I've been working pretty steadily for the last two days. I'm just getting back into drawing and ink work. Right now I've just been just drawing what I see but later today will start drawing from my imagination. I want to be able to put this collection of images together in some sort of landscape. I'm working as automatically as I can right now - just doing what comes over me. I'm trying to explore concepts of narrative and story telling ... but in a way that has me relinquish control over what is coming out.

At any rate, the residency is going well so far. I'm fighting being aware of the deadline of the exhibition. I think I'd be trying even more techniques and ideas if I didn't need to produce enough pieces to fill a gallery space in four weeks. (And three days but who's counting.) But I'm finding that a good chunk of my day is spent planning and thinking about the show, and the little details that go along with it. Which is fine.

Each new day I notice the sun coming up a little earlier. We are gaining somewhere around 8 minutes of sunlight each day. It changes quickly up here.

Today I got out on the skis Jonny lent me and went for a 2-hour jaunt downstream towards Moosehide. It was a warm(ish) day and I survived. I've been here almost a week now and the time is flying by, but I feel settled and have done a little work. Not perhaps as much as I had wanted, but I don't yet feel too stressed out. I did have a 5-hour stretch a couple of days ago where I sat and drew, just let myself go and draw, and it's done me good.

Dawson is a great place. It's quiet here, the people are good and honest and interesting and interested, and the scale of the city is perfect for what I'm thinking, how I'm approaching my work. I'm five minutes away from everything. It's like living in a neighbourhood in the city, running into the same people on the street and at the bar ...

And it seems like there's going to be enough extra-curricular activities to keep me occupied and stimulated. The ODD Gallery did a showing of Picture of Light a couple of nights ago - a documentary that is ostensibly about capturing the northern lights but is much more than just that, an amazing film. Heading out and walking through the cold to see a film with about 20 other people and then walking back home - it's a pace that suits me right now.

My plan for tomorrow is to spend a good 8 hours and just sketch, collect my thoughts and get them on paper. Sounds amazing; I've not had this much time to sit and work creatively ... ever.

I've arrived in Dawson City. Above is the Macaulay residence, my home for the next 5-6 weeks. The little truck parked out front is my friend Jonny's and they both got me to Dawson from Whitehorse. I flew into Whitehorse and discovered that Air Canada had lost my bags. The only down spot of what has so far been a wonderful little time. I've since got one of the two bags back but the missing one contains my toothbrush and I'm simply too stubborn/ridiculous to go out and buy another. It better get here soon.

The building is warm, stocked with kitchen wares (a coffee grinder!) and will be a great place to spend my time. I'm sharing the residency with Colin Skrapek - songwriter in residence through February, a jocular and interesting human being from Saskatoon. We are already united in a desire to ride a dogsled sometime this month, come hell or high water. Those dogs move pretty damn fast!

I've walked around town and am getting my bearings. It's not hard to situate yourself when the dark hills rise up around you wherever you look. It's a pretty breathtaking place in the winter - there's a vibrant energy around here even though it's very quiet. Lance and the folks at KIAC have made me welcome and there's a lot going on about town. I understand February is the month the town starts to wake up, the days start getting longer and there are more events and activities. I am looking forward.

Most of my materials were in the bag I picked up, so I've been able to settle a little. I've not done much drawing yet but it will come. I bought lumber and supplies in Whitehorse and Jonny helped me build three solid and tight screen printing frames. I'm not planning on printing right away but I'm close to being able to do so.

It's cold, finally seasonally cold here, and it's such an amazing dry cold. I miss my little baby terribly but am incredibly happy not to be spending February in Montreal. The whiteness, the crisp dry snow underfoot and the stinging cold on my exposed parts is a welcome relief to Montreal's grey slodge and dampness.

Of course it's only day two. I look forward to comparing this sweet jovial blog entry to the ones created after my descent into cabin fever madness. What will my mind be doing in 5 weeks? I suppose that's why I'm here: to go deeper and find out. It's all a little crazy and daunting, I must say.

