Day One - Demolished Corporate Ladder. Kicked Back at Summit.

So the big new news around these parts is that today was my first official day as my own full-time boss/employee!

Boo. Ya.

From here on in it's art and writing, writing and art, a lot of crossed fingers and a lot, lot, lot of work, but I'm in for it.

On paper, this all works out awesomely. In practice, I guess I'll have to wait and see. You can too by checking in here, where I plan to post daily news and updates.

Please comment often, as the new co-workers at the new office are kind of quiet and don't laugh at my jokes.

Upside is they're soft, chill and always down with some heavy petting...

More X-mas Goodies

Don't tell the CBC, but I snagged one of their old-school logos and silk-screened it on to a shirt for Sean. Sorry CBC - I love you, but I don't have $40 to drop on a T-shirt. What I have is more like $6 and 40 minutes.

Below that are three little guys I made for my Mom. I had the fleeting idea that I would tool the twelve days of Christmas, but that would have been either twelve massive baubles, or 78 pieces of leather. I think a trio of birds is a nice middle ground.

Bake it Easy

In addition to leather goods, everyone got bread this year! A straight week of baking (and 40 cupos of flour - this is some serious stuff) yielded these dense, delicious bundles.

I can call this bread a work of art and not sound like a cocky douche because all I did was follow the recipe from Earth to Table - a beautiful cookbook recently put out by a pair of chefs from the Ancaster Old Mill.

I will, however, take credit for subbing blackstrap where the recipe called for mild molasses. I mean, do you like molasses or do you like molasses?

Installment Number One

A present for my niece - who is at the age where all things faerie/princess/pink/purple/ballerina-related are to die for.

No Sight for Sore Eyes

I know this page is boring as hell because there hasn't been anything to look at lately, but I promise, promise, promise there will be so much to see so soon you will be sick with oversight!

Pictures and further explanations in the coming days...

In the meantime, might I suggest reading up on some of CBC's Canada Reads selections? This is an annual event that has, for me, turned winter from a thing to buckle down and bear, into a thing to anticipate.

I already have a couple of these books, but hadn't read them since I was in high school. I was curious to see whether Generation X would be as awesome as I thought it was when I was 16, particularly since a friend of mine recently read it and found it fell flat. I say he falls flat, because I re-read it and this book is still excellent.

I had barely started Fall on Your Knees (which I first read when I was 18) last week when I got Nikolski for Christmas and couldn't resist the lure of its matte, fish-flocked cover, so it has absorbed the late-night waking hours I should spend sleeping.

Pick at least one up and tune into the great debates in March!

Closer...

Busy with Christmas presents I will post pictures of once they have all been given to their rightful owners!

Sigh...

I am by no means a camera nerd. I know nothing about the art of photography and, in fact, would probably take all photos on an angle if Sean wasn't around to remind me how hack the result always is.

That said, I can see the difference between my latest snapshots and the sharp, clear images of a month ago - the ones taken with my since-stolen camera.

Maybe I will start saving up to make my first-ever purchase of a brand new piece of technology. A shiny digital camera with SLR(ish) capabilities. Though, of course, I will have to learn what/how exactly SLR means/does/is/works...

Front Page Fodder

This little lovely was featured on the front page of Etsy over the weekend!

Thanks to Jane of White Elephant for bringing it to my attention!

Workshop

I've been busy, busy, busy tooling custom orders - mostly guitar straps.

Not sure how much I'll have to post in the coming weeks. Not only is the crazy of Christmas going to overwhelm us all, I just spent an hour ripping the godawful 70's tile (not good-70's. And not awful/good-70's. Just plain eye-searingly ug 70's) from the walls of my bathroom. As a result, there are some holes and a whole lot of glue-covered plaster. While that alone is an improvement over what was there an hour ago, it's not going to cut it long-term.

It's certainly not going to cut it for the guests I have arriving for a two-month stay starting January 1, so I'm going to have to bust ass on nothing but the bathroom until then.

Starting in January, regular leather and painting updates will resume. In the interim, you have thrilling weeks of bathroom renos to look forward to!

