Christa Rowley at the Crooked Star

Just marking a little territory on Ossington.

From June 15th until TBD,

have a little Christarama with your summer cocktail!

New Work at Not My Dog.

 These are some small pieces that I have been working on lately playing with drawing, collage, and my new love of Sharpie paint markers.  

"Roots"

"Lost"

"Shiva"

"Medusa"

 "Siren with Seahorses"

I am showcasing these little darlings, as well as many other varieties of textiles, drawings and collages, currently at one of my favourite Parkdale locals Not My Dog.  Stop by to see them in person, they should be up there throughout May.

Belly Dance and the Big Top!

March 28th was quite a night of the arts for this girl.  My student Belly Dancing Troupe, Banat El Sharq, had a 7pm performance at the U of T Festival of Dance.  (Belly Dance has become one of my absolute favourite things lately - I adore the music, the costumes, the way that your body translates the rhythms and the instruments...)

I knew that The Super Wonder Gallery's Big Top Show was that night too, but I really REALLY liked these costumes:

I'm also eager to perform as much as I can since one of the reasons that I joined the student troupe was to overcome my crippling stage fright.  So, I double booked!  I wizzed home after teaching all day, got my costume and an outfit for later, and off I went to the Dance Performance.

This is my backstage dressing room selfie.

After the show, I hightailed it to 99 Sudbury to visit my girls (and my guy!) at the Big Top Show.

Here are Poppy & Rosy courting an admirer,

...as the Bearded Lady observes the crowd.

 The handsome and charming Jay Nadler, offering prizes to the giddy crowds.

Poppy & Rosy

The Bearded Lady

The Big Top - A Circus Themed Group Show at 99 Sudbury The Super Wonder Gallery

I have for a while now been slowly working on a series inspired by circus sideshow posters, how convenient that the next group show at the Super Wonder Gallery is circus themed!

The Big Top

Opens on Friday March 21, and promises to be the best party yet.

Here is a sneak preview of the work I'll be submitting:

The Bearded Lady:

The Conjoined Twins (work in progress)

I am exploring the usual themes of cultural characters and icons (from a feminine perspective) in our world, comparing fantasy and folk culture with more contemporary forms of media (like the characterization and designs of vaudvillian circus posters, as well as modern advertising).  On a technical level, I am excited about bringing more drawing, line, and pattern into my work with the use of paint pens and mixed media.  Come on out to 99 Sudbury for a closer look!

The Million Dollar Monster Show Opening Party

So much fun at 99 Sudbury!

Christian Aldo, the man behind the Million Dollar Monster Show and the Superwonder Gallery, knows how to throw a party.

These were the new paintings that I had in the show:

Medusa

The Sirens

I was quite excited about some new textures that I had created while painting the snake skin and fish tails using some printmaking techniques.  Of course, you may also recognize my current obsession with Vintage Nudie Playing Card ladies.  I just love their postures and expressions!

I sold the Sirens opening night, which is nice.  Luckily a friend of mine took some photos of my work at the show, since I completely forgot to document the paintings at all.  

The show is over now, but I'm sure Superwonder Gallery has something else in the works.

The Million Dollar Monster Show

This is a huge group show that I will be showing a couple of new paintings in:

99 Sudbury is an awesome art space, and there are fantastic artists involved.  

Come and check out the show!

CALL FOR ENTRIES: The Holiday Sassy Little Craft Show

The Sassy Little Craft Show

Call For Enries!

Greetings crafty peeps! 

The partners in craft are putting on a Holiday edition of the Sassy Little Craft show. 

We are here to offer you an afternoon of selling your handmade items, while enjoying some eats, drinks, holiday cheer, and great company. 

Here is the call for entries for the Holiday edition of the Sassy Little Craft Show:

Date: Sunday December 1st, 2013

Place: The Central  603 Markham Street (Bloor & Bathurst, near Suspect Video) 

Time: 2pm-8pm

Cost is $40 per vendor. 

Tables and chairs are provided. The tables are 2x2ft, standard bar sized tables, so displays need to be kept small. 

You will need to bring your own table coverings and battery-powered lights. 

We suggest items under $50, which seems to be the best selling point.

If you are interested in applying to the show, please send us an email, with 3 images of your work, a short description of what you do, web presence, to thesassylittlecraftshow@gmail.com

We're looking forward to your applications!

