Lost Houses by Andrew Shay Hahn proofs

Hello one and all, here are some advance looks at pieces for "Lost Houses" at the Cameron House from November 11th to Dec 9th. Opening Reception 4-6 pm and then The Cameron Family Singers play. Each of these paintings are 12in x 12in acrylic on canvas. The overall focus of the show being the end of my relationship with the woman who I (rather coldly, yes I agree) refer to as "the Business Partner" on this Blog, it really is an unfair name, but as the Blog was structured around " the Mad Craft Shoppe" being a physical place, well, I went with it as a name for her, and it was a bad idea, but too late to change now. The idea of having to move away represented rather simply in the first two pieces, the tiny airplane, which has been a symbol of mine for years, but if you're familiar with my work, usually the plane is red. The Home on the Crow being a newer attempt at linking my work to a more narrative form, using Children's book illustration, and the final image below incorporates the Red Cross, again another prevalent image in my work, as the two occupants from the row boats, meet to try to reconcile their differences, this piece was painted when there was maybe a chance of healing the rift.

Each of these images will be available at the Cameron House or by contacting madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com $160.00 each

1) crow house SOLD 2) wooden plane 3) rowboats SOLD

show proofs four

The Little Terrier (Scotty Dog ?) from Monopoly makes his first appearance with these paintings, perhaps he's waiting for whoever is inside to come out to play, or that he wants to gain entry to the home and that is impossible. Also here we see the Guardians coming to rescue the House, much the same as in the post below this one. The image of the four houses reminds me of several things, plans that the Business Partner and I had to go to Ireland sometime in the near future, a country I've always had an affinity for and where much of her family is located and also that one House stands alone, maybe not that it is shunned by the other homes, but that it is somehow different, was built differently, facing in other direction.
1) Scotty Night SOLD 2) A visit to Ireland 3) Doll House SOLD 4) Scotty Day

Show proofs three

The Rubber Ball has been around in my group of symbols for awhile, mostly being used when I paint the "Block Letters" (see my other blog "the Alphabet Shoppe" for details) but I decided to drag it into this show, at least for one painting, the Guardian Spirits make an appearance with this show, I think back to being a kid and how many soccer balls, baseballs, etc. end up lost on roofs, in trees and bushes or merely abandoned on a field when Recess is over and the Guardian "Dolls" come to rescue and perhaps return them to their owners. The Gnome is very new, only making an appearance after the end of my relationship with The Business Partner, she loved that Gnome and I decided after she had left that it was an appropriate symbol for her as the Gnome was located across from my paint area and I would sit alone in the Apartment after she had left and look at it while I worked. Sometimes in this show the House represents me, this isn't the most pleasant image, as I am known for often painting pleasant things, but I think this painting is an accurate look at the early moments of a relationship ending and just how that feels. The final image is better explained in the post below

Show proofs two

The birdhouses have evolved into actual houses for this show and I have chose to use them in several ways, here as representation of Toronto itself, there was a time about a year to this date that the Business Partner and I were in talks to purchase a small house, a very exciting and tiring time. We decided to not go through with the purchase. Real Estate is always on my mind, it has been said that property is the measure of a man, that you are nothing without property, houses have been on my mind constantly for the past couple of years (and are obviously the focus of this show of paintings) as friends of mine marry and purchase property. We are almost raised with that entitled feeling, that being the natural order of a life in Ontario, emerge from high school reasonably unscathed, go to University, get a job, partner up and then buy a home but one flip through the Real Estate section of the globe and most people these days would rather sit in the bathroom with the lights off.

