Alternative Comics Another day at the public office...

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics!

Just finished up another Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. The show was a bit slower than previous years as we lost Friday to rain, had to compete with the World Cup final and quite simply that tourists don’t come to T.O. anymore. Having said all that I still had a great time and met hundreds of people and nearly talked my head off. The highlight, as I mentioned yesterday, was meeting all the kids and it was nice to see people from Queen street and new faces as well. Oddly enough I only sold one painting but the comics, prints and t-shirts put me on par with the success of other years. I consider this a real accomplishment because it takes a lot of small sales to make the kind of money one get’s for original artwork, but in the end I did well and was really excited to be moving the books. Many people were really excited to get a copy of my third comic despite the fact they had already read the first two. Anyways the story that sticks out most in mind is my conversations with Braiden, one of the neighbourhood kids. Braiden used to come and see me at least once a week out on Queen street when I was still there regularly performing on the streets. I put him and his dad on the back cover page of HEY APATHY! Book Two and gave it to them a few weeks ago at the comic convention. He was really excited but had a small request. “Put me in a comic!” asked the little crazy kid. “You are in the comic” I replied and showed him the picture again and he said “ I know about that, but I want to be inside the comic!” I laughed but totally understood what he was saying and we spent about a half hour going through my sketchbook together. I love the public festivals and all the unique experiences but it’s back to work in the studio tomorrow and on with the animations… more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

Alterantive Comics Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Just got in from day two at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. The annual public festival takes place at Nathan Philips Square and features about 500 hundred artist’s from all over the world ( except this year there are only 400 due to a portion of the grounds being under construction). Yesterday morning I set up my portable gallery in the pouring rain and didn’t see much action the until late afternoon. Today’s weather however, was perfect and the open air festival was busy. I met hundreds of people, many new and many old acquaintances. The most inspiring of all were the countless encounters with those little monsters we call kids.

Basically I spent the whole afternoon freaking out parents when the youngsters wanted to visit my booth. All the parents see is some guy dressed in black with a whole bunch of scary pictures and the reaction is generally one of apprehension . It didn’t matter today because if anyone even glanced at a drawing I had them trapped. I kept jumping up from working to explain the creepy creatures. I’d share a few tales eventually winning the attention of both the adults and kids. When their eyes bug out at a punch line I get overwhelmed by a strange sensation and somehow life seems that much less intolerable.

The show brings in tourists (though not as many as it used to) and all sorts of all ages and all walks of life. I met people from Montreal, Spain and had fun explaining the weirdness to some Hungarians who spoke absolutely no English at all. I talked with lot’s of other artists as well as with three Torontonians who had been imprisoned during last weeks protest. Damn this weekend has been fun and I get to do it all again tomorrow. The only thing that sucked was the sushi bar closed by the time the show was over and now I am home, sunburnt, exhausted and making my self a crappy pasta dinner. more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

LIFE of An ARTIST STREET MURALS

Kensington Market Street Art

HEY APATHY! I spent almost the entire day working on-line. The fiasco which has become my life (as an artist) was enveloped by resizing and uploading images since 8 am this morn. I have been trying to apply online for the 2010 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition for a couple of days now. Unfortunetly I had to wait until yesterday to get in contact with a staff member because we just had a long weekend here in Canada. Nevertheless the crew over at 401 Richmond running the T.O.A.E. is incredible and all my queries were answered first thing following the holiday lay off. So I proceeded to prepare my slide list and support materials only to discover late last night that I did it all wrong and my images turned out to be way to small.(Oh there is never a dull moment in the life of an artist.)Following my uploaded defeat, I gave up on the application and worked on some sketches for the remainder of day.

Today, however, was a new day! I completed the resizing and uploading in record time without a single glitch and I suppose I got into it and carried away. I just kept uploading and resizing and uploading and resizing and only a few moments ago ( it is now 14 hours since I started) came to a standstill having completed about 5 new pages for my website. I am building the damn thing myself so don't expect too much on the technical side but I think the curation of my madness could not have been handled by any one else. Check out my updated MURALS page at www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/MURALS.html . I uploaded all the image and text links today so there a new galleries within the gallery. I'll try to get the essays explaining the significance of each mural on there tomorrow but for now I am very,very tired.

Toronto Garage Mural Acrylic on Brick 2007

Live Painting at Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

This photographic sequence represents a day in the life of the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. An gigantic annual art show held at Toronto's Nathan Philips Square. The deadline for applying to this years event is coming up pretty soon and I came across these photos from last year. The show is an extensive venture, from set up at sunrise to three days of painting and story telling. As equally exciting as it is exhausting, the T.O.A.E. always feels like a roller coaster ride full of twists and turns. I never know who or how many people I'll meet nor am I able to predict the amount of hard work that the show always requires. I did my first public exhibition at the T.O.A.E. way back in 2002, and although I get better at performing each year, it never gets any easier! Check out more performance painting at www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/PERFORMANCE-ART-PUBLIC.html

PICTURES 1) setting up the 10x 20 portable gallery walls 2) early afternoon crowds start pouring through city hall 3) start the live painting 4) about an hour later finished the live painting 5) telling stories and narrating the comic pages!!!