A pretty clean studio ... it's about the longest I've gone without doing some sort of printing since moving in to this space three or four years ago. I've cleaned up, packed up all I need for my residency, and am leaving for Dawson City in two days. All I can do now is just hang out as much with my baby boy and hope I don't miss him too much when I'm up there. I'm not a big fan of Skype but have a feeling I'll become dependent on it pretty quickly ...

I have plenty of ideas and thoughts for how I'll be approaching my work and process while up there, but I'm leaving it all open. Who knows how things will work out when I'm actually able to dedicate so much time to my own stuff?

It's fitting that today is the coldest, most blustery day of the winter in Montreal, -30 with the wind chill, which is likely to be the norm (if I'm lucky) up north. I'll be updating this blog on the occasions my fingers will have been able to thaw out.

The last print work I needed to get done before flying up to the Yukon next week : 250 posters, all different combinations of colours, split fountains, and marbled inks, for my friends The Besnard Lakes as they get ready to go on a world tour. The first screenprint I ever did (after picking an old frame, with mesh still intact and useable, out of the garbage), was a poster for the band. The rest is history ...

I shipped a huge box up to Dawson City this week, it contains all my paper I'll be printing on for the exhibition. I'm bringing everything else with me on the plane - pens, pencils, brushes, squeegees, ink, maybe even EMULSION?? ... I'm even going to try to stick a pressure washer in my luggage. Take that, Air Canada!

I've compiled a fairly exhaustive list of items I'll be purchasing once I arrive - I plan on building my own frames and exposure unit while I'm up there.

Most days I'm more excited to be in Dawson than nervous about having to actually produce enough work to show after only 5 weeks up there. It's going to be great fun, I think.

I just made the largest paper purchase in my life and am pretty damn excited about it. Proof of my geekery is above.

Montreal is home to Technolith, perhaps the best place for paper in North America. I write this without having the slightest knowledge of the options that exist elsewhere, but am pretty convinced Technolith is the best. It's a crazy warehouse building in Old Montreal run by a group of friendly dudes who ship paper around the world, but let jokers like myself walk through and pick through small batches of reclaimed paper - coloured, card stock, kraft paper ... you never know what you're going to get when you show up. Truly a unique experience.

Anyways ... I'm thrilled about all the paper but am swooning over what's in the box on the bottom - a 13 point cover stock in black feltweave. Perfect for printing.

This paper purchase has inched me closer in preparation for my residency ... 2 weeks away until I leave. I am absolutely not prepared.

Happy January. Sorry for the radio silence. Part of the reason for no posts here is that I've hit the ground running after a hectic but enjoyable holiday season and am juggling various projects.

I began this blog in January 2009 with a specific goal: to print and post one piece a week for the year. But now that the year is over, and my goal more or less accomplished, I've been examining just what I want to do with 52 screenprints.

I have different priorities this year. I have an upcoming residency and exhibition (the conceptual stuff). I've got bills to pay (the daily grind). I have a small baby (the fun times). I've also met a lot of inspiring people that do similar or different work to mine; and many projects, individual and collaborative, are bubbling away. On the practical side of things, I'm looking to improve the way I work, and have been analysing each of the steps in my printing process to see how I can streamline my work, become that slight bit more efficient - or creative or experimental. In short, there are lots of different subjects I'm into posting about.

I think I'm going to use this site in a different way than simply updating on recent work; I'm just not quite sure how. Maybe I'll be posting here a little less until I figure it out.

... or in the meantime, here's some recent work ...

The above print is a study, it's 38 by 50 inches. There are several hundred passes of circles large and small on the paper, it's become thick and textured like wallpaper or thin cardboard. It's the print that has taken me the longest to finish, perhaps 5 different sessions of 2 or 3 hours. That process (where it takes longer than an afternoon session to complete a print) has been fun, rewarding in different ways, and I'll continue to work in this way when I can. It's a process that obviously needs time. I'll have that time in February... stay tuned!