our six

In 2019 I was asked to participate in Spreadshow called “Our Six,” a local design show in Saskatoon. “We are all Treaty People” is a refrain for those inside Canadian Treaty boundaries. Participants were asked to design a logo to explore and visually portray the aspects of living within Treaty 6 territory and show the process work next to the final artwork as a visual juxtaposition.

This project was done on a volunteer/community basis and was delayed and then cancelled due to COVID-19.

Even though this project never saw the light of day, I still enjoyed the process [which was done over a period of a few months after observing Indigenous People in my life and their culture]. So, I suppose some good came out of it regardless.

initial sketches:

a sneak preview of the final design:

digital concepts and sketches:

a few points to the process to explain the visuals:

• I wanted to keep it simple and play with typography and three consecutive concepts emerged from the early sketches.

  • the first was the misshapen six, the scrambled letters, or the letters with the line through them. this told the story of lostness.

  • the second idea was based on the quote by Dr. Gregory Cajete. in trying to illustrate the quote, some circles and half circles emerged.

  • the third idea was based on the definition of reconciliation (the restoration of friendly relations). using some of the shapes from the second idea, i started to mess with shapes and letterforms and discovered that the U and I seemed to work together as a bridge to join the other letters together, which brought me to my final concept/design.

now that we’re old, stories will be told

18x24in, collage

when my friend asked me near the end of last year if anyone wanted a giant scrapbook she made from our hanson tour week in 2007, I immediately called dibs.

[it sounded like an art project waiting to happen]

so i took one scrapbook and curated it down into another type of collage by finding the best parts——the parts that worked to tell a more relatable music fan story——and put it into a framed art collage.

the purpose of this one is centred around the fan experience: the friendships, the jokes, the travel, the massive bank of stories we collect, and, above all, the connection we have to music that extends so much beyond the music itself.

the story behind the art: fire inside

version 01, 02, and 03; version 03 is part of this collection

“fire inside”

mixed media on canvas
11x14 inches

—

version one

in the summer of 2024, i made this painting one day just for me. i didn’t spend a lot of time on it and i didn’t have a plan. i just started painting, adding one part at a time and a felt like i was led by a fire inside.

it felt a bit personal, so i held onto it and named it “fire inside.”

version two

in december 2024, i met this song, broken bow by john calvin abney. the whole song jumped at me but specifically this part:

“never seen a fire, like the one inside her; even when she’s tired she could melt sierra snow
and make the golden rod grow”

the song kinda felt like music to go with that painting above, so [impulsively] i bought handwritten lyrics of the song from the artist figuring i’d find something creative to do with it all.

a month or so later, i put the lyrics in a frame juxtaposed next to the canvas. moving without much a plan [like the first version], i updated the original painting a bit and fixed some parts i didn’t love. i didn’t know what i was going to do but i knew i wanted this version to feel even more bold.

version three (the final version)

in april 2025, i had just bought this small (about 11x14 in) wood frame from a thrift store and wasn’t sure what to do with it, but it felt like a good piece for a collage.

version two suddenly had less meaning than it did when i first made it——so i took it all apart, found a new frame for the precious handwritten lyrics on their own, and started recklessly [intentionally] cutting up the canvas art just enough so that it fit onto this wood frame.

i wanted it to look like a bit of a rough mess;
that’s what the fire inside looks like.

i glued all the canvas pieces down and then added random miscellaneous stuff [paint, oil pastel, ‘zine cut outs, construction paper cut outs, etc] to the canvas in a similar way as i did for the previous two versions——led by the fire inside. i just kept adding until i felt like it could tell a whole story without me saying anything.

This piece was sold in aug. 2025. I genuinely wasn’t expecting this piece to sell because it’s a bit wild but perhaps the fire inside knows best.

