Happy HALLOWEeeEEeeeeeEeeN!

My handsome man Chuck, immortalized in Gourd.

Snaggle-tooth included! Happy Halloween to all you spooks!

La Bonne Cuisine: Exploring Taste and Sound

While flipping through the latest issue of The Grid I came across a very unusual concert listing. Presented by the Amici Chamber Ensemble, La Bonne Cuisine explored the connections between sound and taste. Alexandra Feswick of Toronto restaurant Brockton General created a series of apps inspired by selected music in the programme. Hosted by award-winning food critic James Chatto, this seemed like a pretty entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the foyer of the Glenn Gould Studio was the glaring lack of people my own age. Where were all the twenty-somethinings at 3pm on a Sunday? Knowing my kind, they were probably still in bed and terribly inebriated from the night before. 

As you might expect, James Chatto was a fantastic host. Often chuckling at his own jokes,  he stepped in to describe the parallels between each food item and the melody that inspired it. First was Poulenc's L'Invitation au Chateau,  paired with a rich purple, gelatinous bite called "Jelly in Disguise". Flavoured deeply with the essence of earthy beets, Chatto reminded the audience how "Appearances can be deceiving..."

Full disclosure: Unable to tell my Mozart from my Bach, I know absolutely nothing about classical music. The extent of my knowledge stems from a single viewing of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus sometime in middle school. In fact, I just Googled the proper spelling of Bach. 

Regardless, I still enjoy going to concerts of all varieties even though I'm totally oblivious to any historical references. On the most basic of levels, I just like the way the music makes me feel. 

And there's something very special about drawing musicians as they play. 

A great musician uses their whole body to transfer energy through the instrument, as do the best dancers and painters. It's fascinating to watch and a privilege to sketch.

After five pieces of music there was an extra-long intermission for the audience to taste some of Alexandra Feswick's creations. This is what I was most exited for! Unfortunately the civilized crowd morphed into a mob, hovering aggressively around the entrance to the makeshift kitchen at the sight of free food. This made it nearly impossible to try some. An insightful man beside me stated to his wife, "It reminds me of sea gulls... waiting... just peck, peck, peck..."

As chimes signaled the end of intermission I witnessed one woman chase a poor server girl back into the kitchen because she still had a few skewered chicken hearts remaining on her serving tray. It was amusing, to say the least. 

Back to reality, I found that my neighbour had traded seats with her husband. When you draw a lot in public you start to notice how some people clearly don't enjoy your company. I try not take things like that personally, but sometimes it stings.

Then her husband leaned in to me and whispered with a smile, "So, how's the sketching coming along?" And in that moment of dejection it only took the few kind words of a stranger to set me straight.

The second act introduced a soprano who I found endlessly amusing. I loved her long sparkly dress and old fashioned hairdo. Lots of flash and personality to draw.

Then there was this fellow on the clarinet. After a few false starts I finally got his pose down.

See how wonderful she is? A very soulful singer. 

James Chatto asked the audience to think back to the skewered chicken hearts and conjure their flavour in our memories as we enjoyed Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock.

All in all, I really enjoyed the afternoon. The music was top notch. It was marvellous to hear James Chatto describe Chef Feswick's food, even though I didn't get to try it all. Looks like I'll just have to make another trip to Brockton General for dinner!

La Bonne Cuisine: Exploring Taste and Sound

The Amici Chamber Ensemble

At the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto

How Not to be a Starving Artist

Last night I attended a lecture by Chef Jamie Kennedy called How Not to be a Starving Artist at the AGO's Weston Family Learning Centre. The event was conceived by Paul Butler, the centre's inaugural Artist-in-Residence, who has crafted a wicked program of classes that he feels should have been taught in art school but weren't. And unlike art school, this Post-Post Graduate Studies program is absolutely free! These lectures and activities cover a range of topics from discussions on healthy living, a vinyl listening party and early-morning yoga in the Henry Moore sculpture gallery.

Since I was already at the AGO for other business, I thought I'd stick around for a bit until the class started at (what I thought) was 5:30pm. Then I quickly realized that I'm a giant dork who wrote the time wrong (because I need glasses and apparently can't read emails) and had to wait it out till 7:00pm. However, the AGO is not exactly the worst place to be stuck for a few hours. That's what sketchbooks are for!

I staked out a spot at the AGO Cafe downstairs and grabbed the most delicious curried lentil soup for supper. The crowd was mostly employees and volunteers grabbing a bite before heading home, but after 6pm it started to fill up with guests taking advantage of the free admission on Wednesday evenings.

I finished up with a cup of jasmine tea and headed down the hall to the seminar room.

To secure a spot at any of these talks you have to register in advance with a limit of 20 people per lecture. Which is nice because you can really get involved in the conversation.

Since the topic was How Not to be a Starving Artist there were a lot of people from various arts disciplines who wanted to know how to create great meals on a budget. And nobody knows that better than a Chef. 

