tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84319689064885564802024-02-07T15:22:52.334-05:00Marie-Judith | ArtistMultidisciplinary artist and illustrator living in Toronto, CanadaMJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comBlogger298125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-49434345326789173772023-04-17T12:47:00.002-04:002023-05-02T00:45:24.667-04:00My Journey (part 5) : The not-so-creative engineer<p><i>* See part 4 <a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2023/02/my-journey-part-4-creative-engineering.html" target="_blank">here</a> *</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmZqx9eVuKBhXVTDsDAxBmXNSRz60YNcxHyvBrDNUgFvRENGWXXj4xXyHwn14NlVau08z-TaXyzkMxhSNBiOsM-50faQ_JvHj8vx11NCynYoX5S4HaVpGSphEfibaYrQUSY1hkc9FCPCl0sgpOXIwB7LHp6r4OYSu4z-sitzitzs0Z9-revMDh3IT4Q/s1024/20230410.001.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmZqx9eVuKBhXVTDsDAxBmXNSRz60YNcxHyvBrDNUgFvRENGWXXj4xXyHwn14NlVau08z-TaXyzkMxhSNBiOsM-50faQ_JvHj8vx11NCynYoX5S4HaVpGSphEfibaYrQUSY1hkc9FCPCl0sgpOXIwB7LHp6r4OYSu4z-sitzitzs0Z9-revMDh3IT4Q/s16000/20230410.001.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Snapshots from my life as an engineer </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="text-align: justify;">The years following my graduation was a major shift. I was mostly focused on doing my job during the week and recovering on the weekend. It was the quintessential 9 to 5 office job. This is where I realize that having a degree in engineering was just the beginning. I was still learning from senior engineers and technicians who had a lot more experience than me. I didn't really draw anything at my job, not even floor plans. My work mostly consisted of plan analysis, computer programming, site visits, attending conferences, taking multiple certification workshops and tests, creating powerpoint presentations and writing reports. Still I managed to find little creative outlets within my work and outside of work to feed my creative side. </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>IN-HOUSE GRAPHIC DESIGNER & WRITER </b></h2><p>The most creative thing I could do while working as an engineer was to draft the occasional articles for professional magazines and create and design documents for clients, awards, powerpoint presentations and courses for peers. </p><p>During my time there, I co-wrote two articles for the Canadian Consulting Engineer Magazine and two more for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. That was the extent of my creative outlets at work. </p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/features/health-care-unsafe-harbours/ " target="_blank">HEALTH CARE: Unsafe Harbours</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/features/energy-management-a-story-of-discovery/ " target="_blank">Energy Management: A Story of Discovery</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.techstreet.com/standards/2005-ashrae-technology-awards-hvac-retrofit-heating-plant-retrofit-for-canadian-college?product_id=1718309" target="_blank">HVAC RETROFIT: HEATING PLANT RETROFIT FOR CANADIAN COLLEGE</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/http://m2jlstudio.com/PublicationsPDF/HeadOfTheClass.pdf" target="_blank">Head of the Class For No GHG-School</a></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdvRWSydvp5Rsow4yQ0DXhmfv9nMwdhK9D-5Gk4zV2WiTAQnqke-mjJAkVMEST-jOTGIAK13EQXcKBHTEqHXIX6kHcvDkRUfDjpCAEoHGs5K3U8ipajglISiPpWiHSETzlOPNHDInUMc-nYkNiHGHI6n5ZHc7LZJXx2iMPQTI0WGYVTZL2fAEL_Mg8Q/s1024/20230410.002.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdvRWSydvp5Rsow4yQ0DXhmfv9nMwdhK9D-5Gk4zV2WiTAQnqke-mjJAkVMEST-jOTGIAK13EQXcKBHTEqHXIX6kHcvDkRUfDjpCAEoHGs5K3U8ipajglISiPpWiHSETzlOPNHDInUMc-nYkNiHGHI6n5ZHc7LZJXx2iMPQTI0WGYVTZL2fAEL_Mg8Q/s16000/20230410.002.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Some of the articles I co-wrote for engineering magazines</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><h2><b>LOOKING FOR MORE CREATIVE OUTLETS</b></h2><div><p style="text-align: justify;">I still needed to do something creative outside of work. I tried a couple things to figure out what was missing because although I enjoyed my job and was grateful to finally start earning a decent income, something was missing. So I joined a martial art class and learned Win Chung Kung Fu for a bit. Then transitioned to Dancehall dance classes where we would do shows at the end of the sessions. The most fun part was when I got to participate in the Caribana festival in Montreal. </p></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_FDEL58CWFg6LHFRG_qPEPQk-JO8dkExRvvuPyaTduRhu3oOvLB-bw76uhMXfyYjxaRmIFO_WZCq9OTGq8VqSxWGDB-hHYUQkixM-FxzJ9qD6ECcTz14O3_nf3in9mtH4JP_Oe7Y2jf2dxr6NkC3QbYAhV_sTEbGadV1N9P4iQfgpbbbBgwcPbQkTQ/s1024/20230410.003.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_FDEL58CWFg6LHFRG_qPEPQk-JO8dkExRvvuPyaTduRhu3oOvLB-bw76uhMXfyYjxaRmIFO_WZCq9OTGq8VqSxWGDB-hHYUQkixM-FxzJ9qD6ECcTz14O3_nf3in9mtH4JP_Oe7Y2jf2dxr6NkC3QbYAhV_sTEbGadV1N9P4iQfgpbbbBgwcPbQkTQ/s16000/20230410.003.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Rare sketches made during that period</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">I dabbled in various creative projects trying to figure out what was missing. I explored photography for a bit. I attempted to create greeting cards for clients but quickly stopped after a bad deal. I attempted to collaborate on creating a video game that didn't work out. I even thought about going back to school to complete a digital arts degree but the timing didn't aligned. Something was brewing in me to do more and I couldn't figure it out. I was creatively restless.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">For some reason, simply drawing was no longer enough. That's probably why I don't have a lot of drawings and sketches from that time period. I had lost part of my creative self while getting into the engineering workforce, and drawing for the sake of drawing didn't feel like a responsible thing for me to do at that stage of my life. If I was going to be drawing, it needed to be practical. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Eventually I found out about the International School of Design and Technology offering creative degrees for night time students. I thought about enrolling into the graphic design program but settled for the interior design because I thought it would complement my building engineering degree. Since I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid, I figured the average of having a building engineering degree and an interior design degree would be close enough. It was a roundabout way for me to bring art back into my life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So I enrolled in the 2-year program as a full-time night student. I would work full-time during the day (sometimes bringing work at home at night and on weekends) and I go to school almost every night of the week and proceeded to do homework whenever I could find time late at night and on the weekend. It was intense but I was determined. Little did I know when I first joined the program, that it was going to get even more intense. This decision was the beginning of a pivotal moment that catapulted me into a completely new direction in life. I was entering a new era.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">More about this in the next entry :) </p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-61316318547844818402023-03-17T12:22:00.003-04:002023-03-17T12:22:55.453-04:00Illustrating a book cover<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img data-file-id="2908285" height="402" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b3ec2fb94c25ce48e02c025a7/images/a4e9ef99-170f-4651-8f2f-786c5874d79c.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto; outline: none; width: 1080px;" width="1080" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Various cover illustration options</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 class="null" style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -0.75px; line-height: 32.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
A couple years ago I was approached by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sonya.k.singh/" style="color: #6dc6dd; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">Sonya</a> to create an illustration for the cover of a book she was writing. It's a series of poems about her experience of suddenly becoming a caregiver to both her parents. I felt like this very raw and emotional piece needed a simple sketch showing the emotions behind facing such a challenging time. Above are some of the proposed illustrations I created for her book based on some of the poems I read. She chose the first one as you can see below. The book is now published and you can find out more about it on Amazon: <a href="https://amzn.to/2NfmJGv" style="background-color: transparent; color: #6dc6dd; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">Lightning Strikes Twice: Secret Confessions of a Career-Woman-Turned-Caregiver</a>. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #606060; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img data-file-id="2908281" height="70" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b3ec2fb94c25ce48e02c025a7/images/86cee6b9-6b7c-4689-a215-3326764d5d4a.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; height: 260px; margin: 0px auto; outline: none; width: 1000px;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Final cover</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">I would have loved to create artwork for each of the poems but that was out of her budget at the time. It did spark the idea of creating art for poems at some point in the future. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">This reminds me that I was approached earlier this year by someone looking to illustrate erotic short stories. That would also be a fun project to work on as it would allow me to get back into figure drawings: Something I used to do a lot more before and would love to get back to at some point. The only problem is that the prospect was looking for free sketches. I might have considered it if my rent and grocery was free. It's unfortunate that there's still this idea of expecting artist to create for others for free. There's so much work and effort that goes into creating a piece of artwork, no matter how long it takes to create a sketch today, it's from thousands of hours of practice and learning along the way mostly on our own while others are sleeping or entertaining themselves. Hopefully this mentality of the quintessential starving artist is changing for the better. </span></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-36701288887805569602023-03-10T13:06:00.001-05:002023-03-10T13:07:51.234-05:00Lauryn<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCyg_Li9W4PZHQ7ud1aR2uxzH532MPc3Pbb1vxTXo01LI83mbF7Cd9pHeQGz026DSo7qXTT7xVK-ORupb4deKgmfulwuZrDl38m8T8QvVsW7RgnqgFYTSz8OR1jl1TWOcii0JEfA5jzlLVFJA62wa1XbKx2pb_AWulSBB8zxnCl45j-vHtKKrY5fDcw/s1024/20230310.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCyg_Li9W4PZHQ7ud1aR2uxzH532MPc3Pbb1vxTXo01LI83mbF7Cd9pHeQGz026DSo7qXTT7xVK-ORupb4deKgmfulwuZrDl38m8T8QvVsW7RgnqgFYTSz8OR1jl1TWOcii0JEfA5jzlLVFJA62wa1XbKx2pb_AWulSBB8zxnCl45j-vHtKKrY5fDcw/s16000/20230310.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i> Lauryn, </i><i>Sketch,</i><i> pencils (2022) </i><i><br /></i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every so often I go through a phase of drawing musical artists with lyrics from a song of theirs. Something about the lyrics, the music and/or the artist just resonates with me at different stages of my life. Last year I felt compelled to draw Lauryn Hill and add the lyrics from her song <a href="https://youtu.be/fse2hyTvMy0" target="_blank">Tell Him</a> in a circle around her head. Now that I look at it, it looks like an afro / halo. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I really connected to this song (and several others) from the The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill's album when it came out in the late 90s. I was happy to see someone who not only looks more like me in the mainstream media but who also thinks like me. I love how she covers important topics on a deeper and wiser level. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This particular song feels very grounded to me. There was a time when I needed to hear that song as a reminder of what I stand for. A couple years ago, I was in a situation where I felt betrayed and hurt by peers who just didn't have the capacity to see beyond their own interest. They didn't seem to have any compassion for people suffering around them. I remember feeling extremely disappointed by their behaviour and was contemplating just cutting them off because I was expecting more from them. But then then that song popped in my mind. So I listened to it a couple times in a row and it helped me ground myself and release the expectations I had of them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I came to an understanding that we're all at different stages of consciousness and everyone is doing the best they can with what they know at the time. I didn't have to stay close to them but I also didn't need to suffer from the disappointment. I could just release it and recognize that we were at different stages, and that's life. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From my experience, this is how powerful some songs, sang by the right artist, can be. And perhaps this drawing was another reminder. If you're curious, you can read the lyrics from this particular song below and see if her message resonates with you too. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Tell Him</span></b></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><i>(written by Lauryn Hill)</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Let me be patient, let me be kind</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Make me unselfish, without being blind</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Though I may suffer, I'll envy it not</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And endure what comes</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">'Cause he's all that I got and</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I need him </span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him </span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And it'll be alright</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And tell him, tell him I need him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">It'll be alright</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Now I may have faith to make mountains fall</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">But if I lack love then I am nothin' at all</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">I can give away everything I possess</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">But left without love then I have no happiness</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">I know I'm imperfect </span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And not without sin </span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">But now that I'm older, all childish things end</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And tell him</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I need him </span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him </span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And it'll be alright</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him tell him I need him</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">It'll be alright</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">I'll never be jealous</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And I won't be too proud</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Cause love is not boastful</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Oooh and love is not loud</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I need him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Everything's gonna be alright </span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Now I may have wisdom and knowledge on Earth</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">But if I speak wrong then what is it worth?</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">See what we now know is nothing compared</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">To the love that was shown when our lives were spared</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And tell him</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I need him</span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And it'll be alright</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him tell him I need him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I love him</span></i></div></span><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">It'll be alright</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him I need him </span></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">And it'll be alright</span></i></div><span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">Tell him it'll be alright</span></i></div></span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: center;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><i>Tell him it'll be alright</i></span></div><div class="ujudUb WRZytc" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><i>When the evening comes...</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: justify;"> </span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="ujudUb WRZytc" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><i>In the nighttime</i></span></div><div class="ujudUb WRZytc" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><i>In the morning</i></span></div><div class="ujudUb WRZytc" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><i>In the evening baby, tell him</i></span></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="ujudUb WRZytc" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: start;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"></span></div></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-43645512645424292262023-03-03T11:58:00.003-05:002023-03-03T12:20:18.073-05:00Sneak peek at my new coffee table dating book<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECdRyqTwAgYkf_Mw-tLE-X1ZqHslcvuhyDSNZDpJSIHv5AW3kx7t4OGPpT5HvUb7-JMjLNvS18Hn_C3LAEZR3gh6I4svcC8XXjnvT7wqpzfapV8sPzL_-Pawb-Lw0hEOhJgax4CIWvj1MHvehd1hJcrJLkDD-eRCzjn_7mPR4cbDa0yIRDlnwgZqwUA/s1024/20230303.002.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECdRyqTwAgYkf_Mw-tLE-X1ZqHslcvuhyDSNZDpJSIHv5AW3kx7t4OGPpT5HvUb7-JMjLNvS18Hn_C3LAEZR3gh6I4svcC8XXjnvT7wqpzfapV8sPzL_-Pawb-Lw0hEOhJgax4CIWvj1MHvehd1hJcrJLkDD-eRCzjn_7mPR4cbDa0yIRDlnwgZqwUA/s16000/20230303.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Mockup of my book<br /></i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br />I had a lot of free time over the holidays back in December. So rather than spending all of that free time watching movies on Netflix, I decided to create a new book. I've been working on it over the past couple of months, and I'm excited to finally share it with you. I titled it <i><b>Get to Know Me: 100 Conversation Prompts for Meaningful Dates</b></i>. It's an interactive coffee table book to help support people in having more meaningful conversations while dating.<br /> <br />Ever since I started co-hosting and hosting events centred around conversations on healthy conscious relationships, the idea of creating conscious conversation cards had been on my bucket list. That's because the main insight I gained through facilitating hundreds of these group conversations is how difficult it is for many people to create genuine connections. A large majority of people dating in this day and age are so used to superficial exchanges on dating apps that they've lost some of their ability to have conversations that matter. This can lead to a sense of emotional unfulfillment leading to dating fatigue and eventually isolation. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I feel that one of the main reasons for this problem is that the typical topics of conversation are not interesting or engaging enough to break through people's usual protective shields. People don't feel seen because they tend to hide behind their shield, hoping to make a good impression. That becomes draining over time. Instead, conversations should feel inspiring and energizing. They should enable people to feel seen, which then enables them to have more enjoyable dates and have a better chance at making meaningful connections. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My goal with this book is to help elevate the quality of their conversations while dating so they can have more meaningful exchanges. The book contains 100 prompts in four different categories guiding them from engaging and casual conversations all the way to transformative and intimate conversations. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends test them out and their feedback was positive and helpful. After a couple tweaks, the first edition of the book is now ready for the public. (Big thank you to Steve, Joyce, Julian, Kevin and Sosa for their input and Cassie for beginning this journey with me).