An Idea is Like A Storm, at Mitzi's Sister

An Idea Is Like A Storm I & II

acrylic on canvas, framed

$180.OO each / $320.OO pair

I don't give up on an idea until I figure out why I painted it, so after painting the large piece for the Fringe Festival and being asked numerous times why I chose to paint the women with the books, so I decided to work on a couple in the studio, once I got the title I understood why I did it. I've been looking for new ideas, inspiration etc. and not finding anything, so instead of looking around I went looking in books. So the books are a gateway to new ideas, and it all made sense.

The work has been hung at Mitzi's Sister and looks great, the staff likes it and I've received several compliments, I don't think I'll post and pictures of the way the show is hung, it's all spaced so far apart that you don't get a sense of the paintings in the space, so just head to Mitzi's Sister to check it out, Queen West, west of Lansdowne between Fuller and Sorauren on the north side of the street. Mondays half price nachos and on Wednesday kids eat free (but only if they squeal and scream) . They open at 6 pm. I'll be there Mondays from 6-8 pm if you want to meet, see the work etc.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Musa Fundraiser at the Magpie, July 26th

As you may know, Musa, one of Toronto's most loved restaurants was damaged by fire and had to close, there will be a fundraiser at Magpie, which is one block East of Musa's location on the 26th of July,I'll be contributing a painting, here's the facebook link to the event, please come out and support Musa.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=134568366576416

A.Shay Hahn

Gord Zubrecki Band Gig Poster

Poster for the great Gord Zubrecki Band, they play (don't quote me on this) every second Monday at the Press Club and have a monthly at the Local for the summer, find them on MySpace.

There are also Press Fest and Big City Hicks gig posters showing up all over town.

to contact me for Gig Posters knock on the door below.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Mitzi's Sister, July 12- 31 rst

Top Woman with An Axe, Woman with a Hammer

10 x 12 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$160.00 each/pair $300.00

Middle Canadian Girl (Prairie), Canadian Girl (Maritime)

12 x 16 inches ( think) , acrylic on canvas, framed

$160.00 each

Bottom Woman With Hammers

14 x 18 inches (I think) acrylic on canvas, framed $200.00

On Monday I'll be heading down to hang at least twenty pieces at Mitzi's Sister, come on down Mondays for $3.00 beers and half price nachos, I should be there from 6-8pm most Mondays for pick ups, sales, questions. I will of course post photos once the show is hung.

thanks to T.Thompson for the hook up.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Deep Sea Diver Commission, the whole band

Here are three of four commissions for a whole band of Deep Sea Divers, still working on the Drummer, each piece is 14 x 18 inches, framed (Jacobean stain), acrylic on canvas, title for the series, "Deep In the Jam". My computer is still in the shop, I'll add more text when I get her back. To contact me for commissions just flick the switch below.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Lap Top is sick until Friday

URGENT.

Just a message to let you know ,my laptop is getting fixed, I will be off line until Friday, if I am working on a commission you will receive photos this weekend. Won't be checking email or posting until then.

cheers, stay cool

A.S.H

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Fringe Details and Posters about Town

Ran up to Fringe HQ today to get some detail shots of the 4 x 8 for you to see, also here's a Dodge Fiasco Gig Poster hanging in the window of the Dakota.

Happy Pride everyone.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Fringe Mural Day 2, "Last Man Standing"

The last photo turned out a little blurry and I probably should've shot some detail work so you can see the overwhelming number of brush strokes on this piece but here she is in all her glory, turned out pretty well for the time alloted. Who knows if my schedule frees up next weekend maybe I'll do another. Oh and of course, just like I wrote yesterday I had to force myself to focus more on one tight section than go all over the place. I taped a bunch of business cards to the sides of the piece, I figure I will do two or three singular women reading at some point this week just to keep the idea fresh for myself.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Fringe Mural, Day One "A.Shay Hahn, he's Bionic!"

So I decided work upright instead of horizontally, this follows my usual pattern of write one thing here and then do the exact opposite thing the next day ie: I won't be able to finish, I have to paint horizontally etc.

The folks who are working horizontally (3 out of 5 of the artists are working horizontally )have their canvases directly on the ground and so are bent over, or sitting on the ground while they work - this takes too long, hurts your posture, believe me, years ago I did a "Flooral" which is a fancy word for," mural on the floor" and instead of doing it upright and then attaching it to the floor, I painted it in place, I think I spent three days in bed when it was finished. Jack it up on milk crates folks, get a chair, ah well.

