A few years back I designed and illustrated a colouring book for the National Ballet of Canada. It was something to keep the kids performing in The Nutcracker busy with backstage, while they were waiting to perform.
Grant Heaps, who works in the wardrobe department took one of the drawings and made a quilt with it. Watch and listen to Grant talk about his work at the ballet here.
The Nutcracker starts this Thursday at the Four Seasons Centre.
The first time I found one of these I thought it was Betty Boop’s dog Bimbo, but then I found out Bimbo is a cat and that her little pup’s name is Pudgy. So then I thought this guy was Pudgy. But I was still wrong!
These are in fact, incarnations of Bonzo, a character created by illustrator George Studdy – first conceived around 1911 and later published in the early 1920s. Bonzo was a household name by time Betty Boop arrived in 1930. You can read about George Studdy and his career here.
Bonzo went on to star in a series of animated films himself, the first being A Sausage Snatching Sensation. The premiere was attended by the King and Queen of England.
Vast quantities of Bonzo memorabilia was produced and continues to be produced to this day. I found myself drawn to these pups in particular as they somewhat resemble my own dog Fancy.
This is my best gal, Fancy Pants Polanski
This souvenir has something extra special…
Personalized. I love this kind of stuff!
Fairground midway games offered carnival chalkware as prizes during the early part of the 20th century. They were often produced by the carnies themselves and crudely decorated with paint and glitter.
Did Bonzo inspire Gustaf Tenggren when he illustrated The Pokey Little Puppy? Published in 1942:
Tenggren is one of my favorite illustrators
Raspberry!
This little guy was made using a metal mould I found at an antique sale. I spray painted this one white and added glass eyes I procured from a taxidermist.
I sold these little guys as bookends at The Toronto Small Press Book Fair for a few years. This one I painted with chalkboard paint.
This is a porcelain replica of an original Bonzo dog that I made with Alexx Boisjoli at RCBoisjoli studio.
Our little collective, Chevaux de Bois launched these little porcelain dogs at The Gladstone Hotel’s Come Up To My Room event a couple of years ago.
We installed a fairground sideshow and operated a game called “Nutzo!” We gave away dozens of these guys in addition to other porcelain sculptures, all based on the “freak-show” posters I created.
There’s Bonzo influence in my illustration:
Prizes included our pup “Popcorn”– and Ontario grown peanuts also cast in porcelain
You can order a print of the Peanuts and Popcorn poster here. They were named after these two:
On the left, Peanuts and Popcorn, at the Pet’s Rest Cemetery in Colma, California
Bonzo in action:
I saw it 3 times last summer in Toronto at Theatre Passe Muraille!
Featuring all-original music by Matthew Barber, this season’s production launches the soundtrack on both vinyl and CD. The album includes twelve songs from the play and has guest appearances by Doug Paisley, Justin Rutledge, Oh Susanna, Julie Fader and of course, Matthew Barber (and others!). The album will be exclusively available at the theatre during the run of the show and will have a wider release in June.
The hatch-show style poster for the original theatrical production & Derek McCormack’s book
Matthew asked me to design the cover for him — such an honour!
I wanted to keep the same character I used on the original book cover and poster – the skeleton in a cowboy hat, playing guitar. I found this old photo at a flea market and altered the person’s face to resemble a skull.
Found photo and collage
This doesn’t have the impact I was looking for. Dropping the photo and
updating the illustration I came up with something more effective:
Introducing characters from the story: the lonesome cowboy, and the vampire bat
Something closer to the original poster could work. I used a
typeface that is easier to read at smaller sizes, but the type and the
cowboy are competing for attention — more revisions!
Thinking of bats, some snapshots I took at the South
End Cemetery in East Hampton came to mind:
Nathan Baker, who died by the fall of a tree, South End Cemetery, East Hampton
I’ve always liked those little angels on tombstones. They remind me of bats.
Changing one angel wing to a bat wing and adding cowboy hats,
I came up with this new design:
One of 26 variations – my second favourite, with a leather and denim texture
I wanted to keep the new cowboy so used him elsewhere:
The lonesome cowboy appears in the liner notes
I really liked the leather and denim colours on the design, but we
decided something warmer and more colourful would
be better. It’s more musical, more sideshow, more carnival.
The final design:
Matthew Barber's new 12-inch vinyl
In Montréal? Order tickets for the play here.
Matthew Barber’s webpage.
Derek McCormack’s reading list.