“i’ll let you be in my dreams if i can be in yours”

a mini story i wrote about how we, as humans, connect. i think so often everyone just kinda wanders around in their own world, thinking about themselves, and appears in their dreams alone. we’re all just kinda on our own little islands and it feels like we are getting more and more disconnected as technology allows it.

around the same time, i was listening to the bob dylan song “talkin WWIII blues” which came about around the time of the civil war. of course i then read the lyrics:

“i’ll let you be in my dreams
if i can be in yours”

i thought about how timely it all was with the global state of 2025 and then thought about how the story i wrote kinda touched on the same idea [everyone just wandering around by themselves but bob dylan sayin’ he didn’t want do that]. so i made this small wooden framed box out of an ink transfer of bob dylan and acrylic paint as a little reminder that i’m not here alone and connection is the entire purpose.

first three months of an “awful quiet” winter on film / 2025

some favourites from one roll taken with a Pentax k1000

i love when i take three months to finish a film and when i get the photos developed i see photos i forgot i took :]

are you creating or are you just following instructions?

as i’m pet sitting right now at a friend’s house, i saw this spiral bowl i made once in a hand building pottery class a few years ago. it was my first hand building project i ever built and was a bit of a ~journey (anxiety, stress, and, of course, some tears… you know, the usual creative process) and the result is imperfect in all its glory.

i gifted it after that class to a friend who appreciates it more than i ever could. when i see it, i’m reminded of a process i didn’t like: sure my hands built it but the project was not my idea, i merely followed steps laid before me.

since i’ve been experimenting with hand built ceramics more this year on my own with air dry clay, i got to reminiscing a bit and then wrote this essay in relation to all of this.

i think when it comes to ‘creating’ anything, the key is to actually… have the idea. you can get ~inspiration from somewhere but the specific idea to make it your own and the process you go through to build it must be your own. following instructions may be a good way to learn but if you stick to the ‘steps’ and rules too closely you’re not actually being creative.

two hands

“symbol of life” (2025)

for my birthday this year, a few friends and i went to wet paint pottery for a chill, creative night and i picked out this hand vase to paint.

i decided to paint this hand to look like my own hand and wrist [ocean wave tattoo and all] as a “symbol of life” to celebrate another year of being alive. i don’t typically wear red nail polish but i do wear the colour red a fair bit so i thought it was appropriate.

“activist” (2024)

i found this ceramic hand in a thrift store for a few dollars. it was definitely in rough shape and not a very nice colour——but the fist drew me in as some kind of symbol of activism and i immediately knew i wanted to upcycle it.

so i gave it a fresh paint job to look like the inclusive pride flag with the black base, brown stripes, and finished it off with a lot of dots in the pride and trans flag colours.

today and tomorrow, music saves

18x24in
mixed media/collage

years of concert tickets, autographed cd jackets, a few festival cruise ship key cards, and memories that will never fade packaged up neatly into some form of art

once the background was good, i drew, cut out, and painted some words [and yes, in hindsight, i wish i painted first].

“today and tomorrow music saves” is a quote i had on a random tshirt years ago that i always liked. i don’t have that shirt anymore——so this was a way to let it live on.

southern california film / nov 2024

taken with a Pentax k1000

——

i landed in san diego around noon and found myself solo wandering around ocean beach for the afternoon til sunset. there’s an unexplainable feeling i get on days like this——like standing underneath or on top of the pier and watching the waves relentlessly come as surfers try to catch them. if they miss the wave, sure enough they try for the next, or the next. this is kinda like life, isn’t it?

there’s something about being alone in a new place that makes you pay attention to the smallest things.

——

remote work life feat. a view from my san diego airbnb desk

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a day at the zoo

——

after checking out of my airbnb, i had a couple hours to spare before my train to los angeles. of course i wanted to go to the beach but since i had all my stuff with me, i decided the scenic lookout point at sunset cliffs would suffice.

——

the train

(taken somewhere between san diego and los angeles)

a few film snaps from late summer / 2024

taken with a Pentax k1000