The Wrong Paintings: July 13, 2024 - January 18, 2025

 I finished three paintings yesterday. This is the third.

"Wrong Direction" -- 24"x18", 

acrylic, graphite and coloured pencils on paper.

This is the 30th painting I've made since July 13th, 2024 on paper (all 24"x18"). I've been calling these "The Wrong Paintings." This project has been an exploration of a looser, more immediate and gestural way of image making. I had felt that the "Pixel Error" paintings I'd been making from 2022-2024 had become somewhat habitual, and restraining, and it was time to change creative directions.

I think "Wrong Direction" is the last of this series of "The Wrong Paintings" for now, and I'm ready to try applying this refreshed skillset on a series of new works. In a lot of ways, this is the kind of gestural and expressive immediacy I've been striving for, and that I want to continue to explore. I've purchased some new paper, a little larger this time, and later this year I will probably try returning to canvas. Evolution requires mutation. Onward.

New wererabbit album: The Nucleus

I have released a new wererabbit album called The Nucleus on Bandcamp. This music was composed alongside a big change in my approach to painting and the writing of my eighth collection of poetry NMLCT (forthcoming from ECW Press in fall 2025), so it's natural that there should be a noticeable change in the sound of my music, as well. The title of the album and a composition from it both take their name from a poem included in my forthcoming book, and I have included that poem on the Bandcamp site. This is a short album, but it's strange and evocative, and I hope you will like it. 

Listen on Bandcamp. 

Listen on YouTube.

I just found this lovely essay about one of my books...

Somehow (HOW?) I missed this essay from 2018 about my book Self-Defence for the Brave and Happy by Margaryta Golovchenko, and reading it now, I am buoyed. It came along just when I needed it, as I am in the final stretch on a new manuscript that builds on the work I did in Self-Defence. I am re-energized! Thank you, Margaryta!

CLICK HERE

Painting: what a difference a month makes!

What a difference a month makes! I was working on the "solar error" paintings only a month ago. I still am very happy with them, but I don't need be making them right now. I need to make these new paintings. I need to make the "wrong" paintings.

Visit the "art" section of my site to see more.

My poem "The Time Machine" is in the latest issue of Gargoyle Magazine

My poem "The Time Machine" is in the latest issue of Gargoyle Magazine. Stuart Ross has some poems in the same issue. 

Click here to check it out now!

Talking about the Griffins with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on CBC's Commotion

Last week I had the opportunity to talk about the exclusion of Canadian poetry books from the Griffin Poetry Prize on a podcast hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud for CBC's Commotion. 

You can listen to the conversation we had here.

 

The podcast is also available on Spotify. 

My first TV credit as a composer!

The Rogers TV program produced by the Kawartha Land Trust is using my song "Field 4B" from my album wererabbit iv as the intro and outro of their "Celebrating Black Excellence In Conservation" episode! 

Thanks to Dani Couture for setting this up!

Click the image to see the video. 

wererabbit iv now available!

 “In the tradition of fourth albums like...

Led Zeppelin IV

Foreigner 4

Toto IV

Beyoncé 4, etc. 

comes an all new album called...

wererabbit iv

The fourth album by wererabbit. Available now. Only on Bandcamp!” 

Click here to go to Bandcamp.

Click here to stream album on YouTube.