Timeraiser Part Two

My Pigott painting (Tall Buildings in a Single Bound, located below, is going to be auctioned off at Hamilton's second annual Timeraiser.

Same deal as last year, only in a new location. Brand new - the McMaster Innovation Park on Longwood. If you're looking for a good volunteer gig and some stellar art as a bonus, Timeraiser has tonnes of each.

The quick and dirty description of the event is that you wine, snack (the food last year was soooooo tasty), visit with people from different organizations, check out some art, then bid volunteer hours instead of cash on the paintings you like best. If you bid the most hours, when you complete those hours, not only are you civic-ly fulfilled, you get your painting.

I am fulfilled (and filled - with two months worth of groceries) much sooner, as I get paid when I hand the painting over this winter.

Art Crawl

Cripplingly cold and the art crawl was dead. It was one of the first bitterly cold nights of winter, so perhaps people have yet to become fed up with the season and just brave it.

Here are a few shots...

Sellin' Like Hotcakes!

Oh me oh my oh! My flasks are flying off the Etsy shelves! I have sold six in the last 48 hours! Time to make a special trip for more supplies - that's exciting.

I suspected these would do well at Christmas. At shows, everyone loves the flasks. People rarely buy them for themselves because...perhaps they're worried about what it means if they're the type of person who needs to have six ounces of hard liquor on them at all times (besides that they are most certainly wild parties rah rah ole)?

However, eeeeeeeveryone knows someone a flask would be perfect for as a gift. And thank god for that because earlier this week, I was actually searching the cushions and cupboards for change with which to buy grocieres. Thanks to alcohol, I should make it through to the New Year.

Newbie Pieces

Phew!

Tooling must not be breaking my backbones yet because over the weekend, someone commented that I "have amazing posture."

Try to argue with this! I'm tooooootally just relaxing here.

And the Winner is...

...me! Because no one played. I guess four was a gross overestimation of my readership.

Ah well, I'll console myself with the fact that Shoot From the Hip was just accepted as a vendor at Hillside Inside this February. I'm so excited I barely have room to feel daunted by the amount of work ahead of me!

Pictures of a couple custom orders and new projects to come - I'm in the middle of a last-minute writing assignment that needs to be done for Monday.

Well...

I look like a loser. Someone please post a recipe.

In the meantime, I am preparing leatherworks for a show at Bike Hounds this Friday night. Please come visit. I've got a few new feather cuffs, a couple seatbags and a pair of Pigott Building wallets on the go.

I am also plotting and designing a pretty intense belt that looks amazing in my head. If it translates to the real world, I hope to post it here by Christmas.

The Prize

The prize for the (as yet woefully underplayed) contest. Don't make this guy an orphan. Play the game.

Spirit of the Season!

I'm feeling giving, but I'm also feeling hungry, so here's the deal...

I am trying to buy groceries in a fiscally responsible way by "planning ahead." That is, picking recipes and only shopping for the ingredients within, thereby eliminating the issue of not getting around to using things before they go bad/being in a perpetual state of missing two or three ingredients for dinner and running out to the (expensive) corner store because it's closer than No Frills.

So. I am going to give away one of my hand-tooled swallow necklaces (no pictures at present - see post below - but I hope to borrow a camera and have some up tomorrow) to the person who gives me the best recipe.

If you're interested in taking part in this gastronomic battle royale, please leave your A-1/favourite/most impressive/surefire hit/go-to-potluck-contribution recipe in the comments.

As long as I'm not underestimating my readership (which I peg at somewhere between four and six) I will choose by making and taste-testing all of the entrants. If I have more than a week's worth of meals, I'll pick the top five best-sounding recipes and have a week-long dinner-off with them. The reader with the most delicious dish wins!

No rules, but you should know that I love cheap ingredients (I'm practicing fiscal responsibility here remember. I don't want to buy a half a pound of truffle-infused cheese, or a ton of pine nuts, or my weight in saffron) and I hate recipes that contain ingredients that you have to refer to an additional recipe in order to make, IE: a recipe for a stew that calls for dumplings, then directs me, via footnote, to a second recipe for dumplings.

Contest closes this Friday (Dec 11) at 4pm EST. Game on!

