Weekly Update No. 13

THE GRAND FINALE // Good morning folks! Today is officially my third day of finishing my undergraduate studies and the weather has been amazing to us. The grad show was a success, and it was so lovely to see everyone’s faces, familiar and new.

It has been a pleasurable five years – the extra year taken so that I would be able to take my time exploring in thesis. I highly recommend this to any one reaching their fourth year. Aspects such as learning how to screen print and the change of medium would never have been possible. It was overall a great learning experience, especially with an amazing set of peers that I had the opportunity to be amongst.

So a BIG ‘thank you’ to all the moral support and physical labor of those who helped me make this happen, and those who came by to visit during the four days, wrote in my guestbook, and especially in Chinese which I technically cannot read. I have an incredibly big appreciation for all of you!

//////// My thesis work is now all available on my website as well as OCADU’s website, in case you’ve missed something!

xo, jus

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Weekly Update No. 12

MANY BEGINNINGS // So many things to share with all of you as thesis has come to an end. We are now in grad show mode, prepping for our displays and passing along the message. It feels good looking back at a whole year’s worth of process work and knowing that I will be trying to do twice as much after. o – o

In other exciting news, Paul and I will be participating in City of Craft’s Spring Show this coming weekend, April 20th from 11AM to 6PM! I will be carrying a whole new set of succulent necklaces + other goodies with me and limited edition thesis prints! P will have his Zelda Triforce posters that you won’t want to miss!

Hope to see all of your lovely faces there!

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Weekly Update No. 11

GRAD EX + SKETCHES // It’s crunch time for thesis and I’ve just started to plan out my month! Everything is looking quite hectic but I’m so stoked for May. The two images above are the sketches and color samples to my final pieces for this semester, and inevitably some of my favorites!

You would never be able to tell, but I go through a painful process of preparation for screens, where I would block out each layer by hand with a marker, as it helps me to understand how each layer interacts next to each other. And possibly because I started out painting with acrylics rather than screen printing that I often forget that you can communicate an image even without a million colors. Or you can work with many layers if you wish to. But I feel like I often over-complicate an image with color fluff, something I hope to work on further after grad.

I will be updating more details on the OCADU Grad Ex and City of Craft as it looms closer to the date! For now I will just keep you on your toes. ;)

Happy Spring chickadees!

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Weekly Update No.10

ON BLACK // Sometimes I feel like these weekly postings are snippets of a survival journal, Day 384: screen printing ink explodes all over my best shirt, I don’t know how much longer I can handle thisss. Unfortunately my thesis life isn’t half as dramatic as that. I’ve been starting to work on the last two pieces of my year, and it feels a little surreal.

Often times I think I’m already having school withdrawal. Sweaty palms, constant need to surround yourself with friends and people who also make things, intense cravings to make lines on a page. I am secretly already keeping a list of things to do and not do once I am out of here. It’s a vast world out there, trying my best to not have post-grad shock. Gah!

And before I forget, above is a sneak peek at one of my pieces for the grad show. The next three are sketches done for my final pieces! So excited.

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Winner Announced!

And the winner of the succulent necklace is… ZOE CHRISTMAS! Lucky No. 25.

A big thank you to all of you who participated in the necklace giveaway and those who left me such sweet words here. It was more than I ever anticipated, and I can’t stop gushing.

I will also be having these necklaces made to order in the shop soon. Feel free to email me personally if you would like to order one + or if you don’t have an ETSY. They come in a smaller size (1″) or slightly larger (1.5″).

xo, jus

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Banana Oatmeal Bites

BITE-SIZED // I can’t remember how I came upon this recipe but it is amazingly easy! I ended up adding a few elements to the recipe that you may adjust to your liking. I especially appreciate it during crunch time – a healthy alternative to finger foods and such a quickie.

It’s been rather busy on my end as I finish my final pieces for thesis, as well as slowly prepping for our grad show in May and City of Craft’s Spring Show in April. Such a terrible curse that most creative individuals have – that they should constantly be working in their head or with their hands. There is never full rest unlike with conventional jobs where your work duties ends after 5PM, but I suppose it gives back in endless possibilities.

Hoping to slowly contribute more to this blog as I slowly check things off my to do list. Honestly enjoying sharing with you ways that I may be personally be coping with odd work schedules and projects by presenting process work and recipes to sweet baked goods. Don’t forget to take care of body and mind amidst all the madness!

