WOW! What a weekend!!! Those were the longest hours I have EVER worked at ANY show - EVER! (YIKES!) There were THOUSANDS of people out this past weekend for the James Street Supercrawl in Hamilton! And I was part of that craziness with my booth mate Cindy Scaife! It is hard to know how to describe it! I ate some good eats and met some really great people and I was entertained by the colourful locals. From a 10 year old stilts walker, to a 60 year old shirtless dancer (that we nicknames Disco Boris) to the 500 dudes in tank tops , board shorts and neck tattoos! We really saw a lot! The show had a number of frustrations as well, but I promised myself I would not yell about them! To keep ourselves busy in the off times, or when people were totally indifferent to our art, we would imagine that we had a "Hamilton Bingo" card that got stamped each time we saw something unusual! So....below....I will write (HAMBINGO) each time a photo verifies the fun weirdness! Let's go! WEATHER NOTES: First day/night was BLAZINGLY HOT and sweaty - but dry! Side note - sunscreen bottles left in the sun will produce boiling hot lava and burn your skin......but I digress.... The next day.....we were up early to locate and buy pool noodles to keep the impending rain from pooling in the corners of our tent - so that it didn't collapse on us! Sadly, I had a rather terrible night sleep, as it seemed that a fair number of 20 year old university 'dudes' don't know better than to yell on the streets at 2am like a-holes! I guess Aaron, Tyler and Ryan just can't image a world beyond their bongs and beer pong where people might need to be sleeping....and not listening to them scream at each other! "CODY....COOOODY....YOU F^*&ING WASTED??" Okay - rant finished.... Just in case you were wondering...yes...Cody....aka Bra....WAS indeed "s**tfaced"! But that is okay......I knew I had a 15 hour day ahead.....so I had a bunch of coffee and we went to set up! I was so tired.....but THEN....we saw this... (See clip below!) AMAZING RIGHT??????? If only it could have been used to clean up the trash the night before!! :-) Oh, and did you notice the operator of this bad boy? It's Captain Jack Sweepoh! (HAMBINGO - hipster with an eye patch) ANYWAYS.....here is day 2 at the Supercrawl.....enjoy....the photos: What I have failed to mention thus far is the art installation that backed onto our tent. It was great and all.....but this is how it sounded....all day/night long....on a loop that lasted about 5 minutes on - 5 minutes off....for 12 hours straight!!!!!!!!! We kept trying to make up words to it, and thought it sounded like a "minor key Mr Sandmand"...or rather Mr anti-sandman. Please enjoy. I filmed this IN MY BOOTH....which will give you an idea of the VOLUME. Yup......about 38 hours of that "song"!!! It was I think waterboarding must be like! NEXT DAY.....are you ready for this...... WAS PERFECT FREAKING WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunny. Perfect temperature. No wind. A-FREAKING-MEN! I had a great night sleep - and have to thank Donna at The Hamilton Store for making outlives SOOOO much easier! Make sure you go see her next time you are on James North. Her store is FANTASTIC! After a good night sleep, I packed up and got in my car to drive to the show....and found this under my windshield...... ANYWAYS.......so Sunday at The Supercrawl was for the non-humans..... That attack doggie started the day.....and then...... Missing from my pets of Supercrawl photo section....ONLY because I couldn't get to my camera out in time to get the photo are: 1. Man with 5 birds on shoulders/head singing (him - not the birds) 2. Lady with ferret 3. Hipster couple with 2 bunnies on leashes 4. Lizard guy 5. The snake people 6. Jojo the rat faced lady But were any of these odd enough to get onto the Hamilton Bingo Card? Naw. Oh....did I mention the locusts?????? I feel like that should have been a sign for me!!!!!!!! ;-) ..more of the FINAL day..... So there you go. A SUPER recap - for the Supercrawl! Thanks to Margaret and Alex and Donna and Gord and EVERYONE that was funny and lovely to be around for the weekend! I really did appreciate spending time with some great Hamiltonians!!! Thanks to the folks who came by to spend some time and $$ this weekend! And thanks to Cindy for keeping me in stitches! I may NOT be back as a vendor for another Supercrawl, but I will DEFINITELY be back for drinks and dinner and shopping!! Let me just leave you with this last thing..... ALL DAY
EVERYDAY 12-15 HOURS LOOPING ALL DAY EVERYDAY 12-15 HOURS You're welcome!