Art Crawl

The lack of posts is due mostly to my lack of camera. Someone stole it. Probably assuming that I was the type of richie-rich who can afford things like cameras. Truth is I have never been able to afford a camera. I used the Kodak Star 275 I got (as a gift) in the sixth grade until well after university. Until well after a sly spider made his way into the viewfinder, spun a web, lived his life and died there.

The fancy digital in question was a hand-me-down I was lucky enough to get for free after more than a decade of point-and-shoot. So thanks thief. Because the Star 275, while a righteous model, is not compatible with my computer. And I can't afford a digital.

In terms of positive news, I am going to be having a leather show and sale at Downtown Bike Hounds this Friday night during the James North Art Crawl. The Makers Market was a success, but I have leftovers, so things will be on sale, sale, sale! I'm hoping to get together a couple of Hamilton-centric wallets featuring tooled versions of some of my paintings of local architecture.

Decemberist

Sorry for the lack of posting - back to work, sick, after a week off and I am slow-moving.

I'm working on a couple custom guitar straps, this time for the first time with luxe leather linings stitched to the back instead of just leaving the raw leather. It makes it easier to price them affordably when I leave the raw backing, but I think it looks messy. The only way around that is a clean, hand-stitched strip of horse hide. Unfortunately, with five stitches to an inch on a 36-inch strap, that's a whole lotta extra time, so they are priced accordingly.
I'm also trying to bust off a few more ornaments and feather cuffs for the market this weekend.

Remember! December 5th at the Cathedral on James North.

Also, please cross your fingers for me as I'm currently gathering my things to apply for Hillside Inside this winter.

Oh Snap

I'm probably going to go back, hack and make at least 10, 000 words worth of edits, but that is not the point.

Here's a Headline - More Leather Below

Sorry for the lame-o headline. I'm tired of writing headlines. I write them every day for work and I've already written three today, so I'm spent.

But there is more leather below.

First up a custom order for a guitar strap I'm working on. It's not completely finished yet, but I was psyched about the design, which turned out the way I wanted it to and (I hope) the way its new owner had in mind.

Below that is a leather seatbag for road racing, or whatever form of cycling you fancy. These will be available at Downtown Bike Hounds in Hamilton starting Tuesday December 8th.

A little farther down the page is a Christmas ornament of the dude from Log Driver's Waltz. Canada Vignettes anyone? No? Maybe this link will jog your memory.

Happy holidays hosers!

She Cried "More More More"

Upates, updates!

First up is a Christmas ornament - this little guy works as well hanging from a bough as he does diving from a present. Makes a flashy tag that you can keep. Moms love that stuff. I know mine does

On deck - a trio of simple change purses. Sweet design on the back, brass snap up front.

Third on the list is a guitar strap covered in Ontario Parks icons. I do these custom-styles too, if you're not as Canadian camp nerd as I am.

Feathers Everywhere

All right - here they are.

First up - I'm on a bit of a Christmas ornament kick in preparation for the Makers Market next weekend. Here's a hand-tooled leather feather to hang on the tree. I think I'm going to have to make these a little smaller. As is, this one is the same size as the cuff below, which is very nice, but its price will have to reflect the size.

I don't know if I would pay the same for a Christmas ornament as I would for a bracelet, but maybe I'm cheap? Or a Scrooge?

Next up is a design I've been thinking about for almost two months, but didn't get around to making until yesterday. A massive leather feather to wrap around your wrist.

More to come tomorrow. I'm just waiting for a few things to dry.

I'm All Talk

I do have a finished product to show, but it's after five and (thanks to winter) dark out now so I don't have a photo. I could just take one indoors, but I am done with godforesaken flashes starting now.

Check back tomorrow for a couple new things in the way of leather goods!

Can't Talk - Writing

36, 000 words. My math skills say that's 2, 000 words a day for the next seven days.

Busy Busy Busy

Holy cats I don't have time for anything today! Thank goodness I have a week of vacation to catch up.

Before I take off to do a hundred and one things this afternoon, I am going to post this single snapshot of my latest project - big bad feathers that are on their way to becoming leather cuffs.

