original drawing by Sydney Smith, illustrator of 'the dread crew: pirates of the backwoods'

The Orangutan

An orangutan rang my doorbell
So I asked him up to tea
The orangutan sat in my kitchen
Then the orangutan sang to me
I banged and twanged my banjo
The orangutan sang his song
We did the orangutan tango
And we diddle-danged all day long
If an orangutan rings your doorbell
Don't call the nearest zoo
Cause the orangutan's quite 
A swinger and
He'll sing
His song
For you.

~ from Canadian author Sheree Fitch's classic book of childrens' poetry Toes in My Nose, which inspired this tribute by Sydney Smith

"Sydney is magic. Just pure magic. He's just the right kind of dark and gloomy and dreamy and ethereal and fantastical all wrapped up in a single pen. His drawings are dreamscapes." ~ Kate Inglis, author, The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods

Sydney Smith is an artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was educated at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. His traditional drawing style has captured the attention of both the young and old and the admiration of other artists. Renowned for his narrative imagination, Smith is creating an impressive body of work that has been featured in print, fabric, large-scale installations, and animation.

Using traditional mediums such as Ink and watercolour, Smith sources older illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Japanese Woodblock prints, Rennaisance paintings and etchings, comics, and fellow contemporary illustrators and image makers. Smith’s images evoke a sense of fantasy and the subconscious, often referencing his own dreams.

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Original drawing by Sydney Smith. Dimensions approximately 11x12". (origin: Nova Scotia, Canada) 

Starting bid: $55.00

An original print of your choice by painter Erin Darcy

I consider myself an artist, but I am merely the vessel - a Creative flows through me when and how she wishes... I am at her beck. I aspire to embrace my journey, live in the moment and love with all of my heart. I was raised in the United States and found my soul mate in Ireland. He pushed me to begin with the lens and is my greatest advocate and teacher. Together, we live among my mess of paint and brushes in a little town in County Galway, Ireland. ~ Erin Darcy of Starving Artist Ink and Erin Darcy Photography

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Choice of any one (1) of Erin Darcy's signed 11x14 prints. Winner may choose any previously sold or currently-for-sale item. (origin: County Galway, Ireland)

Minimum bid: 40.00

'Apparently I support inter-species relationships' original stickynote drawing by rené joshi sims

This Christmas, we finally faced the dilemma that has become a rite of passage for thinking parents everywhere: to Barbie or not to Barbie. Our girl is not a true Girly-girl, and so we've had a pretty easy job of it these last eight years:

at soul-sucking department store

"Hey mommy, what's down the next aisle?"

(telltale pink glow searing my peripheral vision)

"Wow, look at this! Over here! Pretend bacon!"

Our girl is both easily distracted and a good sport, and that has served us well for many years. But we are also not unreasonable parents, so when she recently started trying to make Barbies out of toilet paper rolls and dressing them in Kleenex, we decided that the time had come to end our unspoken boycott. What's the harm, really? She's eight and a half - surely past the most impressionable stage, and likely to outgrow the whole thing soon enough.

So we got the least skanky Barbies we could find, and a little house setup that I have to grudgingly admit is kind of cool (a foldup toilet!). And we held our breath.

I guess my objections to Ms. B follow the usual lines - unrealistic body issues, limited gender roles, the way plastic crap begets more plastic crap. But it's also more general than that. I think it's the way that toys like this somehow pasteurize natural kid weirdness:

It's Saturday morning, and Barbie has the whole day to do whatever she wants! Should she:

a) Join her friends at the mall for a shopping 
spree
b) Surf the 'net, then have some friends over for pizza and a movie
c) Star in a rock video
d) Start a goat farm with Eggy and Roundy, then save a zebra that fell in the collapsible toilet

We just keep on praying that our girl will keep on choosing option #4, or some reasonable facsimile, over and over for the rest of her life.

So the other day she came up to me with Semi-Skanky Barbie (not that we call her that out loud! no!) and a little stuffed bear she has had for most of her life. His attire resembles the A&W Root Bear but he has no known corporate affiliation. And she said this:

"Mom, I've decided that these two aren't married anymore.  Now they're in high school.  But they still love each other."

I love this unpasteurized girl.

~ René Joshi Sims of fruityfantastica

René's zig-zaggy art journey: a three year crash course in love, painting, and D.I.Y. at Rosebud, Alberta; Yale University's Summer School of Art in Norfolk; four hothouse years at Alberta College of Art and Design; a year-long mentorship with Canadian painter Eleanor Bond, and another year working on Chautauqua Stars for a Northern City, a public commission for the E. A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts. The journey came to a juddering halt when René's son was diagnosed with autism. She recently returned to the studio after a six year absence, and is working on a show about healing, loss, and love that glows just hot enough to see by. She lives with her family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and blogs in happy obscurity at fruityfantastica.

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Apparently I support inter-species relationships original stickynote drawing by René Joshi Sims (origin: Saskatchewan, Canada)

Starting bid: $10.00

'toothbrushes' original stickynote drawing by rené joshi sims

I started blogging last year because I was really lonely. I didn't always know what to say though, and I really didn't have anyone to say it to anyhow since no one was reading along. However, I knew how to draw, and sticky notes are always there for you. So I made some sticky note drawings for my blog. Even toothbrushes can be lovely and mysterious if you look at them long enough. ~ René Joshi Sims

René's zig-zaggy art journey: a three year crash course in love, painting, and D.I.Y. at Rosebud, Alberta; Yale University's Summer School of Art in Norfolk; four hothouse years at Alberta College of Art and Design; a year-long mentorship with Canadian painter Eleanor Bond, and another year working on Chautauqua Stars for a Northern City, a public commission for the E. A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts. The journey came to a juddering halt when René's son was diagnosed with autism. She recently returned to the studio after a six year absence, and is working on a show about healing, loss, and love that glows just hot enough to see by. She lives with her family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and blogs in happy obscurity at fruityfantastica.

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Toothbrushes original stickynote drawing by René Joshi Sims (origin: Saskatchewan, Canada)

Starting bid: $10.00

'mothership' original etching by rené joshi sims

 

I made this etching long before I had kids of my own, at Yale University's Summer School of Art in Norfolk, Connecticut. It's become a favourite image of mine, and over the years it has gained a depth of meaning from my own experiences as a mother -- especially the stormy waters of having a boy with severe autism. (I'm not sure where I've put my crown, though... maybe it's under that pile of laundry by the unused treadmill.)

 

This is a one of kind piece, and because our focus at Yale was to "go, go, go" and "make, make, make" you'll see that the borders of the paper are not as pristine as you'd usually expect on a fine quality art print. However, once this print is properly matted and framed those small flaws will be completely hidden. ~ René Joshi Sims

René's zig-zaggy art journey: a three year crash course in love, painting, and D.I.Y. at Rosebud, Alberta; Yale University's Summer School of Art in Norfolk; four hothouse years at Alberta College of Art and Design; a year-long mentorship with Canadian painter Eleanor Bond, and another year working on Chautauqua Stars for a Northern City, a public commission for the E. A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts. The journey came to a juddering halt when René's son was diagnosed with autism. She recently returned to the studio after a six year absence, and is working on a show about healing, loss, and love that glows just hot enough to see by. She lives with her family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and blogs in happy obscurity at fruityfantastica.

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Mothership original, one-of-a-kind etching by René Joshi Sims, dimensions approximately 15 3/4" x 18 1/2" (origin: Saskatchewan, Canada)

Starting bid: $30.00