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now that the book is out there, the hard part (my challenge) will be to get it in front of the people who will benefit from this communication tool. That's where phase 2 of my work begins. I'll probably share part of that journey with you here. Right now, there are no concrete marketing plans for it, other than publishing this post, announcing the news on social media, and offering a free sample of the book for people to test it. I did something similar when I first published my colouring book almost a decade ago, and it worked out well. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://a.co/d/2JJyzOz" target="_blank">You can get your copy on Amazon</a></b> or download a free sample on <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9c54800cf4ba/get-to-know-me" target="_blank">the brand new landing page I created for this book</a>. If you decide to test it out, I would love to know what your experience has been. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-n5_klDd5N0DebhW6HvBRmvYLjqV9oeTz4jW3yqppuOrinhedQmBsmnYbm3-782v2wJtLw-s1RRnv_hoHC5ODaNmLNbDrM55sdPTH7mXJqlM5D2rWthVD-Z2hKqDWi1Pg-R0NzT5-mJ8bTS967vmBihqsgMq355BDgEAmvfSzS9EUYTsEMwz-2bvuzw/s1024/20230303.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-n5_klDd5N0DebhW6HvBRmvYLjqV9oeTz4jW3yqppuOrinhedQmBsmnYbm3-782v2wJtLw-s1RRnv_hoHC5ODaNmLNbDrM55sdPTH7mXJqlM5D2rWthVD-Z2hKqDWi1Pg-R0NzT5-mJ8bTS967vmBihqsgMq355BDgEAmvfSzS9EUYTsEMwz-2bvuzw/s16000/20230303.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Sneak peek of the 'Intimate' section of the book </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-23132803169927357982023-02-17T18:00:00.002-05:002023-02-17T18:01:31.173-05:00Why you should do the 100 heads challenge<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRcvbQnZDOK6ihllJMYy1vYAdtL56nfJcIqoBzVvNhQy6uVpn0H71NRsRCkVo39Q5WJsZsdlio9k0IdSin_MSxHleVvcBCP9n91j_TPQ_QIE8wFUHT6yIn5iz5UY1KSCC2pw1ycLmfPTulE6pkSlFUuBW3pFbI5y5e2JHx4_69ZsgUuc0HV3-gVOglA/s1024/20230217.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRcvbQnZDOK6ihllJMYy1vYAdtL56nfJcIqoBzVvNhQy6uVpn0H71NRsRCkVo39Q5WJsZsdlio9k0IdSin_MSxHleVvcBCP9n91j_TPQ_QIE8wFUHT6yIn5iz5UY1KSCC2pw1ycLmfPTulE6pkSlFUuBW3pFbI5y5e2JHx4_69ZsgUuc0HV3-gVOglA/s16000/20230217.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Pencil sketches from the 100 heads challenges, I really enjoyed fitting the different heads together on the right</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I love sketching and getting better at it, but it's hard for me to stay consistent. I tend to go through cycles of productive and unproductive creative periods due to the various distractions that life tends to throw at us. Whenever a life challenge arises, often the first activity that gets benched is art making. And it's always difficult to get back into it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One way to overcome the obstacles of getting back into art making has been to challenge myself into doing something relatively simple. Recently, it has been to take part in the<i> 100 heads challenge</i>, where artists create 100 sketches of people. Some do it really quickly. Others, like myself, use it as a way to ease back into being creative. I started this challenge last year and recently just completed sketch No 55. I haven't been as fast as other artists, but I did find myself creating more reels, writing more, joining artist groups online and initiating other creative projects as a result. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of my goals as an artists is to master portraiture and the human figure. Maybe I can become a portrait artist one day, who knows. Regardless, this simple exercise is a great way for me to practice and get a better understanding of how to create great portraits with the tools I have. </div><p style="text-align: justify;">Throughout this process, I've been getting more acquainted with the possibilities of art mediums such as pencils, graphite, coloured pencils, ballpoint pens and markers. I've been playing with contrasts, experimenting with compositions and studying human expressions. There's so much to learn from this simple exercise. It even got me into the concept of face reading, which I'd like to explore a little more in the near future. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The sketches shown here are some of the earlier portraits I made for this challenge. I first started with simple pencil sketches, and then started to include lyrics from songs inspired by the portraits as you can see below. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_f4iI27uZVnKsUO59DWMuNIruGJeUgI-j87ENw7sey5SImApTPTo4I_J3i3tT2v--aGcJRFKftBqxUmUQqjt3a_w255ng0C_DGJC8y590faDZdmj3E1YGT28uVRIleIZilsf6k7Vw1l3ILemWayKedr39xpRah4IoM3QiyTkG_Hc5oSiBoOVwk38GQ/s1024/20230217.002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_f4iI27uZVnKsUO59DWMuNIruGJeUgI-j87ENw7sey5SImApTPTo4I_J3i3tT2v--aGcJRFKftBqxUmUQqjt3a_w255ng0C_DGJC8y590faDZdmj3E1YGT28uVRIleIZilsf6k7Vw1l3ILemWayKedr39xpRah4IoM3QiyTkG_Hc5oSiBoOVwk38GQ/s16000/20230217.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>The model for the head on the right had an expression that reminded me of a song by Evanescence called Going Under, so I added the lyrics to it. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDLDMpuoT0-ZkuxMH7hw9vw2d3wKgDXmWcYfLiKFU3Rclsy_J8BKkLCj0waJRE2Pj-PscugEMw6J52k5Ak14IQQ_OX6l3oeMYLxIr-XJNgL8Jlw_ImsZ3CoKQy-6wCfE6x1Go0-JE647U_1KbPRboJAY3qQ2ItaxqQCJqObkmmCJhHVvzSx5XIT3IIg/s1024/20230217.003.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDLDMpuoT0-ZkuxMH7hw9vw2d3wKgDXmWcYfLiKFU3Rclsy_J8BKkLCj0waJRE2Pj-PscugEMw6J52k5Ak14IQQ_OX6l3oeMYLxIr-XJNgL8Jlw_ImsZ3CoKQy-6wCfE6x1Go0-JE647U_1KbPRboJAY3qQ2ItaxqQCJqObkmmCJhHVvzSx5XIT3IIg/s16000/20230217.003.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Many of the models came from Pinterest, there's usually something about them that captivate me to the point of wanting to reproduce them. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I highly recommend you challenging yourself to draw 100 heads, no matter how long it takes you. Pay attention to what comes up as you continue to create them. Not only are you going to become better at it, but it will help build your confidence as an artists and reduce your hesitation to create and show up for yourself. Stay tuned for more sneak peeks into my art journal in the future. </div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-45603140651065833622023-02-10T17:54:00.000-05:002023-02-10T17:54:32.925-05:00My journey (part 4) : The creative engineering student<p style="text-align: justify;"><i>* See part 3 <a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2023/01/my-journey-part-3-choosing-hard-path.html" target="_blank">here</a></i></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW4X_k3bJ5BpcbLkZ-vlnokZtyL3J5HDP7UQ-lG7JqbEQpGtDx1Nb29CC39JltvmSrdmkoFMhCKSubahmBXkbf1DGqsqY1qSgbs7QqT1S6Bb6VCYT269G3E3i7JkW8-06ScU578F9lPoP9eU3CjrsEWyGt6fY2b3rOFJXPI07pjFRCUSuCzbWfXj8Vw/s1024/20230210.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW4X_k3bJ5BpcbLkZ-vlnokZtyL3J5HDP7UQ-lG7JqbEQpGtDx1Nb29CC39JltvmSrdmkoFMhCKSubahmBXkbf1DGqsqY1qSgbs7QqT1S6Bb6VCYT269G3E3i7JkW8-06ScU578F9lPoP9eU3CjrsEWyGt6fY2b3rOFJXPI07pjFRCUSuCzbWfXj8Vw/s16000/20230210.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some highlights of my time while attending engineering school<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></h1><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Attending Concordia University was a great experience for me, mostly because of the people I met and the friends I made along the way. This is a time period where my creative output decreased a little because a lot of my time was reallocated to studying, working odd jobs to cover some costs and socializing. In my experience, Concordia was a lot more open, diverse and welcoming than Brébeuf. And despite it requiring a lot more of my time and effort, I still managed to find ways to express my creativity while working on my engineering degree. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I guess you could say I had an unofficial additional DIY degree in marketing and management. I was not only learning in class, but also outside of class through meeting and collaborating with other student leaders participating in various extra curricular activities. Many of them now have their own successful business or hold important positions in their work spaces. I joined several school committees, participated and helped plan various events and parties. I joined the yearbook committee my first year in, then became the yearbook director the following years. I was also VP Admin for the Engineering and Computer Science Association, then the VP Finance for two engineering groups, and regularly contributed to the newsletter called the Nuts & Bolts. I really experience student life as much as I could at the time and somehow made it out with an engineering degree and many new friends. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><b>BACK ON THE GRAPHIC DESIGN TRACK</b></h2><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0G3v9UANwfN8Z-CkKCDY476z7XBQNlGMkHLxdIVIKBgu5cGEHs4CIUkSfsxCEayf4uSidsnUgcgJj6PwPXH_b55i7gwrA7MG_H_0L5mjhylmf7zdebQlNKNPOysk9-Zvj8KJrgkBZjZTUYAG1jonneq-vugN2LRrkxPzjxU0pTL8u5dcnDsBC28SPQ/s1024/20230103.002.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0G3v9UANwfN8Z-CkKCDY476z7XBQNlGMkHLxdIVIKBgu5cGEHs4CIUkSfsxCEayf4uSidsnUgcgJj6PwPXH_b55i7gwrA7MG_H_0L5mjhylmf7zdebQlNKNPOysk9-Zvj8KJrgkBZjZTUYAG1jonneq-vugN2LRrkxPzjxU0pTL8u5dcnDsBC28SPQ/s16000/20230103.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>The yearbook committee my first year and some pages from that print including some of my sketches <br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The easiest creative outlet for me at the time was to design documents. I first joined the Engineering yearbook on a whim. There was an ad toward the end of the school year, where the editor at the time, was looking for help and I decided to try it out. I was the only first year student in the group. Every other members were graduating that year. They were all very welcoming, accommodating and showed me the ropes. We spent a good portion of the summer putting the yearbook together and I took over the completion of the book while they were heading to the next phase of their lives. Little did I know, this was my entry point into becoming the yearbook director the following years. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Since no one volunteered to do it the next year, I did. I made some improvements based on what I had learned to that point. I introduced the use of computer software to design the majority of the book by teaching myself how to design a book on a computer. Before that, we basically used to manually cut out photos and arranged them on large sheets just like scrapbookers do. It was ambitious but I was already used to taking the hard road. I learned a lot from that experience and loved to see the improvements from one year to the other, as you can see below. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhExIMqkrDq_8W2PFgtYPnQk9gO5QtMWHPUOVNUtAsnkaQvYuggRndnyqahPkOJkznTOLG9LMKfe3zh_l_4iOmoZTyv6iRhMDik4925QB9anGFwmwKWkUEvP2_rm7_-wr0KHP_GD0vqUXm0Qpzl5oPCb5rfsqcsbhSJCQ9jCB-0mo9MwpJSv-qzP1O9oA/s1024/20230103.003.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhExIMqkrDq_8W2PFgtYPnQk9gO5QtMWHPUOVNUtAsnkaQvYuggRndnyqahPkOJkznTOLG9LMKfe3zh_l_4iOmoZTyv6iRhMDik4925QB9anGFwmwKWkUEvP2_rm7_-wr0KHP_GD0vqUXm0Qpzl5oPCb5rfsqcsbhSJCQ9jCB-0mo9MwpJSv-qzP1O9oA/s16000/20230103.003.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Some pages from the yearbooks I designed the following years using a layout editing softwares for the first time. <br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I also contributed to the design and production of one of the Engineering and Computer science department's planner and the design and production of our weekly newsletter. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">ILLUSTRATING FOR VARIOUS COMMITTEES</h2><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GvdvsYK__L0f7FgCCt0hcwPdC0czrr7HCOrQOhvfLjTyVTx_C5zkHheybwPTEz5SwwMmmQAREGA6GN1k71hSjNNMybwulq0cHX_ju8XO5yGlJ49bLtTTvO_N4OaP9OAlQl0-hS3h5Qa0enN47J28rSt8IAGPwlx2ogl_1zsdDR8ALV8wCEd3iH0b7g/s1024/20230210.004.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GvdvsYK__L0f7FgCCt0hcwPdC0czrr7HCOrQOhvfLjTyVTx_C5zkHheybwPTEz5SwwMmmQAREGA6GN1k71hSjNNMybwulq0cHX_ju8XO5yGlJ49bLtTTvO_N4OaP9OAlQl0-hS3h5Qa0enN47J28rSt8IAGPwlx2ogl_1zsdDR8ALV8wCEd3iH0b7g/s16000/20230210.004.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Sketches for T-shirts for various groups and some snippets of my time there as a camp counsellor. <br /></i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">It didn't take time for my peers to find out that I like to draw. Consequently, not only did some of my illustrations ended up in the first yearbook, they were also on T-shirts worn by fellow students. During the summer, I landed a job as a summer science camp counsellor. It was a camp to teach kids about sciences. We went to a couple schools to make some fun demonstrations toward the end of their year and enrolled them in the camps held between Concordia an McGill Universities where they would be introduced to various science based games and challenges. I got to design the T-shirt that year. And later I designed the T-shirt for the Engineers of Tomorrow Conference (EOTC) geared towards encouraging more girls to enrol in engineering degrees. It was fun to see people wearing my art.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I doodled here and there and on rare occasions, I would find time to create more detailed artwork. I didn't save much time for art but I dabbled in the early stages of digital drawings (shown below). My sketchbooks were mostly filled with ideas for posters, yearbook layouts and projects. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnv7-QsIfi9HLLxNdLcg7nnWrEgUmLNm1urMeE0V3MXJ32wWOkttbefzfM_mxH_I3nI_Oo9rEwF1ZRnrgGWhT5eNB-bjBl_x8KD-Qo_qnBa5GVGL6agZ8ZofmuVw1sM0qLt_r5mdmFnsUZiN9TYmGEMtiiE5V5g-Qmvh-HkgohFBZHOCnXCKZxPmMMLg/s1024/20230210.005.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnv7-QsIfi9HLLxNdLcg7nnWrEgUmLNm1urMeE0V3MXJ32wWOkttbefzfM_mxH_I3nI_Oo9rEwF1ZRnrgGWhT5eNB-bjBl_x8KD-Qo_qnBa5GVGL6agZ8ZofmuVw1sM0qLt_r5mdmFnsUZiN9TYmGEMtiiE5V5g-Qmvh-HkgohFBZHOCnXCKZxPmMMLg/s16000/20230210.005.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some sketches and digital drawings during that period of my life. </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">IMPROVING MY ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS </h2><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Concordia was my first time attending an English school. When it took me half a semester to understand that "velocity" meant "speed" in physics class, I knew I needed to improved my english. So I took English Writing classes as an elective, to get more comfortable with the language. Funny how it didn't dawn on me that learning engineering in a different language would make it harder. But I guess I was following the insights from my secondary school director. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the writing classes. They were a nice break from the challenging engineering classes. And as luck would have it, I won a prize in class for an essay competition the teacher had for us. It was a short story about a soldier's mental state after a war reading his journal. I still have it. Maybe I'll share it in the future. It won me a gift certificate to Chapters. But more importantly, taking the english classes helped me become more comfortable with the language. And now, many years later, I mostly communicate in English.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">GETTING READY FOR THE WORLD OF ENGINEERS </h2><div style="text-align: justify;">My four years at Concordia University flew by. I learned a lot, I grew a lot and I changed a lot. Art was still in my life but had taken a back seat. It was time for me to enter the world of engineering as planned. Luckily I met my boss-to-be during one the the social events organized at the University not too long before graduating. So my transition from school to the workforce was relatively smooth. Still, coming from an environment that was so flexible, open and diverse, it took a bit of adjustment for me to adapt to the daily cubicle, the seriousness of the tasks at hand and the new faces and personalities around me. Most of them were much older than me, most of them were French Canadian men, most of them came from French Universities and Technical Colleges. I had a new set of challenges, but working there became my new school, where I continue to grow thanks to my boss at the time, who was probably the most open minded and observant in the firm. I still found ways to remain creative throughout my time as an engineer both at work and outside of work, as you'll see in the next part of this series. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9GElIf5EqwCYfrNnphO4pbZXlBSGg6AMDPR5VH0M7wbQH4eHnlJnaoySWlX-1n1oUsOWvtf2U9A33sd7b9oAmQ9CaXJ5geI_zHoPsKnBMUejyW7zphdS7Lwf8BQxAKckury1VHda7i3nOpqJGwls4-x446TA0aarzZAo2timHffPHqVHeZtw9b0N3w/s1024/20230210.006.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9GElIf5EqwCYfrNnphO4pbZXlBSGg6AMDPR5VH0M7wbQH4eHnlJnaoySWlX-1n1oUsOWvtf2U9A33sd7b9oAmQ9CaXJ5geI_zHoPsKnBMUejyW7zphdS7Lwf8BQxAKckury1VHda7i3nOpqJGwls4-x446TA0aarzZAo2timHffPHqVHeZtw9b0N3w/s16000/20230210.006.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Snippets from graduation, convocation, iron ring ceremony. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-22914945153771526012023-02-03T16:42:00.001-05:002023-02-03T16:42:23.748-05:00Bringing Bioderma to Life: The Art of Live Painting at Product Launch Events<div class="separator"><br /></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3EVSXPjxdWXCMJfuukRxcCm91F-50d3krIqjqXJ8YMAyECPq14fLKc9z1r7yrWBPYPWEAsMj8RyqkZ1swtROj73GW6qQ-8D-jDI-XZ13fIyk4lFVf7uUTJz__Cco8La1MS1UcifP7REngyfVcpZdU4n-Ddw_fnol-sDKUiq8FJBxXongE3EjlWUWlA/s1024/20230203.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3EVSXPjxdWXCMJfuukRxcCm91F-50d3krIqjqXJ8YMAyECPq14fLKc9z1r7yrWBPYPWEAsMj8RyqkZ1swtROj73GW6qQ-8D-jDI-XZ13fIyk4lFVf7uUTJz__Cco8La1MS1UcifP7REngyfVcpZdU4n-Ddw_fnol-sDKUiq8FJBxXongE3EjlWUWlA/s16000/20230203.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Close up on painted bottles I created for some clients. <br /></span></i><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">If you're looking to successfully launch a new product to the public, hire an artist to paint live for your guests. A live painter can bring a unique and visually captivating element to a product launch event. Not only does the process of watching a painting come to life in real-time provide an interactive experience for your guests, but it also enhances brand recognition and serves as a great conversation starter, which encourages more networking and relationship building</span><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">. Once the event ends, the guest leave with a lasting memento, reminding them of the positive experience they had. They are also likely to keep promoting your brand outside of the event and continue to engage with it. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to paint live for </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/biodermacanada/" style="color: #6dc6dd; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">Bioderma</a><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">. </span><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">It was a fun event with great food an entertainment to launch their new product to a group of beauty influencers in the city.</span><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"> My role was to paint on the bottles to beautify them. When I found out that I was going to paint on their bottles, I quickly thought of ideas to complement the minimalist look of the bottle and decided to go with a monochromatic palette of pink and white paints. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">After sending images of a couple ideas to my client, they selected their 4 favourite designs for me to paint on-site. I felt that minimalistic flowers were the best way to beautify the bottle in keeping with their brand. It was an interesting experience to paint with acrylic onsite. I tend to stick to watercolour paints because they are easier to transport and clean. But acrylic paint was better suited for the bottles. It took a little bit more planning as the paint dries relatively fast, but it was also a perk because the guests could go home with a dried paint on their bottles relatively quickly. I’m not sure how many bottles I painted, but I painted for 3 hours straight and barely felt the time passing by. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZ3hvQp-UkKRYev0c4cy59Vo2ZL5_TbeTpR_ial6mROQLJTTmbmDD0UKdBSD5TrF0HLWyLIC_nvNt21VO3zgvrgfEpHTrFKwb_nLnRNEIq65YJ49Fuk1u68iTTetEgNiJOhABeP3DLfSeyGLYmzb9IGPXKSWp5r3OiVoBCgybryv5CEha1XXWIoCLCw/s1024/20230203.002.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZ3hvQp-UkKRYev0c4cy59Vo2ZL5_TbeTpR_ial6mROQLJTTmbmDD0UKdBSD5TrF0HLWyLIC_nvNt21VO3zgvrgfEpHTrFKwb_nLnRNEIq65YJ49Fuk1u68iTTetEgNiJOhABeP3DLfSeyGLYmzb9IGPXKSWp5r3OiVoBCgybryv5CEha1XXWIoCLCw/s16000/20230203.002.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />
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<tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><div style="color: #606060; line-height: 22.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><div>One thing I would do differently next time would be to have some already painted bottles ready for pick up. Although they were relatively quick to paint, I forgot to account for the time spent interacting with the guests. There was a bit of a back up so I had to write down the list of names of the people who wanted a personalized bottle because some didn't have time to wait for their painted bottles. Butt the fact that there was a waiting list with a good amount of guests willing to wait, was a good sign that they really appreciated the personal touch. Many of them also shared their enthusiasm online. </div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img align="center" alt="" class="mcnImage" height="420" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b3ec2fb94c25ce48e02c025a7/images/59f745bb-8def-4dc8-b564-11ce961595c2.jpeg" style="border: 0px; color: black; display: inline; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 640px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Personalized bottles for the guests at the event</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="line-height: 22.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br />The flower designs <span style="text-align: left;">selected for this event </span>were perfect for the bottles. My goal was to create something that would complement their brand. It took a couple minutes for many of the guests to realize that they were hand-painted by me. Many thought, at first sight, that the flowers were part of the original design of the bottle, which was a great compliment. Maybe I should look into collaborating with product companies to paint on their products in the future. </div>
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<tr></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img align="center" alt="" class="mcnImage" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b3ec2fb94c25ce48e02c025a7/images/2cf1571a-f958-4a4d-a829-955ba592e5c1.jpeg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 640px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="564" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some of the other design tests that didn't make the cut<br /><br /></span></i></span><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">If you're planning to launch a product, consider hiring an artist to help. Here's are five reasons why : </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ol><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It will create a unique experience for your guests </span></span></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It will keep your guests engaged and interested </span></span></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It will enhance brand awareness </span></span></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It will provided a great conversation starter</span></span></li><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It will offer your guests a wonderful memento </span></span></li></ol><p></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="mcnImageContent" style="padding: 0px 9px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></td></tr>
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MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comToronto, ON, Canada43.653226 -79.383184315.342992163821151 -114.5394343 71.963459836178842 -44.226934299999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-81014038049284335302023-01-27T12:27:00.004-05:002023-01-27T12:28:20.783-05:00Painting alchemy to expose what's hidden in plain sight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIa5lnGqPDRC1FLQ4HKvK1ObpnF5ahd9uZcaUYx95g0tLWhIa5G6sYhPybrQlI29ZHIvqbutDvi42W-ueXVB1IclkOhrwQmHzifqv5UgWzad-5MVNI2vCQDN9Ese32D7_84mIdXii8g_3/s800/W10-20200301.001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIa5lnGqPDRC1FLQ4HKvK1ObpnF5ahd9uZcaUYx95g0tLWhIa5G6sYhPybrQlI29ZHIvqbutDvi42W-ueXVB1IclkOhrwQmHzifqv5UgWzad-5MVNI2vCQDN9Ese32D7_84mIdXii8g_3/d/W10-20200301.001.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">If you pay close attention, you'll discover that we're immersed in a world of symbols and subliminal messages every seconds of every day. Many of these symbols come from centuries of cultural beliefs and practices from all over the world and I find them fascinating. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Back at the beginning of 2020, before the whole world was essentially turned upside down, I was inspired to start a new series of paintings around the four classical elements : Fire, Air, Water and Earth. I love to dive deep into unconventional topics and discover the meanings behind every day symbols and wanted to explore how the elements impact us through my art. I find art to be a great teacher, allowing me to see more than meets the eyes and love sharing that with others who are also interested in these topics. The more I look into it, the more I discover fascinating connections between us and our environment. </p><div><p style="text-align: justify;">It all started when it dawned on me that my cloud paintings were visual representations of thoughts and the intellect. It felt aligned with the astrological belief that the element of air represents the intellect. If each elements represents an aspect of us, what more could I find out about them through my paintings? This was essentially the premise for me to start a new art series. One thing I learned from doing some research is that the elements are represented in playing cards and tarot cards. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li><b>The element of air</b> is represented by swords in the tarot and the spade symbol in playing cards. Its alchemical symbol is a triangle with a horizontal line crossing it. Air represents the mind. </li></ul><ul><li><b>The element of fire </b>is represented by the wands in the tarot and the club symbol in playing cards. Its alchemical symbol is a simple triangle. Fire represents the soul. </li></ul><ul><li><b>The element of water </b>is represented by cups in the tarot and the heart symbol in playing cards. Its alchemical symbol is an inverted triangle. Water represents emotions. </li></ul><ul><li><b>The element of earth </b>is represented by coins in the tarot and the diamond symbol in playing cards. Its alchemical symbol is an inverted triangle with a line crossing it. Earth represents the body. </li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5d9aT1gjhrbbZc-x16J2nZHIkvyrzLLF9aXWXV2eYnXOGsJEU4cOESDYNsxKyEscjoN4UKT857sSXasBWRGy_jLbmbzwbHf4uzI2HCuxm8lAYg_KZHltFrBNy75q-UOuA34FT1zKhEK9EYvNAdvpwvDfaZDrB0ps3pG29SVex8x1Q5Hr_gtCVxpkpA/s1024/20230128.002.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5d9aT1gjhrbbZc-x16J2nZHIkvyrzLLF9aXWXV2eYnXOGsJEU4cOESDYNsxKyEscjoN4UKT857sSXasBWRGy_jLbmbzwbHf4uzI2HCuxm8lAYg_KZHltFrBNy75q-UOuA34FT1zKhEK9EYvNAdvpwvDfaZDrB0ps3pG29SVex8x1Q5Hr_gtCVxpkpA/s16000/20230128.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Ace cards from The Hermetic Tarot Dect<br /></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgryJz5emdxXsr49Y0vIxzpEg6QEfNDM3WFuAMdrh37JO4E9KLo5mncjJxK8Q65KE5wkSxHgWFGORqTt-MVtTFliFBhwcBXXTbkZ-F29oaeCnld9u1nGMqXvA-wPOIw5G4yjyKHeKRrPy72Pr7DKHKgBEifqy5mE1oRv58t734QBAufE82H8T8EvriQ/s1024/20230128.003.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgryJz5emdxXsr49Y0vIxzpEg6QEfNDM3WFuAMdrh37JO4E9KLo5mncjJxK8Q65KE5wkSxHgWFGORqTt-MVtTFliFBhwcBXXTbkZ-F29oaeCnld9u1nGMqXvA-wPOIw5G4yjyKHeKRrPy72Pr7DKHKgBEifqy5mE1oRv58t734QBAufE82H8T8EvriQ/s16000/20230128.003.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Ace cards from the Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck<br /></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTGPKUj7izaxausk863Vw1N5fVIP4XrcJJ93C2FoVk76n-UPudYDOXuAh3e47JEyxS_msP9qJABJIaXXO2yWboCrnwWwBZbnlNeDZWS6sUFFtuaeoE4xYLhFfSenJHtI-5CkI47wiXBYQnaKhJjWj56X3BOvYqSFrLacd0H-YiAe-n4W3KAGe01U1hA/s1024/20230128.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTGPKUj7izaxausk863Vw1N5fVIP4XrcJJ93C2FoVk76n-UPudYDOXuAh3e47JEyxS_msP9qJABJIaXXO2yWboCrnwWwBZbnlNeDZWS6sUFFtuaeoE4xYLhFfSenJHtI-5CkI47wiXBYQnaKhJjWj56X3BOvYqSFrLacd0H-YiAe-n4W3KAGe01U1hA/s16000/20230128.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Ace reinterpretation paintings from my elemental series<br /></span></i><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;">With that in mind, I sought out to recreate the four Aces found in tarot and playing cards through my art. The aces, from my current research and understanding, represent a beginning. In the traditional tarot card, a hand is typically present, as you can see in the sample tarot cards below. So I reinterpreted them by creating images where my hand would be "holding" each of the elements in suspension and came up with the four elemental paintings shown below. </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">There's something fascinating about the fact that the four elements are at the foundation of many cultural, philosophical, spiritual and healing practices all over the world. And I can't help but think that if it's prevalent in so many practices, there's something valuable to learn from this. Which is what I sought out to find out and will be sharing with you in future posts. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oDwfvYwXf0Q65Z6-XhHw7KkFp5NmJdV2jVz1aAK3rUe1oKvaQtZEOuugyUjGtObtoQ9bb0_AQWo9B-8kYExWvryCOIDVGwOtLi3ogpWulJg052JdY-DHOYmULvtvah52iE52ljjsqij5949Qe-tfO7lTsb-FjXL4Nedk2mlmAfClQzWSs5R6SF1GhQ/s1024/20230128.004.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oDwfvYwXf0Q65Z6-XhHw7KkFp5NmJdV2jVz1aAK3rUe1oKvaQtZEOuugyUjGtObtoQ9bb0_AQWo9B-8kYExWvryCOIDVGwOtLi3ogpWulJg052JdY-DHOYmULvtvah52iE52ljjsqij5949Qe-tfO7lTsb-FjXL4Nedk2mlmAfClQzWSs5R6SF1GhQ/s16000/20230128.004.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Get your own copy of these alchemical paintings on Society6 here : <b><a href="https://society6.com/product/ace-of-fire_framed-mini-art-print" target="_blank">Fire</a>, <a href="https://society6.com/product/ace-of-air_framed-mini-art-print?sku=s6-25790798p114a265v873a266v876" target="_blank">Air</a>, <a href="https://society6.com/product/ace-of-water_framed-mini-art-print?sku=s6-25790869p114a265v873a266v876" target="_blank">Water</a>, <a href="https://society6.com/product/ace-of-earth7718034_framed-mini-art-print?sku=s6-25790952p114a265v873a266v876" target="_blank">Earth</a></b></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-3903850667595264692023-01-21T17:34:00.002-05:002023-02-17T18:02:32.638-05:00MY JOURNEY (PART 3) : Choosing the Hard Path<p><i>* See Part 2 <a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2022/12/my-journey-part-2.html" target="_blank">here</a> </i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyReOwNU_uBc8DSKeKS-xNWGAj5fKd1jPq1ZCRhQOEDglajkJBIi_XUaTn8eyXi5R906tEw0lDen22rVqY1SMV1vOWuu1DhiDMz0dAVUzaAM8ay-tNt_pNAaLer4FkOoV97k7CZkjSIZ8AjByDNcxKYS7T2GPgFWOMnLv_Z5wxJh0EzoLPYXGx1aYMA/s1020/20230107.001.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="1020" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyReOwNU_uBc8DSKeKS-xNWGAj5fKd1jPq1ZCRhQOEDglajkJBIi_XUaTn8eyXi5R906tEw0lDen22rVqY1SMV1vOWuu1DhiDMz0dAVUzaAM8ay-tNt_pNAaLer4FkOoV97k7CZkjSIZ8AjByDNcxKYS7T2GPgFWOMnLv_Z5wxJh0EzoLPYXGx1aYMA/w640-h364/20230107.001.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some rare photos during my </span></i><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">college</span></i><i><span style="color: #ea9999;"> years</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h2>STEPPING INTO A NEW ENVIRONMENT </h2><p style="text-align: justify;">When I graduated from secondary school, the director gave my friend and I the following unexpected advice: <span style="text-align: right;"><b>"When you have to choose between what's hard and what's easy, always pick what's hard."</b> </span>At the time, we were a bit confused, but for some reason, I took that advice to heart and it influenced the decisions I made following graduation. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Quebec's education system, there's a two-year period between secondary school and university where students start to focus on a specific field for their chosen career. I had to decide between pursuing a career in Pure and Applied Sciences to become an architect, which I perceived as hard, or pursuing a career in fine arts, which I perceived as easy.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After applying to a couple of colleges, I ended up enrolling in a private college that was only open to boys at the secondary level, but open to both boys and girls at the college level. This was a completely different and challenging environment for me. It didn't feel as open and welcoming as my previous school. It had an old boys' club vibe and felt very segregated. But, I still managed to find my footing, make friends with a diverse group of great people, and reserve space for my creativity despite the obstacles. These two years taught me a lot about perseverance, adaptability, and finding the silver linings. </p><div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">FLIRTING WITH VISUAL ARTS</h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Just like in my previous school, I found ways to integrate art into my life through any opportunity that presented itself. I took elective classes in fine arts, where I first got to experience life drawing, working in an atelier-style studio, and trying new mediums. I absolutely loved it and I think I did a relatively good job at it. I also continued to improve my drawing skills by sketching classmates and random cartoons when I needed a break from studying. Art was always a stress relief from life's challenges and mentally demanding science classes.</p><h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviCKFqIpVE6f8DOPhM1D9rx2k7ISvp2qrGRiyFNeaMaIzwUidkn-4V3s3j4xw6unKnLELcn6nECV4bA_Okhw6Rtdd6r52qOyq1uu0DuWwFxkiIn5YYSIGJv7KwrKACFN6VxU0dyhTUWpELoY7_vA5l39YaQ-dnlQFHQhl90oC8SwqhJscsEKEH9wY2w/s1024/20230107.002.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviCKFqIpVE6f8DOPhM1D9rx2k7ISvp2qrGRiyFNeaMaIzwUidkn-4V3s3j4xw6unKnLELcn6nECV4bA_Okhw6Rtdd6r52qOyq1uu0DuWwFxkiIn5YYSIGJv7KwrKACFN6VxU0dyhTUWpELoY7_vA5l39YaQ-dnlQFHQhl90oC8SwqhJscsEKEH9wY2w/s16000/20230107.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some work from my college art classes <br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></h3></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2AcQn0R9dpm2y-ARkysvRmy63yZCjMPBw6NLzb6DAc4-cX36t9NPIwRysRmqbY6iyb9ANRgCNRuSFnCiU4qKZXZl0sqSGW99Zuxav_Jcz0RanS2T_MViJZS3GYL2-FMyvw_czZ6rWvbyYWZn4jbTC_WwD-rBzsu2vrHjSs1Ow8WuccSJ9EcMMAmhww/s1024/20230107.004.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2AcQn0R9dpm2y-ARkysvRmy63yZCjMPBw6NLzb6DAc4-cX36t9NPIwRysRmqbY6iyb9ANRgCNRuSFnCiU4qKZXZl0sqSGW99Zuxav_Jcz0RanS2T_MViJZS3GYL2-FMyvw_czZ6rWvbyYWZn4jbTC_WwD-rBzsu2vrHjSs1Ow8WuccSJ9EcMMAmhww/s16000/20230107.004.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Doodles in my school planner</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">During school breaks, I took the time to create more detailed drawings and to practice what I learned in art classes. One of my favourite piece was a rendition of Venom, a cartoon character, I made for my brother, shown below. I even talked with a friend about starting our own comic series during the summer break. We got as far as exchanging letters with teachers and illustrators at reputable art schools, but "proper school" life got in the way. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPdl6h0x9j7huv3ENgvAnXE1O1Blxd6-Q-EnMY4ArUw-zeLdxTLtyOhVgMkbaPEN0y2MHTRM38q3g1JK0iFUJYtdAm8--vLzKgIkyKSPZl45xcNBnFHNWi2pkLxIP6P6OL5TO_--5XSAeuQGl04FGvrzRmlA2bPq5nu3XCO3EAR-ZVrULiu9Zm8tzDg/s1024/20230107.003.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPdl6h0x9j7huv3ENgvAnXE1O1Blxd6-Q-EnMY4ArUw-zeLdxTLtyOhVgMkbaPEN0y2MHTRM38q3g1JK0iFUJYtdAm8--vLzKgIkyKSPZl45xcNBnFHNWi2pkLxIP6P6OL5TO_--5XSAeuQGl04FGvrzRmlA2bPq5nu3XCO3EAR-ZVrULiu9Zm8tzDg/s16000/20230107.003.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Various drawing made in class or while on break </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">RECEIVING SOME RECOGNITION </h2><p style="text-align: justify;">I participated to a few art contests and won a prize for an illustration I created for the school literary journal. I was also nominated for the 8th Annual YTV Achievement Awards in the Visual Arts Category. But one of my most surprising wins was when I received a full scholarship to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Instruction_Schools">Art Instruction Schools</a> in Minneapolis, right as I was finishing college and starting University. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Art Instruction Schools' program had a study-from-home format. They would send me a box of all the tools, workbooks and instruction manual I needed to complete the homework, along with cassette tapes of the lessons. I would send the homework back via mail and they would send the graded homework along with comments recorded on tapes, and the next set of homework. I did very well and really enjoyed learning from the school. However, I think I saw it more as a stress relief and break from my studies in sciences. I may have also been hesitant to fully commit to art as a career at the time, as I wanted to ensure that I would have a stable job. Everything went smoothly and I was able to maintain my "double student life" until it got to be too much. Soon after receiving a special award for being one of their best students, I stopped working on it and never completed the program. I chose what I thought was the so-called hard path - focusing on my studies in sciences to ensure a secure career, but I still kept art close by. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjkQvu1MB2LuojZms9P-fRvPHq3WFh1KfnB4MPos5J851XbQUdeyvzo-fVzH2UMjoSUZuekwhG9MYawWSUoXLLOpQZbSMD7PG9-3DGrIDAPsYwUcC5FR6O_UC0Ws29IpdJxvp6Z8qhCwUumAXTBCSplKDApIhRC_0LFsF8mCEdCZTaMUkDCsgrHjpwQ/s1024/20230107.005.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjkQvu1MB2LuojZms9P-fRvPHq3WFh1KfnB4MPos5J851XbQUdeyvzo-fVzH2UMjoSUZuekwhG9MYawWSUoXLLOpQZbSMD7PG9-3DGrIDAPsYwUcC5FR6O_UC0Ws29IpdJxvp6Z8qhCwUumAXTBCSplKDApIhRC_0LFsF8mCEdCZTaMUkDCsgrHjpwQ/s16000/20230107.005.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Awards and homework from the school<br /><br /></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><br /></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>HITTING GRAPHIC DESIGN ROAD BLOCK</b></h2><h4 style="text-align: justify;">THE EXCLUSIVE YEARBOOK CLUB</h4><p style="text-align: justify;">When I first joined the college, I was eager to make new connections and become involved in school activities. Since I had previously been a part of my high school's yearbook committee for three years and had gained a lot of experience in that area, I thought my skills and passion would be beneficial for the college's yearbook committee, but I was wrong. The committee was very cliquey and not really open to 'newcomers' like me. As a result, I didn't work on that skill much during my time there and focused on other opportunities instead.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>THE NON-NURTURING PROGRAMMING CLUB</b></h4><p style="text-align: justify;">I also had an interest in programming because I saw the connection between complex math, programming and creativity. I was fascinated by the idea that understanding certain mathematical formulas could make a computer create all kinds of shapes. Despite the classes being challenging, I was actually eager to learn. Unfortunately, once again, it was not a welcoming space for someone like me. I looked like the exact opposite of the majority of the students (and most teachers) in these classes. Not every teacher were politically correct, some were shamelessly proponents of that boys club mentality. And perhaps the competitive old school boys club mentality of that particular school did not help either. When we were given an extra challenged of programming the solar system, I was fascinated by this challenge and wanted to know more and try it out as well. But, my attempts to ask the teacher for more help were quickly shut down. I noticed that he would spend ample time with the boys engaging in random chit-chats but reluctantly gave me the bare minimum when I finally got a chance to ask my question : The you-don't-need-to-do-this-to-pass-the-class kind of reply. So I had to hold-off on that aspect until a bit later in life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><b>FINDING THE SILVER LINING IN PERFORMING ARTS</b></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">After graduating from secondary school, I made a decision to not let my shyness hold me back anymore. I realized that it was not only depriving me of enjoyable experiences, but it was also too self-centered. I didn't want to change who I was, but I didn't want to suppress my natural impulses based on fear of what others might think. I realized that most people didn't care as much as I thought they did and I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to try new things and to have a little more fun.
