Owl Painting!!!

Last weekend I finally finished the owl painting for T and J. It was a present for their wedding, which took place over one and a half years ago (!) Better late than never, but due to being in school, moving every three months, and not having my painting supplies or easel, I wasn't able to work on it properly until now. However, it has been burning a hole in my conscience the entire time, so I'm glad that I can finally hand it over to them and take back the "placeholder"wolf painting, which I gave them to hang in the meantime. (here it is, below)

I was super jealous of Tasia last weekend, as she attended the Osheaga music festival in Montreal! Normally I would have gone too, but I was just in Montreal a few weeks before, and I'm also planning to go to PEI next week to visit Linda, so I had decline due to budgetary constraints. But no fear! I needed to clean up my place because I'm moving again soon (sigh), and I also finished off some projects, such as the owl painting and planning for my first Indie Pop Night at Fountain Bar. If anyone in the Toronto area is free on the 25th, I hope to see you there! (: Can't wait to play my new favourite song from my new favourite band, Little Dragon. So awesome!

Little Dragon

A warm Sunday, a birthday, and a painter

This weekend has been super busy. It was E's birthday, so we went out for all you can eat sushi, and then went (again) to Fountain bar afterwards, to hang out and listen to Mr. Furious spin some tunes.

Today was a nice warm day, but I was busy running around looking for a new apartment, and was also hung over. Also, the streets were packed with shoppers! Toronto can get totally nuts as soon as the warm weather starts (:

On a side note, here is a painter who I love: Christer Kaarlstad from Norway, amazing oil on canvas (see images below).

Check out his website to see more of his awesome work: http://christerkarlstad.com.



Have a great Sunday!
xx makiko

May 1st!

Yikes, time flies! 


Been back in Toronto now (officially) for 4 months, with the exception of a few trips to Ottawa and a 2.5-week stint in Montreal in February. It's been crazy, mostly because of my (lack of) secure job situation in January, and the mounting stress of paying for an awesome sublet while trying to organize all the stuff in my mum's storage locker. Who knew I had so much stuff...and why did I even keep it? I soon realized that a good way to purge anything not essential to your life is to move every 3 months.... le sigh.


In the meantime, I've done a bunch of cool things since I've been back. I went to see Grimes with my friend Jen, and Tasia came down to go to the Youth Lagoon concert. A few weeks ago for Andrea's birthday, a bunch of us went to see Azari and iii at the Hoxton. They were great! However, my most recent girl crushes are Grimes, Charlie XCX, and Coeur de Pirate. I listen to the three of them almost every day, as well as the new Sleigh Bells album, which is amazing. 

http://www.chippedhip.com/2012/02/grimes-oblivion/

http://www.nme.com/reviews/charlie-xcx/12772

Each weekend, it seems that someone I know is DJing at Fountain bar, which seems to be the only place I ever go to on Saturdays. Last weekend Dan (DJ Sexhelmet) was spinning, and the week before Andrea, Erin, and Andrew were playing. This Saturday Terence (Mr. Furious) will be there. It's crazy! The main reason that everyone is there, though, is because of our friend and bartender Vince, who happens to also be a music writer for Exclaim magazine. He's one very cool guy (and makes good drinks too!)


Anyway, I hope that I can get my blog and my art stuff back on track, now that I've sorted myself and my stuff out. I am planning to finish one of my paintings this weekend, so fingers crossed! It seems like I went from being very seldomly employed to working 6 days a week and trying to take a french class on the side. Needless to say, mon francais souffre a cause de  ma vie tres occupee. C'est mal. 


I'm also planning to update my blog over the next little while, so stay tuned!


xx makiko