detail shots (as soon as my batteries emerge from the box in which they are hiding).

Pigeons & Pigeons & Whales

2011-10-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Once again, my overdue update shall be concerned mostly with school, seeing as school is my life these days (in a good way still, don't worry).

Some recent work:

The final piece for my colour class - the bird morphed from a falcon into a pigeon and got quite flashy. The teacher seemed to be a fan as I was working on it in class, which is always nice.

Some shoddy photobooth images of my first major drawing assignment. I hope to have some scans of this someday, as I was thrilled with how well the project turned out. It was a storyboard documenting a day in the life of a pigeon (from the pigeon's point of view).

The final frame, which was my favourite. In related news, drawing buildings takes 500 years (or approximately 12 hours for the whole assignment. Ouch).

In non-school work, all I've done lately has been a wash for some whales.

I promise it is not nearly so neon-pea-soup-green in person (though I think one more, browner wash might be necessary).

Now back to class! Onwards & upwards!

Schoolwork Proof

2011-10-11T11:27:00.001-07:00

It seems as if every time I go to update this blog I am (a) prevented from posting any new personal-art due to school assignments, and (b) liable to go on and on about the stacks of crazy, amazing assignments I'm being given. After a few false starts, it finally occurred to me I should probably show off some of the aforementioned pieces of schoolwork. As my fifth week of first year starts, I've gotten some results I feel happy posting on this here art-blog, so without further ado, two samples of my school slog!

Above are my four favourite layouts from my second typography project. We were given five words (flight, gravity, expansion, force and radiation) and were to create paste-ups that expressed the meaning of the word through the shape/setting of the type. Yes, the above were all done by hand with each letter cut out individually. Yes, it took me zillions of hours (thankfully I enjoyed about 80% of those hours).

This one's a project that's still in the rough stage, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far (I've never been much good at drawing in Illustrator, so this one's been a challenge...so many wobbly lines!). It's meant to be four stages of a falcon's dive, which will, in part two, be merged together to somehow give the graphic illusion of movement. Or something. I'm still figuring that part out.

Along with the above assignments (and many more), I've found the time to get a bit of work done on the planning stage of the companion book for my February show, done a bit of writing, and finished what might be the biggest piece for said show - please enjoy this crappy photobooth progress shot from my last session working on it (yes, I have misplaced my camera somewhere in my apartment, why do you ask?).

As soon as I find said device, I shall update with a shot of the finished piece, as well as a few other artworks I've managed to get done. I swear, there is progress being made on things besides schoolwork!

Look Inside

2011-09-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update before I get back to my heaping piles of homework (school is kicking my butt in the best way possible). Finally got around to scanning in the work I did while I was up at the cottage and thought I'd better toss at least one piece up on this here blog while I had a moment.

The following is the first anatomical animal (of about seven) I've completed:

It's a flightless Galapagos cormorant, carefully dissected and examined by R.W. Brackley after it was given to her by a traveling explorer-friend. She completed a number of similar dissections during her early career as an amateur naturalist, most interested in the contents of each creature's stomach, which sometimes contained extremely unusual objects (in the case of this particular bird, a fully functional pocket watch).

Months Apart

2011-09-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, where the hell did the rest of August go? One moment I was happily posting about Seahouses, the next I was wandering around the halls of OCAD feeling like a kid again, all concerned with finding my classes and getting my textbooks and homework and other academic things.

I suppose spending the last ten days of the month up at my cottage, where time becomes seriously abstract and is mostly defined by the presence or absence of daylight (we're electricity-free up there), helped the last of the summer sneakily slink away. Happily, that escape from the city proved quite productive, as I spent the first half working at least five hours a day on painting and writing for my upcoming show.

Here are some (shoddy photobooth) images of three of the finished pieces:

(Cameos by my studio-mate Erin & my ridiculous face.)

Now that I'm back in civilization, my life is all about finding my balance. The intensity of art school, with its piles of homework, still has me a little unsteady, but I'm simultaneously thrilled to be taking classes that cater directly to my artistic and design obsessions (particularly typography. So delicious). I'm only on my second week, but right this moment, I'm pretty sure I belong here.

Oh, as an important side-note, I now have an official date for my next solo show! It'll be opening on February 3rd, 2012 at Freedom Clothing Collective (the same gallery as last time). I'll obviously be adding many more details as the months creep onwards. Keep an eye out (though not literally. I don't want to be responsible for any personal injuries).

Houses of the Sea

2011-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Fair blog-readers! Hello!

Not only do I have another preview of a piece for the next show, this post also includes a (draft-style, unedited) excerpt from the writing that will be accompanying the artwork in the companion book for the exhibition. Below is my first finished seahouse and the first paragraph of Brackley's journal entries on the subject of these mysterious marine formations.

"A fortnight ago I was speaking with an ancient sailor who, due to the terrible volume of chatter suffusing the pub in which we sat, misheard my question regarding types of seahorses in the region (I had been told by a colleague that this island was a rich source of unusual creatures, particularly seahorses). The old man did not answer straightaway, but beckoned to me to lean in closer, thus exposing me to his uniquely horrible breath, which smelled of anchovies and ale. When I had bent my ear nearly against his moustache-covered mouth, he whispered that he would take me out that week to show me the proliferation of mysterious seahouses that grace this sliver of the seas."

The entry goes on to describe the fascinating architectural and biological characteristics of the seahouses, but you'll have to pick up the book in February to find out what those are (one thing I can tell you, those houses aren't as sweet and innocent as they appear!).

AntlerBirds & Workspaces

2011-07-19T09:43:00.001-07:00

Phew. The full weight of summer is resting its humid elbows directly on my city, making it hard to work on anything (all I want to do is lie in front of my fan and/or curl up inside my refrigerator), so I don't have a ton of work to update with at the moment. Instead, I'll post a trio of strange birds I painted a few months ago AND show off my now-set-up studio workspace!

#1: BIRDS. WITH ANTLERS.

Temminick's Tragopan

Another sort of Tragopan (can't remember the exact kind)

Blood Pheasant

None of these birds have antlers in real life (if only), but every other detail on 'em is straight from nature. I'll never get over how perfectly weird the world is.

#2: WORKSPACE!

I've been installed in my (happily shared) studio for just over two months now, and it's starting to feel like home. Adjusting to working in a new, non-apartment space took a few weeks, but now I'm in love with the spaciousness, the artistic environment (courtesy of my studio-mates) and, for the summer, the fact that it's a cool basement (extra-super-bonus!).

Here are some images of the space and my segment of it:

The view from the other end of the space (where we'll have some lovely hand-printed merch for sale come the fall), looking towards the work area. Yes, that is a beautiful printing press.

The left side of my area - shelves full of supplies, plus my two-headed black swan perched happily in his new windowsill home.

Desk! Having this much tabletop space is INCREDIBLE (at my apartment I had about a quarter of this).

Bulletin board detail - finished pieces, pieces in progress, inspiration, etc.

And that's that! I'm off to visit the afore-described space right now, as there's a painting that needs finishing before this weekend!

Buford's Big Cameo!

2011-07-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

My gallery, Freedom Clothing Collective, has put out a lovely summer video lookbook (even fancier than a photo-lookbook!) and my friend Buford B. Bartleby, Strongman Extraordinaire, has a wee cameo - look for him in the background during the last half of the video:

FREEDOM CLOTHING - Summer 2011 from Freedom Clothing Collective on Vimeo.

Buford is also for sale in the FCC online shop! How thrilling!

Leland & Friends

2011-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone Who Reads This Here Blog:

I have a show up for the month of July! I just got back from hanging the thing and am exhausted but happy to see a bunch of work up and in frames (one of the most satisfying parts of creating art, methinks).

The show is called "Characters" and contains 19 of my Victorian watercolours - here's one of them:

If anyone wants to visit these Victorian dudes and ladies, just pop on over to Poor John's, which is at 1610 Queen Street West (in Toronto). Hope you'll be able to stop by!

An Ice Mummy Of My Very Own

2011-06-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

As promised, I painted me a painting inspired by Mr. John Torrington (see last entry for more on him & his amazing face). I've never created a piece of art that actively creeped me out while I was working on it (being in the studio alone? DID NOT HELP), but I love the way he turned out.

Here are some low-quality photobooth shots of the process (all done in one sitting) - he's not quite done, but is pretty darn close!

Now I want to make art inspired by other mummies - I think the Tollund Man is first on the list.

Petty Officer John Shaw Torrington

2011-06-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

While reading my current book (Helen Humphries' Afterimage), I was reminded of a tale that captured my imagination as a child. The story (click for a pretty good summary of the events) of Franklin's third expedition into the Arctic held all the drama and tragedy of the most engrossing novel, plus there were the mummies. I was fascinated by mummies of all kinds, but the faces of the buried sailors from Franklin's crew were particularly intriguing. The cold preserved their bodies to an incredible degree, so much that the mummies still had their eyes nearly intact.

This image of young sailor John Torrington is so haunting, it's no wonder that, after nearly 15 years it has never left my head. As soon as I read the passages in Afterimage that referenced the Franklin expedition, I got the urge to draw him, and I'm quite happy with how the sketch turned out:

I'm considering bringing some tragic, frozen sailors into the cast of my next show, so this most likely isn't the last you'll see of John and his ilk on this blog (in fact, I expect you'll see a watercoloured sketch of this very piece quite soon).

