Filed under: unicorns | 2 Comments »
Atmospheric Cup
This is one of many “atmospheric cups” that I have been working on as of late.
An important aspect of artmaking for me are process marks. In making functional vessels, I want the user to see the hands of the maker at work with the clay. I try to reflect the soft material that fired ware was once made from – clay is a moldable material, good for smearing and forming. In the work that I have been recently doing, I have been keeping the marks of process and hands on the piece, using them to enhance the aesthetic and the value of the vessel.
This cup was handbuilt using a press-mold and was then trimmed on the wheel. It was decorated with slip and underglazes, then had images defined using sgraffito techniques. It was bisque fired, covered in a glaze coat and then fired again.
The clay used is a terracotta red earthenware to cone 04.
Filed under: ceramics | 3 Comments »
Portrait of Jello Biafra (Eric Boucher)
This is a pencil drawing of legendary (at least to me) former front man for the punk band the Dead Kennedys. Done in pencil.
Filed under: unicorns | 4 Comments »
Portrait of Nick Blinko
If you do not know who Nick Blinko is then you have unfortunately not been subject to his mad ramblings, intricate dark art and his distortion of music from his band Rudimentary Peni. I highly suggest looking into his things. As an introduction to his music seek out the death church ep and any googled art work is a great start. This drawing is pencil which encompasses the style of a lot of my art work. 
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Chapter One—Drones (First Post)
Hello. I’m new to art time via Tom Nagy. I have come to share the beginning of a novel I am working on. I haven’t written in quite a long time due to extraneous circumstances. It is still in its rough stage clearly, but I am enjoying the process. Here it is.
Chapter One:
When I see myself, it is as a small being. A small being destined for destruction at the hands of the almighty one, the one of utmost importance, it is the one that will dictate my place in life. I am a bee. I am a drone to this one. It is doom, a monotonous task to be so small and insignificant to have your importance relegated to the side as that one and only claims you. For a bee this pillar of power is the queen, for people like protesters it is the government. Who is to say if bees are content with this position of lowly servitude? We know through news barrages and pointless internet groupings that people are not content with this position. We know from the dejected faces of the crowds as they move along the streets that they are not content. They hate it, they refuse it, they wish to shake the roles; the cages that have been placed around them.
Yes, when I see myself, I see a bee. Doomed to the worship of one, but it isn’t one, it has never been that way. That’s the difference between us and bees, we see many points of worship in everyday life, and these points do not even have to be living. It can be money or wires…But for me, it has always been people. I have been doomed to be a slave to others, the important ones. Finding myself flittering back and forth to meet the needs of the people I cross, for the benefit of them, always for them. Like the drone and the queen bee. The difference between me, the protesters, and all other refusing beings is that I open my mind and arms and shout, “Come do what you may, scar my body and mind and let me smile in knowing I was in your thoughts for that brief instance!”
Yes, when I see myself, I see a bee.
Filed under: unicorns | 2 Comments »
Dead Trees
Throughout my time at Fleming college, I have contributed several articles to an independent magazine distributed at the campus. All of the articles are written by students for students. Ontop of contributed botanically inquisitive articles and poetry, I decided to leave a lasting impression on the very last issue to be published by designing a new logo for the cover.
Below is a link to the article that I wrote in the magazine. Since this is art-time and not story-time, I will leave it at your discretion if you would enjoy reading it. It is entitled Outside the Hops and explores the hops plant and it’s relationship with people, examining it’s significance as a medicinal herb, it’s taxonomy and it’s importance within the history of brewing. Page 1 Page 2
Filed under: botanical, sketches | 6 Comments »
The Horse
This is a oil pastel drawing of a horse.
It is THE HORSE.
Filed under: Chalk / Oil Pastel | 3 Comments »
Friday, March 30th
I haven’t written anything in a while, except this strange collection, in response to a rather unsual and remarkably significant evening.
“Excuse me, but you ruined my outfit. Please get a room, I was laughing so hard I spilled beer all over my pants.”
Disposable plastic cups
Disposable encouters
Disposeable impressions
Disposable chances
Disposable lovers
Disposable culture
Dispose of each-other?
Although the evening took me over, despite the chemistry within my blood, don’t forget what I told you. Because for a night you took me over, and I mean everything that I said.
Filed under: broken hearts, fixed hearts | 3 Comments »
Dude
I haven’t got around to giving this one an actual title but for the past 4 months have been affectionately calling him my “Big Dude.” 
Big Dude is a replication of a Teotihuacan Censer from Mexico – I made him for a historical assignment at school. He took me 7 weeks to make including building all the sprigs and casting them in plaster in order to make the process authentic.
He was completely hand built from a clay recipe that I fortified and mixed myself. Once he was put together he was sprayed with a rutile wash and painted with a variety of other oxides for colour variation.
He was fired at Cone 1 in a reduction atmosphere with wood added to the kiln during high temperatures for flashing. Afterwards he was sandblasted to make him look worn and aged.
He stands just under 3 feet tall.
Filed under: unicorns | 5 Comments »
ziggy’s world
hey guys
some friends of mine have started a webcomic we call ziggy’s world
it has swear words and dirty drawings of a copyrighted character
i have done several guest comics
many more by myself and others can be found at http://ziggycomics.blogspot.ca/
i’ve got some art time exclusive content in production as we speak as well
<3
Garbage Juice
Filed under: unicorns | 2 Comments »
Cup of tea
This is a cup of tea that I had in Vancouver, and it looked so pretty that I took a photo of it, and I did a pen and ink drawing of it for a school Assignment.