I'm hoping to post some finished ones here, and to my Etsy store, this Monday.

Christmas Market Making

Here are a few pieces waiting to be turned into...? Unsure at this point.

I'll be honest - I only actually tooled the red leaves today (as part of a custom order). Everything else was tooled weeks ago. However, I did stain and finish and highlight everything else this very afternoon.
My unnaturally coloured fingertips are testament to that.

Fall = Acorns

See here.

I'm Just Afraid of Change...

Every so often, I think I would like a nice clean look to this page and I test ride a white background. Alack and alas - brown, yellow and orange are a triple threat I cannot resist.

Though Blogger has no ochre (my favourite shade of yellow), it does offer a shade of blue that matches my typewriter perfectly.

Behold! The new banner and another change of page colour.

Bourbon Decay

A few months ago, the very day I was working on a bunch of new flask designs (barley for scotch, corn for bourbon, cactus for tequila), I heard that BC's Carolyn Mark was playing Hamilton's Casbah Lounge.

Because I have loved her for years, and because I was stitching up a corn flask the moment I found out about the show, and because I suspect she truly is a fan of bourbon (and it's not just a catchy song lyric), I thought, hmmmmm, maybe I'll take this flask and give it to her...

...but I was too shy and worried that she wouldn't like it, so I left for the show with a flaskless hip pocket.

Deja vu when, about a month ago, she breezed back into town and I didn't hear about it until the day of the show. Hmmmmm, I thought to myself. Maybe I'll take this flask and give it to her...

Again, I dismissed the thought (the stitching on the only flask I had on hand was very wonky and not at all a good example of my flaskmanship) in favour of a glass of wine.

What do you know though? By the time I walked out the door, that wine had convinced me to slip a flask in my back pocket, just in case.

It turned out to be a smart move. After her excellent set, when I approached her and nervously, nerdily, gave her the flask, she told me she collects "corn things" (please let it have been "corn" and not "corny"). Would you believe it?

Despite her gratitude (she gave me a CD and the Terrible Hostess cookbook I had meant to buy), I still worried about her turning that flask over and seeing my sub-par stitch job. However, it turns out that no one is as picky as I am (or as harsh to me as I am in my own head) because I noticed her pouring a few shots worth of booze into it before she left the bar.

The Light Fantastic

Do you ever have so many ideas, so many sides on your plate, so many to-do's in your day planner, that you can practically feel your veins hum with intention? With purpose? With drive?

Like so many days this past year, I feel like lightning today!

Here's a thing - I'm going to make and upload a beauty of a new banner tomorrow. I'm also going to commit to updating this thing every single day, which means I'll have to create something new and show-off-worthy every single day. Happy new year! My 2010 resolutions start now. More on the way...

In Other News

This has nothing to do with my own art (unless you consider it related by virtue of the fact that music is one form of art I could never make. Musicians blow my mind), but Hamilton band Huron releases their long-awaited debut album at This Ain't Hollywood (or, as I wish it were called, The Saint Hollywood) on Friday night.

Rush out and pick it up! I'm not cool enough not to be excited about this, so I'll right out and ask you to please note that I am thanked in the liner notes, a thrill I know Rob Gordon understands.

Scribbling...

Whenever I'm painting or tooling, I feel like I should be writing. Never have I found myself writing and feeling like I should be painting or tooling.

With this in mind (and with the help of NaNoWriMo), I threw myself to writing this month and, while it's been so great to fully devote my time to that...I miss my sad silver tools, sitting lonely and cold in their mountain ash storage shed.

However, my head is filling up with ideas and, since I have next week off of work, I hope to find a few short hours to devote to making lovely leather things.

Noobs

My new banner and layout is crappy...I will fix it in the coming weeks, and also spill some exciting information!

Away We Go

I just signed up for this baby an hour ago. NaNoWriMo challenges you to write a 50, 000 word novel in 30 days. I'm not aiming for a publisher-ready manuscript, but I am shooting for the word count. Check the site out if you need a kick in the pants to get started on your would-be novel.

Makers Market

Here are a few shots from October's (frigid) Makers Market at the Cathedral on James Street North...