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JAMES STREET SUPERCRAWL Friday, September 9th 6:00pm 12:00am Saturday, September 10th 12:00pm 12:00am Sunday, September 11th 12:00pm 7:00pm Hamilton, ON Supercrawl is a free festival weekend of art and music on James Street in Hamilton, Ontario. I WILL BE THERE sharing a tent with Cindy Scaife and her art! I will also probably be drinking to make it to midnight! (wink wink) So come by to see THAT! Also.....if you like music.....and I know many do..... Headliners at Supercrawl 2016 will include The Strumbellas, Matt Andersen & the Bona Fide, The Trews, F---ed Up, Four Tet, Junior Boys, and Sharon and Bram. FUN.....RIGHT??? For the show I completed some new Hamilton themed works... There are also limited edition Giclée prints of these bad boys. For those of you who are NEW to my merch..... A Giclée (pronounced "jhee-clay") is a sophisticated inkjet method of printing on acid free watercolor paper. They are produced for me by a professional Giclee Printer on an Epson printer with K3 pigment inks. All my giclées are printed in 2 sizes, 16" x 20" ($80.00) and 8" x 10" ($40.00). The paper is high qualtity, acid and chlorine free 100% cotton rag paper. Each one is signed and numbered in ink - by yours truly. Please note, they are small (limited) editions.....so once they are gone - they are GONE! I have also made a few new postcards for this event, and some original little art paintings - these are off my INSTAGRAM feed: So come out at see these guys and MANY MORE this weekend!
Remember, this is A RAIN OR SHINE EVENT....and it is FREEEEE! Come out and say HI! See you tomorrow?! Gosh. I really thought that I would be more regular with my posts here. Let's face it, I've been a bit of a slacker lately. BUT I am working like a crazy man on a bunch of projects, and also dealing with this: YUP! The old fall kitchen reno. Seemed like such a great idea a few months ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAYS....all I gotta do is get through the next month without a complete melt down and I will have a brand new kitchen. HUZZAH! In the meantime, I have shows to do! Next up, as I mentioned in the As you can see above I featured Albion, Webster and Tews Falls. You really should go and see these....and the MANY MANY more falls in the Hamilton area!!!! THIS.....is the final image: I am super happy with this one!
I really enjoyed painting the landscape!!! (SHHHH!!!!) ;-) I may do a part II - "more falls of Hamilton" - as there are so MANY (YES I KNOW I ALREADY MENTIONED IT) waterfalls in the Hamilton area. SO. COME OUT. See this beauty in person NEXT WEEK in Hamilton!!! I will have some prints available as well! YES...you'll see those next week on this blog! Thanks guys!!!!!! WHAT UP Y'ALL!!! I have been super busy getting ready for.....brace for it....my FALL....yes, I said FALL, shows. (Insert whimpering here!) First up is.... JAMES STREET SUPERCRAWL Friday, September 9th 6:00pm 12:00am Saturday, September 10th 12:00pm 12:00am Sunday, September 11th 12:00pm 7:00pm Hamilton, ON Supercrawl is a free festival weekend of art and music on James Street in Hamilton, Ontario. I WILL BE THERE sharing a tent with Cindy Scaife and her art! I will also probably be drinking to make it to midnight!!!!!!! So come by for THAT! To get ready for the big show, I am doing a few new paintings. To add to my Hamilton collection, I wanted to replicate the kind of look in my "The 6ix" painting. Don't remember that one??? HERE IT IS! I like calling Hamilton 'the Hammer' it's strong imagery! I like even better that I have used the tagline from the 80's.... YUP! How fun am I?? ANYWAYS, so then I tried to pick a few highlights of Hamilton. Are they EVERYONE'S first choice? Naw. But I like them....and THAT is what is important! I chose architecture I really liked...the imagery is as follows.... 1. The Hamilton waterfront/skyline (with a nod to the steel mills) 2. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats 3. The Pigott Building 4. The George R. Robinson Bandshell in Gage Park 3. City Hall 4. The proposed light rail on King Street (I am imagining this is gonna get me into hot water with some people!) 5. The first Tim Horton's 6. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Here is a small non-detailed breakdown of how I completed the painting... .....and then I stopped documenting it! Which always happen when I get 'into the groove'...... Here is the FINAL IMAGE! BLAMO!!!!!! I am also working up merch based this this bad boy!!
