Keita just sent me this work that he has recently completed. Beautiful. If you are interested in seeing more of his work check out the post from yesterday. 
Canyon Candy Promo from Mike Anderson on Vimeo.
The cute bowtie gives this look a pop and matches great with the light blue dress shirt. 
This beautiful royal blue coat topped with a looped scarf makes this look classic and elegant. 
Fur is making it's comeback, faux fur that is. This over the top fur coat is nothing but fabulous. 
A very adorable look. The flower headband adds a nice touch. 
These two are sitting comfortably wearing a hoodie matched with a cardigan and a jacket. Great use of colours! 
Keita Morimoto is a third year painting and drawing student at OCADU. His artworks are beautiful but my favourite aspect of his website is the ability to take a peek inside his sketchbook. His experience at OCADU has been a bit difficult overall yet learning from his peers and profs "has been the most precious gift I got from the school". His favourite medium to use is oil. "I love how colours blend with each other. The wetness of oil paints is also an eye candy for me." The most recent theme he's working with is "Unfamiliar Familiarity". As he states, "I usually make digital or traditional collages first and try to create a mystical space that resembles real environments but not in a direct way. They tend to imitate the textures, forms, tones and colours of real objects."
People tell him different things about his work as he leaves them rather opened ended. "I try not to give too much information to my work so that the viewer, and even myself, can keep discovering new things." In the future he hopes to continue creating art. I hope he does too. To check out his website and his painitngs click here. 
Hyein is an illustrator and a motion graphics designer in Toronto. She completed an engineering degree from University of Toronto, an illustration degree from Sheridan College, and she is an MDes Candidate at OCADU. She is an illustration and motion graphics instructor at Sheridan College, OCADU and LIFT. When asked about her educational experiences she states "In engineering school, drawing comics was a guilty waste of time. But in art school, I got marks for it! It was too good to be true. I can't really remember challenges with school. For me, the biggest challege was making a decision to let go of my engineering career to study illustration amongst younger classmates." 
For her works she engjoys using scissors and glue. "I also love working with acrylic paints and block printing. As a mixed-media artist, it is hard to pick one favourite medium. I love experimenting." The themes in her artwork are usually a juxtaposition between cuteness and sombre. "My characters are often cute, furry monsters shedding tears and whatnot. I don't consciously go after sombre feelings, but often after I finish my artwork, I notice sadness in my characters. I think my characters draw empathic respones from my audience because of those qualities." This gives her artworks depth because too cute just gets annoying. But Hyein works are always interesting and usually stir up a giggle or two. In the future, she wants to work on some children's books, a graphic novel and art shows. We can't wait to see more. To check out her blog click here. 
As a child she spent years going to a traditional Russian art school, where the mediums that were used were watercolours and gouache. To this date those are the mediums that she is most affectionate towards. "The themes in my artwork tend to swing between the sensual subject matter: exploring the elegance of the feminine form, and the enigmatic innocence of animals. Hand done typography is an important element that is present in both my personal and commercial work." When asked about her future she states "In the future, I would like to continue being able to lend my visual language and ideas to meaningful projects. Outside of making art I like to play with cats and people, lucid dream, pick mushrooms, and practice kindness." To check out her artworks click here. 
SALEM - ASIA from SALEM on Vimeo.
This past weekend I ventured to Toronto to see the band Salem perform. While I’m disappointed to have missed Ottawa Fashion Week, I have to admit that Toronto was amazing in another sense. I hung out with old friends, including Hilary, an industrial design student at OCAD, played music with my host, Cameron, and quite enjoyed Salem’s smoky show at Wrongbar.
I tried to describe Salem to the guys in my Toronto rideshare and I got as far as “witch house, dark electronics, infused with hip-hop” before said rideshare dudes noticed my black nail polish and wrote me off as weird. Yes, Salem are weird, but they’re weird in a sexy and dark sort of way. If you enjoy anything from electronic, glitch, hardcore, grimy dubstep, shoegaze, witch house + a thousand other subgenres of music, you should check out this band. They first gained popularity a few years ago due to the power of the interwebs – but their online buzz does not always translate well to the live world. At SXSW last year, they were booed off stage for a weak performance. Ignoring these slips, however, this American mid-west group continue to internationally tour.
Salem actually pulled together a good set in Toronto. I found it humourous, though, how while the audience was quite into the music, the band made no attempts to be into the audience. Salem's disenchantment is curious: their presentation seems to almost eroticize cult references. They combine theatrical elements: dark make up, eerie electronics, thick fog, fishnet and cloak-like clothing....and from a band completely disaffected of the audience around them, an omnious performance heightens religious speculation. But one must consider things like the name of one of their albums: “Yes, I Smoke Crack” (2008), alludes to how factors more substance related than religious may be what Salem parallel their spookiness towards.
I enjoyed Salem's set. I appreciate how they've combined many different genres of music without much much care to necessarily respect original styles (for instance, the rapping does not necessarily honour original hip-hop clarity, as they seem to put more weight on rhythm than wanting us listeners to understand what they're even rapping about). Their ability to push artistic boundaries within their performances, recordings, and videos is both refreshing and bold. And after the smoke dissipated and we all went home, the rest of the weekend in Toronto was full of wholesome fun. Toronto is always such a ball: I’m quite glad it’s just a few hours away so us Ottawans can catch some rare shows. While these are no Szeto shots, here are some photos from my weekend in Toronto:
Franzisca Barczyk is a freelance illustrator from Amsterdam who uses acrylics, inks, and monoprinting to create her works. During postproduction she uses photoshop or illustrator and, overall, she aims for a mix of shapes, textures, and a balance of colours. When asked about the themes in her work she states, "the themes range from personal to political or editorial views. A lot of my themes are based from scribbles in my sketchbook. The sketchbook becomes a diary. Other themes are more external and are based on the news. Like a photograph I like to capture a moment a reflection of the present. The approach becomes journalistic/ documentary."
Barczyk attended OCADU in Toronto to study illustration. " I think the challenges in art school are equal to the positive and negative experiences. Overall I learnt a strong work ethic which I would consider a challenge in discipline and motivation but also a positive experience. Other challenges were patience, the art of practice, trial and error. Adapting to a new way of thinking, using metaphors as well as all experiences can become illustrations. Capturing those experiences and making them logical." When asked about what her future holds she states "In the future I would like to do a Master program in Visual Communication. I would like to integrate art more into the public space. The idea being to change perceptions and changing negatives into positives. I also see myself collaborating more with artists of different disciplines such as graphic design, music, film and fashion. I have a positive view of what art is capable of." With art like hers no doubt she'll go far. To check out her work click here. 
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| [photo credit - www.lykkeli.com] |
The overall response to her work has been good. "I am gracious for the mixed responses. People have been generally supportive and accepting of my work and I appreciate that. I am always satisfied when a viewer is able to gather their own meaning or interpretation from a piece. I feel that artists should always leave space for the viewer's mind to roam." Pytyck started posting her work online in order to broaden her audience. "It's also a great way to share your portfolio with, not only art directors, but, family and friends. It's one big family fridge, the internet." And where does she hope to be in the future? "In the future, I want to be in the same place that I am now. I don't think I can ask for anything more than what I've already got. I don't plan on ever retiring; 'plan' being the operative word. I will be drawing until my pencil and hand turns into dust." That's good news for us. If you enjoy Pytyck's work as much as I do check out her website by clicking here. 
