I’m founding a new business venture. And, it’s not so much like I’m groping in the dark. It’s more like I’m trying to think while my neighbour’s smoke detector is going off. The noise can be so hard to ignore, it can be paralysing.
I am starting a new business called Stirling Prentice Creative Facilitation and Consulting. The core of the idea is pretty straightforward: using art and games to help businesses and other organisations (or anyone who wants to) solve problems, work together, and adapt to change.
In 2022, I released a soundtrack for Man with a Movie Camera under my musical persona Oh!Noverdrive! About the movie: The Man with a Movie Camera is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, and edited by his wife Yelizaveta Svilova. Kaufman also appears as the eponymous Man of the film. It’s one of my favourite films, and its impact on cinema is sort significant, it’s almost difficult to describe. About the music: Silent films rely a lot on music. It’s funny that we call them silent, because when they were releases the theatre
I’ve wanted to work more with watercolours, but I wasn’t sure where to start. But then, a friend handed me some Japanese watercolour pens. Now, I’m in love.
I have a habit, as you may know, of collecting paintings from thrift stores and adding to them. Here’s my most recent work, featuring some folks playing ghosts in a nice swamp.
I miss mixed tapes and mixed CDs. And, it feels like algorithm just isn’t getting it done lately. So, I started to put together short playlists from the music I listen to while I work.
I recently took a road trip down to Vancouver Island to visit so friends and find some seafood. I brought some of the ghosts with me. When I took these photos, I was on my way up the Malahat of north from Victoria. It was quite a view.
The evolution on the easel continues, and it’s clear that my regular drawing helps when I go to pick up the brush.
I’ve been colouring in my drawings with Sharpies lately. This worked in my sketchbooks, but when I tried to Sharpie in my drawings on some bookkeeping paper, I didn’t quite like the look. So, I decided to try using a wash to add colour… Not that I necessarily know what I’m doing.
March 2020 feels a little lost in the fog. Two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic was getting real for Canadians (at least for those who we’re into accepting reality of it). Amidst the lockdowns, stress baking, endless Zoom meetings, and toilet paper shortages, some of us also got down to making some art. Let’s take a look at some stuff from the beginning of the plague years.
I enjoy rescuing paintings from thrift stores and finding ways to add my own story to them. I’ve done a fair few over the years. Many have gone on to other homes, but here’s one that’s currently up on my wall: A Masked Figure Fishing. It’s a simple, idyllic moment, with some ominous vibes.
Last night, I pulled one of my books about Modigliani off my shelf to read before bed. My collection of art books is small (but hearty), yet somehow I managed to end up with two Modigliani books. Anyway, when I sat down to do my daily draw this morning, it was natural that I’d add this to the mix.