Ah, nostalgia - sometimes you're ever so useful for inspiration!

A Whale of a Tale

2011-06-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

According to my beloved Paper Place (and its mysterious cousin, the Japanese Paper Place), this June is all about washi (click for Wikipedia-based learnin'!). I had the pleasure of attending a lovely washi workshop a few months ago at the Japanese Paper Place, and, having learned about promptly promised Freedom Clothing Collective I'd make a piece for their washi-inspired exhibition.

Being a master procrastinator, I left the actual creation of the piece until the last minute, but I'm mercifully happy with the final result. It's in line with my current nautical obsession - here's a shot of the watercolour background, pre-shadowboxing:

And the finished piece (photo taken in the GORGEOUS garden that's attached to the building in which my new studio lives...mega-super bonus, guys)!

The shadowbox is 5" x 7", which means this here ship measures approximately 1" in length...

...while the whale is just a bit bigger at 2.5" or so.

Both of the washi items were hand-sewn with gold embroidery thread, which was stressful (thankfully the paper is impressively strong and resists ripping pretty darn well), but ended up giving an appealing atmosphere to the final setup (I like to think it's slightly reminiscent of the handmade dream-scenes in Science of Sleep, though that may be wishful thinking). Once it was finished, I also realized it reminded me of one of my favourite prints by Canadian printmaker David Blackwood:

I swear the resemblance wasn't purposeful, but the end result, which is kind of a kid's book version of the print, certainly amuses me!

Collected Progress

2011-05-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

As spring begins to give way to the first hints of summertime, changes are afoot in my artistic life as well. Last week I moved the majority of my art supplies over to my new studio, which I share with two other creative ladies (there will be more posted about this space in the near future - for now, we're in embryo-mode, getting the place tidied up and planning a myriad of exciting things).

It'll be interesting to see how this new space effects my production methods - it's certainly nice to get out of my wee apartment, away from my cluttered little desk and into a space with considerably more breathing room. I also now have access to a printing press, which means I've started to plan little printmaking projects to add some variety into my watercolour world.

Here's a glimpse of the studio-in-progress:

I'm also happy to say I've officially finished three pieces (of 20+, of course) for my next major show (February 2012) - here's one of the three!

Please say hello to Margaret X. Arthurson, the wife of Arthur A. Arthurson. She is wearing the regalia of the Very Secret Society for New Marine Taxonomy (VSSNMT) (being a little-known secret society dedicated to re-categorizing the sea), and flanked by the symbols for the VSSNMT proper as well as the bird's foot, which indicates affiliation with (or, in her case, leadership of) The Mollymawk Collective, the women-only offshoot of the VSSNMT.

Seven Languishing Victorians...

2011-05-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Please, won't someone think of these seven languishing Victorians, sitting lonely in a drawer and wishing for a lovely new home? If you're interested in getting a strange but personable new roommate, then click here!.

As an added bonus, anyone within easy TTC range can email me, tell me which Victorian tickles their fancy and I'll sell the dude or lady to them for cash, no shipping, no worrying about them surviving in the mail!

Here are the seven intrepid wannabe explorers currently hanging out online:

Florence Plover left her home in Bristol at the age of 14, stowed away in the hold of a merchant ship. After disembarking in India, she spent the rest of her life living in a series of treehouses in the jungle, learning the languages of the forest creatures, especially the elephants.

Harold Harkins spent the first half of his life living comfortably in London. The son of a barrister, he was set to step into the stern shoes of his successful father when a chance meeting with a magpie in Greenwich Park turned him to a life of poverty and ornithological study.

Samuel Redfarm prized only his perfectly groomed hair and his collection of rare Patagonian butterflies, which covered the walls of his London home

Pearl Palterson, daughter of one of the richest men in Victorian London, grew up with a love for the natural world. Restricted by her status from gallivanting across the world in the name of Science, she instead began to fund the travels of other naturalists. Because of her generous patronage, the number of scientific discoveries made by women skyrocketed.

Lawrence Woodbottom fell into the life of amateur naturalism quite by accident, having wanted only to identify a strange bird's call that had been waking him up at ungodly hours each morning. During his search for the bird's proper name, he became engrossed by the library's collection of ornithological texts and spent the rest of his life documenting the many birds of England.

Beatrice Goodside began considering herself to be an eccentric at the tender age of 8, prompted by the realization that not all schoolgirls obsessively collected, preserved and displayed insects. Her parents, both hobby naturalists themselves, encouraged her entomological leanings through the often painful derision of her classmates, and Beatrice grew to become one of the only female entomologists acknowledged as a scientific and exploratory equal by her male colleagues.

August Fawndale saw his first whale at the age of three, while on vacation with his parents in France. From that moment on, he became obsessed with the mysterious creatures, and, at the age of 15, designed a small, steam-powered submersible that he hoped would allow him unprecedented access to the world of his beloved cetaceans.

Visit these seven on Etsy

ART FOR SALE ON THE INTERNET!

2011-05-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hark, those who like inexpensive art! This lady, among others, is for sale on Etsy (click to visit the shop) right now!

As promised oh, nearly a month ago (yes, I am a first class procrastinator, what of it?), I am putting work up for sale on Etsy. It is all original work (watercolours for the most part), and, as an added bonus, it is all very cheap!

The proceeds of any sales will go towards supporting my artistic endeavours, especially the book I'm planning on publishing along with my next show in February 2012. Click HERE to get yourself a new Victorian roommate!

Victorian-a-rama!

2011-04-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Though my life's been strangely busy for an unemployed lady (freelance design projects + web design days + Exciting Business Meetings + yes, a little too much sleeping in = surprisingly little time and very short-feeling weeks), I've managed to find the time to paint up a strange, Victorian storm.

The characters shown below (plus a few more, who will be featured on the blog in coming days) will all be FOR SALE up on Etsy by the end of the week - if one of them manages to strike your fancy, please welcome them into your abode, for every cent raised from their sale will go towards the support of the about-to-open gallery/working studio project in which I'm involved (as well as my own artistic endeavours).

Strange Victorians for a good cause - what could be better?

Without further ado, here's the first crowd. Check back soon for more info on how to invite these dudes and ladies into your life!

Click image for more detail, please:

Tuesday's Victorians

2011-03-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Since my last post a whole pile of absolutely thrilling things has occurred.

Here, let me make a list of the highlights:

• Last Friday, I found out I'd been accepted into the Graphic Design BFA at OCAD, meaning I'll be a full-time student again come September.

• I became part of an art collective, and we're opening a working studio/gallery on Queen West in May (!!!). Stay tuned for WAY more information on this point of interest!

• I'm learning to use Dreamweaver (a web design program) while redesigning my dad's website. FINALLY beginning to understand CSS/DIV layers/all those code-type things.

And the most relevant one for this post,

• I've been drawing stacks of Victorian portraits, many of which will be on sale in the coming weeks on Etsy (links will be posted as soon as they're up)!

Thus far I've fully finished fifteen of these dudes and ladies, with many more to come (I'm hoping to make it to 60 or so by the end of the project).

Four of the men, showing how dapper they can be!

Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for more info on the Strange Victorian sale - they'll be super cheap and looking for new homes!

Sunday Wanderings

2011-03-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

Today I was rifling through my many (so, so many - I think I have a bit of a problem) browser bookmarks, I found something I'd filed away ages ago, most likely soon after getting this computer (so almost two years back). The something was this thing, an application that lets one pop ordinary digital camera images into a magical little box, then play with a pile of controls to make said photos look like something out of a proper analog polaroid/lomo/toy camera. Needless to say, this little toy thrills me to no end and I have spent the last hour-ish dragging pictures from my photo library and prettifying 'em.

Cases in point:

Tiny Pacific Octopus, photo originally taken at Ucluelet Aquarium in BC.

Tentacles!

Jellyfish floating around inside the Vancouver Aquarium.

Gorgeous daylily from my dad's summer garden.

Whilhelm the merfox on display at my last show.

Watercolour palette.

Rocky Mountains as seen from airplane (on the way back from BC).

A pair of bears menace a poor, encapsulated merfox.

I fear this application may become quite addictive!

Collected Collection Collecting

2011-03-06T12:54:00.001-08:00

Just as with my last show/project, I am making use of the incredible variety of imagery that zips through my Tumblr dashboard (as well as picking plum photos and links from other places on the web) to create a digital scrapbook, accessible from any computer and always sitting around, ready to zap fantastic, inspiring ideas into my brains.

Click through below to see a smattering of the things that have lately been providing me with inspiration:

COLLECTED COLLECTION: A Scrapbook

For those of you who'd prefer a quick overview, some of the latest additions:

Description, from Flickr: This armchair is where Charles Paget Wade, owner of Snowshill Manor from 1919-1951, would sit and listen to the radio. It's not in the main manor house itself but in a converted outbuilding called the Old Priest's House in the courtyard adjacent to the house.

MEANWHILE, THE DOLPHIN CLUB by Wendy MacNaughton
- a series of gorgeous watercolour illustrations telling a small, nostalgic story.

A microscopic stunner courtesy of Science is Beauty

A silly postcard, found on Flickr

Elsewhere

2011-03-04T12:07:00.001-08:00

My lovely Freedom Clothing Collective ladies were kind enough to ask for one of my images for the header of their March newsletter. I ended up altering the scan of my first fully finished Seahouse into a suitable banner image, like so:

And the final newsletter turned out like so.