Banana Oatmeal Bites
Makes approx. 15 small balls

2 Extra ripe Bananas (preferably any old bananas you’ve kept in the freezer!)
1 cup of Oatmeal
1/8 cup of Brown sugar
A dollop of Honey
+ Any nuts, raisins, or berries that you may like with it

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees celsius.
2. Scoop mixture with a spoon into small round circles. No need to distance them as much since they do not expand in size.
3. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and let cool before storing.

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Giveaway: Succulent Necklace ! ! !

Hi all!

I am currently having a Succulent Necklace giveaway! The necklace is entirely hand crafted, from the sculpting, to the painting, to the varnishing! It also hangs on a thin 13” gold plated necklace. There are various ways in which you can apply for entries, all listed below. Each action gains you an entry.

Ways to enter:
1. Reblog this post
2. Some love on this image on instagram.
3. A follower on instagram.
4. A follower on Tumblr.
*5. LASTLY, you must leave a comment here, stating which of the actions above you have accomplished! (This will also count as an entry.)

*Sorry for all these weird steps that lead to so many places. It is only to ensure fairness to new folks, and that old followers who wish not to participate won’t be automatically included in.

Contest Deadline: Wed. March 19th – a winner shall be announced on Thursday!

xo, jus

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Weekly Update No.9

A LITTLE BIT OF RECENTLY // This is incredibly late, but am thankful for everyone who took the time to come out for the OCADU Zine fair last weekend, the organizers, and the awesome friends for saving my late ass! For those who don’t know, it’s an annual craft fair that happens in the lobby of OCAD, first come first serve in terms of application, and is free(!) thanks to the lovely organizers.

Above are some work-in-progress + final shots of the cloud succulent necklaces that I had been making. Each one of them is hand sculpted, gesso-ed, painted, and sealed with three gentle coats of gloss varnish so they’ll be safe from water! They will be available in the shop within the next week or so! Inspired by my ever hoarding of succulents, and my soon to be tattoo. Can’t wait to share with you when all is done.

Currently Reading: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

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Weekly Update No.8

HOME SWEET HOME // I’ve been slowly finishing up my thesis with the last four pieces. My first piece has to do with showing gratitude back home after our journeys away, and the other is about bringing light to the anxieties of staying true to our moral grounds embedded by our culture while existing in the modern day.

Because the thesis was semi-personal on some level, it has really developed as the year went. Mostly because while exploring all these grounds about the connections and relationships between ourselves and our cultures, you realize that they will always exist as your base. They’re not something to live by, but rather something to keep you from losing direction as you go along. Resolved feelings.

TINY CORNER // And I thought I’d finish this by showing you my favorite corner in the house. It’s the only place that doesn’t get hectic when I’m working all over the tables and on the floor, and so it is the only place I display little pieces from friends. Items like Paul’s bacon birthday index card, Marta’s neon pink poster, Tessar’s ‘Two Forms‘ print and his little elephants in the ribbon jar, and Elaine’s knit bowl from last year’s secret Santa line the walls and on the shelves.

This is probably the best part that keep me sane, and a reason why I chose being an artist and a maker as a career rather than just something I may have been slightly more successful at than the average person was. I love the idea of exchanging goods that you and someone else have put together yourselves, their state of mind at the time, their hands, and their kind intentions. Especially ephemeral items, solely created for that moment but at the same time lasting in it’s honest intentions.

I can’t wait to share everything I’ve been working in with all of you! Keep your eyes peeled!

I’m also on TWITTER & INSTAGRAM if you would like more of me, ;) + instant updates.

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Weekly Update No.7

SAND DUNES & SALTY AIR // So many thoughts now that graduation is near. I listen to podcasts and online radio mixes quite often, and found a song I thought was really neat: At The River by Groove Armada. I kept it on repeat for a while as I worked, and not until I searched up the lyrics did I realize that the song repeats the same two sentences over and over again. Hitting all the sweet notes in its’ repetition.

These days have been mostly thesis and assignments for screen printing. Below is a character that I came up with while working on my upcoming Montreal zine, his name is WIPOO, my whipping cream supplier. I will most likely be screen printing him for my collage and drawing assignment and will probably do a quick tutorial on how to set up layers for screen printing.

I find that the concept of layers doesn’t always strike a chord with every one. Usually it is the understanding that exposing positive dark areas onto a screen means that ink will go through. While with stencils, it is the negative areas that are removed, that will allow the ink to go through.

Preparing files and layers, and knowing how they’ll look like on top of each other really makes you aware of the positive and negative spaces, award tensions, and all that madness that is usually spoken of during class critiques. It’s actually kind of amusing figuring it all out… with my trusty BOND PAPER & TRACING PAPERS! Makes the jobs + inking insanely easier.

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