Inspiration: Tomi Ungerer - One of the absolute best!

On Sept 6th I saw the documentary Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story

Tomi is one of my all time favourite illustrators (his economical line!! his humour! his fabulous kids books! his incredible political posters! his saucy erotic drawings!) and I can't recommend the doc enuf. Thanks so much to Glenn Sumi for the reco. :-)
Watch the trailer here.

Images from June

I've been away from my blog for a while... It's catch up time.
Here are some favourite images from June.

 Hijinks with great Artscape Neighbours Paula and Greg.

More hijinks with Artscapers including Robbie Grunewald above (and his Gin Fizz)

 Printing some more kitchen prints

Design salon!

Kim, Jessica and Donna

Jessica, peonies and birdie plates!

Colleen, Lynda and Heather.

Very attractive Tattly model: Photographer Jon Loek

 

 Sassy Sasha and my pear Tattly

Puppeteer Clea Minaker and her fabulous legs

from the amazing documentary

Look at what the light did now

I can't recommend this documentary enough.

Another screen grab from the documentary

Beautiful.

Watching Casablanca in David Pecaut Sqaure courtesy of TIFF

Toronto looked so beautiful that night.

FYI Free films every Wednesday all summer!
See the schedule here

Play it again Sam.

 Greg Oh and Drake breakfast. 

#Bestneighbourever.

Inspiration: Dorothea Lange

Am listening to a documentary on Dorothea Lange.
She's the photographer who took the iconic Migrant woman photograph during the depression.

Inspiring, Kick Ass woman.

Inspiration: Diana Vreeland

On the wknd I went to see this doc on legendary editor Diana Vreeland.
Inspirational. 

 Above + Below: Diana in her offices at Harper's Baazar and Vogue.

"There's only one very good life. That's the one that you know that you want - that you make yourself"
-Diana Vreeland
You can see the trailer here.

Film: Guest of Cindy Sherman

Director Paul Ho + Art superstar Cindy Sherman (who was soon to become his girlfriend)
Fashion note: Cindy Sherman has great style in this doc. Understated elegance.

Watched a very fun film with my neighbour Richard tonight: Guest of Cindy Sherman which chronicles director Paul H-O's five year relationship with art superstar Cindy Sherman.
In addition to hilariously showing the perils of being a famous person's "plus one" it also explores art's symbiotic (often absurd) relationship with commerce + celebrity. Fascinating + funny plus serves as a great crash course in the Art world circa 1995-2005. (Appearances by Eric Fischl, Tracey Emin, Julian Schnabel and more.)

PBS Video

Tons of great video here.

Images from the Weekend

My favourite barista at the Drake makes it a good morning.(Check out that latté art)

This is my new favourite restaurant.
Wonderful food + interiors: lots of wood + metal and wine bottles used as a decor element.
The manager is gonna get back to me with the name of the interior design firm.

Dinner at Mercatto. So lovely.


Documentary by Corinna Belz on the German painter Gerhard Richter.
I found it amazing that she was granted access to his studio.


It was incredible to watch him push this enormous squeegee across the underpainting. It is what created the magic as it made all the colours schmush together. (Do you like my profound art historian terminology? :-))
Also so interesting to watch his earnest assistants prepare for the exhibitions with elaborate maquettes + see the great gallery scenes in Berlin, London + New York..
You can watch the trailer here.

Great resource

Open Culture: The best free cultural & educational media on the web.

Thinking about Steve Jobs today

and like so many can't stop feeling a bit worried about him since his resignation was announced yesterday . :-( Above is photo with new CEO Tim Cook.
I know goofey but what can I say I have a huge soft spot for him.
God Speed SJ.

ps. Recently watched this great documentary him. Its free! + Highly recommended.

Page One: Inside the New York Times

Last night I went to see Page One: Inside the New York Times by filmmaker Andrew Rossi.

Through footage of the Times' story-pitch meetings, newsroom deliberations, journalist profiles + various interviews — all shot over 14 months starting in November 2009 — the doc profiles the paper as it tries to stay vital, financially sound and evolve.



The film is filled with many great characters such as the salty David Carr - but my favourite NYT staffer was media desk editor Bruce Headlam (above) who comes across as the kind of guy who cares deeply about his work and stays at the office way too late. I found him adorably earnest.
Fun fact: he's Canadian and originally worked at the now defunct Saturday night magazine.

Journalism geeks will love the fly on the wall insider footage and design geeks will appreciate getting a peek at the both the exterior + interior of the NYT's building. (Don'tcha love those intense red walls?)

Anybody interested in the changing landscape of media + the future of print should see this doc.

NYC Day 8 Eve: Florent

Poster for the movie:
Owner Florent Morellet in fabulous Marie Antoinette garb on Bastille Day

The Marquee sign at Cinema Village


The sign outside florent during the last 5 weeks. Removing the L to make F ORENT = so clever.

Some great Florent graphics


The menu board during the last 5 weeks.
The restaurant celebrated the 5 stages of loss. Too smart/ adorable -no?
In the film David Rakof's "Anger" monologue was priceless. Love him.

On the eve of NYC Day 8 Scott + I went to see the documentary Florent: Queen of the Meat Market by David Sigal.
For 23 years this all night diner in the Meat Packing District was prime stomping ground for an electric mix of A list celebrities, everyday new yorkers, club kids + transvestities and played an important role in LGBT activism. The documentary chronicled the history + final days of this new york institution.

I came away from the film with a huge respect for the owner Florent Morellet who demonstrated an incredible combo of creativity, business saavy, courage, sense o' humour + HUGE joie de vivre. A definite role model!

I had long admired florent's gutsy + hilarious graphics so another highlight of the film was to learn that they were done by design giant Tibor Kalman + his company M + Co. (in exchange for a catered lunch delivered to the designers 4 days a week!) How great!

You can read an article by Jennifer Kabat on the design aspects of florent here.
Her essay + this doc are both are highly recommended.

ps. Right after the film I ran to the Strand to find any books I could on Tibor Kalman. I predict he will become my "new favourite thing" that I can't stop thinking about.

Bill Cunningham New York

Going to see this tonight. Can't wait.
ps. love Agyness Deyn's style in upper left corner.

Inspiration: The Beauty of Maps

I'm watching an amazing documentary called the The Beauty of Maps which is a 4 part BBC series.
Found via swiss miss.

Through it discovered British artist Grayson Perry.
Here he is describing his Map of Nowhere from 2008


Love this - his ingredients of the Individual
Note how small talent is in relation to Confidence and Lady Luck. :-)
Wish I thought of that.