Fortune Seller at the AGO

Peer into your past on January 2nd and get some art for free. I will be performing as 'Fortune Seller' at the AGO's First Thursday Event, giving art prints away in exchange for a story. The topic of the story will be dictated by a magic crystal ball, and the topics vary from the benign to the lewd... so come ready to whisper your deepest secrets and best tales into my ear and walk away with something to hang on your wall in return. It happens January 2 - a perfect time to confess your sins and cleanse your mind in preparation for the new year ahead.

All of Walker Court will be set up as a giant Bazaar with participating Long Winter artists. It will be the most bizarre bazaar you've encountered!

Tickets and information: http://www.ago.net/ago-first-thursdays-january-2-2014

No sooner did I post this than the poster for the show arrived in my inbox. Head to one of Montreal's true gems, Monastiraki, on Saturday November 9 for a sweet show featuring artists from Quebec, Belgium, and Ontarioooo!

MONASTIRAKI - Le Petit Monastere
5478 St-Laurent
Montreal, Qc, 

MUDGUM from Belgium

A 2-colour version of this drawing is currently being screenprinted as part of the new book MUDGUM, produced by the Yumyum Collective in Belgium! Can't wait to see the finished product when it launches in November at Monastiraki in Montreal (the screenprints will be exhibited there and at Livre au Trésor in Liege, Belgium). The line-up of artists is stellar: Simon Bossé, Patrick Doyon, Ben Tardif, Ginette Lapalme, Vincent Giard, Kirsten McCrea, Trio Magnus, Julie Delporte and Marc Bell.

Learn more about Yumyum at www.yum-yum.be

CANZINE October 19 & 20!

I'll be presenting at the CANZINE Symposium this Saturday with my partner-in-crime, Jp King. We're giving a whirlwind talk on Best Tabling Practices (or, How to Get What You Want and Give What You’ve Got at a Fair).

Other great talks that day include Shannon Gerrard speaking on Nano publishing and Guillaume Morrissette and Alyson Mitchell talking about how to survive bad reviews.

See more at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/canzine-symposium-for-indie-culture-makers

And on Sunday, stop by the Papirmass table for great deals on back issues and a contest!

Word up to the 80+!

I'm pulling together a new contributor's page for Papirmasse, and holy moly guys: I have published the work of over 80 artists and writers over the last 4 years! And what a 4 years it has been. Currently gearing up for 2014 and I can tell you already that our content is going to BLOW YOUR MIND. Very, very, very pleased with all that has come and all that is yet to come. Thanks especially to the wonderful people who have shared their work over the years. Long live print!

New Drawing: Vinyl Hair

Finished a new one today. Really having fun lately!

Vote for this Tegan & Sara Bandshirt

Help a girl out and vote for my Threadless design at the Tegan and Sara Challenge. What can I say? I think this drawing would make a wicked band shirt, and also: I want $2,500. 

Vote here: http://www.threadless.com/teganandsara/tegan-sara-heartthrob-6/

Getting organized

I have compiled an epic to-do list for Papirmasse for the next four months, along with help from our new Production Manager, JP King of Paper Pusher. After this shot we put each task in chronological order! Thank you Scott Belsky for writing organization books for artists - I am finally where I have always wanted to be on in organizational terms! Now to tackle that weird pile of forgotten laundry at the back of my closet...

Dan-D-Noser at The Hole NYC Summer Reading Room

Yay! My new book Dan-D-Noser (along with several other Paper Pusher titles) will be hanging out at The Hole Gallery in New York all summer, sitting alongside pieces by the likes of Miranda July and David Shrigley. They've transformed their Bowery gallery space into a massive art book reading room. If you're in NYC this summer be sure to check it out! Many thanks to Harley Smart, Anteism and Paper Pusher.

Read more at http://www.openingceremony.us/entry.asp?pid=8303&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tw_072513

Papirmasse and Paper Pusher at The Commonwealth / Go Home Magazine

My skull drawing is in the latest issue of Go Home magazine, a new arrival on the Toronto arts landscape. More than a magazine, they are also the people behind The Commonwealth, a new Toronto-based collective whose aim "is to bring together Toronto’s independent creative communities, with a focus on DIY, small press, and independent print and publishing. Through curated events, The Commonwealth will help local creatives join forces to promote the DIY and small press scene as a whole."

The latest issue - pick it up at Type Books and other fine retailers

The Commonwealth put on a zine fair in the sweaty, sweaty Sterling lofts last week. Jp held down the fort as I stayed up all night long enjoying an impromptu bachelorette party (thanks ladies!). Here are some photos of the night, all taken by Charles Yao (who is not only a great photographer, but also the designer of the fantastic Little Brother Magazine, run by Emily Keeler).