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With that in mind, I took a theatre class. However, I was the only person of color in the group and the roles I was given and the feedback I received from my classmates had undertones of discrimination. Even though it was something I was curious about, I felt the environment was not conducive to my personal growth or mental health. So I shut that door pretty quickly as well. Instead of being a part of it, I spent more time watching student theatre and improv shows.
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On the other hand, I made friends with a very social and extroverted student who was a huge fan of fashion and he invited me to collaborate on the choreography of the models/dancers for the school's fashion show. It was such a fun time and it definitely helped me come out of my shell without having to deal with the pressures of being in the spotlight. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9rKtH7nbOaBV9obGmAInDrWFvLh2dRbMgzE08EpBknUlRSwVr-TQUxsOKiwR2UuPQtJREwX3UtLp7lekrdcDPLyRyodoJAEfnIVEDk8frcmjDlct3sGy3FkuT1YAtSmfVCoWsU_s-5O3VTeiV8dX7DMQoXVm1e_RhaucTExdHh_C-Z5dilBiNBHmsQ/s1024/20230107.006.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9rKtH7nbOaBV9obGmAInDrWFvLh2dRbMgzE08EpBknUlRSwVr-TQUxsOKiwR2UuPQtJREwX3UtLp7lekrdcDPLyRyodoJAEfnIVEDk8frcmjDlct3sGy3FkuT1YAtSmfVCoWsU_s-5O3VTeiV8dX7DMQoXVm1e_RhaucTExdHh_C-Z5dilBiNBHmsQ/s16000/20230107.006.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Some photos of the final fashion show<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;">GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH PUBLIC SPEAKING</h2><p style="text-align: justify;">I always gravitate towards discussion clubs and tend to end up organizing something. It seems to come naturally. One of my first experiences with public speaking was when I joined the science club in college, where we would bring in guest speakers to talk on various topics during lunchtime. At that time, I wasn't comfortable enough with the environment to do the speaking in front of an audience, but I still dipped my toes into it. It was always satisfying to know that we made a positive difference in the students' lives by expanding their perspectives. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I also joined a small discussion group where we explored religious and spiritual themes. It was the first time that I felt I was allowed to ask difficult questions and explore various beliefs rather than just accepting what was fed to us previously in religious classes. It allowed me to expand my critical thinking and philosophical mind without guilt. This little group helped me start to find my own path and engage with the world in a way that is more in line with what I believe, rather than what I thought would make others feel comfortable.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">CREATING MY FIRST ART PROUCT</b></h2><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwY5X3rbSklJx99YsskTJVAkdjiIDTnkLkRpRDKJH2UUKgJ96OCa0XEWFPUY9pPL6yeMRM5BDuQd9FoVFCFBUOwLFXtUoGpAqsDwSi_KK4OSXYDtx-no39gPlaT3QYar8MTwvFE74mVDdAzP3WhdBvFIwNqbcnXYaXD1gXimfCyhGdrUw0DRsAVl1wPA/s1024/20230107.007.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwY5X3rbSklJx99YsskTJVAkdjiIDTnkLkRpRDKJH2UUKgJ96OCa0XEWFPUY9pPL6yeMRM5BDuQd9FoVFCFBUOwLFXtUoGpAqsDwSi_KK4OSXYDtx-no39gPlaT3QYar8MTwvFE74mVDdAzP3WhdBvFIwNqbcnXYaXD1gXimfCyhGdrUw0DRsAVl1wPA/s16000/20230107.007.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>My first colouring book for kids over the holidays<br /></i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">I had many ideas for new projects, and I did my best, with what I had, to turn some of them into reality. It didn't happen as often as I would like since it would distract me from my main goal of getting a "good education", but one project that materialized was the creation of a coloring book for kids. Since I was drawing all the time, I thought, why not create a coloring book to keep the kids busy over the holidays. So I created a series of line drawings and had them copied and bound into a booklet. I was able to sell a couple of them to parents of kids that were in the same age range as my younger brother. It gave me a glimpse of what was possible, a spark, but unfortunately, I didn't have the support I needed to keep the fire going. So, after one round of selling a couple of coloring books, I moved on to other projects.</p><div style="text-align: justify;">
I wish I knew then that it would have been worth it to stick with it and keep evolving the product I had created. I didn't know this project didn't need an expiration date. And since my parents were not entrepreneurial, they didn't know to encourage me to continue with this idea or to connect me with a mentor. Nevertheless, the seed had been planted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">GETTING READY FOR UNIVERSITY </h2><div style="text-align: justify;">Upon graduation from college, I applied to four universities: McGill University for architecture, Concordia University for engineering, the University of Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique for engineering, and the University of Montreal for landscape architecture.
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My top choice was to study architecture at McGill, but it was highly competitive and I didn't get accepted. While I was interested in landscape architecture, it didn't appeal to me as much. The atmosphere at Ecole Polytechnique reminded me too much of the same "boys club" environment I had just experienced and I didn't want to spend four years in that kind of atmosphere.
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On the other hand, Concordia University felt welcoming and diverse as soon as I set foot on campus. My original plan was to attend for a year and then reapply to McGill, but once I got in at Concordia, I felt that I was in the right place with the right people. I was able to continue to develop my creative skills as an engineering student, as you'll find out in the next entry of this creative journey.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQCVZFVvgdF4AVmfTykSZ7egNkFPX7Bz4CAKoLe-ioSEEcOy3AogpEXUqDfHxJm4O0fdm0OuG7hODlyVfWKveoK4fucY8HYYi1bat2HlkyURQEezQnZfA-Caqz274_Fv5p9hC0HSZu0JycLIcdFU-XE9z8SBJAAOrvbQfHpzKUJ_sj7MnOFIBYdNdMA/s1020/20230107.008.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="1020" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQCVZFVvgdF4AVmfTykSZ7egNkFPX7Bz4CAKoLe-ioSEEcOy3AogpEXUqDfHxJm4O0fdm0OuG7hODlyVfWKveoK4fucY8HYYi1bat2HlkyURQEezQnZfA-Caqz274_Fv5p9hC0HSZu0JycLIcdFU-XE9z8SBJAAOrvbQfHpzKUJ_sj7MnOFIBYdNdMA/s16000/20230107.008.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Going to Concordia University</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-84169820742065257772023-01-09T14:36:00.001-05:002023-01-09T14:37:22.381-05:00The Ugly Phase: How to Keep Going When Your Creative Project Isn't Looking Its Best<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Qv6gA4AVTWj8mXt2AyIUssxfkK8thbNHm_GMJJUT5hvtD-bhiYJm7C9DeVwSIjTNpLZZ3j18vZw4sSIjTWLRaWvO8R2MJ5K-_MjTZj3QxfOWZ-DxSk-z2al5VWCkAdxDfPN68FCjqLhy6BiCy9EdKmm7VqNpS_1lSu2GRg1fvBVwMxlR74l27EcNCQ/s720/20230108.001.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Qv6gA4AVTWj8mXt2AyIUssxfkK8thbNHm_GMJJUT5hvtD-bhiYJm7C9DeVwSIjTNpLZZ3j18vZw4sSIjTWLRaWvO8R2MJ5K-_MjTZj3QxfOWZ-DxSk-z2al5VWCkAdxDfPN68FCjqLhy6BiCy9EdKmm7VqNpS_1lSu2GRg1fvBVwMxlR74l27EcNCQ/s16000/20230108.001.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Various phases of the painting thus far.<br /></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;">When <a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2022/07/a-new-blank-canvas.html">I first started to work on this large canvas a couple months ago</a>, I was mostly filled with excitement and anticipation for what the final product would look like. This new blank canvas represented a new chapter in my life - an opportunity to create a new story about love. At first, it started well. Painting over the old picture felt symbolic, adding some lyrics from a personal poem felt cathartic, and sketching the couple over it felt inspiring. But as I added paint and played with different colours and proportions, things started to feel frustrating. It just wasn't looking as great as I had imagined. The colours were off, and turning the figures into clouds looked clumsy. The more I worked on it, the more if felt like a mess. I was entering the "ugly phase" and it was testing me. Should I keep going or change direction? </p><div style="text-align: justify;">After too many frustrating brushstrokes, I decided to adjust my direction. I intuitively painted over the entire canvas using various shades of pink, and a heart "appeared" at its center. But then, I wasn't sure which direction to take it in next. "Now what?" I felt unsure about my ability to bring my original vision to life, so the canvas sat untouched on my table for weeks. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV_qpH2Tbht_olktTPZEJycDT-9qaOWrrXWmxeQrMEJEEokfWB18MrTetG07ewFSdzPnjpbvEIUB7zGguqEr9lMtnL0ZK04GBaDfZBnmCLM9nQi65O6APkJjoEG1o9dYn9M7TAy_0A_f2Q5Q77F1crprLyJ7ZBV7DOgsmfK0-m-CK7QDXv7elhLgPlw/s720/20230108.002.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="725" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV_qpH2Tbht_olktTPZEJycDT-9qaOWrrXWmxeQrMEJEEokfWB18MrTetG07ewFSdzPnjpbvEIUB7zGguqEr9lMtnL0ZK04GBaDfZBnmCLM9nQi65O6APkJjoEG1o9dYn9M7TAy_0A_f2Q5Q77F1crprLyJ7ZBV7DOgsmfK0-m-CK7QDXv7elhLgPlw/s16000/20230108.002.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Multiple shades of pink featuring the abstract heart shape in the middle</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Eventually, I decided to emphasize the abstract heart shape and turn it into a heart-shaped cloud. Not long after that, I saw a post on my feed of someone who had captured a picture of a cloud in the shape of a heart. I took it as a sign and let the canvas sit untouched for a bit longer. Then, a random impulse got me to retrace the embracing couple on the canvas using chalk, just to see how they would fit. And so the painting sat untouched for a couple more weeks. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, I recently felt the pull to continue working on that painting again, despite my fear of it not looking right. Even though the project is still in its "ugly phase," I had to remind myself that slow progress is still progress. My low-hanging fruit this time was to clear my space and clean my paint palettes, so I was ready for the next creative impulse. It's not much, but it makes a difference. It removed an excuse not to paint. Also, focusing on the next small steps, instead of projecting too far into the future with big expectations, is the way to keep momentum going and feel a lot less overwhelmed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfHDqm3SlxeL3NwjO31ni7SaIVPVeDrRWx3F9Iyg_3BKwT1E2moVAKLwsj0xDLe5T7EVuEE5LyDA4STA5TQngVWha8srBxrgaTlX1Wmwk0PCXcPJ5cuZRRmJs-WwTnRfVAtxUVkP_V4_whckd6312JKnNjlURGZ61rHt2yY31OMVkEfV9NZ--fXYZGA/s720/20230108.003.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfHDqm3SlxeL3NwjO31ni7SaIVPVeDrRWx3F9Iyg_3BKwT1E2moVAKLwsj0xDLe5T7EVuEE5LyDA4STA5TQngVWha8srBxrgaTlX1Wmwk0PCXcPJ5cuZRRmJs-WwTnRfVAtxUVkP_V4_whckd6312JKnNjlURGZ61rHt2yY31OMVkEfV9NZ--fXYZGA/s16000/20230108.003.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Early stages of the heart-shaped cloud</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Working on this project has been (and still is) a rollercoaster of emotions, from excitement and inspiration to frustration and disappointment. But ultimately, it is helping me grow as a person and is teaching me the importance of taking action despite my fears and sticking with something, especially when it gets tough. There have been (and still are) many moments of self-doubt where my critical inner voice has tried to sabotage my efforts by injecting fears of failure. But I keep reminding myself that either way, there's something to gained from persevering and learning throughout the process. Besides, I can always paint over it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One quote that tends to help me in these situations comes from an interview I heard with Ed Sheeran, talking about writing music - another form of art. He said that it "is like turning on a tap in an old house; first you'll get the mud and dirty water, but the more you get it out, the quicker the good water starts flowing." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are struggling to make progress on a project you care about, I encourage you to keep going. Get through the ugly phase, no matter how long it takes, so you can get to what inspired you to start in the first place. Slow progress is still progress, and with time and effort, you can bring your vision to life. That's what I'll keep doing this year as well. </div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-39578307779901233722022-12-27T16:41:00.001-05:002022-12-27T16:41:24.946-05:00How can visual artists ride the AI wave coming their way? <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk637YCt6ruJkyX5N7-rn_L7urI2by0tce2uT6JTZzNl7o6X6M9vwmtDsVwYdzZe0W0VixNDkLaXU5TK1scqxfDTDoGlZNw-DL1p3VLFFxc8bTLi1fUlhjyY8srFJbVkS2_QAdlvqD_zjrZjN1VNF1bEFDVkWGuQNtgHd0bCyGpJwZ4mUcUOs91CzRvA/s1024/M2JL_tsunami_of_light_flooding_a_city_futuristic_look_f18d8ca6-2fec-421d-8165-fc74c58b19dc.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk637YCt6ruJkyX5N7-rn_L7urI2by0tce2uT6JTZzNl7o6X6M9vwmtDsVwYdzZe0W0VixNDkLaXU5TK1scqxfDTDoGlZNw-DL1p3VLFFxc8bTLi1fUlhjyY8srFJbVkS2_QAdlvqD_zjrZjN1VNF1bEFDVkWGuQNtgHd0bCyGpJwZ4mUcUOs91CzRvA/w640-h640/M2JL_tsunami_of_light_flooding_a_city_futuristic_look_f18d8ca6-2fec-421d-8165-fc74c58b19dc.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tsunami in a City by me with Midjourney</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AI is coming towards us like a tsunami. Over the past couple weeks, I've seen the beginning of the changes that are going to disrupt a lot of industries really fast. We're just at the beginning of seeing machines taking over tasks like creating art, writing articles, editing videos, helping customers with their issues, generating virtual models to sell products, coding more eficiently, and more. This reminds me of the story of the industrial revolution. The only difference is that the rate of growth of the AI revolution will be at least 10 times faster. I wouldn't be surprised if the end of 2023 looks completely different from today. </div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">You probably heard of some of the controversies regarding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html" target="_blank">the first AI-generated artwork to have won a fine art competition just a couple of months ago</a>. The winner's artwork was created using word prompts on the Midjourney platform. He then had it printed on canvas to showcased it at a fair and won a prize for it. Not everyone was happy about his win and this sparked a heated debate online with valid points on both sides. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">More recently, over the past couple weeks, there's been a viral trend of people using a new app called <a href="https://land.prisma-ai.com/magic-avatars/" target="_blank">Magic Avatar</a> by Lensa which sparked even more controversy, notably in terms of copyright infringement issues since the AI creates art based on existing artwork from artists online. There are even instances where the signature of the original artists are still visible within the AI produced artwork. The app owner get paid while the artist is not. Consequently, the way that this change is handled over the next couple week will have a serious impact on the lives of many artists. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrCNIA2x8ezDrSnLgEU22nbHasPU3mJRouVSonltPcCwh4RFHQXYEyGwVXCRbAbUgIodIDQnxjN1jAi1di3oMjj0f6pUO8wUThA_L2JqqRX_DTJIQWfzxJ_dfSjZ0xnoYDLAEkagxWO3Um41Z-NFb-e818x8aIoiuzZNhp__UTEq7ZXSZX-W5SKAbjg/s729/M2JL_tsunami_of_light_flooding_a_city_futuristic_look_98c64ded-0657-4187-b93a-ade18699d0da.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="729" height="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrCNIA2x8ezDrSnLgEU22nbHasPU3mJRouVSonltPcCwh4RFHQXYEyGwVXCRbAbUgIodIDQnxjN1jAi1di3oMjj0f6pUO8wUThA_L2JqqRX_DTJIQWfzxJ_dfSjZ0xnoYDLAEkagxWO3Um41Z-NFb-e818x8aIoiuzZNhp__UTEq7ZXSZX-W5SKAbjg/w640-h640/M2JL_tsunami_of_light_flooding_a_city_futuristic_look_98c64ded-0657-4187-b93a-ade18699d0da.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variations from my Tsunami in the City artwork with Midjourney</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Still, like it or not, AI is most likely here to not only stay but it's going to continue to progress. That being said, it doesn't have to be destructive. The same way it's possible to trace the origin of NFTs to ensure the original artist gets compensated, it should be possible to trace the original artists of the artwork on platforms like Lensa and compensate them accordingly. Only time will tell if it's something people are willing to integrate. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the mean time, it would be wise for artists to consider where they want to position themselves in order to ride that AI wave as much as possible instead of getting drowned by it. It's something that I've been pondering on and will probably continue to do for a while. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><b style="text-align: left;">My experience with AI</b></h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLXOTsKZGmBjf9Bb-iHk2UEe9V2mGnmykDO5_N5e0Pu-_xc_1DE1dIuVKlXaIJ3-rI6c5pkQdiPpOviZ5Sy8Ma6pKOUSx-7VKLEzteWnz8S3Xh8QxfLdaOkLDW-G9iXxSdaB0lZVxm5zhB1oac5AMH-vPp_050neK4_fHyvbBN4FuyyKFGw4Hkcpi3A/s1024/20221227.001.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="1024" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLXOTsKZGmBjf9Bb-iHk2UEe9V2mGnmykDO5_N5e0Pu-_xc_1DE1dIuVKlXaIJ3-rI6c5pkQdiPpOviZ5Sy8Ma6pKOUSx-7VKLEzteWnz8S3Xh8QxfLdaOkLDW-G9iXxSdaB0lZVxm5zhB1oac5AMH-vPp_050neK4_fHyvbBN4FuyyKFGw4Hkcpi3A/w640-h208/20221227.001.