Show proofs one

One of the problems with posting photos is that they seem to come up randomly, maybe there's something I'm missing when posting photos, but no matter.The paper dolls on the left were the first one's I did, this image is still being touched up. They have become a very new icon in my small group of symbols, representing Angels or Guardian Spirits even though their appearance appears more to be that of phantoms. The second image "House Lost at Sea" illustrates this point better, the House mourning the loss of the House - which could be loss of partner or self, depending on which day the artist is asked. The painting at left came first and the one on the right is more recently tied to the business partner (see other posts for details).
UPDATE OCT 2oth THE PIECE BELOW WILL NOT BE SHOWN thanks A.S Hahn
Campfire Dolls SOLD

Not the best image I've posted but a reminder that my show at the Cameron is happening in November, the opening will be Saturday November the 11th (Love your Freedom? Thank a Veteran) from 4-6 pm and then the almighty Cameron Family Singers will take the stage. All works will be available for advance preview and sale from this blog site, so please check in regurlarly. Also on October 20th at the Cameron is the opening of 25 years of Cameron House artists, from 7-9pm so come on by and see work by some trailblazers and some happy hangers on !

All the best in the world, because as hard as it gets the new Be Good Tanyas album is out and Justin Rutledge has released his second record, so for all the dischord there are still some good chords to keep us all humming.

God bless you Shoppers

A. Shay Hahn

and please call me Andrew

A House to be A Home

Hello Shoppers and friends I'm sorry it's been so long but there has been some upheaval at the Shoppe, my business partner and I (pictured at left) are no longer working together due to personal differences of the most emotional kind ( I mean just look at his eyes! That can't be good) and the Shoppe has moved itself from the East End back to the old stomping ground of Trinity Bellwoods Park, probably the most beautiful stretch of land in this city and a welcome welcome return, it's a shame for the business partner that they can't make it,but it's - like I said - a personal problem, which leads me to a new aspect of this blog since I'm paying for the internet connection - more disclosure! If I feel it's necessary I'm just going to post it, which should spice things up a bit, but in our age of spin, impersonal utterances, indoctrinated answers and bold faced lies, the Mad Craft Shoppe is taking a stand against all the liars and their ilk, so if I think you're full of shit, you're going to hear about it.

God bless Vince and Tanya, David Lang and Sam Ferrara

Andrew Shay Hahn

Older Works Catalogue

Seen above Little Village Tiger (wedding gift), Red Cross Girl 2005 ,16x20 sold, Gorilla Woman 2002,24x18 (or something) sold.

I've been on a quest recently to track down images of older works that I don't have a photo of for posting on this site and for my general digital portfolio, if you fit the bill please send me a photo of the work at madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com and your picture will appear at this site.

thanks!
A.Shay Hahn

Cameron House Drum Photos ! Finally!

( click any image to enlarge)

Above are the four paintings of drums currently showing at the Cameron House "Group of Cousins" show onto September 15th, each piece is 12x12 acylic on canvas and $175.00. Following this photo is John who was sitting below the work and loves it (just look at his face) and Paul Sannella (pictured above) who is secretly in love with me (just kidding Paul).

madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com

Shay

Mad Craft Shoppe Sister Blog Opens Today!

Hello Shoppers!

In order to better aid those who wish to order letters a complete breakdown of styles and a new email address are available at "the Mad Craft Shoppe's" sister blog "The Alphabet Shoppe" both to be run and maintained by yours truly, so have a look !

http://thealphabetshoppe.blogspot.com/

and please forward to all parents, new parents, expectant parents, Aunties,Uncles and loyal cool cousins.

you are all brilliant

A. Shay Hahn

Larger drums

Currently finishing these two lovely drum pieces, which will be shown in November at the Cameron House, only a few more steps to go. Each piece is 24 x 24 inches and will be available for purchase from this site in the next week, when the finished images will be posted. Listed price will be $400.00 please contact the artist at madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com if interested.

The Great Invitation

( this guy up here is me )

Let's all get together, to be honest I have been very negligent in keeping in touch with old friends. I would very much like us to all get together and raise a glass to who we were and who we have become. Everyone know that I am a sentimental bloke and would not hesitate to organize a meeting of the minds, so come on people now, smile on your brother and I will do the legwork.

Current and Upcoming

September - The Cameron House "Group of Cousins"
Still up until the 15th of September so drop by have a glass and check out work by Sam Ferrara, Kevin Quain, Tony Benattar and others including yours truly.

October- The Cameron House 25th Anniversary Show
That's right the most venerable Cameron House turns twenty five and I will be exhibiting along with another group of artists as yet unknown.

