Toronto City Hall

I was trying to sketch this iconic building from a different angle. I chose a kids battered hockey skates as my focal point.

Mercury Cafe

A Leslieville favorite, I first visited this cafe after it had moved a couple of blocks and it didn’t have a sign up. I remember that they told me that this sign was “temporary”. It was more than 10 years ago.

My workspace

Watercolour, microliner and pencil crayon sketch of my art workspace and office.  My worktable is a stainless steel table top placed on mismatched file cabinets.  I warped the perspective to show my trusty 1893 treadle sewing machine, very useful for mixed media art.  The space doubles as a workspace for my web design/communications business. 

Sketching a hibiscus

I did this drawing as a part of a Domestika course led by Lapin in Barcelona. He had turned his usual interest in urban sketching to botanicals during the pandemic lockdown.

Allan Gardens

This greenhouse is in a park a few blocks from my home in Toronto. It opened for a few weeks to the public and then Omicron closed it down again. I had sketched a few of the plants in December, but it wasn’t open on this day in January.

Break the Cycle

I wanted to convey a habit I have of closing down and tuning out when I feel over-whelmed or depressed. Sometimes that’s warranted but usually it is better to open oneself up to absorb new energy–from the sun, from others, from new ideas or helpful advice. So the open flower is the new habit and the closed flower is what I mostly do now.

Just green

Another monochrome exploration. This time with a colour I don’t usually use, bright green.

Mojo Thief

I drew myself in the box. This year I find my main mojo thief is the formation of a mental construct of “my style”. I’m really not entirely sure I have one but I’m beginning to form an impression of what other people see as my style and the “not my style” messages are starting to box me in from trying things outside of those parameters.
It’s a balance to both hone some promising techniques rather than giving in to total chaos but also keeping it fresh through being open to new ideas, materials and techniques. When it tips too much towards “not my style” I feel in a box.
It’s interesting that this struggle echoes one I had earlier in life when a construct of “the real me” led me to feel confused and guilty when I acted in ways that I viewed as “out of character”. Since my “real me” was a very lofty best of myself I spent a lot of time feeling like a failure. Hopefully the lessons learned then about all of us being a gestalt of selves can be applied to art journalling and I can avoid this trap laid out by my mojo thief.