Please come out in September to see me!!! PLEEEEASE! HEYA!!!!!!!!! It's been a while since I have done a Bargain Hunt post! This is a combination of a few trips to the thrift store - and a couple other trips that had unusual treats! Prepare for truly amazing/dreadful things that you may need in your life...... So there you go.
Some weird and wacky photos from the last month or so! Thanks for checking in! ALSO - I will be posting new work VERY SOOON!!!! EXCIIIIIIIIIIITING!!! So.....as you probably know....during the summer months, I engage in a lot of outdoor art exhibitions. If you follow my Facebook and Instagram accounts, you also know that they are often times, not the greatest experiences. In fact, some people plan their vacation times around my shows - because they know that I am a predictor of BAD WEATHER! "oh.....Rob's in an outdoor show? Well THAT weekend is gonna be bad weather - let's not go to the cottage that weekend." I KID YOU NOT! This weekend was Art on the Square at the CF Shops at Don Mills. This event was organized by my friends at The Artist Network of Riverdale! Now, before I start my review of the show, I want to say that the actual event was run really well. The organizers were great, and the volunteers were terrific! BUT....that is NOT enough to make a good show....you also need: 1) Decent to beautiful weather. 2) People who understand and buy original art 3) The perfect timing of weekends 4) LUCK Sadly, this was not MY weekend for any of that. Insert sad face here. Lemme break it down for you....with some photos..... So in summary, it was a hot wet SLOOOOOW weekend!
I am not sure if it was the worst weather of my career. But it was certainly in the top 3....which is saying a lot. (Remember, I have done somewhere around 36 outdoor shows to date!) Truthfully, it has really made me think about the trajectory of my art career. Which is probably good! Every now and again, one needs to sit down and reassess thier goals. I will say that I appreciate all the hard working folks at Toronto Art Walks for the great work. Angela, Barb and all the hard working volunteers did a great job making a bad weekend seem less painful! Very nicely run!!!!! And as for me.....now I get to work!!!!! Wait until you see what I do next! ;-) --Insert clever welcome here--something that will engage my friends, impress my collectors, and draw in NEW friends and potential clients. WOW. That is a lot of pressure for a first opening sentence. Ok....let's move on. I am now TEN DAYS away from my big outdoor show at The Shops at Don Mills: Friday, August 12, 12pm–9pm Saturday, August 13, 10am–7pm Sunday, August 14, 11am–6pm CF Shops at Don Mills (1090 Don Mills Road, Toronto) Here is a map of the artists and where to find ME: This is gonna be a good show. Lots of great art, lots of cool programming, a bunch of parking spots - and a nearby LCBO! WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED????? I have been working on new works.....like these....which you could have seen on Instagram: THERE IS MORE TO COME....so stay tuned!
