Canadian Wildlife Magazine

May 23rd, 2013 § 1,613 comments § permalink

My first editorial illustration is in the May/June issue of Canadian Wildlife Magazine! The article is called “What’s Up with with DFO?” and is written by Brian Banks.

The government is currently refocusing The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, worrying environmental and scientific communities as it closes programs and cuts important research, such as monitoring water temperature, pH and biodiversity, work that is rarely adopted by private sectors or universities. Instead, the government is prioritizing research that aids policy decisions and water and marine resources.

Even in high deer populations, wolves have been documented eating salmon during the run because they are convenient and a less dangerous prey. On the other hand, the bear is a keystone species as an ecosystem engineer and depend heavily on the salmon run. In the illustration, I have the wolf grabbing the salmon from the bear’s mouth as a metaphor. There is greater urgency in monitoring and conservation of our natural resources than focusing on making a profit from our country’s riches.

Beavers, Great Lakes and the bobolink, a songbird, are also featured in this issue of Canadian Wildlife Federation’s magazine. Thank-you to Canadian Wildlife for this opportunity!

-Christie

Bird of Paradise

April 25th, 2013 § 1,666 comments § permalink

I have mentioned before that one of my greatest inspirations for my fascination with animals was ignited by the Planet Earth documentary series. The “Jungles” episode had a segment about birds of paradise and behind the scenes footage with Tim Laman and Ed Scholes waiting for days to get a glimpse of a male courtship display. Their dedication to their dream of documenting all 39 species, and on the birds’ terms, is just incredibly beautiful to me.

Here is an introduction to the species prepared by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

Earlier this month, I finally got to hear them speak about their research at the Roy Thomson Hall as the finale for the National Geographic lecture series!!!

The notion that animals have culture is one that really intrigues me. In birds of paradise, we see sexual selection at its most heightened and particular. Female birds of paradise appreciate shape shifting dancing, loud calls and feathers in crazy forms and shimmery and fluorescent colours.  They expect a clean display ground and a regular vine a male bird uses to display and another for her to evaluate. As people we do not usually have to worry about being eaten or finding food, so we have a lot of time and other thoughts to occupy our minds with. Similarly, birds of paradise live in a situation where there are not many predators and fruit as their main diet is regularly available, so their energy is focused on being so pretttttttyyyy. I think it’s really cool that we also find these courtship displays stunning, like there is a recipe for what life on earth collectively perceives as beautiful.

Growing up I loved mythology, like mermaids, unicorns… all that! But when I saw these birds on the TV screen for the first time, I saw that we already live in such a mysterious and surprising world, only we can really seek it and it is more glorious and intricate than anything we could imagine. Ed Scholes and Tim Laman have a Bird of Paradise Project website, which introduces all 39 species of birds very thoroughly and is up to date with their future plans!

http://birdsofparadiseproject.org/

Tim Laman's handwriting!

mini

April 18th, 2013 § 839 comments § permalink

I painted thank-you cards. One flap has a message and the other is a lil painting!

-Christie

Epiphyte

April 2nd, 2013 § 539 comments § permalink

Bloom

Detail images below:

This is the third piece from the Replicators Series. As always, click images to see them enlarged!

-Christie

Contemporary Verse 2

March 25th, 2013 § 2,687 comments § permalink

Look!

Belgian Emu is featured on the cover for this spring issue of CV2, the Canadian journal of poetry and critical writing. This issue is “Poetry Only” (volume 35 issue 4), and includes the winning poems that won the 2012 2-Day Poem Contest. You can find the Winnipeg-based literary journal all over Canada, including Book City and the University of Toronto Bookstore.

Special thank-you to Melody, the Production and Design coordinator. It’s so cool to see the emu as a cover boy!

-Christie

Rainforest

March 12th, 2013 § 792 comments § permalink

The second piece from my Replicators series.

The Replicator series, Animal Citizens, King of Speed, Doe series and other pieces are still installed in The Spoke Club (600 King Street West) with Navillus Gallery (110 Davenport Road)! Please stop by sometime to drink and eat 🙂

-Christie

For Life

March 4th, 2013 § 769 comments § permalink

Oil study on gold and silver leaf

This is a fennec fox.

They mate for life!

-Christie

For new collectors

February 28th, 2013 § 5,769 comments § permalink

Navillus Gallery has started an informative and beautiful lifestyle blog for new art collectors. On their blog they post thoughtful articles such as the significance of the term “mixed media”, a fundamental summary of the art fairs in Miami, and intimate studio visits to international artists, like Kirk Mechar’s in Nevis.

click to go to Navillus Gallery blog

The investments that come with collecting art is not only the piece itself, but also the expression of identity and the parts of it that we admire and are drawn to. Navillus Gallery curator, Taylor Sullivan, who studied at Cornell, Harvard and Parsons, heads the blog and inspires confidence in curating your own collection.

click to visit the entry

Earlier this month, I sat down with Kailee of Navillus Gallery to talk about music, process, museums and traveling. The gallery kindly dedicated a post about my inspirations on their blog! Click on the picture of the sea lion pups to read. Thank-you!

-Christie

Replicators

February 22nd, 2013 § 9,761 comments § permalink

While hiking through the rainforest in Tortugera National Park, I was impressed with the variety of plant species and their many survival solutions, particularly the epiphytes. These plants survive many feet off the air, growing on top of the branches of a large tree.

Observing these aerial plants made me think of the organic tenacity and abundance of thoughts and ideas that exist in our minds. Like a plant that competes for soil and sun, ideas compete for minds and attention. Plants can dig deep roots or grow a little stem as an epiphyte. In the same way, we seek to promote those ideas that generously occupy and structure our way of thinking and sometimes allow fads to bloom on top or wither. Species of ideas mutate because of our own interpretation as they proliferate in the individual ecosystem of our minds.

In this series, I wanted to make paintings while reflecting on the wild but steady process that we all tick according to. I repeatedly mutate and layer with the brush, which resembles the elegant shape of a leaf. The composition is mostly abstract and not based on any particular plant species.

-Christie

Odile

February 20th, 2013 § 911 comments § permalink

With the bee and pytilia

From the Deception Series.

-Christie