It's always exciting seeing my work wandering around, getting into places it wouldn't normally be!

See? Houses!

2011-03-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

Another strange set of items from the weird world of R. W. Brackley, an amateur Victorian scientist and intrepid marine explorer whose many curious discoveries stunned the world in the late 1800s, but were then lost in dusty London archives for over 100 years. He's also the main character of the next project (see? More info is trickling out - gradually, but it's coming!).

Seahouse (n) - pronunciation: /si:haus/
Formations nearly identical to human-built Victorian houses, found sprouting out of the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain. First thought to be strange rock formations, but later classified as coral-like organisms due to observed feeding behaviour.

See? Houses! Seahouses!

#80: A Practice Celebration

2011-02-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

Well then.

It seems as if I have reached my 80th post since it all started just over two years ago with some clothes-wearing bears. Back then I'd just gotten back into regular art production, having left it behind for four years while I studied English literature at university. Though I'd never really liked watercolours much before, they were the only colouring method I had on hand, so I picked them up and man - I've not looked back since.

Two-ish years, two shows and most likely more than 100 paintings of strange creatures later, watercolours are my dearest friend, providing me with glorious washes and intricate detail and the most curiously luminous colours a girl could ask for. So thanks for being you, watercolours - thanks a bunch!

Phew, That was more than enough sentimentality, don't you think? To cut the sugar of my ode to art & watercolour-y goodness, allow me to show you some sketchbook experiments I've been performing in recent weeks.

The subject?

PEOPLE.

Can you even believe it? Look around you! These are PEOPLE in Victorian clothing! No animals in sight!!

I made the tough (for me...people are way more intimidating to draw than animals/birds/etc.) decision to have the main characters for the next show/book be Victorian humans, as they'd give me more leeway in the curious creatures their imaginary studies could cover (on that note, there will be more detail about my current project coming in future entries...man, I'm excited for this one!!).

These characters are all culled from Flickr, which holds a rich collection of scanned vintage photographs, many of which contain the most incredible faces - stunning beards, whimsical moustaches, elaborate hairdos and glorious noses abound, along with a plethora of delectable dresses, waistcoats, military jackets and suits, everything providing fodder for a whole new artistic direction!

After making myriad sketches, I've developed just enough confidence to begin transferring my favourite faces over to watercolour paper, where they'll eventually become pieces for the next show. Below is a wee timeline of one such piece:

This is the sketchbook version of an as of yet unnamed woman, dressed in the regalia of a secret society (which you will hear more about in later entries!).

And here's the current progress of the 'good copy' - initial washes complete, ready for layers and miniscule detail!

So that's a peek into my sketchbook's most recent denizens - please do stay tuned, as I have another entry coming up quite soon, which will contain more peeks into the new project as well as a few more details about the project's theme and such.

Happy (Gory) Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

Don't be afraid - this grizzly bear means well, he just isn't very good at managing his claws/teeth:

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Inspire Me With Your Insides

2011-01-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't had time to do any scanning or photography (but want to try and start posting more than once a month), here's another episode of Things That Really Really Inspire Me Right Now, Hooray!

As noted in the last original-art post, I've been kind of obsessed with drawing the insides of things (thus far mostly fish, though I did sketch a human torso once). These images, therefore, are fantastic for both inspiration (the drawing style and the colours make me drool a little) and reference -

Amazing, right?

Inspiring Movement

2011-01-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

As I embark on a whole new idea artistically (and, it so happens, in my life as well), I find myself seeking new sources of inspiration. Where my last show saw me rummaging for the bright lights of the circus and freakshow, this new direction has lately been calling for the muted colours of the sea on a stormy day, for tiny, detailed illustrations of scientific specimens, and for all manner of anatomical illustration.

To help collect the inspiring images that appear in the digital world, I have set up another Tumblr scrapbook - Collected Collection. Along with that resource, I have been absorbing stimulating images elsewhere, including at the movies. Just last night I made my way to a theatre to see L'Illusionniste, a thoroughly beautiful (and quietly tragic) film directed by Sylvain Chomet (who also directed one of my all-time favourite animated films Les triplettes de Belleville).

Though much more subtle than Les triplettes (which rollicked merrily along, skirting storms of darkness but never succumbing to anything less than manic, glorious fun), L'Illusionniste offered equally beautiful animation. The colours of the visual landscapes, which moved through Paris, London, the Scottish highlands and Edinburgh, matched the story's quiet, sad beauty with slightly muted tones, as if the whole movie was 'shot' either at the golden hour or during the soft drizzle of a newborn autumn storm.

I found myself immersed in the world of the Illusionist, completely enthralled by the detail filling every single frame, and inspired by the animators' use of colour. Cases in point:

Absolutely incredible, eh? If you've got a love for the wonders of traditional animation, make sure to see this one on the big screen, as the amount of detail put into every scene is unbelievable.

I promise I'll have a post of my own art ready soon - I've been sketching busily away in my book in preparation for actually starting to work on the new show/idea (the thrill!).

Oh, and as a bonus, here are the two trailers for the movies mentioned in this post (because the animation is even more amazing when seen in motion):

L'enjoi!

New Year, New Projects!

2011-01-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

Now that 2011 has dropped its bags on my floor and moved in for the long haul (well, the next 300+ days, at least), my mind has also rambled along, onto exciting new projects that (mostly) don't involve circus freaks.

Here's a sneak peek of the main thing on which I'm working right now. It's in its very earliest planning stages, though my thoughts can't help leaping ahead to even more thrilling stages of the work. Sometimes it's an effort to keep myself confined to the sketchbook, making the necessary preparatory sketches.

Here's one of the more finished (a.k.a. watercoloured) sketch-beasts. Let's just say I'm currently finding myself quite obsessed with marine life, anatomy and cross sections:

Onwards, 2011! May you be full of fishes and sea-swells and the odd curiosity too!

This Saturday Only: Farther's Freaks - The Re-Freakening!

2010-12-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the kindness of a friend, I will be lucky enough to take part in the 401 Richmond Artisan's Marketplace this Saturday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. only. Please come and visit (I'm sorry I don't know the studio number yet, but that's alright - it shall be like a thrilling adventure, a mighty quest! The Freaks are worth it!).

The following freaks will be making an appearance...

A. Buckingham Farther, The Egotistical Show-runner:

Mrs. Whilemina Farther, A Giant:

Mr. Alonzo Purcell, The Amazing Moustache:

Buford B. Bartleby, Strongman:

Ida Eckhardt, Contortionist:

Gideon Gilead Gander, Sword Swallower:

Also available will be the last remaining poster from the Farther's Freaks traveling show - a VERY rare collector's item, coveted by freakshow enthusiasts worldwide:

Hope some of you manage to make your way out to visit - it promises to be a great event, with plenty of entertainment available (even outside the realm of the freaks).

Dance Bears, Dance!

2010-11-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

This post is all about bears!

Wait...no, no. THOSE ARE THE WRONG BEARS!

Much better. Those are the bears I was talkin' about.

Anyways. I made a visit to the gallery today to check in on my Fascinating Freaks and was pleased to see that many of them have found new homes with loving familes - just seven creatures remain!

I was also able to take some video of the bears waltzing in their serene forest home, and I'll share it with you in just a moment. First, though, I'd like to share a few more production shots of the woods in which the bears reside. Oh, and I'd also like to mention that the fact that the bears move at all is entirely due to the hard work of my friend Anibal, who did the mechanical/electrical elements of this peep show. I'm not sure I've mentioned that the installation was not mine alone here before and thought I should remedy that fact, as I could not have made this happen without his help.

Right. Back to your regular, bear-filled programming!

The scenery, pretty much done - just needs a couple more ursine inhabitants.

My cellophane flowers (no, they don't grow so incredibly high, but I love them nevertheless).

A very enthusiastic moon-man.

Alright. Now, without further ado, I present the Internet debut of THE BEARS, dancing to tunes from the band Beirut (because the original music box plinkings didn't get picked up so well by my camera's mic. Thank goodness for iMovie). Please grin and bear (pun sort of intended) the absolutely crap quality of my camera - its low light abilities aren't really up to par.

Video #1: Probably too long, a bit wobbly, has an awkward cut near the end. Hooray?

More Bears Waltzin' to Lovely Tunes from Jessica Bartram on Vimeo.

Video #2: Black and white, much more succinct than the first one, but you don't quite get to see the awesomeness of the scenery.

Waltz in the Nightwood: B&W with Music! from Jessica Bartram on Vimeo.

(Click through to Vimeo to see both videos a bit larger. And yes, I also post wholly ridiculous attempts at ukulele playin' on the account. What of it?)

Enjoy!!

Farther's Opening Gala: A Pictorial

2010-11-13T16:18:00.001-08:00

The work went all the way to the wire (the peep show was still being installed at 7:30 p.m.), but in the end the show's much-awaited opening went off without a hitch! There were homemade baked goods (moms are the best), a rollicking crowd, lovely tunes and a whole bunch of colourful freaks ready to entertain the masses.

For those of you who could not make it out last night, remember that the show will be up at Freedom Clothing Collective until Dember 9th!

Since I'm still in a bit of a haze (the week leading up to last night was, to put it mildly, hectic), you get a pictorial of the evening. Enjoy!

My darling Martha, the first freak to sell. I'll miss my mer-tiger ever so much!

A dim shot of the store window, all bunting'd and carnivalesque.

