Hi! Okay....I am gonna tell you a secret.
I Google myself.......and I do it OFTEN! 
I know it makes me sound a little insecure, but the truth is I like the validation. BAM - TRUTH BOMB!
Just keeping' it real y'all!
Today, I decided to Google 'streetcars'.....to see where my work was ranked on the image list......and what did I find? IT was buried about 10 pages in!!!!!!! There were tonnes of photos and paintings of the streetcars as we always see them....By night with reflections in the rainy pavement - or watercolours of the Red Rocket speeding down the road. BUT NONE OF MINE???
So I intend on fixing that TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!
But first....I bet you are wondering what the deal is....
WHY STREETCARS? Why paint them?
Well....I guess partly because they are iconic to Toronto. I think it is because they have been around for so many years, even as many cities have gotten rid of their streetcars in favour of busses. 
I bet it is the catchy red colour that also attracts people's eyes.
​I always say that the people who love them the most, are the people who are not obliged to ride them. But that is not always true.


I like a million things about them....I guess I am just a huge transit nerd! Okay - I KNOW I am a huge transit nerd. I think I just never lost the 5 year old boy that used to love that kind of stuff!!

Just look at this old blog post.......it proves how train nerdy I am! I took a trip to a couple streetcar museums - and they were COOL!
​
So what this all means is.....that I have painted well over 100 pieces that have some form of streetcar or subway or train or bus.....and then someone has bought that painting!


Please enjoy the selection I have chosen of Toronto Streetcar paintings.....many of them are sold, but they are all pretty nice to look at (and some have limited edition prints still available!)
​

This painting is called "Evolution of the Streetcar". Sadly for you, it is SOLD, BUT it is also available as a print. Although it is nearing the end of its run as a print as well. Click on the image and you can see the prints available! 

"Gateway to the East" is another streetcar painting. It is another SOLD painting, but it is a great one! You also can buy this guy as a print!

I bet you are beginning to see a pattern here. This painting called "King of the Road" shows 3 generations of streetcars, and it is also SOLD! BUT again, it lives on in my limited edition prints!

This PAINTING IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW!!!!!! I kid you not! It is a 16" x 20" original acrylic on Wood with mixed media elements. I tried to be a little 'loose-r' with this painting, but it has been a year, and it is still available. You should scoop it up TODAY!

These last 3 are all paintings that are sold. But I like them a lot! I guess other people do as well......

THERE! If that doesn't get me ranked in the search engines for TORONTO STREETCAR PAINTINGS AND ART - I really don't know what will!!!
GEEZ!
​p.s. no....still no new paintings to show you! Sorry! ;-) 

As I mentioned in my last post, I just don't have any NEW work to show quite yet.........find out why HERE. 
Also, as a lazy mole man, I have been busying myself with the inter webs......and found a calendar that celebrates the most important observances of the year.... TODAY....
PIE DAY!!!
As you know, Robbie loves some sweets. So I will be having pie today to celebrate....but if you can't fit pie into your day, (and lord help you, if you can't) you can at least enjoy THESE pie related paintings:

So there are 4 pie paintings.
All sold. (Insert pat on back here :-)
As I mention in the captions of all these photos - these paintings are gone, but I would be ELATED to paint you your own pie painting!!
Just send me an email!
HAPPY PIE EATING Y'ALL!!!!

ADMIT IT! JANUARY IS, LIKE, SUPER HARD!
It can be challenging to get back your pre-holiday work rhythm! All the sweets and treats, all the visiting and cajoling, all the time off and time away, makes a person NOT want to get back to work.
I call this Lazy Artist Syndrome.
Thankfully YOU can't linger in a state of LAS for long - as YOU have a big bad boss, who is gonna crack the whip on yo' @ss!
Well.....right now, I envy you.
I am a self-employed person, which means my boss (who is a total whip cracking bitch during show season) is a little lackadaisical right now.
NORMALLY, in January, I am gearing up for The Artist Project...a HUGE art trade show.....remember TAP? This is my booth last year:

This year, I decided to NOT do this show - and I think it is this lack of a deadline that led to a serious case of LAS.