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variations of my concept with AI </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this year, I started to dabble with platforms like Midjourney looking for opportunities to collaborate. <span style="text-align: left;">One of the ways I experimented with AI was to help me generate a concept for a call for artist earlier this year. The kind of call that requires us to design a concept before getting selected. I tend to avoid these calls, but I figured it could be a great way to save time putting the rough ideas and colours together rather than doing all the research myself, putting things together and sketching them out. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The project was for a mural for a local Shaolin School. I was interested because it aligns with my philosophy of life in general when it comes to the spiritual aspect of martial art, zen philosophies and meditation. I had a rough idea of what I wanted it to feel and look like. I focused on the feeling I wanted to create and of course included some signature cloud aspects to the proposed design. After fiddling with the AI generator, trying to find the right words to represent what was in my mind, I finally got something to work with that fit my style : A minimalist floating monk meditating in a calming mostly green colour scheme and accented orange outfit as a focal point. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">From there I was able to roughly demonstrate where everything would be placed in the space and what each wall would look like. I then added that model on top of a photo of the walls top paint and created the artwork around it to give an overview of what the space would look and feel like. I was quite happy with the results shown below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_gtjVwZUYWKk_6sWLnC9YDC9Xyv-1nvcQv5VM8B28gkgckiRiRS7m2uYOIb14xW4Ig-DK42ie5PRG9elHmX-tFnksDzMdUcK1auK12URgBzL1w5NhCk7ISslTtsT2Rkiv4S-oUmXSBteLEw51o1sfqVdl3uG52p7CPs-9dBSER6FP7UNW5sBqPvaXw/s1024/BeforeAfter.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="1024" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_gtjVwZUYWKk_6sWLnC9YDC9Xyv-1nvcQv5VM8B28gkgckiRiRS7m2uYOIb14xW4Ig-DK42ie5PRG9elHmX-tFnksDzMdUcK1auK12URgBzL1w5NhCk7ISslTtsT2Rkiv4S-oUmXSBteLEw51o1sfqVdl3uG52p7CPs-9dBSER6FP7UNW5sBqPvaXw/w640-h444/BeforeAfter.001.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Because of my interior design background, it was important to me that the colours on the wall be complementary to the colors of the existing space. The door had to remain red as was going to get refurbished to look like the ancient door, which clearly make it a focal point, so I felt that a nice green would be the best color and the floating monk would be a nice secondary focal point leading toward the door. Upon further inspection of the space, visitors would be able to see silhouettes of shaolin monks performing various exercise poses (you can see one on the right of the door). </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Although I got great reviews from this proposal as you can read on their blog (<a href="https://www.stqitoronto.com/index.php/shaolin-zen-mural-third-place-winner">https://www.stqitoronto.com/index.php/shaolin-zen-mural-third-place-winner</a>) I won the 3rd place, which means another artist got to create the mural. Although I wish I would have won, I'm quite happy with the concept I created and that I didn't spend a huge amount of time creating a piece that didn't get selected. That was one benefit from using the help of AI. There are many more but here are 5 to get you started : </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">5 ways AI-generated art can be beneficial to visual artists : </h2><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ol><li><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Generative ar</b></span><span style="text-align: left;"><b>t</b>: AI can be used to generate original artworks, either by creating images from scratch or by manipulating and altering existing images. This can allow artists to explore new styles and techniques that might be difficult or time-consuming to achieve manually.</span></li><li><b>
Image processing and manipulation</b>: AI can be used to perform tasks such as color correction, image enhancement, and image restoration, freeing up artists to focus on more creative aspects of their work.
</li><li><b>Inspiration and ideation</b>: AI can be used to generate ideas and concepts for artists to explore, providing a starting point for new pieces of work.</li><li><b>Collaboration</b>: AI can be used to collaborate with artists on projects, allowing artists to work with technology in a more interactive and dynamic way.</li><li><b>Education and training</b>: AI can be used as a teaching tool to help artists learn new techniques and software, and to improve their skills. It can also be used to provide personalized feedback and guidance, helping them to grow and improve as artists.</li></ol><p></p><p><br /></p><p>What are you thoughts on AI-generated artwork and its impact on our future? </p><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><br />MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-43666281803974929522022-12-20T23:40:00.002-05:002023-02-17T18:02:23.150-05:00MY JOURNEY (PART 2)<p><i>* This is the continuation of my creative journey. You can read Part 1 <a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2022/12/my-journey-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a> </i></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Planting multiple creative seeds </span></h1><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaiLTcIpZ9zY1oGwW_1ZQp-q3fQqnMSO-VGoEJCrETjMTLsN8c17-zLHnsJdCM3attdeweIL9cj_a197HuuwQcaqDDcUsvVCQDp4r_ODTKiVR9Kc-mEUQpCwx04tsJAxOXqDZ1yivMWFIt1-wpLtHgwi7h5DVD4jwgO4VeHHZGfdKtixsprF4XiFbqA/s1024/Blog20221220.001.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaiLTcIpZ9zY1oGwW_1ZQp-q3fQqnMSO-VGoEJCrETjMTLsN8c17-zLHnsJdCM3attdeweIL9cj_a197HuuwQcaqDDcUsvVCQDp4r_ODTKiVR9Kc-mEUQpCwx04tsJAxOXqDZ1yivMWFIt1-wpLtHgwi7h5DVD4jwgO4VeHHZGfdKtixsprF4XiFbqA/w640-h480/Blog20221220.001.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Early uniform when I started my 10 year journey at my school (left), some photo ID over the years (right)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;">I am a second generation Canadian. This means that, just like many other families with immigrant parents, education was a core value in our household. I witnessed my parents sacrifice a lot to put my siblings and I through private school. Their plan was for us to get a "proper" education and land a "good" career so that we could surpass them in life. Unsurprisingly, this created an additional amount of pressure and expectations on our shoulders. And as the first-born (aka the example) I felt the heavy weight of that pressure throughout my schooling. That was on top of the pressure from the permeating toxic mantra many people of colour carry with them of having to "work twice as much to get half of what others get" as part of the rules of the game of our lives.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">While I had the privilege of attending a stable, small private school from age 7 to 17, art was not the main focus of my education; science was. Science was considered to be the key to a successful future. Therefore, my approved answer to the infamous What-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up question was that I was going to become an architect. It was the best way I could combine some of my interests with my parents expectations. Thankfully I managed to keep art close by as a supporting character and a personal hobby. I managed to get several opportunities to explore and develop my creativity throughout my schooling, without disturbing the initial plan for my career. These early opportunities allowed me to plant a number of creative seeds that helped me stay in touch with my creative side and blossomed into tangible skills that I still get to use to this day. </p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">WRITING TO EXPRESS</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">I've always been the type of kid to have a pen and paper on hands with me almost all the time. Give me a pen and paper, and I'll entertain myself for hours. Writing always felt like home to me. I wrote a lot. I remember when I had issues with my parents and felt like I couldn't get my voice heard or my point across, I would write them letters. And when that failed, I would journal about it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I started journaling around the age of 12. My dad gave me my first journal. I used it to record events, process my thoughts and emotions at the time. It felt like the ideal place for me to fully express myself, uninterrupted and without outside influences. It was also a great way for me to voice my opinion on various topics or events at the time. I had a lot to say, a lot to process, a lot to understand about life, especially as a teenager. I think my curiosity fuelled my ability to write relatively well. Well enough to be one of the recipient of a prize along side 2 other classmates for writing contest (picture below). I forget exactly what it was about but it planted a seed of validation in that field. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">My school planners were also filled with lyrics from songs I connected to at the time. This actually helped me learn English a little faster while I was in a French speaking school since most of the songs I liked were in English. Mind you not all of the lyrics were accurate. I also had aspirations to write books on various topics. I even kept a list of ideas for books to write later on. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pBO0WkvevKjN55sQ162zb_ytuxB0UkDH05_KsEaTlaazWCLkWzJjX-0Q4H6mlDR2kB-VAIQrMhn75TOXqEQoodrAJvIPNMam8UrEDQwY4vM7lxTfNo6ATDKhGda0vMxVQcmyADFFGqh4CEIa6JJlZAKLQPgPFtjtTi1g74lIMfgue7VqNfhbsPjesQ/s1024/Blog20221220.002.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pBO0WkvevKjN55sQ162zb_ytuxB0UkDH05_KsEaTlaazWCLkWzJjX-0Q4H6mlDR2kB-VAIQrMhn75TOXqEQoodrAJvIPNMam8UrEDQwY4vM7lxTfNo6ATDKhGda0vMxVQcmyADFFGqh4CEIa6JJlZAKLQPgPFtjtTi1g74lIMfgue7VqNfhbsPjesQ/w640-h480/Blog20221220.002.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Winning of one of the three prizes with my classmates for a writing contest </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">DRAWING TO CONNECT </h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Drawing was another important part of my journey. I drew a lot, all the time. It was just something I did naturally. I think the reason why I drew so much as a kid and why it stayed with me is because drawing was a way for me to connect with my environment and the people around me. Drawing people was a way for me to get to know them a little better through my observations and, for the ones who were interested, it was a way for them to get to know me a little as well. I used to be a shy, quiet and mostly introverted child and allowing others to see me draw was often a great way for them to start a conversation in a way that didn't feel awkward or forced. It was my way of connecting. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Throughout my schooling, I drew my classmates, friends, crushes, teachers, favourite celebrities, random models from magazines, and various characters from comic books. My mom encouraged me to keep all my drawings and I still have many old ones with me (some shown below). I always felt a great sense of accomplishment from completing an increasing number of portraits and seeing my progress over time. I think it was also a way to get to know myself based on what captured my interest. My favourite topic to draw was (and still is) people. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXpqG5s5G-sCcMfeM0QR17w5VJzT8gkhCez1c04ItH3HS0xt1CDiVO_GaOlwBZVOEB1DmDjh6GnCGepACPGbnFjS-5mj-UEGLquIjFTsrA__P5FU8mYNv4xW9tTD5JW1gQ0OzV1Dy8AVjrqqRSZzaYAV1qMcg_ze9nverdk7gJFYXhE50V6N6XSnDvg/s1024/Blog20221220.003.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXpqG5s5G-sCcMfeM0QR17w5VJzT8gkhCez1c04ItH3HS0xt1CDiVO_GaOlwBZVOEB1DmDjh6GnCGepACPGbnFjS-5mj-UEGLquIjFTsrA__P5FU8mYNv4xW9tTD5JW1gQ0OzV1Dy8AVjrqqRSZzaYAV1qMcg_ze9nverdk7gJFYXhE50V6N6XSnDvg/w640-h480/Blog20221220.003.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #ea9999;">Examples of drawings I made in high school for fun </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">DISCOVERING GRAPHIC DESIGN</h2><p style="text-align: justify;">I didn't know it at the time, but I learned some of the fundamental principles of graphic design early on by enrolling in extra curricular activities in photography, general arts and the yearbook committees. Not only did we learn to take pictures, my school also had a dark room where we learned to develop photographs from 35mm films. It was such a great experience. My dad had a camera that I borrowed to take pictures of my classmates in school and during school trips. Joining the yearbook committee not only gave me an opportunity to take a lot of pictures, but I also learned about book layout. At the time, it was more like scrapbooking, but now that I look at it, it really was my introduction to graphic design. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-4Jv8vWsAHb43MLIEaKhAdaWt7DJVTSVrPmHcnscdMOgMbSckPSpw5XNP3VZWG_AJl2F_WJh2QbJtEFFBuS5t4tnlsCoDHyImR1GM1pu8MLnLT7YULtq4eGQcRWFFJ0NE6R3PTjANEpc8vU9YvwHbQrkwEfTaKOXJkFkxs_hCqsYH15i6NIqe-Nc0A/s1024/Blog20221220.004.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="1024" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-4Jv8vWsAHb43MLIEaKhAdaWt7DJVTSVrPmHcnscdMOgMbSckPSpw5XNP3VZWG_AJl2F_WJh2QbJtEFFBuS5t4tnlsCoDHyImR1GM1pu8MLnLT7YULtq4eGQcRWFFJ0NE6R3PTjANEpc8vU9YvwHbQrkwEfTaKOXJkFkxs_hCqsYH15i6NIqe-Nc0A/w640-h228/Blog20221220.004.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #ea9999;">The audio-visual and yearbook committees</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">PERFORMING ARTS</h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Despite being shy, I loved to perform. I love to dance, sing and play music. Early on, I took ballet classes and was part of a large school anniversary show (pictured below). My siblings and I would also have our own 'dance club' in the basement and practice choreographies from various music videos we would record on VHS during our time off. And just before graduating high school some friends and I choreographed a couple dances for an end of year show. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I was also part of the school choir and we did a couple holiday shows. I believe we even sang at a retirement home one year around the holidays. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There wasn't a lot of music classes but we did learned to play the flute in elementary. I remember teaching myself a <a href="https://youtu.be/fXorj9Up1T4">song from a cartoon character called Demetan</a> and playing it by ear when I would get to school early. A couple years later, in high school, one of my best friends at the time was a pretty serious piano student at the conservatory. I remember spending some time at her house and learning a couple tunes on her grand piano and then going to practice at home in my little electric piano. I used to spend a lot of time with it creating tunes at home just for fun. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6towzSmli5H6LQXPwIwxV1YlX_OKG8_ZpoX6MktFLK_Tjy2fvYULasovt-lPLIegO2mx1SuHbuWuDqZPU4gF-3jU3sqpqmOsto5waz5A1dbux-NYtNRqCH_Hq0d_8L00l8uiBd87RQHTcl4dV1S6TH6r6ESqG0MsFfferKU6RbwKUTad0i5EHHvB5Dw/s1016/Blog20221220.005.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="1016" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6towzSmli5H6LQXPwIwxV1YlX_OKG8_ZpoX6MktFLK_Tjy2fvYULasovt-lPLIegO2mx1SuHbuWuDqZPU4gF-3jU3sqpqmOsto5waz5A1dbux-NYtNRqCH_Hq0d_8L00l8uiBd87RQHTcl4dV1S6TH6r6ESqG0MsFfferKU6RbwKUTad0i5EHHvB5Dw/w640-h414/Blog20221220.005.png" width="720" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #ea9999;">Performing a ballet show for the school's anniversary </i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">RESTRICTING "TOO MUCH" CREATIVITY</h2><p style="text-align: justify;">It's safe to say that during my formative years, I had plenty of opportunities to explore my creative side. And I'm really grateful for that. However, I'm also aware that I was just scratching the surface of what I was capable of doing and wanted to do at the time. That's because I felt that growing up as the eldest of the family meant that there was not a lot of time to have guilt-free fun. I also had responsibilities regarding my education and my role in the family. I took it upon myself to also be responsible for the maintenance of the healthy dynamic of my family. I was well aware that my parents were making a lot of sacrifices to keep us in school and I had to help. There was often something more important to do than to be creative. So "fun" was a break from time to time, but not an end in itself. That mindset affected my ability to dive in deep in any of my creative endeavours. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This mindset caused me to abandon several creative projects that were becoming "too big" or "too ambitious". It was always easy to start but not always easy to stick through it and get it done. One incident that might have cause this pattern was at time where I had the brilliant idea to create a 3D model of a home. I think it was based on the board game called Clue. I believe this was during a summer break and I used some boxes lying around the house to create the space. I remember spending a good portion of the day on it and being proud of my custom-made checkered floor. However, when my dad came back from work, he got angry and destroyed it in seconds.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I forget the circumstances of this incident, but essentially from what I remember, what I created was seen as a waste of resource and a waist of time. I was crushed and I attached a negative meaning to that event. I remember feeling disappointed that all the effort, care and creativity that I had put in it was gone in a matter of seconds. It was now meaningless. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps I associated big ambitious projects as being meaningless and a target for destruction. So my protective response was to create restrictions around ambitious creative projects. I felt I had to self-imposed strict boundaries around my self-expression and creativity if I wanted to be able to keep it. Following this, I never attempted to create anything "too big" and especially nothing 3D until it was required of me in design school many years later. I had subconsciously concluded that my creativity was "too much" for others to handle, a little bit like my drawing skills in pre-school, so I had to restrict it in order to protect it. In a way I feel it slowed down my creative growth and forced me to take a less conventional route in my creative journey. But I still managed to get there. Over the years I've gotten better at expressing "bigger ideas", but it's still something that I have to consciously be intentional about. The silver lining is that along the way, I picked up other unique valuable skills that makes me stand out from other creative as you'll see in the upcoming parts of this series. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-33486486327664763222022-12-07T22:45:00.001-05:002022-12-07T22:45:17.121-05:00Black Joy as resistance<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZctKRt7XjbKmGMquIEEpYEVFX3n4rpRpsQncR_dW7pk3n3DOt8MWko97E3RfIznjydhlH9boaZgqpIAunMyL5SZxrKjihCLjh6BsD-Xf5pBfsZkT8MaSvh2ePsz5dn5lfZviyDwpgs8XpUmyiUBtn1w4odKLDfCWjYBd6GxQcXbL8oUNLaOCHnXFAQ/s1920/Untitled%20-%20November%207,%202022%2011.01.18.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="1244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZctKRt7XjbKmGMquIEEpYEVFX3n4rpRpsQncR_dW7pk3n3DOt8MWko97E3RfIznjydhlH9boaZgqpIAunMyL5SZxrKjihCLjh6BsD-Xf5pBfsZkT8MaSvh2ePsz5dn5lfZviyDwpgs8XpUmyiUBtn1w4odKLDfCWjYBd6GxQcXbL8oUNLaOCHnXFAQ/w360-h640/Untitled%20-%20November%207,%202022%2011.01.18.png" width="700" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Melanated Flower, 2022 - Digital Painting by MJ</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">I recently applied to a call for artists where we were asked to submit a piece of art under the theme : "Black Joy is resistance". It was an opportunity to explore what that means to me and try something a little different, as shown above. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've always been interested in the arts. Growing up in a Westernized society, the system introduced me to what they deemed as the best classic works of art from artists like : Picasso, Van Gogh, Mucha, Michelangelo, Monet, Da Vinci and Dali. I had my favourites, but the white elephant in museum rooms was the fact that very few of the paintings had people who looked like me, and most of the time when they did, they were depicted in an unfavourable light (eg. Olympia by Edouard Manet). Once again, there was no "role models" to aspire to for girls who looked like me. I didn't get the privilege to aspire to be like one of the women in paintings who were considered beautiful, feminine, graceful like in paintings like Birth of Venus, Mona Lisa, or Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's like we didn't exists and we didn't matter. But upon further research as I grew older and found out more about art history, I realized that it's not that we weren't there or unimportant, but we have, and continue to be, purposely removed and omitted from the main narrative. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are classic paintings depicting women of colours in a positive and inspiring light. For example I recently discovered The Four Rivers of Paradise by Peter Paul Rubens painted in 1610. The melanated woman in this painting is clearly at the same level as her counterparts, enjoying the company of everyone involved; not in servitude to them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-vGlm1Z_Y_kYF9ty7kPVLrH6pOtjUFneJz1FNtht3dkW9Q1iCUW5JnY-FcUOhbfclDviEiMR_FaFIr-ibMDzd8W1iFD0qqNjkWT6ohS6OVQvL8cEhHX-i1lxSEqjf7xCOiBaVROV59bYmHTPyAn8O2ONvSm9_9yUNJDPN8O4eB-1k13whehAlewjIQ/s4320/Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_The_Four_Continents.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3158" data-original-width="4320" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-vGlm1Z_Y_kYF9ty7kPVLrH6pOtjUFneJz1FNtht3dkW9Q1iCUW5JnY-FcUOhbfclDviEiMR_FaFIr-ibMDzd8W1iFD0qqNjkWT6ohS6OVQvL8cEhHX-i1lxSEqjf7xCOiBaVROV59bYmHTPyAn8O2ONvSm9_9yUNJDPN8O4eB-1k13whehAlewjIQ/w640-h468/Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_The_Four_Continents.jpg" width="700" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><i><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">The Four Rivers of Paradise</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">, is a painting by Flemish artist </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Peter Paul Rubens">Peter Paul Rubens</a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #202122;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">, made in the 1610s. Source : Wikipedia</span></span></span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There's also a fresco by the famous Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel called "The Ancestors of Christ : Jacob, Joseph" where you can clearly see a beautiful melanated woman to the right, with a very unique afrocentric hairstyle adorned with what looks like pearl and wearing a lilac outfit. Her body posture is also refined and feminine. Seeing images like this as a child would have made a huge impact on how I see and express myself in the world. It also would have help other kids from various ethnic backgrounds to see a more complete image of people with a darker complexion and probably would have considerably reduce incidences of prejudice and microaggressions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr>
</tr></tbody></table><div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qeK6nLy8fDA7np_w6lc7bW82b0NV9BK9YKFqdVk99KA2AmhvpenCp8uaIr3ciLXH58I5zNe0_M4OoHK7T3zntuL2M964hhVDSB6Uz3hao0aQZ6HQBsZuTJAyONackv-YXHPg4vPF2GJfyA_63ZbUwtsM8_wPa-EP9T1mpktihiiWoD6vdUsoXytcHA/s1230/Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qeK6nLy8fDA7np_w6lc7bW82b0NV9BK9YKFqdVk99KA2AmhvpenCp8uaIr3ciLXH58I5zNe0_M4OoHK7T3zntuL2M964hhVDSB6Uz3hao0aQZ6HQBsZuTJAyONackv-YXHPg4vPF2GJfyA_63ZbUwtsM8_wPa-EP9T1mpktihiiWoD6vdUsoXytcHA/s1230/Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1230" height="423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qeK6nLy8fDA7np_w6lc7bW82b0NV9BK9YKFqdVk99KA2AmhvpenCp8uaIr3ciLXH58I5zNe0_M4OoHK7T3zntuL2M964hhVDSB6Uz3hao0aQZ6HQBsZuTJAyONackv-YXHPg4vPF2GJfyA_63ZbUwtsM8_wPa-EP9T1mpktihiiWoD6vdUsoXytcHA/w640-h390/Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg" width="700" /></a><i>The Ancestors of Christ : Jacob, Joseph by Michelangelo, 1512 Source : Wikipedia</i></div></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"> Just imagine how different the public's reaction to "ground breaking" shows like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8740790/" target="_blank">Bridgeton</a> depicting a diverse cast of actors in wealthy roles would have been if they had grown up seeing paintings like Simon Maris' 1905 portrait of a young melanated woman with natural hair just sitting pretty and poised on a chair, called Isabella. It would not have been so shocking to see wealthy people of colour on screen and there wouldn't need to be any debates regarding whether or not a diverse cast in a fictional story set in that time was "historically accurate".</div>
<div style="clear: both;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zDS5wfrJkiEdoBLCZ980I78-5mHJ6D6nFGmX1CJdiFqh3msTTsPVntBmrxKTQHInxeZ_Lw305XAlf0PRh-7qlrztpXxEVXSbJ_51w1AJUPQYTzDfYeVZcDAT6Y-QacsfqmXwiJKrUh4qI6ni4vWo3KPTG8MHvnqCoOKSHW5s6AOB9EFDp1n_72v0Tg/s2682/Simon_Maris_001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2682" data-original-width="1871" height="1004" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zDS5wfrJkiEdoBLCZ980I78-5mHJ6D6nFGmX1CJdiFqh3msTTsPVntBmrxKTQHInxeZ_Lw305XAlf0PRh-7qlrztpXxEVXSbJ_51w1AJUPQYTzDfYeVZcDAT6Y-QacsfqmXwiJKrUh4qI6ni4vWo3KPTG8MHvnqCoOKSHW5s6AOB9EFDp1n_72v0Tg/w446-h640/Simon_Maris_001.jpg" width="700" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Isabella, by Simon Maris (1905) Source : Wikipedia </i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>The <span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ago.ca/collection/portrait-of-a-lady-holding-an-orange-blossom">AGO</a></span> also recently acquired a 1770 painting from an artist named Jeremias Schultz, showing another melanated woman adorned with jewelry, silk dress. Clearly not poor, not a slave, not in servitude during the Georgian era. All throughout my schooling, I never thought this was possible, but the more I did the more I uncover that we had a place there too. The public story has been told from a very narrow and discriminatory point of view. It gave me a better understanding of what this concept of "black joy as resistance" truly means to me. </div></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLAXc5MXG73BrqLYhs4fJ6uWpxRsRSPJppE4LQQ56lN_4T_6rvK-PYQ54ZB6nBx42THtXCKUMcYqFq_46A6HwQXMR4krp-1j44oe9PqIYcQ6pDAXcC0eEwvkJ-8rj3GibIRkOM86bjAQiosaxj6MZXPZWR835dBz4Fkg_HrwWggghUVMN7RvXXXw4_g/s2560/6e1f8a6264e3ae723fbcdea9106eae9a078cd933.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="2290" height="783" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLAXc5MXG73BrqLYhs4fJ6uWpxRsRSPJppE4LQQ56lN_4T_6rvK-PYQ54ZB6nBx42THtXCKUMcYqFq_46A6HwQXMR4krp-1j44oe9PqIYcQ6pDAXcC0eEwvkJ-8rj3GibIRkOM86bjAQiosaxj6MZXPZWR835dBz4Fkg_HrwWggghUVMN7RvXXXw4_g/w572-h640/6e1f8a6264e3ae723fbcdea9106eae9a078cd933.jpg" width="700" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><i>Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom by Jeremias Schultz (1770) , acquired by the <a href="https://ago.ca/collection/portrait-of-a-lady-holding-an-orange-blossom">AGO</a> in 2020</i></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h2>Joy as resistance</h2><div>So what is resistance? According to the Cambridge dictionary resistance is defined as "the act of fighting against something that is attacking you, or refusing to accept something" and joy is defined as "great happiness". So great happiness being seen as the act of fighting something that is against you. In the world of classic art history, it seems like portraying a melanated woman as joyful, poised, feminine, elegant, refined, wealthy, or anything in that vein has been suppressed, fought against. Bringing that to the light and showing more of it, is an act of resistance. I'm not a huge fan of the word "resistance" because what you resists persists. I much rather the word "dissolving". Instead of fighting against the lack of representation, I'd rather add to it. That's how my artwork for this project was born. </div><div><br /></div><div>I love Alphonse Mucha's work. It's beautiful, it's graphic, it's simple and complicated at the same time. His work often include symbols that I believe are connected to an interest for mysticism. And like many popular artist, there's not a lot of women of colour as a subject for his work. So I decided to create my own version of it, to add what I feel is missing. Something that would be fitting to a woman of colour, including the symbols behind her. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately my work was not selected for the call (<a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2022/11/are-calls-for-artists-worth-it.html" target="_blank">1 of 41</a>) but I still wanted to share it with you. Funny enough, sharing this feels like an act of resistance/dissolving this barrier to Black joy. If you're interested also in dissolving this barrier by bringing a piece of that ideology in your life or offer it as a present, head over to my Society6 page : <a href="https://society6.com/art/melanated-flower">https://society6.com/art/melanated-flower</a> for some items featuring this particular artwork. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://society6.com/art/melanated-flower" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="564" height="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtYZPqk6ZLjjhGK_IUMI7sne9ThwRldYGRLhiS0p7G6l-DrGMW7Rxck9R_F9eHbHOFAjx-EhwR95WxY68uS1L5mOwxdLc7_2l4o5b4eKgxpLY_xqoryVGgpe-YztzSPWDDNDVz84poEN_nZFeOTqgzarzk5v-IXUSojtISZKB4d9JBkd-vNsrbnGC3Q/w640-h640/1b48444c194edf799dd5a27319fdd2a5.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-91934529616411866222022-12-03T16:08:00.005-05:002023-02-17T18:02:08.958-05:00MY JOURNEY (Part 1) <p><span style="text-align: justify;"><i>My journey as an artist has been very unconventional. For as far as I can remember, I've always been the quietly creative type. I was the kind of kid to always have a pen and paper to either write or draw. But it hasn't been a straight line road, quite the contrary! I went from a being a building engineer, to an interior designer, to a freelance graphic designer / writer / event facilitator / social media manager / artist. There's been a lot of detours along the way where I picked up lessons and experiences that give me a unique set of skills. I thought it would be fun and timely to revisit that journey in a form of a series of blog posts to share a little more about me, and also help me connect the dots. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">My rude awakening at age 6</span></h1><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU19uFn4i1RcRrJi60mTj5jXEswoT9i8rvsJ0COTTnYEFSoV6Zzt_BbpXf3yF-L8emMiYRy4KfZPxtgKCmlXJrtdFA7rAFlj2uYHgEBfka3IgvMuYB9xFG1gIrwhcVlJf4eB-rfyCXVQcYrr6G9HnPRQjMavamhD0U4VuIX7eItfWBNHfa3Em2yB9pvQ/s4032/IMG_0832.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU19uFn4i1RcRrJi60mTj5jXEswoT9i8rvsJ0COTTnYEFSoV6Zzt_BbpXf3yF-L8emMiYRy4KfZPxtgKCmlXJrtdFA7rAFlj2uYHgEBfka3IgvMuYB9xFG1gIrwhcVlJf4eB-rfyCXVQcYrr6G9HnPRQjMavamhD0U4VuIX7eItfWBNHfa3Em2yB9pvQ/w640-h480/IMG_0832.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">My pre-school class photo when I was 6. Most of the time I wasn't hard to spot in photos.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span>I tend to assume that most parents think that their kid's art is great. So although I used to get compliments on my artwork from my parents and their friends, it never dawned on me that I was any better than the other kid until my rude awakening when I was 6 years old. I was in pre-school and our homework was to draw the summary of a picture book we read. I remember sitting at the kitchen table at night with a pen and pencils, drawing this loch ness monster-type character and being really proud of myself for drawing it. </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The next day, I proudly handed my homework to my teacher, probably thinking I would get a good grade. But when I got my homework back, she handed me my drawing with a big fat red 0 on it. She said I got a zero because I cheated! She told me that I didn't draw my homework, but that my parents did. And that I had to redo it. It was not what I expected. I probably tried to tell her that I did it, but she didn't believe me. I was shocked, confused, hurt and sad. She basically complimented and hurt me at the same time. The hurt was a lot stronger. I went home crying to my mom showing the rude note that she wrote in the back of my homework. Thankfully my mom quickly put her back in her place writing another letter that I had to deliver the next day in class. And the teacher apologized in another letter that I had to deliver back to my mom. There were no emails or cell phones during that time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's the earliest memory I have of my journey as an artist. I learned that I potentially had something else that was different then the kids in my class, but it was not necessarily going to be appreciated, celebrated or praised by everyone. Perhaps it played a part in shaping the road I took to become an artist. Whatever the case, it certainly shaped my understanding of how my art could be received. I continued drawing mostly for myself and kept a lot of my drawings over the years. I'll share more in Part 2. But in the mean time, you can see the life defying drawing that caused me to see myself and my art differently as I was just starting school. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmJhTdUeevDx1IqVR5xXJ65pxokqYShethNkJEEa3Z-r6VOCXIwnmZH4Y_VoZDAdzEZOOaybOnPJcDuAOBUuBrFRJOnlHzXqZONUH6o7Hs1YL4yaHac3wni_jIJJoYsAAciyNP0bTwmxK8BoddFcTQgZFtVOQPH07NnJHuicKJ-KEkAWjmajcw2ExnQ/s867/MJArt.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="867" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmJhTdUeevDx1IqVR5xXJ65pxokqYShethNkJEEa3Z-r6VOCXIwnmZH4Y_VoZDAdzEZOOaybOnPJcDuAOBUuBrFRJOnlHzXqZONUH6o7Hs1YL4yaHac3wni_jIJJoYsAAciyNP0bTwmxK8BoddFcTQgZFtVOQPH07NnJHuicKJ-KEkAWjmajcw2ExnQ/w640-h460/MJArt.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The drawing I made at age 6. Looking at it, I still most kids could draw this. Even at that age, I suspected that she didn't think a kid that looks like me could draw like this. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5frtVZ2GtZsNolTMVCPpQTRxNnamkUUViz6MFzVdIxeANs2454Nu6yQ6zHBxI0u_6Lgu4grbR3nLRmmVlzqib_DrlBSkm_rKV5rGf24xxbub2czhMpXUE3gwZ__H4RN7pKI6v1ATAIpnAJ1zUQl3DdRnl4x6CZLmg4FKH4xBZmig_F26r-x6PKhm6Q/s867/MJArt%201.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="867" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5frtVZ2GtZsNolTMVCPpQTRxNnamkUUViz6MFzVdIxeANs2454Nu6yQ6zHBxI0u_6Lgu4grbR3nLRmmVlzqib_DrlBSkm_rKV5rGf24xxbub2czhMpXUE3gwZ__H4RN7pKI6v1ATAIpnAJ1zUQl3DdRnl4x6CZLmg4FKH4xBZmig_F26r-x6PKhm6Q/w640-h464/MJArt%201.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The note to my parents behind the drawing which translates to "I want a drawing made by Marie-Judith alone. I want her to start again on another sheet. It's important that the sheet be of the same size" </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wcZyN3sC__yq-Fa5slyGFrR8toS5grb9UUsS4o4xp-Mt8LihCJU3hE2JDDPpx6HAWts1F2zxzT3v_JtgazT3W5nj9BmYmA3FRdbqobbZeA2EV7r25ahtsDL32oyk44MuyvWFSOKev095D9qa5tseBoMrYxJrz5Y4C53xabkq5foGdXW5mUq_J6m0ng/s825/MJArt%202.