friends...

These two guys are my neighbors. I think the small one admires the big one very much. Probably because the big one treats the small one like a friend not like a baby. The other day, they were riding their bikes up and down the back alley still wearing their winter jackets and boots.

I've known the big one since he was in his mom's tummy. Hugest pregnant tummy I ever seen! I can't believe how fast he grows! Coucou Étienne !

I really like these still life from Dane Lovett - via Dear Ada

walk...

Last Sunday I took a long photo walk in my neighborhood. A lot more to come.

Some of you asked me a couple of questions. You wondered what was the thing on the third photo of my last post. Well you can see it better here on Delian's blog.

And some of you asked about the gigs I'm working on. Well one of my client got a contract to produce a multimedia award show. This is very exciting because the awards are for people from our field of work, our peers. Exciting and a bit stressful. We have to show our best work there. I will be the production manager and help with the graphic design. Oh and we submitted two museum productions we did last year for the awards. Gig 1.

In another life, I did some research for scientific TV programs and for children encyclopedias - I have a degree in biology. Well for the last two summers, I went back to this type of work and did some research for a kids TV show about animals living in the city. Recently, they asked me to write shorts texts for the show's website. I really enjoy this. Gig 2.

I will also soon start to work for a women association on a series of research reports about feminism and religion. I will do the graphic layouts for those. Waiting for the first texts to come in. Gig 3.

I did a very simple photo animation for a pharmaceutical company. I'm on stand by for the client's approval in order to finish it. Gig 4.

And when it rains, it pours: yesterday, another client asked me to do the cover for a book he's publishing with the possibility of a second cover if he gets the grant to print it. Gig 5.

All that said, I find myself procrastinating big time today. I should get on with it as Thereza would say.

So cute - the smallest garage in the world!

red, blue and ice...

Spring is trying very hard to settle itself but as you can see, winter is not willing to give up so easily. At least, the sun is shining.

Gorgeous work by Jenkins - via the Lumper

p.s. thank you for your comments about my bathroom. He he, if you saw it all though, you would realize how tiny it is and how the walls are crumbling down.

bathroom...

Bathroom shots - fighting the funk.

Finally, we got one! We got one of the numerous pitches we did lately. It's not a big one but it's better than nothing. The only thing is that after all the previous rejections, I accepted a couple of others projects so I can put butter on my toast. Well now my plate is full! Ah well. It's the story of my life. Either I'm looking for work and think that I will never get another gig in my life or, I have so much work I never know when my next break will be. Fortunately, and I cross my fingers saying this, it seems that the latter situation is more frequent than the other.

Did you see the work of Kathy Dalwood on Design Sponge? I especially like these. She also has a great blog.

rialto...

It's spring! And this past week, we had a sweet taste of it. On my afternoon off, I went for a walk to get fruit tea and perogies down in the very hip Mile End neighborhood. When i was a young, I remember seeing great shows at the Rialto Theatre (in French) but that was a very long time ago. It since was abandoned then converted in an anonymous restaurant. The marquee is still there though and I find it beautiful!

I'm still it a funk photo wise. So these are about the only photos from that walk. I wish I will snap out of it soon.

On a more interesting note, it is FIFA time in Montréal! Fifa, not as in soccer but as in Festival international des films sur l'art. One of my favorite film festival. The movies are all about art, most of them are documentaries. It's a wonderful source of information and inspiration.

I bought tickets for a few films and saw my first ones last night. I wasn't very impressed with the first movie but I was very troubled by the John Max movie. In the 70's Max was a extraordinary photographer from Montreal who later fell into a psychosis. He became a hoarder, living in an house filled with hundreds of boxes and crates full of books, newspapers, photos and negatives. I don't know what became of all his wonderful work. Very sad outcome.

On my regular blog visits, I saw and fell in love with this drawing and those.

Wishing you a great weekend!

notebooks...

I think I am a notebook collector. Whenever I see one that I like, I have to use a big dose of self control not to buy it. I also like to make them. I made those a couple of weeks ago out of scrap paper and I used castle cat's photos for decoration. The thing is, I have way too much notebooks for the use I make of them. Ah well...

A simple link on dear ada led me to the incredible and eclectic work of Fiona Hall.

spring...

Wooo! It feels like spring! We had such lovely days so far this week. I even had my first beer/chips/book/balcony end of day yesterday. Since it is supposed to go back to colder temperatures as of tomorrow, I decided to take the afternoon off and work a little bit during the weekend. How is your week?

Superb work by Arianne Vairo - via Mehallo

hirshhorn...

Here are my photos from my trip to Virginia. Not much huh! Well I took more of course but I am not happy with them so...

These photos were actually taken in Washington D.C. I was impressed by the beautiful sculptures gardens they have. The first one is from the Hirshhorn Museum Garden. I loved the round architecture of this museum. They have a very interesting collection of sculptures. The was a special showing of a short film (Next Floor) produced here in Montreal and that I saw previously at a film fest. It was funny to see something familiar there.

We also visited the National Gallery of Art where I took the second photo. I love the details of her dress. If I'm not mistaking, the sculpture was done in the 12th century. Sorry, I should have taken notes of what I was shooting. The National Gallery is a huge museum and has two buildings, one for historical and classical art, with again an important sculpture section, and one for contemporary art. I must say, I saw enough Calder's sculptures for a few years now.

At the end of the day, we did a quick tour of the United States Botanical Gardens just before closing time. It was orchids season and the green houses were filled with them. Magical! They also have an amazing begonias collection. I have to go back!

I know that Washington is a very violent and poor city, but the Mall is so beautiful and grand. It's the only city I visited where you can see far, where you have breathing space. Must go again!

fun...

It's the weekend! Yeah! I had a really full week. He he, I guess I had to pay for my little escapade to Virginia. Speaking of which, I took only a couple of photos on my trip this time. I must say, I am not very much inspired photo wise lately. I guess it will come back soon with spring. It's been sunny all week here and it feels great!

On the other hand, I spent some time having a lot of fun with Harmony, a drawing software. I found this via Drawn. A really great tool that I feel could be useful for work.

Time for a walk now. Wishing you a great weekend!

back...

I'm back! I had a great time. But now I'm swamped with work for a few days. I can't wait to go back to my normal routine of blog visiting and web surfing. See you very soon. Meantime, wishing you a great week!

Wonderful work by Jon Klassen.