November- The Cameron House Solo Show
If you're starting to sense a pattern here you've got it, but this time I will be showing alone
details to come!

also in November

November- The Done Right Inn (tentative) I believe I'll be hanging some work at the Done Right, as above details to come!


best from the Mad Craft Shoppe

A. Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com

and please buy the Sadies new record

Newer Works and friend

I love the rendering of the Canoe in this piece but it has since been destroyed due to my own sense of humour, I had called the piece simply "Canoe" but I couldn't stop thinking about the little man standing in front of it. I won't say anything more. Moving on!

This is a work in progress "Dinner Bell" continuing with the solid red back ground, I'm thinking of adding more images to the piece to give it a more loose feel, there just isn't enough going on for my liking.

Another work in progress "Skipping Rope" very happy with it so far, the edges are a bit hard, very much unlike the rendering in the other three "Red" paintings, so I'll have to work on that. These pieces will be shown at the Cameron House in November, 2006.

I have received a bit of criticism for posting images of my cat on a site where I should be talking about art but since he is a smart little Devil he combined these two things with no prompting from yours truly.

The Cloak and Dagger Mural, Summer 2006

Remember those "Spot the Differences" Puzzles that they have in kids magazines ? Well here's a chance to not only do that but to see the evolution of panel from raw sketch to finished product. I like to start things rough and just get a good blocking in done so I can judge how the panels move from one to the other, I have to say that this one is my favourite as a "Stand Alone" Panel. (The Joey Ramone in the top piece is better than the finished one though.)

(figures represented, back row; Pootie Tang, Bjorn Borg, Evel Knievel, Front Row; Dog Playing Poker, Joey Ramone, The Joker, Cobra Commander, The Great Gazoo, missing from this image Brent Micks as Superhero.)

Here is another stage of blocking in when gobs of cheap paint are hunked on to flesh out areas, if you compare this image to the finished piece below you will see many differences and changes that had to be made to accomodate the right feeling of "Chaos" in the bar scene.

Changes here include Mike Ness on guitar being changed to Pat Morita, Red Dress Girl and Bald Guy changing to Gold Dress Woman and Vinnie Jones, Block in figures beside them changing gender to become Owen Wilson in Royal Tenenbaum's and Bardbella and the addition of Robert Mitchum and the Riddler.

Comprehensive list of figures in the finished piece as follows: back row;starting from Left Mr.T, Pierre Trudeau, Pat Morita, Violin Girl, Mike Ness on accordian, Harvey Birdman on Bass, Pootie Tang, Bjorn Borg, Evel Knievel. Middle Row Jaws, Green Girl from Star Trek/She Hulk, Robert Shaw as Quint, Anne Margaret, Vinnie Jones, Stiffler's Mom/Robin Wright Penn, John A. McDonald as the Five Dollar Bill, Owen Wilson as Tenenbaums, Barberella, Generic Hottie Waitress. Last Row Marvin the Martian, Space Invader, Shane McGowan, Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore, Robert Mitchum, The Riddler, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Malcolm McDowell as Clockwork Orange, Dog Playing Poker, Joey Ramone, Joker, Cobra Commander and The Great Gazoo. Also in mural Spy vs. Spy, Donkey Kong, Cloak and Dagger Superheroes, Couchy and maybe a couple more things that I forgot.

The Long Genesis and Continuing Story of "World Domination"

as told by A. Shay Hahn

It's a lovely piece to behold, sixteen feet long, five feet high hanging proudly on a strong brick wall looking down on a beautiful hidden back patio on College Street. Clover grows amongst the elegantly laid patio stones, 23 beers are available on tap to server even the most (or the least) distinguishing Drinker's tastes, the staff has character and are attractive, the owners slightly less so, but they make up for it with personality and good cheer.

To be continued....

Red Stripe Murals Summer 2006

This is the back patio of Collision (Collission ?sp) on College, a band of RedStripe (always two words) cases floating on their wall. This was done on the two hottest days of the summer by your albinist host/proprieter.

This piece was done at SuperMarket in Kensington ,see how the truck contains Red Stripe cases! I quite like this one it's hard to find a beer add these days that is this simple and deconstructed, just a photo of the back end of a shoddy Jamaican delivery truck.

