images
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School
Dr. Sketchy's is a monthly gathering where artists get together for three hours and draw models from Vancouver's Burlesque community. I feel compelled to explain or perhaps disclaim that the longest pose of the evening is only 20 minutes and most are between one and five minutes, which is not a long time to draw a human being... but the models are beautiful and you get to drink! (All photos by Heather Renney. All drawings by me.)
Aug 2011 |
Oct 2011 |
|
 |
 |
|
Apr 2011 |
May 2011 |
Jul 2011 |
 |
 |
 |
Jan 2011 |
||
 |
 |
 |
Nov 2010 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
More Views of Vancouver
Photos taken of downtown Vancouver, mostly from my window or the balcony of my old apartment, or the roofs of other buildings.
Drawings
Mostly from art school drawing classes or a few years later, before all the charcoals and pastels were packed away in a storage locker to await the muse's second coming.
Lightning Storm
A slideshow of still frames taken from a video Mr. Pink shot of a two-hour lightning storm over Vancouver's English Bay.
Tarot Cards
I designed a tarot deck between 2000 and 2001, during a rare stretch of un- or at least under-employment. I sank obsessively into the project, researching traditional meanings for all 78 cards and paring them down to a keyword list that I kept on my desk so I could triumphantly cross off each one I completed. The whole process was like a protracted scavenger hunt; searching classical art, comics, sci-fi and fantasy compilations and my own photos to find the perfect combination of personal and metaphysical symbolism.
The strangest of many coincidences while I was making the deck was the High Priestess card, which I completed in August 2001 and emailed to friends and family a few days before a virus took me offline for several tense days. Then, world events consumed my attention and the days stretched into weeks. As soon as I could use my computer again, The Towers card (above) was my response. A few days later, I was looking through the cards I had designed before the crash when I finally noticed the High Priestess card. I hadn't seen it since August, and now I couldn't believe my eyes.
New Orleans Post-Katrina
My friend Nicholas visited New Orleans immediately after Katrina and spent a frustrating month battling beauracracy and narrowly avoiding being arrested for walking the streets after the curfew was in effect. He was able to help too, delivering food and water, directing people to shelters and listening to their stories. He also took these pictures.
Vancouver Skies
Most of the year our beautifully clean, safe and temperate city is a study in greys. The 40% grey sky; mottled, glassy grey waters in the local bays, inlets and harbors; an expanse of impassable grey ocean beyond that, stretching off into infinity to meet the great, grey beyond at the horizon. There are a few days, though, when Vancouver makes you forget all that. These are some of those days.