Sweaty!

Risograph Royalty: Jp King of Paper Pusher and Jesjit Gill of Colour Code

Many more photos at http://gohomeprint.ca

Gettin' MARRIED + Paper Pusher & Papirmasse at Broken Pencil's NXNE Zine Fair!

If you are sensing a theme from the last three posts... yes, Paper Pusher and I are collaborating a lot more. That's because (spoiler alert) I just married JP King, the paper pusher himself. We joined forces when we moved in together a year ago, but as our wedding date approached we both realized that we really want to make this whole small-press thing a team sport for real. We have been exhibiting and tabling together more (at events such as The Commonwealth and this weekend's NXNE Zine Fair), and we will be soon announcing a few other very exciting collaborations.

For those not in the know, Paper Pusher is a small printshop (run out of our home) that specializes in artist-made products and prints using a risograph. Basically a never-ending stream of incredibly talented people come traipsing up our stairs, and I get to see their beautiful files turn into incredible prints like this:

and this:

and this:

 and this:

and this (my new book - more on that soon):

Jp King is also an artist who makes beautiful collages like this:

and crazy contraptions like this Exquisite Corpse typewriter machine (pictured here at Art Metropole during their recent book symposium):

All this goes to say: this weekend we are tabling at the NXNE zine fair, put on by Broken Pencil!

There's a nice blog post about it here, with a full list of vendors: http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/broken-pencil-and-nxne-present-a-small-press-arts-fair

But all you need to know is:

Ryerson’s campus (Gould Street, across from Balzac coffee)  
Saturday, June 15 
11am – 4pm


Hope to see you there!

Papirmasse & Paper Pusher at MassivArt's Chromatic

MassivArt sent along some more images (courtesy of Sebastien Roy) from their Chromatic exhibition last month in Montreal. Chromatic is a HUGE art party that sees several thousand visitors and dozens of Montreal artists come together in an insane amount of fun. It happened this year at the Darling Foundry. We were very happy to be part of their 'Salon de Lecture' (reading room). 

Paper Pusher and Papirmasse have zines in Orange County!

I am a part of the about-to-open ORANGE COUNTY ZINE LIBRARY & READING ROOM, an exhibition curated by L.A. Zine Fest in collaboration with popular zine festivals in Brooklyn, Houston, Scranton, and San Francisco.  

Woooo! Zine Libraries are the best. 

Paper Pusher and I sent along a package of works that we have published, as well as a few issues of Papirmasse.

A zine is a small circulation self-published work of original and/or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via Do-It-Yourself culture including photocopier, printing press, or just paper and pen.  Artists often use zines to share their own work, thoughts, and ideas with their peers.

Check out http://www.ocgp.org for more info!

City of Craft is this Saturday, April 20!

City of Craft, Toronto's goldmine of indie goodness, is happening this Saturday, April 20, at the church at 427 Bloor Street West (just a block West of Spadina). I made the poster and am pleased as punch with how it turned out. Screenprinted posters will be available at the fair courtesy of the fantastic Kid Icarus. 

More info at http://www.cityofcraft.com

Nominated for A Globe & Mail Catalyst Award

The Globe & Mail has launched a new award series called The Catalysts to celebrate creative Canadians who are flying under their radar. Exciting news: I've been nominated as one! Read the article below. 

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-catalysts/kirsten-mccrea-has-a-special-delivery-for-art-lovers/article10957142/

Named one of Artinfo's 30 Under 30!

This is really dorky but a few weeks ago I thought to myself, "Damn, I'm almost 30. I'd really like to be on some sort of 30 under 30 list. Time is running out!" And then Artinfo came calling. It's a really great list of people and I am honoured to be on it (alongside my partner in life and crime Jp King).

Check it out here:
http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/860868/blouin-artinfo-canadas-top-30-under-30

http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/860868/blouin-artinfo-canadas-top-30-under-30

2 Upcoming Shows

Swing by Gallery West tonight (January 30, 2012) to catch Exhibit 28, a group show of 28 artists curated by Nathalie Quagliotto. Next week, come to the Art Gallery of Ontario for February First Thursday. A large-scale installation of drawings based on my new book Dan-D-Noser will be on display, right near where A Tribe Called Red is playing. Featured artists in the show include OTHER (Troy Lovegates), Aaron Li-Hill, Deadboy, Shannon Gerrard, and the Bissel Bombers.

Gallery West: http://www.gallerywest.info/upcoming.html

AGO: http://www.ago.net/1st-thursdays-february-7-2013