This is the (soon to be opened) back patio at Cocktail Molotov on Dundas at Bellwoods, my favourite so far a six and a half foot tall bottle of beer. Perhaps the patio is open I'm not sure.

These are the three murals commissioned so far for Red Stripe that the Shoppe was contracted to do, hopefully there will be more before the Summer ends, if you have any thoughts or have seen these pieces don't hesitate to contact us by leaving a post!

A.S Hahn

Planet Traveler's Original and Repaint

Study this picture carefully (above) .

There are those bird houses again, this time attached to men, I thought it would be a great image for a hostel to have birds looking for a home. Also the female hockey players with Canadian flag would make a good area for photos, most of them are missing teeth and have black eyes, there is also a lacrosse player included, the best durn sport on Earth. Also featured are "Tiny Houses" another signature that lets you know A.Shay Hahn was responsible.

About six years ago (maybe five) I was hired by The Planet Traveler's Hostel in Kensington Market on Augusta to paint a mural for their back patio area. This is one of the instances where I was given free rein to paint whatever came to mind, I had very limited time to paint this piece but I enjoy the surreal humour and homages to Kensington/Canada very much. Actually I painted the piece with a giant tarp behind me so I was literally pressed up against the wall and had to push back against it to back up to see what I was doing, it was freezing cold and raining intermittedly over the three days that I had to paint the piece, before leaving for the Blyth Festival to work. The only source of a heat was an oven that I would rush in to warm my hands on when they started to freeze up.

Over the years the neighbouring eavestrough managed to wash out large chunks of the piece, (see first photo) I did not know this and this is where the Cloak comes in to play. I was having a pint and struck up a conversation with another patron, we were talking about murals as I was planning the Cloak and Dagger piece, (see above post) and Tony, the guy I was talking to, said that his favourite mural in the city was at a Hostel in Kensington Market and I started laughing. Tony was nice enough to get me back in touch with Anthony the owner of the Hostel and I was able to restore the piece to it's former glory, with some added new touches. Anthony estimates that easily over a thousand people from all over the Globe have had their picture taken in front of this mural, whichI find very touching that my work has travelled so much.

I rarely get to restore work and I think these photos really show what the environment can do to a piece and also give credence to a new coat of paint. If you are looking to stay here, International Shoppers it's located at (I believe) 185 Kensington, right across from the Park and Amadeus (sardines!) there is a Majong Men's club with two Lions right beside it and there is a barbecue every Saturday, very reasonable rates.

Theatre Passe Muraille 1998 & 2005

This is one view of the Office Mural, it features collages created from TPM's archives, featured here are quickly rendered pictures of Jean Yoon, Paul Thompson (or Box Body as he is sometimes called) John Blackwood, Billy Merasty and some other actors whose names I do not know and should.

These are two views of the Mezzanine Mural painted in 1998 and my first Introduction to the World of Theatre Passe Muraille, seen here are John A. MacDonald (Mc?Sp) Louis Riel (or Flaming Ted Danson as my friend Gray referred to him) Big Bear and others, the Indian Virgin Mary in the Quebec flag was Layne Coleman's idea, originally the dress was Royal Blue and she was white, but I thought it looked boring and changed it significantly. If you look closely you can see a drum, a birdhouse and a violin floating about, three symbols I've used in my work forever. The' mural does extend for about four feet in either direction but you'll have to go to Theatre Passe Muraille to see it. I quite like the dark tone of the piece as opposed to a more glowing look at Canadian history, this is a haunted piece.

I was never happy with the Office mural, there just wasn't enough time in the budget (if you know what I mean) to realize it properly. If I could only have three more "day$" to complete it I'm sure it would be perfect, but deadlines are deadlines. Rendered here are Jim Gerrard, D'bi Young , some other people and a girl with a Rooster head dress on that I quite like.

