And now for my silliest idea ever

March 21, 2011

The people at the other ends of some of these legs (who were sadly too close for safe portrait drawing) held an interesting conversation about life before and after his accident. The way they were talking, it sounded like they struck up a conversation as strangers. Maybe she got out of the priority seating for him, and that's how it started.  

And that's when it hit me. I've been thinking about approaching a magazine or a publisher or a gallery about my pictures. (OC Transpo never called back, sadly, although maybe it's too soon to give up.) I thought about basing the text part on my "Why you should draw on the bus" pages, but this morning I got a better idea. Everyone assumes that a bus ride is a terrible ordeal, right?A real sampling of the rat race -- a transit maze, with no swiss cheese!

But I don't think so. I see the most endearing things all the time.

So, what about a list book? (My husband --via Seanbaby -- scorns them. I'm going to get such a piss-taking if he reads this.) Like, "Fifty happy rush hour moments"? Insipid title, I know, but I can work on it! I could introduce it, and then match one drawing with each item. Let's get started:


1. I got trapped behind a giant snow bank running to catch the bus. A pregnant stranger stopped, risking missing it herself, and held her arm up to help me over.

2. This story about a great listener.

3. Hot tip: Old men always offer their seats to women. They're too gallant to accept help themselves. So if you're sitting and you want to offer an old man a seat, don't say anything, just stand up and take off.

4. Need a good wish today? Try this: Say, "Thanks, have a nice day" when you get off a bus. Chances are the driver's heard this a thousand times. But they still always say, "You, too."

 What do you think? Am I nuts? Looking it over it looks sort of horrible. But it's all in the tone, right. Ugh. This is harder than I thought. Reminds me of writing short stories. The self-doubt is ridiculous. 

Oh well. Happy spring!

The world is not yet done!

Summer 2005

"Each new piece of your art enlarges our reality. The world is not yet done."  Home sick, I'm rereading bits from Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

There are many of us, and does that mean there's too much noise, or that there are more eyes to see?

For anyone who likes to snoop around  an artist's studio, the process images on Nimit Malavia's website scratch your itch. He's an Ottawa illustrator who is deeply involved in the comic scene. And the colour red has fallen all over in love with his inky lines.

This favourite of mine I painted at a life drawing open studio in Collingwood, Ontario. I taught part-time English and Math in a tiny school, painted at lunch and nights, and Photoshop re-touched for a graphic design studio the rest of the time. Bliss.

Sadly, my scanner of six or seven years, a Lexmark all-in-one, is faltering. Now begins the disloyal and exciting process of replacement! Any suggestions?

Where do you get the nerve?

I called OC Transpo. I want to show my pictures on the busses themselves. Like Poetry on the bus, remember that? I loved it. Maybe we could find other artists to do it, too, and have a huge suite of pictures and photos of commuters, drivers, the transitway at night. Plus, OC Transpo's advertising seems lower this year. Some busses are empty of ads altogether, so there's some space to work with.

I could work some pictures up into full-colour paintings and display them in OC Transpo kiosks. Maybe they even have a display area for OC Transpo history? Showing the pictures to drivers and other OC Transpo employees would blow me away. Or, maybe they're sick of looking at commuters?! I can see the OC Transpo rep handing me my pictures back with stains, Scotch tape pasted across the rips. "It's not you, Lia," all apologetic. "It's us. You'll find love with a different bus company. Really. Keep drawing!"  

I bet there's an art space out there that would get a kick out of showing them. Even (tiny thrill), Wall Space -- my favourite gallery ever.



Or maybe I am getting ahead of myself. Maybe my real self is a little grey shadow trailing along behind the part of me that charges ahead into professional artdom, taking the things I think about people and work and saying them out loud.

Do you remember when you were fresh out of school, full of ideas and purpose?
Me, too.

OPTIMISM

Blank book, by Bruce Mao

In December, I finished my first book of pictures drawn during my long commutes. Now I'm drawing in a red Moleskine blank book. The buttery pages make anything look good, though I miss my first book. Bruce Mau designed it, and the dull gray cover has "OPTIMISM" in white across the front and excerpts from Manifesto throughout. "OPTIMISM" was a little everyday lift that I loved.