Jamie Kennedy discussed the importance of shopping at farmers markets and disproved the notion that they are more expensive than supermarkets. Sure, if you're shopping for truffled honey or bison sausage that's going to be pricey, but you can buy a basket of beets and pickle a winter's supply for less than 20 bucks. Throw it in the oven with some potatoes and Niagara Gold cheese and you're good to go. It just takes a little work and some planning, but the results are astronomically better and way more delicious than a salty bowl of Hamburger Helper. Oh, and way cheaper too!

Then he moved on to the subject of creating your own soups, one of the most basic skills in a Starving Artist's repertoire. Jamie distributed a great handout of recipes which included a simple chicken stock. Gone are the days of crappy Campbell's broth! The homemade stuff is exceptionally tasty and way less work than you think. At the farmers market a few pounds of bones can be purchased for a dollar and will do you for 6 cups! Just simmer with it some thyme, carrots, onion and celery to fill your house with the intoxicating scent of your first homemade soup. Do like your Bubba did during The Great Depression. Fabulous things in life can be had for cheap. There's no need to starve on an artist's budget!

 Paul Butler's Post-Post Graduate Studies program at the AGO

Seminars and Workshops for the Artistically Inclined

Runs from now until the end of November

"Drawing: For the Artistically Undiscovered"

While in Ottawa for the Animation Festival I stumbled upon the most amazing book in the gift shop of the National Gallery. Tucked away on a table in the children's section it immediately grabbed my eye and brought a smile to my face with its charming cover of a strange spotted monster. As I flipped through the pages I quickly realized that Drawing: For the Artistically Undiscovered is a book about opening your mind to creative possibilities and squashing the voice of judgement. It's a rock solid guide to experimentation and abstract thinking that reawakens your innermost child. 

The very first lesson teaches you to own your work. Instead of worrying what others think, draw how you want to draw. Everyone can do it. Remember in pre-school when that kid you hated compared your awesome dinosaur drawing to a stinky rat? Was that the moment where you began to feel self-concious about drawing and ultimately gave up? Well, screw 'em! It's your imagination and in it dinosaurs can look however ratlike you choose. At 15, 25, 38, 79 or 135 years old, this book gives you permission to draw as you please. Everyone has that ability.

There are pages on loosening up your line work while resisting the urge to be precious about your drawings. Along with the book they've provided a nice fluid pen and two watercolour pencils of very good quality. The thinking goes that everyone should work with great materials regardless of their skill level because we all have something of value to say.

I've been working away on this book on and off for the past few weeks. At 104 pages it's an art class in itself. Having seen many art books over the years I must say that this is by far my favourite. Instead of sitting politely on your bookshelf completely unscathed, Drawing: For the Artistically Undiscovered begs to be used and loved in the messiest of ways. 

Drawing: For the Artistically Undiscovered

By Quentin Blake and John Cassidy

Selections from "Tabitha Dates Drawing"

This past January I had an art show of drawings from my sketchbook called "Tabitha Dates Drawing: An Exhibition of Sketchbook Love". The idea was to draw alone in places that someone might traditionally bring a date, but instead find companionship with my pen. For those who couldn't make it I'll give you a taste of what it looked like.

In this post I'll group together all of the food-related drawings. I love food, in case you didn't notice! Another time I'll post the remainder of the work. Here I've featured Dark Horse Espresso Bar and The Black Hoof in Toronto and Spring Restaurant in Paris.

Please enjoy!

Cafe Mocha

Business Meeting

Muffin Or Scone?

Facebook Stalking

The Creative Class

Hoof Cafe Brunch #1

Hoof Cafe Brunch #2

The Cooks

Late Night Indulgence

Service

Self Portrait at The Black Hoof

First-Timer's Horse Tartare

The Perfect Pour

She Makes a Mean Cocktail

Paris: Lunch Rush

Paris: Tear Down

Paris: Chef Daniel Rose

If you're interested, let me know if you'd like to give one of these prints a good home!

Waiting Rooms Are Boring

Recently I was in the waiting room of a doctor's office, and we all know how boring that can be. So instead of browsing the magazine rack for back-issues of Macleans, I decided to draw other people being bored. I bet they loved that!

Since this was a hearing clinic, there were a lot of older folks waiting around to get their ears checked.

I was the only patient there under fifty.

Except for this girl, who had escorted her father to the clinic for his appointment.

Waiting rooms are a fairly quiet so it's a great place to draw people sitting in the same position for hours on end.

Or sleeping. If you're into that sort of thing.

This lady was staring vacantly at the television playing CP24 directly above my head.

And this lady played Angry Birds on her cellphone for the whole time I was there.

Older lady reads...

... and then abandons her book to watch some TV.

Another woman reading.

Though a waiting room can be mind-numbingly boring it still has a wealth of tiny stories to tell. Tiny, boring, beautiful stories. The stories that fill in the gaps between those memorable moments in life. Waiting rooms are boring... for everyone but me!