The upright mural is working much better, just had to get myself in a similar headspace that I had when I would do the murals at the Done Right Inn and just bash away at it for the first day and then I'll spend tomorrow refining (yeah sure, did you read how this post started). Currently it looks like one of those "technique paintings" you see in faux galleries, looks pretty but doesn't mean anything, so I'll also add, "make it mean something" to the list of To Do's.

Had a great chance to see some folks, actors etc., had a great talk with T.Hughes, but I didn't hang around when I was finished working, I always feel so strange at these events, Theatre is something I contribute to, I always give work to auctions when asked, many close friends are still involved in the business, I go see a show every few months, the thing is, "The Community". "The Community" is something I no longer really participate in, I love hanging out for a pint with someone I haven't seen in awhile, maybe two or three folks, but the whole overwhelming beer tent aspect, just isn't my bag anymore, too much going on, so I went for a quiet pint at the Red Light where the music was perfect. and then fell asleep to "the Newsroom", possibly the best show ever produced in Canada, "This Is Wonderland" Season One, being a close second.

I'm still pretty sure I won't be able to finish this thing.

A big thank you to all at the Fringe,G.Arthurs, P.Forst, D.J Morum, R. Reddie, Miriam (Oops, I don't know your last name) R, Ivey, and thanks to all the techs and volunteers who run tings, thanks to S.Edworthy for taking the photo that began this post. Hope everyone had a great Canada Day, and have a great Pride Weekend, I hope to either be shooting Zombies or doing some Porchin' I don't want to paint at all this weekend.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Press Club Dedicated Wall, June 30 th 2010

So at the top of the second row from left, I added a "War Pig" ($80.00) and at the bottom by the antique fan that is affectionately known as "the Chopper" I've hung, "A Quiet Place to Call My Own" ($160.00) which I'd reccomend picking up if you're interested in the piece, it won't last. The rest of the wall is the same, actually, the muppets may vanish, I'm going to try to sell them all off quickly at the Fringe, they were fun to do for a spell but it's time to move away from figures protected by copyright, so if you want a Muppet I'll have them with me in my knapsack while I'm at the Fringe, 6-9 pm July 1 rst and July 2nd, $40.00 each.

see you at the Fringe,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Guess who's back ?

War Pig II (top) War Pig I, 8 x10 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

A Super Steal at $80.00 each

I'm working on a whole bunch of commissions at once, but needed a break for the day and painted a couple of war pigs to amuse myself , work off some stress, smile, all of this while watching"District 9" and "the Crazies", which seems counterintuitive, but it works for me. Sometimes, that just what you gotta do.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

What's up Mr. Fox ?

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

8 x 10 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$100.00

Easily one of my favourite films of the past year and a DVD that cheers me up every time I feel a little stressed, I decided to pay tribute to Mr.Fox by painting his portrait .

Just wanted to show you that it hasn't been all posters around the studio, the way my time has been working out is that I've been painting Deep Sea Divers during the day and warming up for them by starting a smaller piece like the above Mr. Fox, which is then finished over a couple of days.

I've been using this method for a couple of weeks and it seems to work. So, the day is something like this, get up for 8 AM or so, do "warm up" paintings until about 12 Noon and then paint through until 6 PM, break for dinner go to the Press Club and draw posters for two hours and do notes for paintings for the next day. I am also currently designing an album cover / back cover / T Shirt concept that is actually a photo based project which is a nice change and involves some computer button pushing, had a meeting with the client during last night's tsunami and they are very happy with the work, can't post anything yet, but when the album comes out I'll let you know about it. Not only is it a great concept, the music is really good.

I also have two smaller commissions that have come from doing the above, Mr.Fox piece, I'm meeting with another client this evening to discuss a large scale commission and I am going to the shop all day to build frames.

If you would like to see me working live and in person and you have nothing to do on Canada's Birthday or the day after Canada's birthday you can come and visit me at the FRINGE Festival where myself and five other painter's will be working in the alley beside Honest Ed's for the Fesival event "Pretty Things". The FRINGE is now in partnership with Mirvish Productions and they have moved the Fringe tent from it's usual home at the Tranzac Club to the Parking Lot of Honest Ed's to make people aware of the switch they have hired some painters ( The actor's had to hire the painter's to get attention, that cracks me up )to do some large scale work, 4' x 8' to be exact, to catch the eye and guide folks down the alley to the tent. We'll be there from 6PM to about 9PM on Thurs. and Fri. I'll be the guy sitting down guzzling Vitamin water.