To follow: Peep show shenanigans...

Two VERY relieved bear-wranglers, thrilled that the thing works!

The jazz hands were out in force last night.

Spectators spectating.

The crowd at its zenith.

Thanks to all those who made it out last night - you made me a VERY happy lady!

Many thanks as well to the lovely ladies of Freedom CC who provided me with wonderful walls in a glorious shoppe and made the organization of this show easy as pie!

Ever So Soon

2010-11-09T09:53:00.001-08:00

Sorry (again) for the extreme dropoff in blog-things - the past few weeks have been a leafy blur of hot glue fumes, paper cutting and workshop jaunts, which, when combined with my day job, made for little free time for keeping this sucker up to date.

I figured it'd be useful to drop in now, three (THREE?!?) days before the show opens to toss down (a) a reminder of the time/date/awesomeness of the opening, and (b) post a few shots of (hopefully) tantalizing trees!

First off, the deets on the show's opening (and tenure at the gallery):

Farther's Fascinating Freaks
New Paintings & Other Curiosities by Jessica Bartram

Please join me for the show’s opening
Friday, November 12, 2010, 8:00 p.m.
at
Freedom Clothing Collective
939 Bloor St. West, Toronto

Ph: 416.530.9946
www.freedomclothingcollective.com

Show runs November 12 - December 7

And, as an added bonus, you also get a visual essay (maybe more of a visual haiku, actually) documenting the last few weeks of work via sketchy cell-phone and photo booth photos:

The nearly-finished swan.

The swan's headshot - needs to find itself a better photographer.

First look at the facade of the peep show (pre-colour, post-primer).

Tibetan momos - one of my workshop-time staple foods.

This is my SAFETYFACE (preparing to make use of my friend the circular saw).

Starting the first tree...

...slightly mad at 2 a.m., post finishing the second tree...

...and completely done all three trees!

This is most likely the last proper post until the show opens on Friday - after that, I'll have a bunch of material (including a VIDEO of the peep show! Exciting!!), so make sure to check back sometime next week!

Power Tools & Progress

2010-10-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

Eep. Sorry for the rampant neglect this blog has seen lately. I've been embroiled in the frantic balancing of my day job and final preparations for the opening (three weeks. THREE WEEKS. Help. Please), leaving little time for such frippery as blog posts.

BUT. I have recently written a bit about my forays into carpentry while building the box in which the bears will dance, so please allow me to offer you words in the place of photographs (though I'll try to snap some of those on Sunday during my next bear-box work session).

Now, without further ado: JESS' ADVENTURES IN POWER TOOLS & BOX-BUILDING.

I. In Which I Revel in the Glory of Power Tools

Today I, for the first time since high school, got my hands on a heavy-duty power tool (drills don't count, they're the lightweights of the kickass power tool world. Useful but kinda boring) - a CIRCULAR SAW.

ONE OF THESE.

The time has come to properly start work on my one show-project that involves a bit of carpentry, and, being determined to finally learn how to wrangle one of these saws (my dad has one, I've always been to scared of it to attempt any wood-cuttin'). Thankfully, my project-partner Anibal had confidence in my ability not to cut off any of my limbs (or his) and soon there I was, lining up the saw along the wooden 'fence' (a.k.a. flattish piece of ply) I'd stuck on the board to make sure my cut didn't look like the work of a drunk chimpanzee.

It took me a few seconds to gather the courage, but the moment I pressed the trigger and the saw started gnawing through the wood, I was hooked. I mean, I know they're called power tools because of the electricity and stuff, but man - the secondary meaning of the power part is all in the way they make you feel. It's feral, way the saw's teeth just rip through the wood, screaming and tossing up splinters, and the fact you can control it, guide the coiled potential of its chomping momentum and make a near-surgical cut, a perfect edge that will join with other perfect edges to make a perfect cube...man. It's one of those goddamn natural highs and now I want an excuse to do this regularly, cutting those silly pieces of wood down to size with my doom-tool.

Just two things, though. Next time I'm going to (a) wear earmuffs of some kind, and (b) NOT wear a lowish-cut shirt, to avoid ending the work session with tinnitus and a sawdusty cleavage. Besides that, I am officially hooked on power tools and I don't care who knows it!

II. In Which I am Surprised at my Ability to Actually put the Box Together

My forays into carpentry are coming along quite nicely. There have, of course, been some hitches, but overall I'm impressed with my ability to translate my slightly slapdash style of art-creation (both 2D & 3D) into the realm of wood and nails and things-that-need-to-be-much-more-exact-or-everything-will-be-terrible-forever.

I mean, not only is the majority of the box now constructed (all but the back door-bit, which goes on last anyways), it FITS TOGETHER almost perfectly and looks like a thing! I cut all those pieces with my own hands (and a bitey power tool) and somehow the edges are straight and the nails I hammered in are holding everything together and it LOOKS. Like a THING*!

Another accomplishment during this construction-adventure has been my mastery of the hand-saw. Anibal has a fancy schmancy Japanese saw called a Ryoba, which is much friendlier than normal hand saws (which regularly leave me slumped in a pile of defeat and failure), and, after some sketchy early attempts, I found myself sawing through 2x3" stud-boards with aplomb. It was fantastic.

I'm beginning to get a little worried about finishing the damn thing on time - there's still SO MUCH to do - but hopefully our next work session (on Sunday) will bring our progress to a less stressful level. I can't wait to get all the motor-stuff going (well, Anibal's putting it all together, but I'm hoping to help a bit, as I wanna learn all sorts of new things for future projects) and start decorating the insides of the box.

Man. Can't believe the show is in THREE WEEKS. Don't mind me as I sit in this corner and weep for a few hours.

*This was our refrain all yesterday evening after the box was together - "hey, look, it looks like a thing! It's really a thing! Look at it - a thing!"

Freedom CC Newsletter!

2010-10-07T08:02:00.001-07:00

The Freedom Clothing Collective newsletter came out today and I just happen to be in it! By 'I', I mean 'my bears, who seem to be major attention hogs'.

Check 'em out!

In other show-update news, I've started feathering the swan (teaser photos to come someday), the bears will soon have a roof over their heads, and I'm about to mail out invitations for the show. Things are certainly chugging along (hooray)!

BEARS!

2010-09-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing a much more extensive post all about the most elaborate part of the show (mechanized peepshow, what what?), but until that's ready, here are some sketchy phone-camera shots of the main characters (bearacters?):

Bear #1, pre-eye application.

Bear #1, post-eyes (with bear #2 in the background).

The next two photos come complete with the original Twitter captions (yes, I Tweet. It's a weakness of mine).

"Bear #2 now has eyes & has already started trying to eat the other curiosities. Damnit, bear!"

"I mean look at him - this is NOT a face to be trusted. DO NOT VOTE BEAR ON OCTOBER 25th! (Or Ford.)

Overall, now that both are officially done, I'm thrilled with how well they turned out (it's always lovely when experiments go just the way you want 'em to!).

Whilhelm & the Bicycle

2010-08-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Whilhelm (Willie for short) had dreamed about riding a bicycle since before he had ears, fantasizing about the feeling of the wind ruffling his red fur as he flew down hills, the bike's bell ringing out a cheery tune.

One day, he came across a beautiful bike just sitting on the street as if it was waiting for him to happen upon it. Excitedly, he hopped up on the seat, but soon realized the fatal flaw in his long-desired plan...

...Willie had no way of touching, let alone reaching the handlebars.

It was a tragic blow to poor Willie, his dreams dashed upon the street as he clinked away from the beautiful bike and back to the freak show from whence he came, where he spent the rest of his jarred existence being ogled by the curious.

THE END

{This sad little merfox - who is thisclose to being finished - was made from wire, masking tape, fake fur, acrylic paint, paper and watercolour. He'll be starring as one of the main curiosities at the Farther's Freaks exhibit.}

Containment

2010-08-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my Victorian theme, I've decided to, instead of having all my paintings framed in matching frames, seek out a whole parade of interesting (and sometimes antique) frames.

Thankfully, I live near a large number of antique shops, one of which provided me with four lovely additions to the frame-collection:

I also purchased a couple of gorgeous jars to house some curiosities at a nearby hardware store:

As you can see, things are chugging along - there's still a whole list of things to do, but at least I'm making progress!

Never Look a Gift Cicada in the Mandibles

2010-08-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, as I was wheeling my bike out onto the porch in the morning so as to leave for work, I noticed that one of my plants had been dug up. Bending down to right the uprooted cactus, something caught my eye, something I'd been wanting for ever so long -

- a cicada! The creature was already quite dead, lying on its back with its legs folded in that ubiquitous, almost prayerful pose typical of recently perished insects everywhere. I screwed up my courage and picked the thing up (hoping, as I fumbled to unlock my door that it really was dead), laid it carefully in a jar, closed said jar and left for work.

It's a pretty amazing little beast, that cicada, with its delicate wings, strange, square head, wide-set, bulging eyes and Shredder-esque face-mask. I'd never seen one in real life - only heard them buzzing away in the trees and seen them in segments of nature shows, so getting to finally (gingerly) hold one in my hand was pretty thrilling.

To make the discovery even more fantastic, this little bug has inspired another curiosity! What exactly his wee body sparked in my mind shall remain a secret for now, but man...if I can work out all the logistics, it's going to be AWESOME.

Thanks, cicada-dude. Thanks a bunch!