Deadline to apply is October 7. 

We will confirm participation by October 14.

The Summer Sassy Little Craft Show 2013

Another year, another Sassy!

We had our first Summer edition of the Sassy Little Craft Show at our new home at The Central, and despite a torrential rain that ended up putting the kibosh on our lovely upstairs patio vendor set up (which is a damn shame because it looked super lovely up there) we had a great time!

We had some really awesome and talented vendors, and I maaay have gotten a little carried away shopping, but it was all in support of Artists, so that's ok. 

Summer Sassy photo album          The Sassy Little Facebook Page

Coming soon: The SUMMER Sassy Little Craft Show 2013!

Mark your calendars! Summer Sassy is less than a month away!

We have an amazing line up of vendors for our summertime craft show.   

The Central's two floors and two beautiful patios will be brimming with Artisans and Indie shoppers. 

Don't miss the party!

www.facebook.com/thesassylittlecraftshow

Paintings and Textiles at Not my Dog (and revisiting the Halloween Portraits)

For the months of June and July, my paintings and textiles will be hanging at an awesome little Parkdale bar called Not My Dog.  This is one of my favourite places: great staff, people, live music every night, and great art on their walls! *smile* 

My new work and some of my older pieces are there for in-person viewing, and I will be adding new work over the next two months so be sure to stop by.

One throwback series that I have featured at Not My Dog is my Halloween Portraits Series.  Painted in 2004, I had freshly returned from a year-long tour of Europe, and I was particularly interested in human rituals involving costumes, make-up and gatherings inspired by the resreach I had been doing on ancient and modern civilizations during my travels.  

I also was discovering a love for rendering the minute details of various fabrics, wigs and hairstyles, and make-up in my portraiture.

A Halloween party gave me the images that inspired these portraits.

There were more, but many of them have been sold or given away since.  

SpeakEasy Spring Art Fair

Come and see my reproductive embroideries in person!

My series of reproductive embroideries, entitled Spring, have been accepted into 

SpeakEasy's Spring Art Fair. 

 They will be on display and for sale at AWOL gallery, amongst some other great work (including pieces by my Sassy Little Craft Show collaborator Audrey Hudson) from May 2-12 2013.  

See art!  Buy art!  Or just culture it up and have a coupla drinks with me at the opening 

on Friday May 3rd, 7-10.

SpeakEasy, by the way, is one of my favourite promoters of creativity in this city.

From their site:

SpeakEasy is a gathering of Toronto's artistic community. It's an opportunity to network, share ideas, and keep in touch with the pulse of Toronto's creative professionals. Established in 1996 SpeakEasy brings together distinguished and emerging artists, from a variety of backgrounds. The atmosphere at SpeakEasy is casual... conducive to innovation and inspiration. The SpeakEasy gang invites you to come out and join us for a beer and spirited conversation on the First Thursday of every month. No door fees, no attitude, just like minded folks coming together to talk about art.

Check out my updated Etsy Shop

Hey kids, want to see Christa's objet d'art all in one place?  

Want to buy, commission, or just see what I'm up to?  

Check out my updated Etsy Shop

Sassy Little Craft Show 2012

The Sassy Little Crafts Show

As usual; cozy, pretty, and full of great vendors!

We even managed some decent crowds despite the blizzard outside.

A visitor at my table: co-teacher and artsy co-llaborator Stuie!

The Sassy Little Craft Show is less than two weeks away!

Less than two weeks away!  Come and visit me at this amazing Sassy Little Arts'n'Crafts Show'n'Sale that I'm co-organizing with my old art school and craft scene pal Audrey Hudson.

It's at The Central, right next to Honest Ed's.

The line up of vendors is incredible.  

Quality, handmade, cool and quirky, and all created by local artisans.  

Get all your shopping done in one place, in one night, with a drink in your hand!

Yay Christmas!

www.facebook.com/thesassylittlecraftshow

Art Brownie Galaxy Show at INDEXG

I have made some little miniature paintings for

this show

I love painting tiny!

These are The Goddesses

The Crone

The Mother

The Virgin

The Temptress

each block is 2.5 x 2.5 x 1.5

Go and see them (and many other artists) in December at INDEXG Gallery

50 Gladstone Ave