Went to a chat today by Peggy Burns, who is the marketing person for Drawn and Quarterly Books in Montreal, speaking at the Atwater Library. She talked about the history of Drawn and Quarterly, some of their artists such as Chester Brown, Daniel Clowes, Adrian Tomine, and Lynda Barry. Also got into a little of […]
Tags: ballpoint pen, comics, current events, montreal, sketches
The other night I went up to the Drawn & Quarterly bookstore on Bernard Street, in the vaguely trendy area of Mile End in Montreal. Amazingly got a seat right by the lectern, with a view of the screen, as below. Drooker’s event was billed as a Workshop on Art and Activism, but it was […]
Tags: Activism, current events, montreal, Pen & Ink, photos, sketches
Saw them the other night, at an event sponsored by Drawn & Quaterly publications. Two big cartoonists at the tops of their games. Didn’t have much to say to us struggling types. Neither of them really uses a computer, or worries about people reading their comics. Clowes talked about what it was like being nominated […]
Tags: cartoons, current events, montreal, photos
A visit to the Seguin Poirier Gallery-Studio in Griffintown, Montreal. http://seguinpoirier.com This is another of my little point-and-shoot camera video interviews focused around aspects of the art scene I happen to encounter during my wanderings in Montreal. I’m formalizing it now as “Art Chat” and have bought that name as an address for a web […]
Shot of a drunken me (Jack Ruttan) and the estimable (and late) Sonja Skarstedt at the now-defunct Double Hook Bookstore, sometime in the early 1990s. Photo by Geof Isherwood.
Tags: books, literature, montreal, photos, poesy
On Saint Viateur, during the recent Feast of Saint. Marziale. And rue Masson:
Tags: men, montreal, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, women
Taking a break from all the sketchbooky angst to post these shots of a performance of “Pinocchio” in the local park, still going on, even as I type this!
Tags: current events, montreal, photos, ruttan's place
Spent a while shooting and editing videos of the annual L’Écho d’un Fleuve event, which happens in this neighbourhood every June. It’s a thrill to do, and wonderful to think one lives in a neighbourhood where such things take place. Hooray for artists and dancers and all. Not an easy life. But it’s great to […]
Tags: current events, montreal, ruttan's place, visual art
Yesterday, I went to check out the Formula 1 Festivities downtown in Montreal. Snapped a few photos, as above. Kind of tiring, the whole thing, so I took a pit stop in Dorchester Square, ate French Fries, and sketched the equestrian monument to the wildly popular Boer War.
Tags: Animals, colour, current events, horses, montreal, paintings, photos, sketches, watercolour
Sitting on the balcony drawing again. People go by, things go by.
Tags: montreal, sketches, watercolour, women
The drawings look more realistic when copied from photographs. My problem is, it’s boring to draw from photographs. I’m painting shapes rather than trying to think around an object. Oh, I just remembered. Drew some sketches on the metro the other day. These to me are the best faces. I don’t know they have a […]
Tags: Animals, Brush Pen, colour, dogs, men, montreal, Pen & Ink, watercolour, women
Painting more stuff tonight, after working hard. Tough days, actually, in various ways, though things aren’t bad. Getting stuff going, making decisions, dealing with things. Hope it all works out! It is February, though. One thing is from a photo, the other an elaboration of a quick sketch I made.
Tags: colour, men, montreal, paintings, watercolour
Painted this today, from a friend’s photo of a building (I think) near Turcot Yards. Should do a lot more of these sorts of things.
Tags: colour, montreal, paintings, watercolour
Happy with how the video turned out, because I didn’t work that hard trying to get every little thing, or even amazing things. Leave that to other chroniclers. This is just my view of the show. I made sketches, which will be posted later, and I might also make an effort at identifying some of […]