Midterm season is upon us and thank goodness for an extra day of the year! As promised, the March 2016 calendars are now available for print in two sizes:
small calendar
8.5 x 11″ big calendar
Enjoy and good luck with your studies. Stay tuned for the April 2016 calendar!
Happy new year!
With a new year comes a new semester and a fresh start. To set things off, I’ll be kicking it old school with a printed January 2016 calendar. I have calendar apps on my phone, tablet, and computer, but nothing beats paper and pen. With digital apps comes reminders, but I seem to always to swipe them away with a flick of a finger. With a printed calendar, I’ll have it taped on my desk, staring me smack in the face, a continuous reminder of things to finish and deadlines to meet.
The January 2016 calendar shown above is available for download and print right here at blogUT.ca. It was designed by yours truly. Two sizes are available: a full letter sized calendar and a smaller one as pictured. Personally, I prefer the smaller calendar since my desk is pretty small, but if you’re a busybody with more things to add, the full 8.5 ” x 11 ” is definitely the one for you.
Downloads (click for direct link to Dropbox):
Small calendar
Full letter sized (8.5 ” x 11 “) calendar
If you’re interested in a February 2016 calendar as well, comment down below and I’ll definitely whip something up!
Cheers.
University is the prime time to experience new things and reinvent yourself. While this transformation could take the form of a new haircut, a new piercing, a new wardrobe, or a new-and-improved personality, one of the easiest and most fun reinventions is redecorating your home. Although we may not realize it, A LOT of our time as students is spent in our rooms. Why? Not for sleeping of course, but for studying! That’s why as a student I try my best to surround myself with motivation. One source of this motivation is based in Toronto and named Athaliah, a home-accessory online shopping site that focuses on brightening and inspiring individuals. This business provides unique and diverse pieces of decoration. Athaliah is a lifestyle boutique that was created specifically for those looking to find pieces that cannot be found anywhere else, and will certainly make any room pop. How, you ask? Simple. Each product is from a different place in the world, and handmade. Athaliah has a variety of pieces to suit every desired look. It has a range of Handmade and Exclusive pieces, Pre-loved and Vintage Re-designs, and charming and original Inspiration and Community house plants, accent pieces, and patterned projects. With all this in mind, now you can finally mismatch the artwork on your wall, throw a cute pillow on your studying chair and place an “oh-so kawaii” plant on your desk.
I had the pleasure of listening to Art Spiegelman talk about his goal for comics as a young artist at the public opening of CO-MIX. Spiegelman said that he knew that he had to make comics that could be sold in bookstores, kept in libraries, and studied by universities. Here we are in 2014 with his work in the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Spiegelman discussed the importance of narrative in his work. Narrative seems to be implied everywhere in the exhibition: the title CO-MIX seems appropriate, as Spiegelman’s work began in comix, an underground comic world with “x” rated content. But the title also works as a way to unify the content of the exhibition: Spiegelman’s style always shifts, making itself appropriate only for the artist’s need to convey a narrative, moving from sexually charged underground comics, to modernism, to a distinctive style in Maus and then past that distinction. The style of each work is made part of the content of many of the comic’s discussions: look out for art referencing itself as art. My favourite example of this was a story about a man falling in love with a woman, drawn in a cubist style, because of her curves.
For those unfamiliar with Spiegelman’s work, CO-MIX may be a good preparation for understanding the artist’s interest, as it covers the breadth of his career in large pen-marks. But the exhibition is an absolute pleasure for those who already have an interest in the works, or know very little about Spiegelman other than Maus. It covers everything about Spiegelman’s comics and more, including fun things such as his work with “Garbage Pail Kids” and his illustrations of a poem called “The Wild Party.” The exhibit also includes drafts of various works, including Maus, RAW Magazine covers, and others. Don’t be fooled by the compact space CO-MIX is presented in, you’ll still be surprised by all the little details you’ll find.
For more details visit: AGO
Fun Tip: This exhibit is included with General Admission to the AGO, so if you visit on any Wednesday from 6-8:30pm it’s free!
The image above is an original piece by University of Toronto student Jason Ko. Jason writes:
[This piece is] a tribute to Travis Barker (drummer of a band, Blink-182) when he almost died in a horrific plane crash in 2008. I decided to create this since he introduced me to the world of music and inspired me to become a drummer.
If you would like to submit a piece of visual art, including comics and graphic art, or an original audio or video piece, please send it to us via e-mail at [email protected].