Dream #22

I get fired let go from my desk job with a pink slip. I look down at it and realize that everyone around me has received the same paper. I pack up my desk into  an archive box and leave with an empty soul.  No one saw this coming.
I get on the ferry, with my box and look pathetic.
I come home to Michel and he sees the pink slip, offers me support and breaks out the calculator and starts crunching numbers, grimacing at the final number.
I pour myself a stiff drink and sit down in my chair. Soon I pass out.
A double exposure rises u from my form and walks to my drafting table, sits down and looks around.
Turn on a light, grab a file folder and flip through some designs.
I smile at a few as I flip through and then see on that strikes my interest. Turning on the light box, I lay it down and put a new piece of paper on it.
The marker glides over the cast image of the old on and the design is improved. I gain momentum, I work on the design with enthusiasm and passion, cleaning the lines and making it better. I work faster, a blur of motion like The Flash.
Michel comes downstairs into the room and sees tens of designs held up by clothespins on strings all over. I break out my sewing machine, my airbrush and my knife and continue to work. The sun goes through the window, rises and sets and still I continue to work.
I start making, sewing, painting, designing, refining at a pace I've never known.
I work and start selling out of my garage to a line up of people round the block.
One man, well dressed, sees my designs and gives me a card.
I'm delivering my tshirts and dresses to his shop with great enthusiasm.
I have my own studio. I have a staff. I'm surveying fabric and directing designers and tailors to do the work that needs being done. I smile the whole time with great joy.
I'm on a runway, watching my designs walk down the catwalk. It's Halifax, Hollywood style. I walk out to applause and cheer of my peers, still amazed that it's happening.
I wake from my chair and get up and walk to that same drafting table and open the same folder and just start working, less focus than the dream, less romance of ability. The sense of duty, work and dedication sets in, but I am unmoved.

Dream #21

I was sitting at the edge of the soccer field at the New Glasgow High School. I was sketching in a leather bound book.I was cold from the late fall weather. The trees were grey and rough, the grass brown and stringy and the rocks sucking the warmth of life from me.
I sharpened my pencil and realized the canister that held the shavings was full. Hesitating, I took it apart and began to shake it out on the base of the tree. Feeling the guilt of littering, I  looked around to see if I was being watched. After a thorough search and seeing no one, I went ahead and emptied the shavings onto the trunk of the closest tree.
The wind picked up, making the pencil shavings fly around and into my eye. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I saw a car pass and felt hesitation about what I had done.
Looking at my sketchbook, I saw nothing but a blank page where I had just drawn an image. My creation gone and no recollection of what it was.

Golden Oldies Show

Poster for the upcoming show at Menz Bar, put on by ISCANS.
Obviously, the show is featuring songs from years back. I spent most of the week listening to podcasts from Sister Diane and her interviews with Paul Overton from Dudecraft (both are huge favorites of mine) where he spoke about being a swing dance teacher (something I useed to do years ago myself), and it just kind of resonated with me and came through in this poster.

Local Craft Movement Poster

I absolutely love this poster that was stapled to the telephone poles in my neighborhood. And being a crafter, this really appealed to me.But, as life would have it, I as unable to attend...this time.

They have shows from time to time and with any luck, I'll be able to attend the next one.

You can learn more about this group by visiting their blog here.

Stealth Bomber added to the Creative Armada

The newest baby to the growing Creative Armada of Weapons.

Dual action Iwata, on sale for 30% OFF!!!

The paint well is side mounted and seems to be better on paint, just a drop'll do ya!

Benefits of being an Archivist

(NOTE: These are tentative images regarding the event as details are not yet official at the time of the posting)

Over the last 10 years of the Reigns of ISCANS, I have done about 75% of all the printed/promotional work over the last 7 years. Because of this, I have a large inventory/archive of all the shows we have done to raise money for our charities.
This coming May24 weekend, we have our usual Court Membership Appreciation BBQ for all our members.
Instead of going with a new design, I've elected to re-hash an old poster from last year, to keep the tradition alive.

Last year's poster:

This year's poster:

Just a little variation, and only the gods know how good anyone's memory is for previous posters.

So my question is this: Have you ever brought back an old tradition/image to celebrate the same event, or have you come up with something new each and every time to keep it fresh?

upcoming show

So this was a quick inspiration job.....loves it

Trailer Park Trash Poster

This was a poster for a show about 2 weeks ago. All done in photoshop, and my first time designing with my Intuos/Bamboo pad. Had to whip this out and make it look trashy.....just as a note, the set had a full sized outhouse that the performers walked out from....HA!