I promise...I will be more active on this blog....really.... (Summer makes it hard to devote computer time!!) Later gaters! I KNOW....I know.....it has been AGES since I blogged about something......I have NOT been doing this: ....OR THIS..... ....OR THIS.... SADLY I have spent very little time doing what I love the most - drinking eating and sleeping on a hammock! I have devoted a couple weeks to work on home renovations! Look at this...... It's rather a dramatic change! 8 years later, the house finally looks like something I can be proud of! Honestly, EVERY finish on the entire house is different! New doors and windows and siding and brick and deck and roof and soffit and gutters and shutters and chairs and a brand new self sustaining rain garden! Yes....that rain garden is so SUPER.....it will grow in nicely! (It contains all native low maintenance plants and then over 3 tonnes of rock!) Now before you area AMAZED - I DID hire professional landscapers for the job....and I was SUPER impressed by the work and care they took. I got to be right in the middle of the design process, and got great results!!! Right?? BUT TODAY.....I am back at work! I am starting brand new paintings, and I have new shows to announce....first up.... This is a great new show organized by the folks that brought you The Riverdale Art Walk. I will have all the details on this new show in the next week or so! I was also juried into this: COME CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY at this fun show....over 130 artists and craftspeople show their stuff at the AMAZING MaRS building....I will have deets on this one soon as well!
So stay tuned! Things are happening!!!!! Have a great week y'all! Like everyone else (who isn't a complete @**hole) on June 12th, I felt totally powerless and at a total loss for the act of violent hatred against the LGBTQ community in Orlando. Honestly, the absolute tragedy is quite overwhelming to me. Sadly, many of us in the LGBTQ community KNOW the hatred and ignorance of humanity all too well. Even today, as a gay person, I am still hyper-aware of my surroundings when out with my husband. I sometimes use the word 'husband' with trepidation, even though it is a word that was HARD FOUGHT for. I vividly remember the horrible verbal and physical abuse I took in the schoolyard as a kid. As an adult, I cannot count the number of times I have heard the word "faggot" screamed at me with vile hatred. Thankfully Toronto is more accepting than many places, but still, the feeling of worry and uneasiness never goes away. When you are a victim in any way of Homophobia - you are forever touched by it. This tragedy in the Orlando, just reminds us that hate is never too far away. THAT is the best reason to speak up, to try to earn the rights that my predecessors fought so hard for. THAT is why it is important for me to pitch in to help. And THAT is why I want YOU to get involved! I am PROUD to be a part of "Small Art / Big Hearts". This AMAZING art auction organized by Mark at MJG GALLERY and WADDINGTONS Auction House is a fundraiser for LGBT charities! 100+ works of art have been donated by some great Toronto & GTA area artists to raise money for Orlando victims and the families affected by the June 12th nightclub. Hopefully the event is so big that is raises some dough for Toronto LGBTQ supportive charities as well. All the art is small is stature but big in love and hope. For my part, I donated these 2 pieces...they are themed to "The Wizard of Oz"...what could be gayer than that, right?? Go pick up these 2...and A LOT more fantastic local art....
See the Art Thursday, June 23rd 10-5 and Friday, June 34th 10-1. There will be a public reception this Thursday June 23rd, 6-8pm. I will be there at the opening! Come by and see me AND the art! Contact Waddingtons at info@waddingtons.ca or www.waddingtons.ca to learn more. All artwork will be auctioned online thru Waddingtons' website! Thanks for supporting this very worthy cause!!!! I would like to recount a story I OVERHEARD..... During his life, this person's Dad and Mom were big travellers. They loved seeing new things and having new experiences. They were fortunate to take MANY trips all over the world, especially in retirement! One day the trips stopped - the unfortunate side effect of getting elderly and getting sick, was the inability to travel. One of the parents' favourite trips was a bi-yearly drive to Las Vegas. Twice a year they would take several weeks and DRIVE to their "home away from home", The Riviera Hotel and Casino. The son was lucky enough to take one of these trips with them. He was AMAZED at how at home they were at The Riviera. (Picture Norm entering the Cheers Bar!) Every waitress, bartender and desk attendant knew them BY NAME. The parents' loved meeting new people and went out of their way to make friends with the staff -- and the fellow gamblers (aka retirees). They loved this trip so much that the Dad would often tell his kids that when he died, he wanted his ashes scattered on the Las Vegas Strip from a convertible! Sounds like he was a fun guy, right? Anyways, as