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="636" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wcZyN3sC__yq-Fa5slyGFrR8toS5grb9UUsS4o4xp-Mt8LihCJU3hE2JDDPpx6HAWts1F2zxzT3v_JtgazT3W5nj9BmYmA3FRdbqobbZeA2EV7r25ahtsDL32oyk44MuyvWFSOKev095D9qa5tseBoMrYxJrz5Y4C53xabkq5foGdXW5mUq_J6m0ng/w494-h640/MJArt%202.png" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The apology letter from the teacher to my mom </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-3556780661932606162022-11-30T21:02:00.001-05:002022-11-30T21:02:50.974-05:00Are Calls for Artists Worth it? <p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">28</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13JZISTaoYyai1nmVn4JmADmsAcNZncM6fgt9AociMdxaF4hC3OUWXyBQ7JYEsuWoszgIrfZr8rvYCYl5sgvqLtBBKAcRyYgTB_knYRH6CUyYItwEQ0n-nqlCvJ1qpS8PKlSPCsa6I5b9e0iVhBn6VJ1mXf8hBjGbhcD0tYEfxYo5MQq6WQ2mJp2_Gw/s1920/00%20blog%20mj.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13JZISTaoYyai1nmVn4JmADmsAcNZncM6fgt9AociMdxaF4hC3OUWXyBQ7JYEsuWoszgIrfZr8rvYCYl5sgvqLtBBKAcRyYgTB_knYRH6CUyYItwEQ0n-nqlCvJ1qpS8PKlSPCsa6I5b9e0iVhBn6VJ1mXf8hBjGbhcD0tYEfxYo5MQq6WQ2mJp2_Gw/w640-h360/00%20blog%20mj.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I've always been a little resistant to the idea of applying to calls for artists and artists grants. They've always felt like playing the lottery but with more efforts on our part. They usually involve having to write an essay on who we are, why we create art, how we create art, what kind of concept we have for their projects, and even creating a design before knowing that we'll be picked. I don't know of any other field where you have to put the custom work first and then they decide if they'll hire you while they receive hundreds of proposal for their project. It never sat well with me. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, these thoughts were based on assumptions more than experiences. So this year I figured I would give it a proper try and see if they were really worth the effort. After all, some artists seemed to be living off calls and grants. I figured if they could, maybe I could too. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">After a bit of research, I picked up a couple tips to make the application process less painful. Organization was key. I created a couple version of my bio, my artists statement, and used notion to organize all the calls in a neat table in order of the date the proposal was due. I also had a couple sample projects to showcase and a CV on hand that I could update as I accumulated more experience throughout the year. I picked a day per week to work on my proposal. My goal was to submit 52 proposals for the year and see what would happen. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Fast forward to now, close to a year into this challenge, I almost reached my goal. I applied to 48 calls. The budgets for these projects varied from $250 to $85,000 for a total of a little over $286,000 for all 48 projects. That's about less than $6000 per project on average. I won 5 out of the 48 calls for a total of just over $7,100, about $1,400 per project on average. So for a 10% success rate I got 2.5% of the available budget. Not very enticing. It also made me see that the pool of open calls for artists is not very big, especially considering the fact that some of the calls received hundreds of applications. There's just not enough projects for the number of artists and I'm assuming it's harder for newer artists to break in.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So are calls for artists worth it? Based on my personal experience, yes and no. It's not worth putting as much energy as I did this year based on the potential return on investment. No matter how talented or capable you are, there's a lot of decision factors that are out of your control. I don't plan on putting as much effort next year into applying for them. I feel that a lot of the time I used to create "submission commissions" could have been used on creating personal projects instead. At least, I now know from personal experience that calls are not where artists will find financial support for their career. However, I still plan to apply to some calls for artists next year, as long as the budget is large enough and the project closely aligns with what I'm already creating.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you're also an artist, I'd love to know your experiences and insights regarding this. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-57350863362805560082022-08-30T20:14:00.004-04:002022-08-30T20:14:59.876-04:00My first large ground mural<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnrETHVmZpjj4Zqb3zACBg1GrV_OeRoxNwU5fb1vTcmUD9blCdDO-dImedJsXvV7kY9rmEMEmgjVHP3aRSUqOhT5gqbFyfrChd2yfTK8y7NdLDBmapqOaisaf0lNFTx9i3d0yXifPhZJr33mjk-icsL8MrxbYaEhqvgZaQHvmZDuTpf1stB6bzv6Hpw/s1024/20220830.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="1024" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnrETHVmZpjj4Zqb3zACBg1GrV_OeRoxNwU5fb1vTcmUD9blCdDO-dImedJsXvV7kY9rmEMEmgjVHP3aRSUqOhT5gqbFyfrChd2yfTK8y7NdLDBmapqOaisaf0lNFTx9i3d0yXifPhZJr33mjk-icsL8MrxbYaEhqvgZaQHvmZDuTpf1stB6bzv6Hpw/w640-h350/20220830.001.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo by Stephen Brophy via Spacing Toronto</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to join a group of selected artists to create a portion of a giant ground mural on Baldwin St, right at the heart of the eclectic Kensington Market. It was for the 3rd Annual Mural on Baldwin project, where they invite black women and non-binary artists to paint the street raising awareness to what it would be like to have a future without oppression. </p><p>It was my first time tackling a space like this. I learned a lot! My interpretation of a future without oppression was to depict a strongly melanated woman meditating in the air entitled Elevated. I personally feel like a future without oppression for those who are oppressed would allow them to grow to their full potential in peace. </p><p>So my concept was to recreate an image inspired by photographer Nelson Cosey, who took this really neat photo of a woman levitating while meditating. Unfortunately, being new at this I didn't give myself enough contingencies in terms of variable available time and supplies. So I had to modify the design as we were going, but we made it happen and the result was impressive, especially from the drone shots they were able to take of it. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiOILah0UC7iUGSXzX6gmgNebY-elmL9JME-UkkKH3Lg98g5jkICNrdWvBIpXd-DqbnNps83QAJXQzHqun72tL44DIIJskCBtQln8t6IJuRnNdsclI_-jJieav3xBZFchlDAp7yqhWaedveoBQc1akid_gFzVxevUGNwuFKt43eYgEaIdfPaxfcawfQ/s1024/20220830.004.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiOILah0UC7iUGSXzX6gmgNebY-elmL9JME-UkkKH3Lg98g5jkICNrdWvBIpXd-DqbnNps83QAJXQzHqun72tL44DIIJskCBtQln8t6IJuRnNdsclI_-jJieav3xBZFchlDAp7yqhWaedveoBQc1akid_gFzVxevUGNwuFKt43eYgEaIdfPaxfcawfQ/w640-h480/20220830.004.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>It was fun and I met a lot of great talented artists and got to interact with visitors who came to check our work in progress. At some point I had to stop a clearly mentally ill person from stealing my paint cans which was hilarious, but to be expected there. And some of the local business owners took really good care of us, providing us with food and refreshment throughout the day. It's a beautiful and unique community and it was a pleasure to be able to contribute. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K30eoyqbLznSGqMXGpwNzrsgziWDpKf4hP6oUng7Cntk3FD2fSfWo6GWsNYFLl-Vw2V4LeP5eJaW_5lqtCWngqn_CTvEleWuewmz-GIIzLaRIeN_8L3xjkcsNEAbUWZSzUA7nPxHFFDY2-5kkJVNTj2m47z_b0OmD_eByD-jgfJ5JiI_b5NezVjfXg/s1024/20220830.002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K30eoyqbLznSGqMXGpwNzrsgziWDpKf4hP6oUng7Cntk3FD2fSfWo6GWsNYFLl-Vw2V4LeP5eJaW_5lqtCWngqn_CTvEleWuewmz-GIIzLaRIeN_8L3xjkcsNEAbUWZSzUA7nPxHFFDY2-5kkJVNTj2m47z_b0OmD_eByD-jgfJ5JiI_b5NezVjfXg/w640-h300/20220830.002.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLelsGUVml2MWjACdSwKfw5_7U-lzBVfEiM10-hlPVQrBYwi6gEiYYZ2F_hRL9l8-_W52Is49R8GWocZmMqqKmE4Zy9nd4kN5vehZmtfUkEUQbmDtL-U9taPsRxdUMdHNC0MpXV59IxsKSkfCBLug_k18zCR-1LAZ343bH9cwP_5eRPFBODQUki7L-9g/s1024/20220830.003.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLelsGUVml2MWjACdSwKfw5_7U-lzBVfEiM10-hlPVQrBYwi6gEiYYZ2F_hRL9l8-_W52Is49R8GWocZmMqqKmE4Zy9nd4kN5vehZmtfUkEUQbmDtL-U9taPsRxdUMdHNC0MpXV59IxsKSkfCBLug_k18zCR-1LAZ343bH9cwP_5eRPFBODQUki7L-9g/w640-h480/20220830.003.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLS0rsCmVYWOfcBbdf24apukVmFB-Skf_SLmc7P-lcTX7TfxwYWjtGkIXOs1m2KoJ1uS9n_kcNBsjHWmUpydbS9SZKSgf7e_mZxjOQtW0ZidKK3II65Q4Jfqk19vixWFG6sYlpxrUTzwkayHduB2TYa9TMfE8eJl3QR1kUysQAIBP_BD24GG-z4brI4Q/s1024/20220830.005.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLS0rsCmVYWOfcBbdf24apukVmFB-Skf_SLmc7P-lcTX7TfxwYWjtGkIXOs1m2KoJ1uS9n_kcNBsjHWmUpydbS9SZKSgf7e_mZxjOQtW0ZidKK3II65Q4Jfqk19vixWFG6sYlpxrUTzwkayHduB2TYa9TMfE8eJl3QR1kUysQAIBP_BD24GG-z4brI4Q/s320/20220830.005.png" width="320" /></a></div>And now that I've experienced it and learned from it, I'm ready to do it again and build on that experience. It's amazing to see how something as simple as adding art in public spaces shift the energy of the area and bring smiles to people's faces. <div><br /></div><div>It was also fun to see a picture of the mural in <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2022/08/29/kensington-is-funky-and-non-conventional-its-streets-should-be-too/?fbclid=IwAR2eM9xNNDznZXx-bK44J2rNPByUKVnTIr3YO3hvI9cjwWzT-xef3JrvakE" target="_blank">a recent article from Spacing Toronto</a> (first picture above). I'm hoping to discover more of them over time. <br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-30477571677401434832022-07-26T16:57:00.002-04:002022-07-26T16:57:39.350-04:00A New Blank Canvas<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVT8XHRYAsrB5mRLLC3_TFkKMVqTmOEitlXS8uhKVFyx2biZlPntMgNuw9w6UNAQTYJozBNCsWQQgCdPeLg9XkzSP9JtUFUHZ4ieyr3PokRrKv9CCU6AgC3Ppy4SQ_RZKJvR3p27aHAxsegor6CIUr0Zb6k66GqgvSQVtMSZhVQUI88odvOrRYxu32w/s1024/20220726.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Marie-Judith Jean-Louis Artist sitting in front of a blank canvas" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVT8XHRYAsrB5mRLLC3_TFkKMVqTmOEitlXS8uhKVFyx2biZlPntMgNuw9w6UNAQTYJozBNCsWQQgCdPeLg9XkzSP9JtUFUHZ4ieyr3PokRrKv9CCU6AgC3Ppy4SQ_RZKJvR3p27aHAxsegor6CIUr0Zb6k66GqgvSQVtMSZhVQUI88odvOrRYxu32w/w480-h640/20220726.001.png" width="480" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Blank canvasses are always daunting an exciting at the same time : So many possibilities to create something great. But also, what if I mess up? What if it isn't as great as I would like it to be? It's interesting how artwork and creating art can be a reflection of life and our own inner dialogues. In this case, I feel working on this particular canvas represents a new phase in my life. And the same inner dialogue applies : So many possibilities... But what if I mess up? What if it isn't as great as I imagine it would be? The only way to find out is to dive in and adjust on the way, knowing that it's not going to be perfect from the start. It can't be perfect. But still, it will turn out ok and I'll learn something new along the way. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I've had this canvas for many years. It used to have a photo of a beautiful sunset I took in Ibiza about 13 years ago. That was another lifetime. A lot has changed since then. And although I still had the canvas, it had not been on display for years. I've been meaning to paint over it for years but could never come up with something inspiring or interesting to paint on it. But I finally decided to give it a go recently and some ideas have been coming as I focus on the next small step as opposed to the final result. I used basic acrylic gesso to cover it up and the idea so far was to create something around the topic of love. I had this idea of adding lyrics of loves songs that I like and last minute decided to add some lines from a poem I wrote last year. Then the idea of a couple appearing from clouds coming together came to mind. I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out but I have a basic sketch in my art journal to get me started. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I've also been playing with reels while documenting this journey. You can see them on my Instagram profile : <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mjsketchbook/reels/">https://www.instagram.com/mjsketchbook/reels/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrx3OiB7_3phFfjltR58iervNu9QCLl1Yd7WTRXwcVRUe34GGeYbec7h4t5YBID6Ae_eOP1csNWUnWHdy4qUHCIrLqR5PrlW4lk-8R0oGdG5cfrhbSU7OCawbrHHsb-ISU3ZNDOg312l1u428sMXDdtV94c8tHL2QPim1LwMsoGvRBgAdWGY9uass0g/s1024/20220726H.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrx3OiB7_3phFfjltR58iervNu9QCLl1Yd7WTRXwcVRUe34GGeYbec7h4t5YBID6Ae_eOP1csNWUnWHdy4qUHCIrLqR5PrlW4lk-8R0oGdG5cfrhbSU7OCawbrHHsb-ISU3ZNDOg312l1u428sMXDdtV94c8tHL2QPim1LwMsoGvRBgAdWGY9uass0g/w640-h480/20220726H.001.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The original photo on canvas and the initial sketch in my art journal.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>The base of the painting is now on the canvas. I think my next step will be to figure out the colour scheme, unless some other idea take over. I was observing the clouds during a lightning storm a couple days ago and that also brought some additional ideas I could potentially implement in this painting... if I can figure out how to make it work. We shall see. <p></p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqnW84UZHdXh3iefU5gsTMf-y28jQTJlWuGbVEy1mlJCSixbcplYWaNuzzKzEOONgnxXk3WrLfbYXAzv-CC7t7ftaByyEXX5jp6D8lP3KfKXE5-jXaPKJkcg6HID7X3RQSvPk5RGEzXYHwQwQVE_SBaxyE72A8YTxss9gt4spIayrDFitiFTJPkcXyg/s1024/20220726H.002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqnW84UZHdXh3iefU5gsTMf-y28jQTJlWuGbVEy1mlJCSixbcplYWaNuzzKzEOONgnxXk3WrLfbYXAzv-CC7t7ftaByyEXX5jp6D8lP3KfKXE5-jXaPKJkcg6HID7X3RQSvPk5RGEzXYHwQwQVE_SBaxyE72A8YTxss9gt4spIayrDFitiFTJPkcXyg/w640-h480/20220726H.002.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Progress thus far, figuring out the layout of the painting.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-74261509480997223262022-06-22T16:57:00.003-04:002022-06-22T16:57:52.868-04:00The Art of Love Project<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UxtI05QCcsdbJgK2ePr7lEeHHtdDOXhg6keL2_vi67oYHS7wDgqBy2mOA0oUFJ9HC4hbsczWUWSkHwzXhUDkctFkazdlFPYEd_w8UQMwF06SAPr22qusGq54gwnI3YBrAkbvqMoLTvPLipsXbaEAqPVk2-51eRfkSfz3HcTl622gLiObaN1dUgAA6w/s900/AOLBook.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UxtI05QCcsdbJgK2ePr7lEeHHtdDOXhg6keL2_vi67oYHS7wDgqBy2mOA0oUFJ9HC4hbsczWUWSkHwzXhUDkctFkazdlFPYEd_w8UQMwF06SAPr22qusGq54gwnI3YBrAkbvqMoLTvPLipsXbaEAqPVk2-51eRfkSfz3HcTl622gLiObaN1dUgAA6w/w426-h640/AOLBook.001.png" width="426" /></a><a href="https://www.mariejudith.com/2022/02/im-writing-book-on-love.html" target="_blank">I'm still working on my book</a>. It's a lot slower than I had planned for but it's slowly taking shape. There's been many iteration of the book title and there's a possibility it will change again as things progress but for now "The Art of Love" seems to fit. I remembered I had painted this simple heart a couple years back and it seems like it would be the perfect image for the cover. This is a mockup. Let's see how it evolves over time. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">In terms of content, after doing a first general pass with over 25,000 words, I felt like I wasn't going in the right direction anymore and that killed the initial momentum. I looked at the table of content and it felt like I was trying to put too many things in one book, so I had to go back and simplify it, which meant that I had to go through it again and sift through the whole text to see what needed to go where, what needed to go and what needed to stay. It felt daunting and overwhelming so I procrastinated. I left it aside for a good while to think about it, or rather let ideas organize themselves in my subconscious. Eventually the image of the painted heart came to mind and it brought a new fresh energy to the project. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So now hopefully I can get back on track and get this book and everything around it progressing toward the "finish line". In the mean time, I started to post excerpts of the book in my <a href="https://www.subkit.com/mariejudith" target="_blank">Subkit Newsletter subscription</a>. I figured it's a casual way to flush out some ideas in bite size format.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm also combining this project with a rebranded Meetup Group now called <a href="https://www.meetup.com/theartoflove/" target="_blank">The Art of Love | Conscious Dating & Relationships</a>. It will be interesting to continue to have conversations around love and relationships as well as offering an alternative to modern online dating. The first meet and greet is happening this Friday. It should be fun. I have some creative ideas to help people introduce themselves to each other in a different way. Let's see how this goes. <a href="https://www.meetup.com/theartoflove/" target="_blank">Join us</a> if that's something you're interested in. </p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-76257125029341463392022-05-19T22:49:00.004-04:002022-05-19T22:49:22.071-04:00Exhibiting at TIFF Bell Lightbox for the Asian Heritage Month<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHU27RA4fA2p8S_yTB02mop3Z_eisSp7YL7dirvKi1JQLyo9Xhq2dTBEYwdLdLaKK1VcIvcRFchMe2yvyGkkLwXJSOEohdXOMeH5_3e2i4wJw-zJ6wq911_PPDsKyC1mdE89-OSuy6hdQ9c_kVEwwJ7xDA2F5Ximwvyqq3w27LXlBD6266rJXVqHr4Q/s3264/IMG_5828.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHU27RA4fA2p8S_yTB02mop3Z_eisSp7YL7dirvKi1JQLyo9Xhq2dTBEYwdLdLaKK1VcIvcRFchMe2yvyGkkLwXJSOEohdXOMeH5_3e2i4wJw-zJ6wq911_PPDsKyC1mdE89-OSuy6hdQ9c_kVEwwJ7xDA2F5Ximwvyqq3w27LXlBD6266rJXVqHr4Q/w480-h640/IMG_5828.