Makers Market

Makers Market

Wiggle Waggle

Better late than never - my booth at the Wiggle Waggle Walk-A-Thon...

Wiggle Waggle

Wiggle Waggle

Custom Order

I forgot about these...I guess I do have some excuse for being a slug this past month.

At the very end of September, I received a custom order (through Etsy) from a woman in Texas. She needed thirty flasks, as pictured below, by October first for corporate gifts. I powered through these guys in under a week and was pretty happy with how they turned out. When they arrived in Texas, their new owner was as well - she said people were practically fighting over them, so...success!

Lull...

I'm finding it hard to get moving on anything. It's like I used up weeks worth of motivation prior to the Queen West Art Crawl. That was more than a month ago though, so it shouldn't be an excuse (or if it is, I should have gotten something else done in place of art like writing, or running a marathon), but there it is.

Mostly, I've been reading books, drinking tea now that fall is here, and trying to rationalize good, solid reasons to never change out of my housecoat.

I guess I applied for a few new opportunities, but I'll only ever talk about them out loud if they deliver (so you can cross your fingers and hope for that if you've got nothing else to do)...and I suppose I have been working ideas out in my head, so it's just a matter of sitting down to turn them into "real."

In the short-term, I can agree to this: I'll find something old, but still interesting, to post. I promise. I know I have images kicking around of things I meant to upload and didn't because I was too busy trying on housecoats. Just give me a couple of days...alone in my housecoat...it might only be pictures of housecoats though.

Super Crawl

A little late, but here's my sweet (soaked and frozen) set-up from October's Super Crawl RAWWWR!

I (along with 50 other local vendors) will be selling all kinds of goodies at the Makers Market at Christ's Church cathedral on Saturday December 5 if you're looking for some awesome to give your loved ones this year.

Queen West Art Crawl

I'll be there 11am-6pm this Saturday and Sunday.

The event takes place in Trinity Bellwoods Park on Toronto's Queen Street West.

Please come and buy things as I've spent the last two months furiously tooling myself into what will surely become kyphosis. Don't let me be a hunchback for nothing.

Pictures of both the wiggle waggle and the QWAC to come!

Get Ready to Wiggle

Tomorrow morning. Bayfront Park. Registration starts at 9am. Bring/borrow/steal a dog and come on down. It's going to be a lovely day for the 20th annual double W.

Proooooooooooooooofessional...

Thanks to Australia's own Simone Russell, I have a white-hot website. Check it out.

For Those Not Near a Newsstand...

Click here to see my piece for Canadian Geographic's fall travel issue.

Dog House

Pet portraits...does this make me the wedding singer of painters? I don't care if it does. I love dogs, I love painting them, and I love dog lovers, so here's how it's going to work:

From now on, 10% of all pet-related things (paintings, collars, etc.) goes to the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA.

I'll have some paintings (seen in posts below) for sale at the Wigg-Wagg, or you can order a custom portrait of your own pooch. For one day only (Wigg-Wagg, Sunday Sept. 13), if you order the 10 x 10 custom portrait (seen here) for $100, 20% goes to the SPCA.

Man that's such a good deal, you're practically stealing from the animals if you don't take advantage. Do you really want to steal from the animals? I didn't think so. Sign up early to avoid disappointment!

* Cat/pig/chicken/fish/etc. lovers do not despair. I hope to work on a few paintings of animals other than dogs next week. Check back for updates*

Dog House

Dog House

What a Mess...

Apologies for each photo being its own post, but Blogger is listing my photos in random clumps when I do them all in one post and it's making me insane.

Anywhoooo, here are some shots of what I'm doing (instead of eating and sleeping and socializing) these days as September, my month of markets, draws near.

Painting is happening too, just on a different floor of the house. Tomorrow I'll post photos of some of the pet portraits I'm getting ready for the SPCA's Wiggle Waggle Walk-A-Thon on September 13.

Seatbag Stitching

Snaps on to the rear of your bike saddle. Perfect for carrying patch kits, wallets and small repair doohickeys that, if kept in a handlebar bag, could create the kind of wind resistance that might spell the difference between winning and losing the Tour de France.

Belts