I love the Fringe, lots of friends work for the event, run the event, perform in the event but I just have to say this and I'm not stepping on any toes here, I am getting paid to "perform" but I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to finish a Four Foot by Eight Foot painting in 6 to 8 hours. I'm fast, everyone knows that, you can see it by how much work I post here, but man, I'm not that fast. I do detail work, it takes me over four hours to paint a whale that is 8 x 12 INCHES. Whatever I paint becomes the property of the Fringe or Mirvish and can be used in promotional materials/fundraising, but this painting is too big for me, give me a 4 x 4 or something. I also think that a vertical 4 x 8 painting won't fit in most homes and a horizontal 4 x 8 painting is longer than the average couch. 4 x 8 is the size of a standard theatre "flat" or "wall" so really, that's what we're using, probably because they were free, and the idea of scale appealed to the organizers, but really, I won't be finished. I'll post photos of my progress, I'll probably bring a bag of muppets to sell on the side too.

So things are really busy around here.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Press Fest Poster

This is just straight up functional, Press Fest is three days of music with anywhere between five and eight bands playing through the day, no room to get cutesy here. Not the most exciting work, but you can see it from a distance, which is the most important aspect, and everything is spelled correctly, which is also important.

I'll be posting a reminder about this event as I may have a SALE/ SPECIAL DISCOUNT EVENT during the three days of music, there are an awful lot of older paintings in the studio and it's time for them to move on to new homes. So mark those dates in your calendar and come back here to see what I come up with.

A.S.Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Between the Hammer and the Anvil finished

Here are two variants for the "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" DJ night at the Press Club, Burke Broadway and I figured that if I just focused the poster on what kinds of music was being played we could skip the name of the night and instead replace it with a six armed female bodybuilder in a luchadore mask. I'll probably do a variant poster at some point that has the name of the event stencilled over the stamps, but this is good for now. Come to think of it, this event is tonight at the Press Club.

I like both of them, while the top image benefits as it is easy to read the music styles which is most important, the one that is upside down would grab you're attention while you're peeing, I mean I have to be honest, most of these posters get hung above the urinals , so you may as well have something interesting to look at. This week if you're in the city and finished being detained by the police and having tea with the Queen keep an eye out for my "Dodge Fiasco" poster, it should be appearing beside or above urinals all over town.

A.S.Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Playing around with stamps and ink

Currently I've been on the hunt for two of the most elusive items in the city of Toronto, an ink stamp pad and a backgammon board, finally I bought an inkpad at DeSerre's and guess how must it cost ? EIGHT DOLLARS! I remember those things were everywhere when I was kid and cost nothing, but due to the scrapbooking fad they can now charge whatever they want for them.

I need to secure a backgammon board for next week for a CD Cover that I'm designing, I wonder how much it will cost ?

The above is for "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" a great monthly DJ night at the Press Club, this is not the finished artwork, I'll be addin and image over top but I wanted to get a look at it without artwork and I think it looks pretty damn super. It is a little counter intuitive to do something different from my other poster work, which is easily recognizable, but I wanted to see how this looks, and we like it.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Milk Run gig poster

Here's a poster for I. Philp's rockin' good time musical enterprise, "Milk Run", this was the first poster I'd done in awhile, but it got my line work/ ink skills back in line pretty quickly.I'll be putting up another one later on this eve. These are done on a commission basis, price negotiable.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

It's Tuesday, there must be stuff by now

Rescue Dog (Siberian Husky) 11 x 14 inches, acrylic on canvas framed

$160.00

Not much to say today, big day of working on a Deep Sea Diver commission ( a whole band!) and touching up a couple of smaller things, there will be a couple of band/gig posters that I'll put up today too.

If you need to reach me,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

The Press Club, A.Shay Hahn's Dedicated Wall

from left top to bottom I Cannot Tell A Lie $160.00, Artemis $160.00,

Deep Sea Diver w/Acoustic Guitar $200.00, Asst'd Muppets $40.00 each

This Little Piggy Love Metal $ 80.00 (SOLD) The Whale of Safety $160.00

This Little Piggy Had Bad Luck $80.00 (SALE)

Lady With An Axe $200.00, Rescue Dog (scuba gear) $160.00

Deep Sea Diver w/Electric Guitar $200.00Girl w/ A Catfish SOLD

Here is the June 16th layout of the A.Shay Hahn wall at the Press Club, to locate this wall go to The Press Club which is on Dundas West, between Euclid and Manning on the North Side of the street. Their summer hours are 6 pm - 2 am, enter the bar walk to the back to order a drink and look East. I will be changing and updating things as they sell, new work is created, my moods change, etc. So if there is a piece you're interested in please contact me here to gurantee you get it.