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is so much we don't know about history and the historical relations between different cultures. Fortunately, art is always a great way to bridge the gap and help bring things together. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was able to learn a little bit more about Indonesia and it's history during the Asian Heritage Month through a creative project with the <a href="https://www.aact.community/">Asian Art an Culture Trust</a> (AACT). </div> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">A couple months ago, the AACT put out a call for artists to participate to a group exhibition called <i>Conversation with Elders</i>. The goal for that project was to pair artists with elders of asian descent to have a conversation with about their heritage and create a piece of artwork inspired by that conversation. I took this unique opportunity submit my application to participate with Betty, a lovely lady whom I met online through a meetup group called <a href="https://www.meetup.com/SoulCity/">Soul City Social Club</a> during the pandemic. She stood out in the group as being very creative, fashionable and full of interesting stories. She was the first person that popped in my mind when I first considered participating. And that got me to learn even more about her Indonesian background. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Our conversation opened a new understanding of the history of Indonesia and the dynamics between Netherland and Indonesia. After some additional research, I was inspired to create this meaningful piece called <i>Betty's Hidden Wayang Heritage</i>. You can find out more about the process and thinking behind it in the video below. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/67y1hekupSY" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you're in the Toronto area, you can see the series of artwork until May 22nd at TIFF and then from May 27 to May 29 at the Remote Gallery. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-82832483551388526692022-05-03T19:32:00.000-04:002022-05-03T19:32:29.432-04:00Fire journal<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3s67560" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRtAa133ITfNuoc_y1QPoPaQPlrIIE_iFGVTcIfuBFrwmyUVn0HAhlibWzK1mmWj7R19SnfSc10uIuL7gX0YAjn71fG1SobEoBsnqHGPyv3rEY5G9PP6hgQaI-8XZ7ta6ZfA-MQwIoT9Yf66Y4f8JQ-IH8gp9rsMSI62pGHJs7ANHTYpf7wPuP97mCQ/w640-h360/ElementalsJournals.001.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">After reading the <a href="https://amzn.to/38Rg9Ff" target="_blank">Artist's Way</a> and learning about the morning pages, I started journaling every day as part of my morning (or morning-ish) routine. I tend to have a lot of random creative ideas but typically only about 5% of them get to see the light of day. <a href="https://amzn.to/3s67560" target="_blank">The Fire Journal</a> is one of the ideas that I managed to materialize: one of the "lucky ones". </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm a very avid journaler and one day, I figured 'Why not create my own journal to better suit my needs rather than settling for what's out there?' And that's how the idea of creating this simple journal with my own art on the cover came about. The cover artwork is from the Elemental Series I did, not too long ago, called <a href="https://youtu.be/WMJvR9GEX7c" target="_blank">Ace of Fire.</a> My plan is to create and publish a journal for each of the four elements (and hope that I don't get distracted by another "shiny object idea" before I complete this plan) </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">I've been using my Fire Journal for a month : sketching, writing, painting, gluing images, adding stickers and highlighting words, etc, and I love it! It's not too precious to keep me from experimenting in it. It's large enough to get a lot of ideas down on paper (222 pages and 8.5 x 11 inches in size). I also numbered the pages and added a table of content at the beginning to accommodate for the fact that sometimes I add notes that I want to come back to in the future without having to search for them. </span>If you're interested, you can also get it on Amazon from almost anywhere in the world. If you do, let me know how you use it and how you like it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgYKDUdM3O5QOnqiws0dL2caR8Az9dTVz0bKzymQ9aD4Yp6u1dtXr86YL3evW7I2xWFXotPfnaV_pIX72HXwNalN__IaC435LM4loNj47G2w0tHyYSSD77nHy0nEzlUxhjLiptCh9BOT8VWlCxhRZJWS6yBk6DTjOSVMwYpAcTi0ErRf3MILPKzRY0g/s1920/ElementalsJournals.002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1920" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgYKDUdM3O5QOnqiws0dL2caR8Az9dTVz0bKzymQ9aD4Yp6u1dtXr86YL3evW7I2xWFXotPfnaV_pIX72HXwNalN__IaC435LM4loNj47G2w0tHyYSSD77nHy0nEzlUxhjLiptCh9BOT8VWlCxhRZJWS6yBk6DTjOSVMwYpAcTi0ErRf3MILPKzRY0g/w640-h156/ElementalsJournals.002.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-42797710226723737002022-03-24T22:59:00.001-04:002022-06-12T19:28:21.594-04:00Mural Routes' Digital Background Project<p>I did a thing ..... </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOaEchS7biOxc1yMZCAYesiDCcp13KuVQdjTizagYHdfHfpXhUgkMImU4KOwkOeqEel7ALnljqQGNUIczMt8Icq_PYCW7LSpi9xPH2PSKEuqffe_9uGmSTsvZpqmxYgOFkjhznP_GJZrFRgGFnqRph7QLjAtdq2TFlimse7mGZpMoc3kpH28OMOrBEQ/s1280/IGposts.001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOaEchS7biOxc1yMZCAYesiDCcp13KuVQdjTizagYHdfHfpXhUgkMImU4KOwkOeqEel7ALnljqQGNUIczMt8Icq_PYCW7LSpi9xPH2PSKEuqffe_9uGmSTsvZpqmxYgOFkjhznP_GJZrFRgGFnqRph7QLjAtdq2TFlimse7mGZpMoc3kpH28OMOrBEQ/w640-h360/IGposts.001.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Earlier this year I was commissioned by Mural Routes to create a digital background as part of their project to get 10 Canadian artists to create original backgrounds for the public to use. Of course I decided to create a cloudscape. This particular one is inspired by a photo I took of the sky last year. It was one of these moments where the sky looked surreal and the photo looked photoshopped. I was in awe. And the idea of the sun piercing through the clouds in a similar manner, with my own little twist on it, became my subject. </p><p>I'm quite happy with the final result. The goal for me was to create a background that plays on the idea of being in the clouds. It's very familiar to me since I tend to have my head in the clouds a lot. And I love the play on word of the cloud being a digital location to store all kinds of things. I'm not as witty as rapper Lil Wayne with play on words, but I imagine that would be a word he could play with and come up with something clever. (I'm a big fan of his Carter IV album for his play on words.... but that's another story) </p><p>So you can download all 10 digital artworks for free on <a href="https://muralroutes.ca/digital-backgrounds/">https://muralroutes.ca/digital-backgrounds/</a>. </p><p>If you use my background, please send me a screenshot. It would be fun to add them all in some sort of gallery. Not that I expect 1000s of people downloading mine, but a few would be fun. In any case, the most important thing is that it lifts up the spirit of people using it and people witnessing it :) </p><p>Here's a little vlog I quickly put together about it. </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="405" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dXka9n6-FvY?controls=0" title="YouTube video player" width="720"></iframe><p><br /></p><p>Here's an example of what can be done with it on Zoom :) </p><p></p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccda443D357/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccda443D357/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); 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font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccda443D357/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by MJ | Thought provoking art (@mjsketchbook)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p></p><br /><p></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-41470655845785768462022-02-22T12:48:00.000-05:002022-02-22T12:48:04.904-05:00Celebrating the little wins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlFeZyoEAHe6Ly09d233kaD5rOX33K50hVYR4Cr7woFpVLLF3mZcGkkC67AGl1eZ0JMXk1y4RU7mmoBkC3pu6GYrQJtF8PRgv-Pq0xGwyHnG7ZEGzwBXtCQnpHa8o6kNfKsi-NsoIk18SXLdo5vkJEY_7U79JS-kIrYG959-X8k9xCtE518Nw087I05g=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlFeZyoEAHe6Ly09d233kaD5rOX33K50hVYR4Cr7woFpVLLF3mZcGkkC67AGl1eZ0JMXk1y4RU7mmoBkC3pu6GYrQJtF8PRgv-Pq0xGwyHnG7ZEGzwBXtCQnpHa8o6kNfKsi-NsoIk18SXLdo5vkJEY_7U79JS-kIrYG959-X8k9xCtE518Nw087I05g=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Last year I won my first award as an artist : <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/public-art-across-ontario-honoured-with-i-heart-main-st-awards-840283837.html" target="_blank">The I HeART Main St Awards [Innovative Award]</a> alongside another artist (Mahmood Hosseini) for the Mississauga's Clarkson Village. It felts surreal when I got the phone message announcing that I was one of the winners. And it was a much welcomed surprise, all thanks to <a href="https://stepspublicart.org/" target="_blank">STEPS</a> who arranged the connection between artists and businesses to create public artwork. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In this case, my assignment was to paint removable pollinator panels. The city has these large planter boxes where they plant flowers to allow for bees to pollinate. Bees are a crucial participant in the balance of nature for many reasons, and it's great that more people are recognizing it and doing something about it. I proposed a colourful but simple design inspired by the colourful flowers bees get to interact with. I was really happy with the results because I created all my colours from the 3 primary colours (yellow, cyan and magenta) and white. It took a little longer since I had to mix the paint on-site, but there's something really satisfying about being able to create your own colours. That in itself was rewarding too. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It took me two full days to paint the panels. I brought my little sidekick Newton on Day 2. I didn't want to leave him home alone for that long two days in a row. He also enjoyed the day and made sure I took breaks too :) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you'd like to see what the finished product looks like in the wild, I saved a screen recording of it from Google Map below. Pretty cool :) </p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bRE_APCNVuQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>Now back to work! lol. <br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-35586129893524915092022-02-08T22:37:00.001-05:002022-02-08T22:37:41.697-05:00A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpHcAOOS6HaKxrLqw1OD1Qbia_Vd5Ms-FR9DKNx1uCpAJwv980yCViYx7yrER_kRE8_8NXjdQSrkh_MOC65AuoK0s4ZWGZ1SsSk4PeqZRHDakx3L2j9lwet-V-mlkP7_RhJyTI0Tv1VT9YPRYjn0OC3XHcl2gdokMaSSYgg07-2QqwVl33jGTzTociFA=s3264" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpHcAOOS6HaKxrLqw1OD1Qbia_Vd5Ms-FR9DKNx1uCpAJwv980yCViYx7yrER_kRE8_8NXjdQSrkh_MOC65AuoK0s4ZWGZ1SsSk4PeqZRHDakx3L2j9lwet-V-mlkP7_RhJyTI0Tv1VT9YPRYjn0OC3XHcl2gdokMaSSYgg07-2QqwVl33jGTzTociFA=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the books that made a huge difference in my creative journey is The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I forgot who recommended it but it was on my list to read until one day it happened to be at a used book store I was visiting and I knew it was the right time for me to read it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was back in 2017, at a time where I fell disconnected from my creative self. Thankfully, reading the book actually helped me start the process of getting back on track. It was one of those rare moments where I felt that the author understood me and what I was going through at the time. It helped me identify the things in my environment that were contributing to my creative blocks and source of anguish. It provided me with tools to start clearing them out. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first time around, I didn't go through the entire book. I was going through a lot of changes as a result of doing my inner work. I guess at the time, I just needed to be aware of what was surrounding me. The second time around, I went a little deeper and noticed the improvement in my creativity. The third time was a refresher and inspired me to dive in a little deeper and be more bold with my work. This time around, I feel inspired to create a community around it and go through the process as a group to share our insights and be even more creative. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So in the next couple weeks, I'll be starting a 12-month workshop around the teachings of this book as well as regular artist dates sessions and debriefs. If you'd like to join, check out my subkit profile : <a href="https://www.subkit.com/mariejudith">https://www.subkit.com/mariejudith</a> and sign up for the newsletter to get the latest updates. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-50722549798262719672022-02-06T16:41:00.000-05:002022-02-06T16:41:05.988-05:00I'm writing a book on love<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJquztOOELOatK-az64nq-XYQYrdcMi4ZYvWWde0HcIACMuiU3jziEtTzBUoiwi9WYCCcTreb77qdBeIj1Q3ivfJKi_7F7HWCZvULbpqCZ1Hyxw1BbgSiY6hSf72zlcCGlvAIyPdqw4Ke2H5BC6Ejz6PLG2qRNWIw0bKXsLIaYDGGx2Q4KnB8f37hb5w=s1334" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1334" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJquztOOELOatK-az64nq-XYQYrdcMi4ZYvWWde0HcIACMuiU3jziEtTzBUoiwi9WYCCcTreb77qdBeIj1Q3ivfJKi_7F7HWCZvULbpqCZ1Hyxw1BbgSiY6hSf72zlcCGlvAIyPdqw4Ke2H5BC6Ejz6PLG2qRNWIw0bKXsLIaYDGGx2Q4KnB8f37hb5w=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to join a book builder program, which basically teaches entrepreneurs how to write a non-fiction book. It was very insightful and I learned some new tricks along the way. For this project, I decided to write a book about love, or rather the art of love. The book is intended for people who are at a point in their life where they’d rather be alone than in an unfulfilling relationship … but are still looking to be in a loving and fulfilling relationship. My goal is to provide a wider perspective based on various insights and findings I was able to obtain from co-facilitating conversations about conscious relationships on Zoom and on Clubhouse. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm still in the midst of writing the first draft. There's still quite a bit of work to be done before I hand it over to beta readers (something I didn't do the last time I wrote a book). It should be interesting to hear feedback from people before it's officially released, ideally sometime this year. </div><div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /></div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431968906488556480.post-85596082456441136592020-07-12T11:41:00.002-04:002020-07-12T11:52:17.710-04:002020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TArxvw8q5jad2cbnZZWVCF1pP7Tvb7rep0b7umZnVh-PXp0hm8pL-2HqA7ydkh1aTbldq2Z4-fUvUaUIhZBBrA1LGU99sUToZhSM9O1twa1zki0DeQwC5KQoSzrssaXDMAwOUCCVi1SK/s850/2020Q3.001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img alt="Details artist studio paint supplies" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TArxvw8q5jad2cbnZZWVCF1pP7Tvb7rep0b7umZnVh-PXp0hm8pL-2HqA7ydkh1aTbldq2Z4-fUvUaUIhZBBrA1LGU99sUToZhSM9O1twa1zki0DeQwC5KQoSzrssaXDMAwOUCCVi1SK/d/2020Q3.001.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>2020 has been a strange year so far. </b> I'm sure I'm not the only one who had great plans for the year and nothing went according to plan. We've had to respond the best way we can to constantly changing situations. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">One of the plans I had was to not only create more consistently but also put out more content. 6 months into the year, I'm writing my first blog post and I have no idea if I'll be able to do it on a regular basis, but all I can do is create the first post and see where things go. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A lot has happened since the last time I posted. I moved to a new area of the city, I'm now closer to the lake and we're loving being close to the water. The pace is different and it's great for creative inspirations. I'm obviously not doing live paintings to earn a living, and have switched to creating social media posts for clients as well as managing their accounts, amongst other things. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Still I've been painting as well on a semi-regular basis. More before I moved, but now that I'm more settled in my new place, I plan to pick up where I left off and ideally post about them here on a more consistent basis. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">One positive outcome of the events this year for me is that I've been reading and listening to audiobooks a lot more. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/19871278" target="_blank">I challenged myself to read 30 books for the year</a> and I'm currently reading book No 27! That's on making the most of the situation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I'm back here because I can't help it. I guess writing, however novice I feel I am at it, is something I need to do. So here it is. I have no idea who's going to read this, but it doesn't matter. It just needs to come out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">So if you're reading this, thank you for stoping by. I hope it brings you something positive in your life. Say hello in the comments if you like. It's always nice to know that it's reaching people somewhere on the planet. Hope you're able to make the most out of 2020 despite the challenges that have been put to help us grow and do better. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Till next time, take care. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">MJ </div>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08790167775748724036noreply@blogger.com