Dream 20

Below is a rough account of my dream that I had the night of April 11,2010. It's vivdity and highly engaging detail forced me to write it out. Please understand this was written as soon as I awoke so that I could capture any and all of the events. I've tried desperately to keep the timeline straight and the locations:


I was at a fashion show/some large event that was held in a ballroom around which were a lot of independant chambers. Kinda like the metro center, but on one level like the mormon church....more like the Mormon church in new glasgow. While in one of the side powder rooms with an English lady, whom I seemed to have great respect for (mid 50's, blondish red hair with something of a bob/barbara streisand hair cut, simple open jacket suit combo, kind eye, excellant voice....maybe the woman who did the costumes from WICKED....)I was speaking to her about something and I accidentally cut off the front portion to my eye. I was trying to remove an accessory/gem from my lid/crease in my brow and the blade was sharper than I thought, I had it too close to my eye and i slipped with it. also, was no able to wear my glassses for the procedure.

I cut the front off my left eye and looked at it in the sink. I cut the colour from my eye. The iris, colour of the eye and the lashes were all in one piece sitting in the bottom of the sink.. the lady told me that it would grow back bu tglazed over. was sturck with the fear that I would never again have bright eyes. But also, that I could now wear a patch legitimately kind of excited me.
Then I was at a Debutante's ball at the Halifax Club. All the men were wearing Red coats and powdered wigs in general and the women who wore lovely gowns.....looked a lot like the Patriot scene with Lord cornwallis wearing the 'horse blanket'.
I was sent to look after the twin boys ages 8, since i had done so well looking after one of the gentlemen's boys who stole a bow or ribbon or something from one of the ladies.
Looked after them and spoke with a girl who's date had not arrived and comforted her.
A man my age handed me a stack of 'cards' and said "Spades will get you everywhere/in every door." and I clutched a bunch of long thin metal playing cards.
I went down the back stairs and the basement was the same kinda layout as the Johnsons' basement back in abercrombie, except it was in The Halifax Club and thus it was a much farther distance from the bottom stair to the stone lined wall on the other side. The floor was painted a lighter grey colour and was heavily applied.
There was a piece of jute/twine running from the bottom hand rail that went through the wooden plank/steel plank door. the twine wetn through a small hole that was a demon's mouth case in steel/brass.
The string had to be pulled the right number of times. I peeked through the square hole around the twine and saw wimen and men on couches, fully clothed, hand jpbs and oral jobs.
Then i looked through the hole in the door and saw the sids of women's heads and jhair but managed to cacth glimpses of their faces in the mirror's thwy were getting ready in. whited out faced with french hoooker makeup. big red hair, plump ladies.
I pulled the twine and some looked up, expectantly. I pulled the first card/metal strip out of my hand and pilled the cord that number of times in total and the door swung outqward and open at me.
The women were getting ready on the left side and front, the women were hooking at the back from right to halfway left. From mid left to about halfway front left there were a few roes of tables and sewing machines and sergers whose threads came down from large spools in the ceiling joists.
The women were hooking so that they could have clothes to wear/makeup/fabrics and supplies to express who and what they were. there were some designers working at tables on the other side of the blowjobs.Brandt Eisnener was one of the sdesigners.also rupaul. Maybe Trevor VandenEiden. and myself. i think petrlidge was there too.....he was very sweet.
When I entered the room, they all started panicking and knew that they had to go, as I was sent by the men upstairs to clean this whole thing up, not destroy it, bt o make it more pallateable to the gentlemen and that they would sponsor the who endeavor that was happening, so long as a i cut the edges a bit and got rid of the people that were doing the nasty things outside of the original purpose. meaning, the hookers who were giving the money to the cause could stay and be models, and the ones who were using this as a base to stay sheltered without doing much had to go.
Brandt Eisnener was one of the sdesigners.also rupaul. Maybe Trevor VandenEiden. and myself. i think petrlidge was there too.....he was very sweet
When it all settled down, rupaul came to me and asked a rude question, which i snappe back with something, rather proud of myself. she could stay. Same as brandt, bu he wanted 5 assistansa and an entire team of 60, including myself and the other designers teams. I told him his entitre team could consist of four including hiom and that we would all work as a team and that we would switch groups from time to ime as the projects changed and people's skills were needed elsewhere.
Also a girl who looked a nbit like Chris Frazer's daughter who madea t shirt that had half a surboard that flipped dpown in the front."But she can't even sew a Hem in a dress?!?!" said one of the designers "We can show her how to do that, but I could never have shown her to make this surfboard tshirt from the old design." She was doing chin ups from the clothing rack. I then said 'Welcome!", hugged her and took her into the group.
We all began settin up the shop and cleaning it up and either Petrilidge or Ru Paul looked at me with concern and said "What happened to your eye? Are you ok?". I reached up and touched it, but there was a hardened brown leather patch over it with brass hooks and rings.