Items of Note

2010-08-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with some absolutely lovely wall space, the gallery at which my show will be up has also given me free rein of their front window. The moment I was told I'd have a window display, I started (a) dancing around in excitement, and (b) planning out the design.

Due to the Very Victorian nature of the show, the window, as it currently stands in my head, is starting to look like a deliciously jumbled, curiosity-full exhibit fit for a Victorian museum. Since November is approaching ever so quickly, I'm starting to amass a collection of potential window-items (and gain inspiration from some of the items - and displays - in the antique stores on my block).

Here are some items of note that I've accumulated thus far (some of these have been decorating my apartment -and past abodes - for years already. Hooray for curated clutter!):

Moth carcass found on cottage windowsill (currently gracing one of my typesetting drawers).

Butterfly who perished tragically in the windshield wipers of our car many years ago (with beautiful but rickety brooch).

Seagull skull, found at cottage.

Mystery skull - maybe from a tiny carnivore?

Harold Rooster Jr. III, esq, my glorious puffer fish friend.

A dress that once belonged to my mom (that has a beautiful patina of age that makes it look much older than it is), and a very circus-eqsue shirt, found at a junk shop on St. Clair West.

Brobdingnagian Progress

2010-08-28T02:45:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to snap photos of a piece as it progresses through the various stages of completion, and since this fellow's beginnings date back to my sketchbook (a rare occurrence - I more often work from a picture in my head, but this one's a complicated piece to say the least), I thought I'd walk you all through the first few pupal phases (well, since I accidentally forgot to photograph both the ink-outline and initial-washes stage, it kind of jumps into near-butterfly stage more suddenly than it's meant to).

First off, the roughest of rough sketches in my book:

Then I move that layout on over to the watercolour block:

And refine the pencil as much as possible:

And then (after the unphotographed inking/washes) it's time for the colour (!):

From here, it continues to be all tiny brushes and millions of layers of colours and a VERY sore neck, but satisfaction at completing my first ever group scene (hooray!).

Cataloguing

2010-08-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

Whew. Where the hell did August go? Suddenly autumn is creeping in (something about which I have no complaints - I'm done with summer's humid heat), the nights are chilly and I spotted a few early-bird leaves donning their fiery coats when I was up north last weekend.

Though I'm eager for it to be fall, the onset of a new season has kicked me into panic mode regarding the show. I forced myself to sit down last night with a giant piece of paper and a calendar and wrote out a giant to-do list, complete with (shudder) DEADLINES. Due to the fact I'm planning a catalogue to go with the show (featuring the full stories of all the characters, the history of Farther's Freaks, etc.), I have to be finished all my pieces by the end of September, as they all need to be scanned for the book.

Cue unadulterated PANIC. Agh.

Thankfully, the internet is a bastion of inspiring images, regularly spurring my brain into new flights of fancy, especially when it comes to the catalogue.

This lovely blog entry both reminds me of the long 'animals in silly clothing' tradition of which I am a part and makes me want to create some ridiculous endpapers for the book, kind of like this:

Besides the fantastic endpapers, the creature-characters are, in general, completely mad and hilarious. Proof:

I completely agree with the original poster that those creepy cats up there are some of the weirdest clothed animals I've ever seen. They will probably haunt my dreams.

She's got a few more page captures over at the original post, plus a link to the whole book in the Gutenberg archive (tasty). Check 'em out!

Dang. Now I'm all fidgety and wishing I was at home so I could keep working on the catalogue. Oh well. Coffee break over, back to my real job!

Chicken, Chicken, Swan

2010-08-08T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've started working on the 3D curiosities that will accompany the watercolours for the show, starting with The Really Big One - a two-headed, "taxidermied" black swan (life-size - I actually looked up the average size of Cygnus atratus - 110-142cm long, for the curious - before starting to build).

To begin with, I had to wrangle some chicken wire, which is always a painful process. My arms and legs are still host to a myriad of little scratches doled out by the vicious stuff.

Oh look - six feet of aggressive, injury-causing swan-skeleton!

After much bending and wire-cutting and being stabbed, I ended up with a roughly swan-shaped conglomeration of wire:

I attempted to do the whole 'two swan necks making a heart' cliché. Ended up with a pathetic, wonky shape. Tragic.

After the creation of the base, it was time to add some substance to the bird. Since I'm not a fan of the mess (and drying time) inherent in the whole papier maché process, I opted for the easy way out - newspaper and LOTS of masking tape. After an evening of paper-ripping and tape-application, I ended up with a cream-coloured swan mummy. Spooky.

As much as I enjoy the ghostly visage of masking-tape swan, more steps lie in the future for this curiosity, as it will wind up covered in paper feathers, in the style of Sir Percival IV (a dapper raven-fellow I made a few months ago).

And yes, I do look forward to hours of cutting out feathers and battling the perils of the dreaded Hot Glue Gun. It's all worth it, I swear.

Poster'd

2010-08-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

So I started working on the poster I blabbed about in this post - I was surprised to find that the huge expanse of paper hardly frightened me at all, and the layout of the thing progressed quite smoothly.

Here's the initial pencil sketch:

And a close-up of the mysterious Josiah Carp, an extremely fishy fellow:

Since I neglected to photograph the ink alone, we now skip to a couple of terrible phone-camera shots of the first layer of paint:

I'm pretty darn thrilled with this so far - it's crazy sometimes thinking about how far I've come since last summer, when an 8" x 10" piece scared the crap out of me.

Workplaces

2010-08-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

One of the very best things about working in watercolour is the portability of my 'studio'. Thanks to my handy little box o' paints, small paintbrushes and light paper blocks, I can pack up my whole operation and plunk it down just about anywhere - as long as I can get at some water (and maybe a scrap of paper towel for blotting), I can keep working even when travel is on the cards.

This weekend, being a holiday, saw me escaping the sticky city and trundling up to my cottage for a few days. I packed up the necessary materials, wrapped a bunch of half-finished pieces carefully in plastic (one must take a boat to get to the cottage and traveling over water with wholly soluble pieces of art is exceptionally nerve-wracking if they're not protected in some way) and, after arriving, taking a refreshing swim to wash off the hours of car travel, and chatting with the parents, I set up my workspace. On the dining room table, where I had to move it nearly every meal.

On the much brighter side, this was my view from the table (the weekend was rather grey, but the lake is gorgeous no matter what the weather):

And sometimes I worked by the light of a kerosene lamp (the creature in question there is Mr. Alonzo Purcell, who first appeared in this blog a while back):

Of course I eventually had to reluctantly pack all my things back into their bag for the long trip back to the city. On the way back, I stopped off at my parents' house (for their washing machines are much more free than the laundromat down the street), and, while waiting for loads of laundry to finish, I worked on another piece. This time I ensconced myself on the couch in front of the TV, proving I don't even need a full table on which to work (knees do the trick in a pinch).

Wherever will I be found painting next? Only time will tell.

Poster Inspiration

2010-07-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

I apparently can't stop adding to my to-do list. First it was a whole passel of new 3D projects (freaky little plush things in jars!), then the idea of painting a few 4" x 6" 'cabinet cards' to go with some of the characters, and now it's a hand-drawn, watercoloured poster for the whole show, to go in the front window display.

See, when I was at Wolfitt's art shop on Queen West on my lunch break yesterday afternoon, the (super high-quality, usually WAY out of my price range) Aquarelle watercolour paper blocks were 40% off, meaning I was able to purchase a 36 x 51cm block and NOT cry over the bill.

The size of this thing completely intimidates me - as I was walking away from the store, I realized that its long side is just over HALF A METRE in length. Then I eyed it suspiciously and asked it if it was going to be nice to me when I start attempting to fill its vast expanse of white space. I found its lack of reply kind of ominous, but I'll overcome my issues and tackle the thing nevertheless.

Now I'm trawling Google Images looking for some inspiration for the Farther's Freaks Official (massive, ginormous, elephantine) Show Poster. Found some good stuff, like this one:

And these:

I look forward to getting a chance to get some sketches on paper - my summer's been so busy it's hard to find large expanses of time in which I can properly immerse myself in art-stuff. Eek. On the bright side, I'm one of those people who works best under pressure. Hope that doesn't just apply to essays and work projects!

Come Meet Esther Blackwood!

2010-07-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

The lovely Ms. Blackwood (pictured above) will be taking part in an absolutely lovely group show, opening this coming Friday (July 23rd).

Here's another link with more event information (and a map to the shop).

I hope people can come out - I'm unable to attend the opening, so I want everyone to go and enjoy the party on my behalf!

The show will stay up until August 10th, so you've got a few weeks during which to drop in and say hi to a certain lady-owl.

Colours Galore!

2010-07-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

This has been a colourful weekend - not only did I manage to make it to an absolutely lovely craft fair and a rollerderby match, I also found time to do some painting and purchase fabric with which to make a carnivalesque dress for my show's opening in a few months.

There's a peek at the fabric I have so far - mustard yellow for the main dress, a little gold tulle for the sassy underskirt. I'm aslo planning to have some red piping involved - the dress is either going to be insanely fantastic or just insane. Hopefully the former.

As for the painting, it's been a bit slow (I keep getting distracted by the ridiculousness that is True Blood), but my latest piece makes use of a myriad of exciting colours, as evidenced by my watercolour set:

And the piece on which I'm working? Well it involves auklets and bunting. Here's a snippet of the scene:

Please note her jaunty cap - she made it herself, y'know!

