Basia Bulat

This afternoon, I have been working away at some character illustration work that I have, and as per usual, when I am in the groove and working, I have my tunes blasting. Well, one album that I've had for quite awhile, but still can't seem to get enough of, is "Oh, My Darling" by Basia Bulat, a 24 year old singer-songwriter from Ontario, Canada. This album draws me completely in everytime, I love the buttery smoothness of her folk-like voice. There's definitely a maturity present in her voice well beyond her years. Here's a little snippet from the About section of her website explaining the becoming of many of the wonderful tracks on "Oh, My Darling."

"For the summer of 2006, Basia went to live in Montreal. Through friends she met Howard Bilerman, an engineer and co-owner of the famed Hotel 2 Tango studio. Basia cashed some student loans to record with Bilerman in one of the final sessions at the original H2T site, but by the third day she had lost her voice. It was ultimately these rough early takes, hoarse with excitement, that formed the bulk of Oh My Darling. Initially the recordings were meant only as an "audible memory" of the time Basia spent with friends in London and Montreal: "We liked playing together so much, and I just wanted to remember that." But Bilerman was smitten with the songs, with Basia and her band, and he began to write to friends at labels, friends with music-blogs, anyone who might pay attention. For despite the original intention, these tracks are breathless, thirsty, dislodged from dreary nostalgia. There are strings, yes, and acoustic guitar, but also a frantic drum-kit gallop; the influence of the spirits of wild Jeff Magnum, big-voiced Odetta, Emily Dickinson and all those boisterous soul-music singles. It’s this spark that sets Basia Bulat apart from the raft of typical singer-songwriters, and also what attracted the interest of Geoff Travis and Britain’s legendary Rough Trade label – who released Oh My Darling in Europe and Japan in the spring of 2007."

I'll leave you with a video of her playing one of my favorite songs from the album, "The Pilgriming Vine" at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. You gotta love her jubilant, energetic vibe as she sings this!

Under the Doormat

Here's my latest finished painting, it's called "Under the Doormat." I finished this one a week or so ago, but I wasn't able to get a decent photo of it until now. Enjoy!

Later gators!

Design By Humans

Well, I submitted my first t-shirt design attempt over at Design by Humans. It's actually an old design idea I had from eons ago, it's quite simple, not too big of a deal, but I think it's a decent attempt, I would definitely wear it. I kind of wanted to test the waters and see how the DBH public votes. So, do me a favour and go on over and vote for my design. I plan on submitting more in the near future, but they will be based more closely on my drawing style, more detailed pieces. So, do what you can to make a difference....and VOTE! Hehehehe....melodramatic??

Thank you!!!!!!!!!! :)

Design This Design That

Recently, I was approached by Ariadna Ramley, the author of the online magazine, Design This Design That, to be interviewed and featured in the DTDT magazine along with 66 other illustrators and artists from across the globe. Ariadna has done a fantastic job with it, and the new issue is now online here. The magazine is chalked full of wonderful works and some inspiring interviews with many talented artists, a sheer wonderland for the retinas! Go on and check it out! :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! Later gators!

New Painting in the Works...

I've been really sick over the last 4-5 days with a pretty annoying cold, I was going to try and take it easy today, but I ended up painting instead. I started a new painting today and it's coming along pretty well. I quite like the colours in this painting. All of the pieces that I've done for the show in Feb. so far are all plastered with quite electric colours. It's the mood I have been in, I suppose. I can thoroughly appreciate a really nice subdued painting with a sophisticated palette, but lately, I just want to splash bright, bold colours all over the place! Anyway, I'm off to bed to relax, but here's a little sneak peek of what I was working on today. Please excuse the photo quality...it's ridiculously grainy and somewhat blurred, but I guess it serves it's purpose. :)

A Brand New Blog

Well, as you can see, the old Micawber blog exists no more. I made the switch from Typepad to Wordpress, and my lovely husband took the time to move all of my posts from one to the other. Once all the blog posts were moved over to Wordpress, all of the images from the posts were missing. It just seemed like a lot of wasted time to sit and manually re-post all the images, so I made the decision to just wipe it clean and start a new. Then, after about a day on Wordpress, it became painfully obvious that it would annoy the shit out of me because of all the spam comments you have to plow through each day. Soooo...here I am, the owner and operator of a brand new, squeaky clean, Blogger blog. YAY!


On the art front, I have been really busy painting. I'm thoroughly enjoying painting traditionally again. It's a nice change from the digital painting I was doing last year. As I mentioned in the old blog, I have a group art show coming up in February. I'll be showing with Tin, Jeremiah Ketner and Jenna Colby at the Black Maria Gallery in Los Angeles. It should be a fantastic show! If you're in the LA area or surrounding area, you should mark you calendars!


Here's a little sneak peek of a section of a piece for the show that I am just finishing up. Enjoy!





Ciao!!!!! :)