The Done Right Inn Murals

This piece is over a year old, it had been awhile since the pub and I had been able to get the time to do a new mural, I was advised it would be cool to return to the origins of the piece (see explanation below) so the result is also, well, below. The above piece is based on Geof Darrow's Clip art that populates his incredible comic book panels (Hardboiled, Big Guy and Rusty, Shaolin Cowboy) so it's a tribute to his work and looks crazy good all mashed up.
This is the newest edition, "The Return of Troy", a young violin playing orphan from the very first Done Right Inn mural (explained further below) There was some confusion as to the plane having D.R.I on it's body as if I was saying "The Done Right is going down!" or something, I was going to put a dinosaur under the plane like Troy crashed it into the Dino but there wasn't enough room in the composition, sure it's a big wall, but it didn't fit as you can see further down is a bar with stools and that's where his head would've been and no one would've seen it, so another time maybe. I wish I had better shots of this but you get the drift.

(Another shot of the "Darrow" piece, this time with some sun and blurs ! Sorry all.)

I've been painting a mural at the Done Right Inn (Queen West and Trinity Bellwoods) for about six years, maybe more - they used to have a Graffitti artist come in but he always made a mess so I got the job. It's probably the only "Seasonal" mural in the city, repainted four times (yes four!) a year, so there have been about Thirty different pieces in this space since about 1999.It began with a group shot of a female marching band "The Trinity Belles" and eventually the women in the band received names and an expanded story. The figure above is Troy the most popular of the characters, a woman even dressed up as her for Hallowe'en - can you beat that!

I hope to expand the history of this mural considerably on this Blog as it is very close to my heart I just have to secure more photos from the past few years and all the changes it has gone through. If you have photos please submit via email madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com

Group of Cousins art show

Sorry for the long pause but we have been working away from the Shoppe for several weeks now, but I promise to update - don't lose faith in me Shoppers! And let me invite you to the Cameron House for a Hot August Night of art and revelry !

The Group of Cousins art show
Opening Reception Thursday August 10,2006 8 pm
show runs until Sept.15

Featuring the works of such dudes as A.Shay Hahn, Sam Ferrara, Tony Benattar, Iner Souster, Kevin Quain and many more friends ! Come early and see Corin Raymond and the Sundowners perform (if they aren't on tour) they are incredible. I will be exhibiting several small paintings of drums ea. 12x12, acrylic on canvas for the affordable price of $175.00. Sorry no pics like I said I haven't had time to post, but let me assure you a glut, yes a glut of new photos are coming from work I've been doing around the GTA and some new work from the Shoppe.

best to you all,
A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com or post here.

All this and a website? Whatta Guy !

Yes Shoppers in a bid for Internet Supremacy the Mad Craft Shoppe has expanded it's stake in the wired world and launched a website for your very own A.Shay Hahn. Many thanks to David Tern at Tern Art for having the site created in his ongoing project to secure representation for artists on their own terms. To view the site please go to http://www.artistwebspace.com/ashayhahn
and you will see the work that was exhibited at Tern Art's Gallery Window project - quite proud of the stuff, hope you enjoy it too. The website will be updated every few months, not as often as this site, so if you like add it to your bookmarks.

Upcoming in the next couple of weeks will be several new posts of more residential work that I've done and perhaps a couple of commissioned murals but you'l have to come back to see them as they are finished, recorded and posted. I will also be including a visit to the past to a mural that has been featured in an estimated 3000 photos by International Traveler's and you'll get to have a look at it when I give it a bit of a face lift, as it has faded over the years and needs some tender loving care.

Also I encourage anyone who has any questions about my work that is here or at the site or have inquiries about commissions to contact me at madcraftshoppe@hotmail.com . I have had several interesting conversations with folks who would like me to create a gift for a young newborn niece or the child of a friend but have been afraid to ask, that if the work here was sold that they have missed their chance to get a drum, that the word "commission" implies some kind of insult, or cheating, let me tell you, it does not, a commission is not a copy of a piece that was already sold, a new painting would be created for them, I like to paint drums and letters, that's why I paint them, so please my friends don't be afraid.

All the best to you and your Mothers on Mother's Day

A. Shay Hahn

(If this post appears twice on the site don't be alarmed, I am republishing as an experiment so please ignore this paranthetic comment.)