Rejuvenation

2010-07-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

HELLO INTERNET.

Yes, I realize it's been approximately eleventy-hundred-million years since I last updated this blog. I have a few good excuses (started a new job, been working on my next solo show, building proper website, etc.), but nothing to really explain over eight months of invisibility.

As mentioned up there, my art does now have a proper home on the web - Jessica Bartram Illustration finally exists, so you can check out most of my new work there (and the majority of the older work that's in this blog's archives). The new site leaves this blog, as hinted in the title up there, in the position of sidekick, a place for announcing exciting news, updating folks on the latest show's progress and just posting a miscellany of sketches (and perhaps some links to other people's art as well).

Speaking of the latest show, a.k.a. Farther's Fascinating Freaks. Here's a teaser of the progress so far:

It's mighty satisfying to see everything laid out on the floor like that. Makes it more real. I still have a ways to go - here's a snapshot of my Official Character List, all colour coded with highlighters and stuff:

On that note, I'm excited to announce that I've found a wonderful gallery-home for Farther's Freaks: The Show/Electric Boogaloo. More details to come in a week or so, once I've found out the exact date!

Please keep checking back every so often - I'm going to try to keep this blog updated a few times a week with the aforementioned news and tidbits and the like.

The rest of the Notable Victorians show!

2009-11-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Now that the rich have taken their place in the blog lineup, it's time for the poor side of the show to have their moment in the (gritty, smog-obscured) sun.

Owen, a Highland cow & butcher

Sally, a rhinoceros & prostitute

Archie, a pigeon & chimney sweep

Philip, a pelican & fishmonger

Poppy, a hyena & prostitute

Clarissa, a gazelle & flower-seller

Wilbur, a capybara & prizewinning piemaker

Charlie, a black swan & charlatan

Backlog + backlog + BACKLOG

2009-11-30T17:58:00.001-08:00

It seems as if I've been horribly lax in posting, well, anything. Therefore it is time for a PICTURE DUMP (part one of two or three).

I'll start with a digital overview of my show, Notable Victorians. Here are most of the rich Victorians who took part (two have already been posted in previous entries):

Lady Upton, a giraffe

Lydia Colston, a great horned owl

Ernestine Blackworthy, a sloth

Calvin Kneebone, an okapi

Horatio Grigg, a peacock

Marcus Shinnick, a ringtail lemur

Eudora Drummond, a tapir

Randolph Toohey, a turkey vulture

Extended Absence - But There's a Reason!

2009-06-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the dearth of Notable Victorians in this corner of the web. Though a part of the absence has been the result of my own procrastination combined with a large heap of busy-June, I now have an actual reason for my delinquency: Notable Victorians is coming soon to a very special little shop/gallery in Toronto!

That's right - I'm having a real, live show! It opens in two weeks and I'm in the process of working on various elements of the event (finishing up pieces, framing, etc.). For anyone in/near Toronto who might like to attend, the information is as follows:

NOTABLE VICTORIANS - July 10th, 2009 from 7-10 p.m. at Industtrees (1234 College St.). Refreshments will be provided, as will animals in Victorian garb.

Be there or be quadrilateral!

In related news, I will soon be moving most of my operations to an actual web domain of my very own. I shall of course announce when that site is up and running.

Notable Extinctions

2009-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

These three poor souls have the misfortune of being mysterious by virtue of their extinction. So sad.

Budgie Dump

2009-05-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm by no means planning to quit with the text portion of this blog, but my current backlog of creatures is so daunting I feel I must just get some posted sans-story. Don't pity them too much - they'll get their stories told sooner or later.

Now, without futher ado, BUDGIES:

Harold Merrypenny, 1862

2009-04-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Harold Merrypenny, 1862

From the piles of journals Harold left behind, it is impossible to miss the fact that he considered himself a bold and fearless explorer, one who charted new frontiers and uncovered unknown lands. It is also possible to glean from those same journals that Harold was most likely a little bit insane, seeing as he spent his entire life exploring just one London neighbourhood.

Born in Camden, Harold never left those few square kilometres of cobblestone, but from the age of 17 slowly worked his way from one end of the neighbourhood to the other, taking elaborate notes and sketching numerous streetscapes in his dogeared journals. The other inhabitants of Camden considered Harold entertainment, and passersby would often request suggestions for the best pub in the far southeast corner, or inquire as to his progress that day.

Lady Curnow, 1870

2009-04-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Lady Curnow, 1870

One of the most feared and respected matrons of London society, Lady Curnow reigned supreme over salons and tea houses alike with her scathing glares and impressive feathered hats. It is rumoured that a chance encounter with Oscar Wilde at a ball soon before he began writing The Importance of Being Earnest led to the creation of the majestic and terrifying Lady Bracknell, a story that Lady Curnow never stopped trying to quell, for she found theatre to have an immoral atmosphere not suited to women of her stature.

Quick Detour from Victorians

2009-04-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

See? Told you I sometimes draw portraits of Frida.

Ofelia Ortiz, 1843

2009-04-16T18:36:00.001-07:00

Ofelia Ortiz, 1843

Ofelia was born in Barcelona, but not long after her 17th birthday moved to Paris to be more fully immersed in the artistic community of Europe. A prolific author, she wrote over 50 novels and novellas during her lifetime and was regarded as a literary genius in certain circles.

During a visit to London in 1844, Ofelia caused quite a stir when she was invited to a swanky club and spent the evening canoodling with her host's female cousin. Though the authorities passed the incident off as an unusual outpouring of female friendliness (but nothing to be worried about), Ofelia was later revealed to be a lesbian when her letters were found in a box under her bed after her death. Those who read her novels today are seldom surprised to discover her sexual orientation, as she cleverly inserted references to erotic female love throughout nearly all of her books, references that were somehow not acknowledged by her contemporaries.

Ambrose Ashdown, 1858

2009-03-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Ambrose Ashdown, 1858

Born in Orkney in 1816, Ambrose was a sickly child who seldom left his mother's side. In his journals later in life, he attributes his sheltered childhood to the passion for exploring that struck him during his teenage years. At the age of 18 he left his tiny village and traveled to Edinburgh, where he met a man by the name of John McClure, who had signed on with Sir Robert Black to help organize an ambitious Arctic exploration. Ambrose was taken on, and in 1836 he sailed on the HMS Terror and spent the next four years in the far north.

After his return to Europe, he spent a few years working as a clerk in a London bank, but soon felt the exploring bug bite him harder than ever. Thankfully for Ambrose, his friend John McClure had become a captain in his own right and was in the process of putting together a team. In 1850 the HMS Investigator made its way north on a trip
that would end up lasting for almost a decade.

One of the key moments in the exploration came when the ship became hemmed in by ice. Leaving the crew to their own devices, Ambrose and John decided to set out on sledges and see what they could find in the vicinity. Though Ambrose's journals show that he was the one to find the majestic strait that would come to be known as the Viscount Melville Strait, as captain it was John McClure that claimed the discovery as his own.

Unaware of John's upcoming betrayal, Ambrose continued to work with him in their push farther north and may have helped him find the Northwest Passage. Upon the ship's eventual return to England, John was knighted and the rest of the crew given a token medal for their bravery, leaving Ambrose extremely bitter.

In 1859, Ambrose threw his medal in the Thames and set off on his own ship, Artemis. He returned to the Arctic and spent the rest of his days living in an Inuit village and pretending Europe did not exist.

More Yeti Goodness

2009-03-03T22:20:00.001-08:00

This one is more hirsute upon request.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY YETI

2009-03-02T22:12:00.001-08:00

Time for a quick detour away from Notable Victorians and towards storybook Yeti Land. Look at the yetlets! Aren't they precious??

(Apologies for the wonky scan - watercolour seriously warps my sketchbook.)

Alonzo Purcell, 1878

2009-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

Alonzo Purcell, 1878

A consummate performer, Alonzo knew he wanted to be a part of a traveling show from the age of 5. When his moustache started to grow at the age of 17 and people began to comment on its virility, he knew his facial hair would be his ticket to stardom.

After only three years of growth, Alonzo beat the great Harlan Montrose, a.k.a. 'Mister Moustache', at the London Fair in the categories of both bushiness and length. After collecting his prize of twenty pounds, Alonzo was approached by Tom Norman (the future manager of the Elephant Man), then a young showman, and offered a spot on his lineup.

For three years Alonzo showed off his impressive 'stache in between the Skeleton Girl and the Balloon-Headed Baby (somehow Tom managed to procure an endless supply of such babies, thus extending the life of that exhibit), earning an impressive sum of money and charming all of England with his passionate poems on the benefits of a fine set of facial hair.

Once his contract with Tom ended, Alonzo went on to shill for Colonel Carrigan's FINEST Moustache Wax as well as enjoying a brief stint as Bath's poet laureate.

Walter Blackwood, 1881

2009-02-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Walter Blackwood, 1881

Walter Blackwood lived a relatively unassuming life just outside of London. Born to an accountant and a seamstress, he managed to secure himself a well-off bride and purchased a ramshackle estate from a doddering lord whose children were forcing him to move into the city for their convenience.

Once settled in to the grounds, Walter and his wife set to work fixing innumerable cracks, leaks, crumbling walls and mouse-infested cupboards. Three years passed before the main house could be considered truly livable, but the pair seemed to revel in the renovation, even waiting to procreate until the house and grounds were perfect.

