Sparkbox Studio Residency

I am spending the month of January out at the incredibly lovely Sparkbox Studio, a residency in a country farmhouse near Picton, Ontario. Kyle Topping and Chrissy Poitras are the resident hosts, and I'm lucky enough to be sharing the house with JP King and Sarah Burwash (whose art I've been a fan of for a long time!). It's really fun. I think it's even better than I was anticipating.

My crummy little snapshots here really don't do this beautiful house justice, so head over to Design*Sponge to see the recent article posted on them (it came out the day we arrived! Exciting).

It was a bit jarring to suddenly be alone in a studio - with nothing but my own thoughts, gasp - after a year spent painting alongside En Masse, gluing along with Cease, and organizing Papirmasse. I didn't realize how collaborative art makes the ideas flow until I had to sift through and sort my own thoughts. But after a week I am comfortably embarked on several projects and sorry that my time here is passing so quickly! I am making pattern drawings, some animal silhouettes, and werewolf ladies. I'll post some more photos as my time here progresses, but here are a few shots of the first few days.

The sketch for a painting I'm starting today. I'm going to make her all pretty and then cover her with hair.

Rico, looking fierce (he is really very friendly, he's just yawning)

The beautiful living room, complete with New Years decorations (we got here just after the big day)

Swirl pattern drawing in lots of colours, drawn on the sunny kitchen table.