I did TAP for an astounding 8 years.....and there were times in the first few years, that I thought I had "made it" as a professional artist! In fact, the first TWO years, I sold out my entire booth! WHAM-O BAM-O! Oh how I miss those days!
At the time, I believed that the success would be everlasting....but many years later - I know that an art career is a very fluid thing.  I NOW look at my illustrious artist career in the LONG RANGE. A few AMAZING YEARS - a few TERRIBLE years - neither of which necessarily defines my success!

Last year at TAP, I heard a lot of:
(insert a hipster 'been there - done that' tone)
"Oh, I've seen this guy before!"
THAT is not a great thing to hear, so I decided then and there to bow out of the show in 2016 to change things up!

As a result, right now I cannot show you new work. I JUST CAN'T EVEN. There just isn't any. (LAS) BUT I can let you know that I am working on a bunch of new drawings, and have primed and readied a TONNE of new canvas!

​Also...in my defence...I am getting my studio packed up for my BIG MOVE to Walnut Studios in TWELVE days:

Now just imagine it filled to the brim with my art...and me!
INSTANT BEAUTY!!!
​Why did I choose Walnut Studios? Well there are many reasons.
1.) TO ESCAPE THE BASEMENT. Truthfully, working in total solitude every day for years, has slowly transformed me into a anti-social mole man. It is not great for ANYONE to work in total isolation all the time! THIS is gonna force me to talk to lots of people! 
2.) more space and more natural light
3.) a place to being clients! Ever since I left my last studio....

...on Queen Street......I have found it IMPOSSIBLE to have clients over to see my work. I have felt a bit weird welcoming people into my home, and then having to take them into the dark and scary basement. "Oh, please come down.....pay no attention to that big hole in the ground with the bucket...." (YA - I was totally 'Silence-of-the-Lambs-ing' it!) An outside the house studio - solves that weirdness!
​4.) There are some great facilities at Walnut!
5.) There is also a 'workshop space' that I can rent so that I can run some (SPOILER HERE) Rob Croxford art classes! Yes, I wanna run a couple workshops this year - a create art - have some nosh - have some laughs - workshop for my clients! Look forward to announcements about that SOON!

​THERE. FIVE great reasons for leaving the comfort of my home studio.
Forging a new path of self discovery and artistic fulfillment in a strange new world! HELL-to-the-YA I am a little nervous! But I think that it will be a great opportunity for both me AND prospective collectors!!! RIGHT??????????

So there you go! Look forward to February's blog FILLED with new paintings.....and show announcements...and for now......as I get over my LAS and free myself from my mole-man habits.....be patient....BIG THINGS are happening here soon!!

You guys....remember when my old blog used to have 500- 900 hits when I posted?? Let's see if I can get those numbers back......because I solely live for strangers validation! Nothing unhealthy about that!!!
Any who. Here are a few things that I love this week and that I want you to LOVE......

1. The Daughter -- I recently had a delightful brunch in the Junction........I want you to go! There is a nice limited menu of yummy things! But if you go remember you should do a reservation!
Here is a review from BLOG T.O. and here are some photos: 

2. DEADWOOD - Oh god I love it soooooooo much!!! NOW there is a TV movie reprise in the works.....which is great news for all you F***ing Co*****king Hoopleheads! Those of you who have never watched it.....lemme tell you about it.....it's an American western TV series created, produced, and largely written by David Milch. It is over 10 years old.....but the 3 seasons have had me MESMERIZED! It's a great ensemble cast.....and the plot lines has historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements! Milch used actual diaries and newspapers from 1870s Deadwood residents as reference points for characters, events, and the look and feel of the show. 
I LOVE it! I DO NOT normally enjoy a western....but this series is SOOO great to look at, and the acting is SUBLIME! I love ALL the actors in this! Ian McShane is spectacular in this one!
SO GOOD! 
Be warned - there may be some swearing.....be very warned!
I am seeing it on Crave right now......but I am sure you can steal it from the internet. ;-)

3.‘apparences’, by filmmakers claire & max.  It is amazing how they have isolated the façades of Paris' most iconic architectural sites and recreated them as two dimensional ‘props’. The film takes you on a strange walk through a city that is both familiar and disorienting at the same time! Here are some stills....and the movie.... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. If you love Downton Abbey....you'll love these 2 videos.....
(thanks Husband for sending me the link!)