They went on to have seven children, all of whom became lawyers.

Miss Adella Alabaster, 1840

2009-02-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

Miss Adella Alabaster, 1840

Though she began her performing life with a traveling troupe, Adella was a savvy businesswoman and quickly got her own agent and began securing headlining shows at such impressive venues as Picadilly Hall in London. She was not a freak in the literal sense, but with her excessive flexibility and charming stage demeanour, Adella became a bona fide star on stages across Europe.

Seamus & Samuel, 1846

2009-02-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

Seamus & Samuel, Siamese Twins

One of the top draws at Barnum's American Museum during the peak of its popularity, Seamus & Samuel were billed as conjoined twins found by a brave explorer during his trek into the darkest heart of Siam and brought back to New York, where they picked up English at an impressive rate and soon learned to live a fully civilized life.

In actuality, the twins were born in Chicago, but the secret of their origin was not revealed until many years later, when Samuel wrote a tell-all book about his life.

Gideon Madill, 1862

2009-02-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

Gideon Madill, 1862

Gideon considered himself a nihilist philosopher and was therefore quite out of fashion amongst his contemporaries. While John Stewart Mill spoke of securing the greatest happiness for the largest number of people, Gideon stuck to his anomie, writing excessively long papers about the futility of life and his conviction that the world around him was entirely meaningless.

Later scholars came to believe that this gloomy view of life was directly related to the death of his childhood sweetheart at the age of eighteen, only a few months before their wedding was to happen. Nevertheless, as a philosopher he made some interesting forays into the subject of life's futility and wrote elegantly about his crushing malaise.

Buford Blewett, 1870

2009-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Buford Blewett, 1870

Coming from humble beginnings as a farmer's son, Buford pulled himself handily up by his bootstraps and became one of the best-known politicians of his day. Well-read and charming, he was known for his blustery speeches, which never failed to whip crowds into frenzies of passionate support. His political bent was evident from his first days at Oxford, where he studied law and made a name for himself as a tough debate opponent.

Buford was on his way to becoming Prime Minister of England when scandal struck - his wife Caroline accused him of adultery. The issue might have fallen out of public notice without a sound had letters between Buford and his alleged mistress not been found and subsequently printed in the papers, leading to a trial that rocked London, as their beloved Buford Blewett was unable to deny that the letters were real and was forced to step down from public office, allow his wife the divorce she was seeking, and retreat into the country, where he reportedly lived with his mistress until his death in 1900.

Perry Longsbury, 1886

2009-02-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

Perry Longsbury, 1886

Perry was born to a life of wealth and privilege, but, like many youth of his time, rejected his father's estate at the age of 17 and set off to experience a life of danger and adventure. This photo shows him on the borders of his family estate in his traveling clothes, ready to set off into the great wide world and find his own way without the aids of money and social status.

Unfortunately for Perry, his adventures did not last long. He was the victim of highway robbery not long after landing in France and wound up working as the stable boy at a tavern in Lille called Le Macareux, too proud to return and bear his father's scorn. During his time at the tavern, Perry fell in love with the barmaid and the pair wound up marrying and living out the rest of their days on a small farm just outside the town limits.

More V-day Nonsense

2009-02-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

OK, here goes with the rest of the Valentines Day silliness!

I think this guy might be my favourite - anglerfishes represent!

Also, CLICK HERE to download your very own set of the valentines - creep out your friends, family or spouse!!

More non-festive art to follow this weekend (I've been painting up a storm these days, so there's actually quite the backlog).

Break for Hearts!

2009-02-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

Since it's V-day 'round these parts, I figured that there might be a need for some non-saccharine valentines to celebrate this silly day. Here's the first:

Also, this is being submitted to Illustration Friday as soon as I get home (the word of the week is celebrate, I thought this might fit).

The next three V-day dudes will be coming up in a moment.

Philomena Farnsby, 1843

2009-01-30T16:23:00.000-08:00

Philomena Farnsby, 1843

In a review of Carmen, Philomena Farnsby was described as, "an illuminated performance never matched before...as Carmen, Miss Farnsby conquered the stage and captivated the entire theatre with her angelic voice."

Not only did Miss Farnsby find herself a star of the London stage, she also posed for a number of Godey's fashion plates, helping the catalogue sell the dresses she modeled at an unprecedented rate.

Wyatt Windemere, 1860

2009-01-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Wyatt Windemere, 1880

A staunch conservative, Wyatt was a constant presence in the House of Commons, always lobbying to get various texts and artworks banned from bookshops, libraries and museums. His greatest battle occurred when he decided to raise quite the stink about Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species.

He might have gotten backing from other detractors of the book if he hadn't decided to attack not Darwin's evolutionary theory, but the name of his boat. Wyatt maintained that a man who would allow a boat named The Beagle to carry him on a serious research mission had to be deficient in his scientific method.

Not surprisingly, Wyatt was laughed out of the House, going on to become a street preacher and organ grinder.

Arnold 'Skins' Barkin, 18??

2009-01-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Not much is known about 'Skins' except that he worked for the post office and once spent three years in prison for reading a certain lady's mail.

Stag, Round Two

2009-01-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Don't want to get stuck in a rut, but his antlers have me all doe-eyed.

(Plus I'm working on a book-type thing and one of the characters is a stag, so I call this practice.)

OCTOPUS WILDE

2009-01-30T16:06:00.001-08:00

Oscar Wilde's cephalopod counterpart. He wrote such scintillating plays as An Ideal Squid and The Importance of Being Invertebrate.

Crowley Harthington, 1888

2009-01-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Crowley Harthington, 1888

Born in Paris to a pair of British ex-pats, Crowley often cursed his parents for giving him such a distinctly English name, as it made his integration into the Bohemian artist's quarter of Paris all the more difficult. Luckily, he was blessed with a gift for words, and was able to spout passable poems even when entirely drunk off of absinthe.

He published only one official book, but managed to get a number of poems into Parisian newspapers and periodicals, thus becoming a minor celebrity in the city. One of his poems, 'Musings Upon a Honey Bee Lost in Paris' was a sensation throughout Europe for its subtle sexual overtones, though Crowley himself always denied any sensual slant to the piece.

The most contested stanza was printed as follows:

"When the furry honey bee
Did flitter down upon my hairy knee,
All a-sudden my leg did shake

But the little creature did not flee
Instead she peeked coyly up at me
And wondered how much honey I did make

-- O! And I was shy, you see,
For I could not fathom how that bee
Had any thought for a bear like me."

Calvin Sanderlen, 1868

2009-01-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

Calvin Sanderlen, 1868

Known mainly for being a daring and dapper dresser, Calvin lived a life of luxury and indulgence, traipsing around London with his perfectly groomed greyhound or spending quality time in one of the many upscale pubs downtown. Calvin never worked a day in his life, but spent many hours each week working on a volume of poetry he claimed would change the world. The book was unfinished when a light carriage ran him over in the street, claiming his young life, and the manuscript was later lost when his parents moved from the city to their country estate, so the world will never know what effect the poems may have had.

Connie Ackerman, Bearded Lady (1875)

2009-01-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

Connie Ackerman, 1875

Born in the small German village of Hegensdorf in 1845, Connie appeared to be an entirely normal infant. It wasn't until her 13th birthday that her mother noticed a small patch of hair on her chin, a patch that in the next few years grew into a lush beard that was the envy of many of the village men. She was not treated badly once her beard grew in, but Connie was nevertheless a discontented teenager.

When she was 18, an English showman named Walter "Grins" Manchester who had heard of her through the grapevine during his stay in Berlin came to call, offering Connie a life of fame and fortune in the great city of London. She accepted the job and traveled with Walter to her new home in England.

From 1863-1877 Connie was on display at S. Watson's American Museum of Curiosities on Oxford Street in London, which also boasted 'The Two-Headed Marvel' and 'The Stoutest Woman in the World'. Many came to marvel at her hirsuteness, but after 14 years with S. Watson. she became fed up with never being featured on the poster and quit.

Her life post-freakshow is not well documented, but it is known that she moved back to her hometown and was thought to have married and had at least two (non-bearded) children.

Pictured: Poster from Watson's museum

Tardy Gents

2009-01-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

These three dapper fellows showed up around Christmastime, but are only now making their way onto the blog. Please welcome...

Sir Archibald Farnsley

Alexander Marchester

Frederick Zimmerstein

Mythology I

2009-01-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

My take on the myth of Daphne and Apollo (in bear-vision):

Shoebills, Savage and Otherwise

2009-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

In the African wilds, Shoebills once roamed in nomadic tribes, hunting and gathering with great skill. The following illustration shows one of the remaining 'savage' Shoebills and is from a portfolio brought to England in 1860.

This drawing is from the collection of one Herbert S. Millivine, known for his extensive library that contained many rare artifacts relating to the ancient Shoebills' society. He added it to his collection in 1867 after finding it languishing in a London antique market, and often referred to the image as 'my dear ancestor'.

Herbert is pictured below in a photo taken sometime between 1867 and 1869.

Seal-Folk

2009-01-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

Stephan DeSotto, 1899

Known best for his rapier wit, which he developed in his teenage years to distract from his rapier teeth, Stephan was popular in the artist's cafés of Paris as he always had a clever insult ready for any newcomers who dared to show off their attempts at art. He tried desperately to overcome the existing prejudices that regarded leopard seals as nothing but bloodthirsty killers (of defenseless penguins, even), and managed to make great headway until the day he was discovered with the pocket watch of a penguin artist named Pierre who had recently gone missing.