I'm currently on a huge Gainsborough kick, leading me towards my own take on his work and the paintings of other British painters from the late 1700's, so expect that influence to show up in the new stuff. Who knew that looking at all those paintings of hunting parties, royalty, horses and landscapes when I was in England as a chilod, would resurface as such a strong impulse thirty years later. Thanks Dad, Mom and the British Mockridges.

I just spent a few days building frames, I've got about 35 of them now taking up most of the space in my studio, I also have the same amount of canvases, so I am more than prepared for these new ideas to start floppin' out. Currently I am taking commissions and also, please contact me if you need to still pick up your work from, "Come On Pilgrim" at the Cameron House.

I don't have much to say today, really, I just wanted you to see a picture of the wall

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

I've got good news and bad dreams

Rescue Dog (Scuba Gear), Rescue Dog (Deep Sea Diver)

each piece is 11 x 14 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$160.00 each

Let's get to the good news first, I have very happily negotiated an agreement with the fine folks at the Press Club to have the back wall near the bar be a permanent exhibition place for my work. I am building a hanging system on Monday and will be able to display multiple pieces of different sizes without pounding holes in their walls as I rotate work when it sells, and it will sell, mark my words, it will sell.

I have quite a few (too many ) paintings in my home studio right now, and they don't do me any good here, so you will be able to purchase from an ever rotating collection of beer pigs, muppets, assorted 12 x 12's, ladies with axes, and others ephemera by mid week, next week. I will of course post a photo as soon as the work is hung. I would like to thank M. & A. Hickery, V. Schwartz, I. Philp in advance for all the work that they will be doing for me, it's like my own musical boutique full of beer, couldn't be happier.

Some bad news, the BP oil spill, I'm 100% certain that's where the inspiration for the Whales of Safety and these fine Rescue Dogs has come from, man has gone so far past accountability in this life that now it's up to the animals to save their own, since we are hell bent on wiping everything off the planet, including ourselves, I'd say in the next eighty years or so. One of the "radical" environmentalists and original scientists work worked on the White House Report on Global Warming was quoted once as saying, "The human mind cannot comprehend how bad the situation has become on this planet (paraphrasing) if we did we'd go running into the streets screaming and beating our brains in.". That being said, the World Cup starts this week, it will be a fine distraction. Go Germany!

I had some crazy dreams last night, in one I was part of a misfit group of WW II Superheroes, like the JSA or the Invaders and we just couldn't get it together, all along the most powerful member of our group was this older female scientist, whos skin was charcoal grey with white blond hair. I imagine in the movie adaptation of the comic she will be played by Kate Blanchett ,as a Post Face Lift Joan Allen is too creepy to consider, why'd you have to do it Joan ? The Contender is one of my favourite films!

The Second dream was like a plot from a foreign film you'd read the review of in NOW magazine but never see, I was a US Soldier during the Vietnam War, next to our barracks in Saigon was a textile factory, there was a group of women who worked the same shifts as me and a couple of my buddies rotation and... you know what, this is actually too good to write here. I know folks download my paintings all the time and use the photos for their own pleasure, so I'll just keep this dream to myself, it would make a great screenplay.

A final word, I would like to wish a very, very Happy 3000th Birthday to the Rev. Matthew Ellis, who has been a great friend of mine for over 15 years or so, go see him and George Brown at Seven Crown's Tattoo (see links) they are the best in the city. Happy Birthday Matt.

to get in touch with A.Shay Hahn, rub the below address three times

madcraftshoppe@live.com

The Whales of Safety vs. the Foul Mood

The Whales of Safety 1- 4

8 x 16 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$160.00

The first thing I had to do to get me out of the bad mood that I'd been in was paint some whales, some Schleich whales to be precise. Most of the animals that I paint are based on models, toy plastic dollar store animals, they're easier to work with. Schleich is the company that makes the best (and most expensive) plastic animals you've ever seen. These ""Whales of Safety" were based on a light concept, that whales are actually here to save us (see Star Trek IV), I'd like to thank Chris Gale for coining the term, "Whambulance" to describe their function, think Jonah and the Whale, he was being carried somewhere, I don't know if this makes any sense, but it does cheer me up a bit.