Many of you may already know, my dear friend and collaborator Derek McCormack will be undergoing radical surgery in just a few days, to eradicate and irradiate an extremely rare form of cancer. This 18-hour procedure will hopefully put the cancer in remission for a very long time. Once he gets out of hospital, Derek will require a minimum of six months of recovery time at home and there are possible complications that will prolong his recovery. Derek is a writer and doesn’t have very much money and he will not be able to work at the bookstore during his lengthy convalescence. To assist Derek, friends have organized a fundraising evening of music and performance at the Garrison. I’ve made this poster to help spread the word:
Please copy and forward this poster and invite your friends. You can also download a high-resolution PDF for printing here.
This man is the source of inspiration for much of what I do, there are no words that can express how deeply indebted I am to him for our friendship.
Anyone wishing to help can also donate money or buy some art at artforderek, another benefit for Derek, organized and curated by Micah Lexier. You can buy art and help Derek at the same time!
Up-to-date information on Facebook.
H.A.M.S. is a correspondence art school Derek McCormack and I have been running for the past three years. We send lessons about Hallowe’en to people in the mail. In return they complete Hallowe’en themed craft assignments. This installation was the first physical manifestation of the project. Here is a sixty-second slideshow from our Art Toronto open house (photos by Alexx Boisjoli):
Take a tour of H.A.M.S.
Thank-you to everyone who came out to see our project. Special thanks from Derek and myself to Alexx Boisjoli, Grant Heaps, Melissa McCormack, Naomi Aiko, Philip Monk, Michael Maranda, and Jacob Korczynski, for all your assistance at the fair.
Come get your replica bone china Jack-o-lantern clock by Alexx Boisjoli. Limited editon of 13
The Art Gallery of York University is a university-affiliated public non-profit contemporary art gallery supported by York University, The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and our membership.
H.A.M.S. original display at Fly Gallery
The flower resembles a megaphone: the thunder of a volcano, the sound of the band
My friends Elissa and Homero recently asked me to design a logo and CD cover for their band, Los Estéticos.
Homero sent me a bunch of pictures of Pico de Orizaba, a dormant volcano, and the highest peak in all of Mexico. They suggested that an image of the mountain would represent their sound and their region, Xalapa, Veracruz.
The photos reminded me of the Shochiku film company logo that you see at the beginning of Ozu Yasujiro movies… I thought of Sound of The Mountain (one of Ozu’s more famous films)….
Elissa is a film historian (she wrote the book on Women Filmmakers of Mexico) and I wondered if she might like the logo positioned to further resemble the Shochiku logo.
The composition needed one more element. Elissa’s daughter’s name means “Rain of Flowers” so I thought I would add a flower from the region. I found one referred to by the name of the mountain… I placed it in the same position as the yellow crest in the Shochiku logo.
After much consensus between the musicians, a simpler version of the design was chosen:
This looks more like an album cover, no? Revolution red!
And a screaming mountain! Now they just need to finish recording!
The Holiday Arts Mail-Order School (H.A.M.S.), operated by Derek McCormack and myself, will be making an appearance at this years Toronto International Art Fair. Commissioned by Philip Monk and The Art Gallery at York University (AGYU), H.A.M.S. is a correspondence art course for the 1936-37 school year, and is devoted specifically to the holiday arts.
Bone china replica Westclox Jack o’ Lantern clock by Alexx Boisjoli, limited edition of 13!
It’s open house at our haunted schoolhouse. On display will be the very best of student projects and a souvenir stand filled with burnt offerings, including the functional glow-in-the-dark bone china clock hand-crafted by H.A.M.S. alumni member Alexx Boisjoli. Draperies provided by Miss Candy Cackle of the Ladies Institute! Mark your calendar!
at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Opening night preview on the 27th
Tickets + more info here
Watch Sally Fatarms read Elissa Joy’s Tightrope (07:38)
A few remaining copies of Niagara File are available for purchase here.
Niagara File, a new title from pas de chance
This is a feather I illustrated for an rcboisjoli ceramic bottle. Alexx takes the artwork and silk screens ceramic decals and transfers them to the glazed surface before one last firing in the kiln. These and other new bottles will be available Saturday at the Bloorcourt Arts & Crafts Streetfair.
Are you an illustrator? Would you like to see your work on ceramics? rcboisjoli’s The Bottled Project aims to advance the image of Canadian design and ceramic production as well as provide graphic artists, through collaboration, an opportunity to work in a new medium.
If you are interested, check out the full design brief here. The first five in the series will soon head into production so if you are interested, act fast. I am particularly looking forward to seeing what Nolan Pelletier comes up with.
