During April & May we'll be taking some downtime here at the studio. We've been working to engage our community through classes & events since August 2011, and would like to think about what lies ahead for nook.

Our goals are simple - to build a community of peers that sustain each other through inspiration and support - to help you share what you know and pay a fair fee for the years of experience and expertise you possess. As a bonus, cross-pollination occurs naturally across the creative fields we bring together.

If you've had a chance to participate, please drop us a line to tell us any feedback you may have. Let us know if you have an idea for a social event or a class - what have you got to lose?

In the meantime...

 

We're happy to say that we have a new studio-mate at 156 Augusta Avenue - please welcome dynamo art director of ELLE magazine, Beatriz Juarez! If you're at the studio, please be sure to say hello.

Our collective has also accepted three co-op summer placements, all of whom are heading to their graduating year in the fall in the Illustration BAA at Sheridan college. Welcome Steve, Mono and Kate!

Pyramid Attack (Arv Slabosevicius, Steve Wilson and Sean Conly) have been busier than ever. No surprise there, with the variety of talents they share!

Currently they are working on VFX for a feature film, design and art direction upcoming (secret) music based video game, videos for a Holocaust memorial project, various IDs and a personal short film.

As well, Steve Wilson recently completed a car-tastic calendar for the fine folks at Mini in conjunction with Taxi advertising.

We're excited to report that Aaron Leighton has been asked to be a presenter at this year's Pictoplasma festival in Berlin, as well as studio pal Hyein Lee.

Pictoplasma is the world’s leading and largest Festival of contemporary character a dense, one-week program of inspiring artist presentations, conference lectures, animation festival, workshops, installations, numerous character walk exhibitions, performances, VJ battles and of course, loads of character!

Aaron will keep us posted with observations while there, so do check in on our website and on Aaron's twitter feed if you'd like to follow along.

Julia Breckenreid is busy painting and finishing up the winter term with her Conceptual Process students from the Illustration BAA at Sheridan College. So many fantastic ideas and discoveries were made this year, she'll be posting a slideshow of the best student work soon.

Keep an eye on the nook scoop and Julia's drawger blog for missives from Italy - she'll be looking for inspiring people and work to share with you. Julia has a twitter account as well, so check out her sweet tweets!

She's also headed for the Illustration Conference - ICON7. Julia's keen to go see the great lineup of speakers, the events listed and just plain old socializing! If you'll be there as well, let her know.

 

Anne Koyama, publisher and art prankster, is always busy! A former film producer, in 2007, Koyama began finding local Canadian cartoonists and artists she admired and funding their projects. Koyama Press creates not only comics but zines and artbooks made by emerging indie creators and established artists. Be sure to check out her blog and follow what she's up to on the Koyama Press twitter feed.

Arv Slabosevicius is preparing to offer the 3rd installment of the After-Effects Classes. From concept to completion, this would be a 3 month self-directed project based workshop. Attendees would be interested in developing a short film/commercial/art project.

• Bi-weekly group workshops.
• Concept development, storyboarding and production planning.
• Troubleshooting to bring your project to completion.

Please contact Arv directly, if you are interested in taking this class. After-Effects parts 1 and 2 would be prerequisites, but you may make arrangements to take these as well.

 

 

Sandra Dionisi is busy with deadlines and wrapping up the school year at both OCADU and Sheridan College.

Keep an eye open for Sandra's sensational work at an upcoming group show produced by Dave Murray at the AWOL Gallery on April 26th!

It's always good to check out the emerging talent from our local schools... That time of year has rolled around again, so check out the graduating shows coming soon!

Illustration BAA, Sheridan College

OCADU

York Sheridan Design

As well, Sheridan College is inviting you to participate in a one day conference filled with discussion, networking and heroic acts of creative inspiration. The action-packed day will explore new models of creative idea building, featuring a diverse panel of business leaders, design innovators, and inspiring image creators.

We'll be coming at you with more before you know it.

- nook