If you'd like one, I suggest you buy now, they aren't going to last.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Pub Life Sketches vs. The Foul Mood Round Two

Easily one of the best bands that this city has ever produced, Dodge Fiasco have been my favourite rock band in this town since I first saw them, man that must be eight (nine?) years ago, just the damn best. I'd promised S.Dignan a gig poster about a year ago and finally got to it. I think it rocks.

Also in music news, Ron Leary's new album, "Dependent Arising" produced by Dean Drouillard is now out, you gotta see Ron play, he's the real deal.

There is one more "Pub Life Sketch" but I'll have to track down a copy, I gave the original to I.Philp of Milk Run before I took a shot, look for it sometime in the next two weeks.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Pub Life Sketches vs. The Foul Mood

I don't know what's been on my mind for the past few days, but I've been in a pretty foul mood, maybe it's just the crash after the show coming down, but I've been pretty irritable and sensitive, small things set me off. I decided I would take the week and do anything, anything that I wanted, buy anything, paint anything, don't do any commissioned work, just try to get cheered up. so I decided to draw some more band posters, which I haven't done in over a year. Here are "The Big City Hicks"

Also in music news, Chris Gale's jazz quartet will be playing at the Rex every Tues. 6:30- 8:30 or round about that time and you should really check'em out. I'll be there.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Steinbeck on Parade

Steinbeck on Parade

8 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

commission ($200.00)

If you're looking for something to do Saturday, the Rattlesnake Choir play the Cameron House from 6-8 pm.

to commission A.Shay Hahn say the magic words

madcraftshoppe@live.com

A.Shay Hahn

Deep Sea Divers at the music store

Deep Sea Diver w/ Fender Stratocaster, Deep Sea Diver w/ Acoustic Guitar,

Deep Sea Diver w/ Gibson Les Paul

each piece is 12 x 16 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$200.00

I'll add some comments later, busy finishing a commission.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Covered Blog, Last Day at the Cameron House

First up, the big news that I forgot to share yesterday, Covered is one of my favourite blogs on the Internet, a site where artists/illustrators/designers etc. redo their favourite comic covers. It's an incredibly popular site. Yesterday, my cover was posted, here's the link that will toake you there, http://coveredblog.blogspot.com/

Today is the last day to see, "Come On Pilgrim" at the Cameron House, I'll be there from 5:30- 7:oo pm if there is something you'd like to pick up, look at etc. Little Jimmy's Chicken Pickers are playing from 6-8 pm, Sue and Dwight are on from 3:30-5:30, not sure who is playing in the evening, I think "Tarantula" are playing, and they are quite good on record.

Several folks came by to pick up their muppets yesterday, you can still commission them at your leisure, I have a very busy couple of weeks of commissions ahead of me, so I will try to fit in your orders, I'm sure it won't be a problem.

A.Shay Hahn

send me your distress calls by typing

madcraftshoppe@live.com

A Quiet Place, commission

A Quiet Place to Call My Own (fiddle) V, IV

12 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas, framed

$340.00

Here we have two versions of "A Quiet Place to Call My Own (fiddle)" this piece was commissioned and since I love the image so much I decided to take two views of a the woman on the roof, which gets a great response from people, everything from the obvious, "Fiddler on the Roof" reference to a surprising Sept. 11th reference. I'll let you know when the client has chosen the image that they want.

Also be sure to visit the blog tomorrow,so you can see a very exciting announcement and link.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Tomorrow is Muppet Friday, 5-7pm at the Cameron House

Hi Ho, so this is the last week of "Come On Pilgrim" at the Cameron House, I'll be hanging out tomorrow from 5-7 pm and look who's keeping me company! I started these portraits as a way to warm up for a day of painting and of course they quickly took over my days. Each muppet is

6 x 6 inches, acrylic on canvas, $40.0 each.

These are being sold on a first come, first served basis so swing by right at 5pm and you'll get the muppet that you want. That being said a couple of them are being reserved, but we'll sort that out later.

hope to see you tomorrow,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Out of Office Reply

Hey there, I won't be around a computer for the day so people who are coming by the Cameron House to pick up their work/ see the show, I'll be there from 5-7 pm.

I will also be there next Friday from 5-7 pm, the last day of the show is Sat. the 29th.

There are other days I'll be around as we enter the last week of the show, but for formal, guranteed attendance, let's keep it to Fridays from 5-7pm.

Off to build a ton of frames, that's what I do now, many many little frames, no big ones. etc.etc.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

just don't expect to hear from me today.

p.s like it says over their on the stupid Twitter feed, no shows until the fall, buy now.