Filed under: unicorns | 3 Comments »
The Art Wall
This is the art wall. It has some art on it. Some, but not all, of the art includes:
-A large cedar carving entitled “Mother Church” (Oscar)
-A pastel drawing of the Tin Man smushing a blue squid on Tom Nagy’s face (Tom Nagy)
-A very life-like felt penis (Jesse Black)
with a penguin hanging off of it (An)
-A large fish eating a smaller fish who is eating a smaller fish who is eating a smaller fish (Seneca)
-A litte blue felted face, possibly wearing a wrestling mask (Ioni)
Filed under: real live art | 3 Comments »
Soft Shoulders – Heavy Sleep
So this is my first attempt at making music without a band. I’m calling the project Soft Shoulders, and this is a song I’ve been working on for the last little while. My obsessive compulsiveness has prevented me from posting it numerous times in the past, to adjust some levels or re-record certain parts. I think this is as good as it’s going to get.
Try to think of this not so much as a song, but as a soundscape. It’s basically just a bunch of simple guitar riffs layered on top of each other with a few simple effects added (some from pedals, some from Garageband) and it creates a kind of heavy, droning wall of sound (hence the title). Also, for those familiar, I’m sure you will be able to note the influences.
Clink below to be redirected to MediaFire where you can download the song. Steaming is for jerks. Sorry in advance for the ads, and please listen to it reasonably loud with headphones or a good stereo for maximum enjoyment.
BTW, if I had a loop pedal, this song (or slight variation of) could be performed live with the aid of either a) an iPod with the percussion tracks looped or b) a percussionist.
Art supply list: Telecaster, Jazz bass, 14″ snare, 16″ floor tom, 20″ ride cymbal, tambourine
Filed under: music?, noise | 2 Comments »
Papa
A figure exploration of my dad during Sunday evening family time. He looks more Italian than he really is.
Filed under: ink | 4 Comments »
Timmay-Time-Collective
A Timmay-Time collaboration between Tom (Timmay), Rob (Jimmay) Emma (Kimmay), and me (Jesse Black). In no particular order. All but the first of these Timmays is done in soft-pastel which is very similar to charcoal but comes in a wide variety of colours. Can you match the Timmay to the Jimmay who made it?
Filed under: unicorns | 6 Comments »
Digitized
Inspired by the sudden flux of posts by all the lovely members of this fun-time-collective, I decided to start posting some art-icles that I have made throughout my academic career here in Lindsay (A location, not a person, that is just rude)
Attending an educational institution results in a remarkably strong increase in creative energy, at least for me, likely because I am pretty much over stimulated all the time and am forced hitherto produce art. Good thing for this good blog. Click for Hi-Res!
Questions for the viewers (answer in comments if desired)
1. What is happening to nature on the side of the art where digital man is holding his digital phone?
2. How is nature oriented? Is it positioned correctly, turned on it’s side or upside down?
3. Those stupid scrambly blackberry squares that now thoroughly saturate magazines are amazing for art. This is not a question, just a statement.
Filed under: cut-out, manipulated, photographs, real live art, sean gadoury-esque | 11 Comments »
A Child Again
Another portrait. This one was sketched in two types of charcoal on a gesso underlay and etched away with an eraser. The texture was scratched into the gesso before it dried. A childlike interpretation of an adult figure.
Click for high-res
Filed under: charcoal, gesso, sketches | 3 Comments »
Another change in direction
He staggered out of the water
like an unfinished thought,
his clumsy legs pushing against solid earth.
How the hell did we get here? He asked her.
She was too distracted with
the precarious placement of her scratched-up feet
to answer him. And besides,
She didn’t have the faintest idea.
Can you believe we only have two legs?
She giggled and gave him a sideways stare.
He knew exactly what she meant, however;
he had been in deep contemplation
of the intricacies of his hands,
admiring their architecture
and putting a piece of flint
through all sorts of dextrous gymnastics.
And thumbs, He said.
We were up by those trees a second ago;
now we’re down by the water!
In truth, their transition
had taken longer than they realized,
though they had been too occupied
to fully appreciate the gradual changes.
We’re gonna need clothes, she said.
They worked first with straw,
then with the furs of other creatures.
Primitive wraps, initially,
made without much thought,
soon became complex,
and much more ergonomic.
They keep you warm, he smiled.
Like fire! She had been eyeing
the piece of flint he’d been using
to strike sparks,
and, with it, set ablaze
a pile of straw and lichen
The couple rejoiced by the fire,
busy keeping it alight,
entranced by the rhythmic
crackle of the flames.
I like that! I like that sound!
She started to join into the rhythm,
occasionally breaking up the tapping with her song;
he responded with cautious delight.
Before long, she was making complex melodies
with her beautiful voice,
telling all of the stories she could remember.
The night diminished to a steady hum,
and she held him like a baby.
——————-
She closed the book, and realized he’d been sleeping,
Probably since the end of the last chapter.
She got up off the hammock,
lay down a blanket,
and kissed him on the head
Her feet felt clammy on the linoleum floor,
and the hum of the refrigerator made her dizzy.
What time is it? He asked, half-asleep,
Time for bed. She answered.
He paused, getting his senses in order,
How’d we get here?
She was too distracted with
the cups and dishes piled on the floor
to answer him. And besides,
she didn’t have the faintest idea.
-
Filed under: fixed hearts, verse | 3 Comments »

