5. Here is the final thing you need to love.....I put this on the Book of Faces......but if you did't see it...YOU MUST...and remember "Zinfandel and cabernet, red merlot and chardonnay..." WOO WOO WOO!!! (PS - you're welcome!)

For those of you who were afraid that my new blog would be diversely different in content.....I give you my first "Bargain Hunt" post of the new year. For those of you who are new.....this is a regular post where I try to sell you the most interesting finds from thrift and antique stores. You're welcome...and read on.....

There you go. Remember you can always go back in time and look at my older BARGAIN HUNT and VALUE VILLAGE posts on my old blog!
(Just in case you got time to waste!!!)

HEY GUYS! Welcome, welcome, a million times welcome!
As you can plainly see, "Papa's got a brand new bag".
Ok - that is confusing, I meant "Robbie's got a brand new website"!
Also a little awkward, but it's true. I have totally overhauled my old website.....remember how it used to look.....you know.....like.....yesterday:

I bet you are wondering...."HEY ROB, why the change??"
Here's the thing, the old site was made about 5 years ago, and I have just been adding and adding and ADDING stuff for years, which made it a big unruly mess! It was getting full of errors and dead links and was also crap-ass to look at on a mobile device. I kept trying to delay fixing it, but it just wasn't easily fixed with the software I was using. Also, it failed to live up to modern coding standards, had awful analytics and was even worse for SEO! (Those are some computer-like terminology that I learned myself!) Basically it just meant I had NO IDEA who (if anyone) was seeing my site!
Also, I had a separate BLOGGER account and ETSY store, which were regularly updated - but that did nothing to drive an audience to my website to see my actual paintings! 
I took the whole of last year to search for an all-in-one, drag and drop platform to host my site. I test-drove a bunch of options! Eventually narrowing it down to two. After a more serious 'testing' phase, I went with one (that shall remain nameless) that had STUNNING templates! I then spent about 100 hours creating a FABULOUS site with lots of 'bells and whistles'...only to find out there were some serious issues loading the site, and with the store and shipping options.
BOOOO!!!
So.....it was back to the drawing board where I created THIS SITE with WEEBLY. It took a whole lot less time, as there was only one template that worked for me! But also because they were really well integrated with Easy...so that saved a BOATLOAD of time!
I think the results are pretty good.
As Mama used to say, out with the old, and in with the streamlined, optimized, easy to navigate new! Wait....maybe Mama never said that. Anyways, here's what it means to you. It means that there will be more regular content updates! For me, the benefits are abundant, but is also means I have a more cohesive look for my 'brand'. (That is some business speak I just learned myself! ;-)
So....take a look around the new site.
Enjoy the new photos and the newly updated information! Take a look at my store - which I hope to 'expand' soon! Then let me know what you think!
ALSO.....if you find any glaring "GRAMMAR SLAMMERS" please do let me know - shiny quarter to anyone who finds terrible spelling!!
Thanks guys!
Welcome and talk at you soon!
​~R

So...YOU ARE READING my NEW blog! EXCITING, right????
But do not think that I am new to this (despite my terrible grammar and my overused punctuation!!!!!!!!) I've been an active blogger since 2010. My previous blogger account is FILLED with great posts! DO NOT miss out on the SIX YEARS of my previous blogging shenanigans! So here is that LINK to my old blog!
There is SO MUCH good stuff on this old site....so much that will make you laugh....and so much stuff to inform you......
GO NOW......but then come back!
PLEASE!
:-)