It's crazy-ass holiday fair time!

Life is INSANE for crafty artists at this time of year. It's when we pull all-nighters, giving ourselves blisters folding paper, sewing things, and generally feeling overwhelmed yet nonetheless SUPER COMPELLED TO MAKE STUFF. And you, the public, get to find neat gifts for people that are unavailable at any other time, in any other place. So here, in order of appearance, are the many craft fairs and small press fairs and pop-up shops that I will be at in the next month, all with my trusty sidekick JP King close at hand.

1. EXPOZINE. Aka the happiest place on earth. I love Expozine. I love it so much. Last year I got locked out of my house at 3 am the night before Expozine because I decided in the middle of the night that my Expozine table would be perfect if only I went to my studio to get an awesome shelf. I left my house and lost my keys on the way and spent like an hour walking around looking for them before hopping the fence into my backyard and miraculously getting in to my house. And you know what? THAT SUCKED, but Expozine was STILL AWESOME. Such is the power of 300 small press vendors in one room.

Next week: Smart Design Mart...

Exposure Festival

On Monday I am taking off for some fun and sun in Edmonton, Alberta (okay, the Canadian Prairies don't exactly conjure up images of beach weather, but believe it or not Edmonton is one of the sunniest cities in North America, especially in the winter). I'll be making art at the 5th annual Exposure: Queer Arts & Culture Festival. This is my second time exhibiting at Exposure - back in 2008 I showed Hot Topic in a show with Wednesday Lupypciw and Corissa O'Donnell. Wednesday did a performance involving the wearing of high-waisted beige pantyhose - on the outside - earning my eternal respect.

If you're in Edmonton, come out to the Papirmasse-a-thon on October 20, and the panel discussion I am chairing on making big bucks in the arts (well, enough bucks to pay your rent - see event details below).

Here are the posters I made for the festival. You can come see lots of Papirmasse at the closing party, along with drag shows and DJs and dancing!

S A L E !

In honour of my Etsy shop being back from the dead, I've put on this sale. Head on over to www.hellokirsten.etsy.com to score some almost 50% off prints!

My Etsy Shop is back from the dead

My online store took a little siesta this year. Just got too caught up with real life, I guess.

But now it is back in action! Head on over to www.hellokirsten.etsy.com to score some sweet prints. Other items will be added in the coming weeks. The newest addition is this little cutie here, my very first risograph print (I almost sold out at his world-debut at Puces Pop this past weekend - but about half of the edition of 50 are still left).

Live Painting during Pop Montreal

I'm in an Art Pop event that features live painting happening during Pop Montrea! Come see us get our art on.

With Kirsten McCrea, Dewey Guyen, Andy da Silva, Sarah Guindon, Lisa Czech, Tyler Rauman, and guests.

En Masse at the San Diego Art Fair 2011

Did some live painting with En Masse at the San Diego Art Fair a few weeks ago! With the help of fellow Montrealers Kevin Ledo, Fred Caron, Jason Botkin, and San Diego-uhh-ians(?) Mike Maxwell and Kevin Peterson, as well as Argentinian Maria Bedoian, we made 5 giant paintings over the course of the fair. Here are a few random photos of the event. You can see more on my Facebook album of the event, or by checking out the brand new www.enmasse.info!