Three Cheers for February

February for me has always been one of those months you just have to tough through. Not much exciting stuff happens and the weather is usually poor. On February 2nd the transit system here in Halifax announced they were going on strike. I normally rely on transit pretty heavily as I live a little far from the action. In the first days of the strike I complained about all the time I was losing by walking to my friend Rosalind, who is wise in many areas but especially wise on matters of health. Rosalind reminded me that the increased amount of exercise would actually reduce stress and improve my energy. I may have rolled my eyes when I heard this.

But of course, Rosalind was right. Nearly every day of February I walked between 8 and 15km, powered solely by my legs and audiobooks. And with all that time walking, February still turned out to be a highly productive month! It was a particularly stimulating month because all of my interests were engaged. Here’s a recap of my February:

-I started work on a fine art piece for the show A View From Here at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, which excitingly just received a grant in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. (The photo to the right is a detail of the unfinished work.)
-I’ve collaborated with the CBC on a story about photobooths and I started building the official Fotomaton website (a photobooth-art initiative that I started last year with American artist Aran Graham.) I also built the props for the next photobooth animation I’d like to shoot this summer (a blogpost on this coming soon.)
-I designed and got my first two ever tattoos!
-I accepted a few commissions, including an emblem for Bad Dog Theatre Company in Toronto (top photo), a custom cross-stitch through Etsy and two a couple of posters for a band in Halifax.
-I’ve just started collaborating with Lisa Amerongen on a children’s book she’s writing and that I’ll be illustrating this summer.
-I spent a week volunteering as a judge for the Canadian Improv Games and kept up my regular volunteer shift tutoring kids at the public library. And I’ve kept up top-notch grades in my five classes and still found time to attend my regular yoga class.
-And perhaps most excitingly I’ve decided I’m going to attend the 2012 Photobooth Convention in Venice, California from May 18th to 19th. I haven’t got the resources to go yet but I’ve got a few ideas.

Thanks February!