It later turned out that Pierre had merely drunk too much absinthe and fallen into the river (and that Stephan had found the watch by the riverside), but by then the poor seal had left Paris in disgrace and it is reported that he spent the rest of his days drinking in smoky taverns in the South of France.

Clarence Warlington, 1822

Not nearly as famous as William Orpheus Harrington, Clarence was still considered one of the foremost opera singers in Europe. His rich tenor graced many a stage, and his first performance in London (where he played Alfredo Germont in La Traviata) drew one of the biggest crowds ever recorded.

Orville Ainsworth - 1888

2009-01-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Orville Ainsworth was a quiet badger who enjoyed the countryside and spent the majority of his time in the Lake District, wandering through meadows and commenting on the slant of the daffodils when a breeze appeared. He was fond of saying he'd been friends with Wordsworth during the poet's twilight years, but few believed his claims, even when he retrieved a signed copy of Poems in Two Volumes.

(P.S: Look! I actually put in a background on this one! Exciting!)

William Orpheus Harrington, 1820

2009-01-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

A highly respected opera singer, William - known to the public as The Bariboon (on account of his deep voice) - traveled all over the European continent performing for nobility and packed houses in all the major cities (and a few minor ones as well). His rich baritone was unrivaled, and he shone onstage in such roles as Marcello in La Bohème and Papageno in The Magic Flute.

After retirement, William purchased a villa in Tuscany and lived there with a bevy of beautiful women, who he claimed to be training in the art of singing.

Uriah & Eudora

2009-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

Elephant shrews may not be true shrews, but, like their shrewish cousins, are known for being hot tempered and quite flighty. It is a wonder, then, that this pair ever got together in the first place. Uriah met Eudora while working in a general store in northern New York State, and began to court her with ribbons, trinkets and flowers not long afterward.

Eudora was coquettish and feigned shyness for a few months, but was eventually won over by Uriah's gifts and his promises of a bright future to the west. Records show that the pair left New York in 1802, but after that no trace of them is to be found.

Olive & Charles Chevreuil, 1850

2009-01-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Charles Chevreuil

Descended from French nobility, Charles' ancestors escaped to England during the French Revolution, establishing a modest 200-acre estate just outside of Bath. Charles lived in England until the age of 18, when he decided to reject his father's wishes for his enrollment in law school and travel to Paris to live in drafty garrets and be a starving artist (something his father blamed on Henri Murger's Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, a book Charles had received from an eccentric aunt).

Once in Paris, Charles realized that most of the drafty garrets were already taken, so he ended up staying at a luxury hotel near Pont Neuf, where he met Olive Dupont and fell in love. The pair enjoyed a short courtship amongst the musicians and absinthe drinkers of Montmartre, then returned to England for their marriage.

Olive Chevreuil

These portraits were taken in 1850 to mark the occasion of their fifth anniversary. By this time Charles' father had died, leaving him the Bath estate and a large fortune. He and Olive were known for throwing grand parties, to which Henrietta and Constance Daugney were often invited (though Olive would put her foot down every time they suggested guests put on a little play).

Henrietta & Constance Daugney, 1859

2009-01-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Henrietta and Constance Daugney, 1859

Seldom have two otherwise nondescript sisters made such a mark on history. Henrietta and Constance shocked Victorian England by writing a series of adaptations of the texts of the Marquis de Sade for the London stage, which caused an uproar that lasted for nearly one year (1856-57). The pair was firm in declaring their playwriting efforts art, and attempted to secure one of the biggest theatres in London for their lavish production of Volume I of Aline et Valcour (arguably one of de Sade's tamer texts). The play never reached its opening night, being shut down by the authorities on grounds of morality, and the sisters retreated to the countryside, where they threw regular parties and had guests act out scenes from their censored opus.

Obediah Jones & Captain Wilfred, 1853

2009-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Obediah Jones & Captain Wilfred, 1853

Taken in 1853 at Barnum's American Museum, this is a souvenir portrait of Obediah Jones, giant, and Captain Wilfred (a.k.a. Wilfred R. Snooder), midget.

The pair was one of the most popular exhibits in Barnum's museum, and thousands would attend their (thrice daily) demonstrations, mostly to ogle the shocking difference in size (but also to marvel at Wilfred's iridescent plumage).

Wilfred remained with Barnum's troupe until his untimely death in 1860 at the age of 40. Obediah quit not long after and moved out of New York City to live out the rest of his days in an exceptionally large house in the countryside.

Leander Whittington, 1839

2009-01-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Leander Whittington, 1839

Leander Whittington, of the Dover Whittingtons, is best known as the first anteater to publish a volume of poetry in South East England (Edwina Ferley being the first in all the British Isles - her book, Reflections Upon Ants and Claws sold very well in London).

Titled Meditations on an Anthill by the Sea, Whittington's poetry collection is now found only on the shelves of the most dedicated collectors of anteater literature, and stands as a glorious proof of the golden age of English poetry.

The following is a small excerpt of the title poem:

O! Anthill by the sea!
How thy sandy sides glimmer
sitting in the wind's lee
and the ants that scurry
moving towards a form on the shore - a dead bee!

In The Meantime...

2009-01-04T20:20:00.001-08:00

There will be a few more Victorian portraits coming (stories included), but in the meantime, here are a couple sketches I did while supposedly listening in a lecture (it's a bad habit, I know).

Here we have a slightly creepy elephant shrew...

...and a quizzical monkey-dude!

Josiah Nettlering, 1848

2009-01-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Josiah Nettlering, 1848

Always a dour child, Mr. Nettlering matured into a serious and business-minded Narwhal. He worked as head teller at the biggest bank in New York City and enjoyed the honour of 'least money unaccounted for' seventeen years in a row. Patrons of the bank became used to his stern attitude, and many found his steely glare and silk waistcoats oddly comforting. Mr. Nettlering died peacefully while counting money and a plaque, which can still be seen today, was erected in his honour.

Zebulon Rowatt, 1878

2009-01-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Zebulon Rowatt, 1878

Mr. Rowatt is the only kookaburra to have run for office in England, and the first to fly solo to Australia. A great adventurer, Zebulon traveled most of Europe (enabled by his indulgent grandparents), and after his defeat in Cornwall, decided to leave the continent altogether. In news stories of the time, Zebulon is shown wearing his jaunty flying goggles, training for the exhausting journey that was to make him a celebrity in both England and Australia. This photo was taken one year before the historic flight and shows Zebulon wearing his favourite silk vest.

Bernard M. Cruickshank, 1860

2009-01-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Bernard M. Cruickshank, 1860

A contemporary of Oscar Wilde, Bernard sadly never gained the fame or noteriaty of his rival. Never fully accepted in London society due to his flamboyant suits and intimidating tusks, the walrus would spend months on a play, only to have it be panned by critics as, "heavy-flippered," and, "broader than its creator." The cruelty of the critics finally drove Bernard out of London, and he spent the rest of his life touring the continent. It is reported that he visited Wilde on his deathbed, and that Wilde's famous last words were actually, "either this walrus goes or I do." (But sources remain wholly unreliable on that fact.)

And because everyone likes getting two walruses for the price of one:

Sir Cruickshank, 1810 - Bernard's disapproving father

Edwin Farthingale, 1845

2009-01-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

A Photo of Edwin Farthingale, 1845

From what we gather from letters and a number of literary mentions, Edwin was an ape of many talents, most of them on the dastardly side. He is quoted in a popular novel of the time as saying to a lady, "frankly my dear, those gloves should be on my bedroom floor," which scandalized her to the point of swooning. This account cannot be verified, as the novel in question (The Trampled Lace Glove) is quite florid in style and takes liberties with most aspects of Victorian culture. We do know that Mr. Farthingale was thoroughly disowned by his grandfather for an unnamed deed and lived his life on gambling winnings (Edwin appears to have had quite the knack for cards, though he may have cheated with equal skill). This is one of the only existing portraits of an ape whose name was known throughout Victorian London.

Barnaby Rudge

2008-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit lax with my posting lately because this month has been all about writing (I'm foolishly attempting NaNoWriMo), so not much art has been made. But I can offer you a wee monkey I drew before the crazy writing started. Allow me to introduce...BARNABY RUDGE*!

*Yes, I know that's a name from Dickens. I didn't do it on purpose though - the moniker was just in my head, so I used it and found out later darn Charles had used it first. Curse him!

Thaddeus - some sketches

2008-10-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

Thaddeus is the main character of a graphic novel/comic I'm currently
in the process of creating. At the rate I'm working on it right now,
it should be done by 2068.

Thaddeus' main goal in life is to make his way to the ocean and find an
octopus to befriend. His dreams are full of tentacles.

Finally under the sea, all Thad finds are some jellyfish - wherever could the octopi be?

Many More Bears

2008-10-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

Despite his colourful pants, Cedric was sad.

Renoir found himself amused by the simplest things.

Bookish to a fault, Saul spent his days in the stacks.

Fiona wished for just one more lovely coral necklace.

Fanny wished only for some colour.

Frida & Friends

2008-10-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of my heroes - not the best representation of her though. Must try again sometime.

A phrenology head (drawn for something I was designing for my workplace, hence the BPC in the brains).

Moray eel.

Another mandrill.

Puffer fish!

Pierre disdains his common English cousin.