the story goes.....One day the Dad passed away. It was very sudden and very sad. The son and his sister were faced with honouring their Dad's last wish. What they did not expect, was that the hotel that their parents stayed at for decades, would be scheduled to close a few months after the Dad's untimely death! So they made a NEW plan. The kids packed up their Dad for one last trip to Vegas. They called it his "Farewell Tour" - you know, like Cher does each time she tours. They stayed at the hotel that their parents loved so much, and took their Dad (who was stashed safely in a purse) to all the highlights of Vegas! They ate, drank and saw fantastic shows, always taking time to toast to their Dad. It was quite a trip, with a lot of bitter sweet laughs...which was EXACTLY what their Dad would have wanted. Now, in Vegas, when an old hotel is closed down they make a big event of it! They get a crowd of cheering people and they implode the whole building! So it seemed THIS was the PERFECT end for the Dad! A wonderful and theatrical ending to a wonderful person's life. So, on the last night of the 'Farewell Tour' they scattered some ashes on the strip, and the rest would be scattered in the elevator shaft of the Dad's "home away from home". Now, as you may know, it is illegal to spread the ashes of your loved ones on private property without express permission from the owner. So these kids had to be as "cloak and dagger" as they could. What they did not realize, was that on that faithful night, The Riviera was having a farewell party of their own. All the previous and current employees came to say goodbye with a HUGE party in the grand ballroom on the 23rd floor. Yes, suddenly there were hundreds and HUNDREDS of people going up and down the very elevators the plan hinged on....and this was the last night to get the job done! When the time came, they rode the elevator up and down until there was a break in the crowds on the main floor. With his sister playing lookout, the son took out the baggie that contained his Dad's ashes and pretended to tie his shoe right on the threshold of the elevator doors. With an "all clear" from his sister, he nervously poured the contents of the bag down the shaft. But, when he got to the bottom of the bag, ashes got stuck in the folds.....so he shook the bag to loosen it all. THIS IS WHERE THINGS TOOK A LEFT TURN. When he shook the bag, the remaining ashes fell ONTO the threshold of the elevator INSTEAD OF DOWN THE CRACK. In a panic, he stuffed the rest of the bag into the crack, and his panicked sister shut the elevator door. Now.....I don't know if you know anything about physics, but these two clearly didn't. As the doors shut, the airstream forced the ashes that had fallen on the threshold to disperse into a huge cloud. Imagine if you will, a magic show "POOF" sound effect. Shocked and horrified, the two siblings looked at each other, neither knowing what so say. They eventually got out of the elevator on an upper floor and let it go back down. In the hallway they composed themselves and they decided to have one last drink for their Dad. They pushed a button, got in a different elevator (relieved that the worst was over) and went back down to the first floor. When the doors opened again they looked over at the elevator they had used. What they saw shocked them. There was a huge semi-circle of ashes on the SHINY BLACK MARBLE FLOOR around the doors of that elevator. What was worse, there was a set of footprints in the dust. Thankfully, there was another lull in traffic, so the son ran over, fell to his hands and knees, and started sweeping the ashes with his sweaty hands into the elevator crack once again! After what seemed like HOURS (which were probably only seconds) most of the ashes were swept away. The son stood there bewildered, covered in ashes, in a state of shock, with tears beginning to form. He then turned to his sister. "Well. That was certainly one way to do it!" They met eyes, and immediately began to laugh, so hard that tears were streaming down their faces! With that they went for one last 'Farewell Tour' drink and had a final toast for their Dad, knowing he was watching and laughing at what a display these two knuckleheads had put on! A perfect way to send their Dad off! The Riviera closed a week later. FAST FORWARD 1 year......just last night....the tower of The Riviera was imploded to great fanfare: I am sure the kids watched the video of that giant implosion with awe. They listened to the hundreds of people cheering and drinking and celebrating. They knew in their hearts that their Dad would have LOVED the fireworks and spectacle of it all. I mean, what could be better than to go out in a giant purple cloud! It was a fitting celebration for a great man who was never without his smile, who loved his family and loved Las Vegas. Finally their Dad was a part of Vegas history!
The End....as I OVERHEARD it.... |
MY BLOG - YOUR INBOX:AuthorRob is a professional artist, lover of vintage stuff, part time smart @ss and compulsive pancake eater! Archives
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