Greetings People of Earth!

Welcome to episode one of Ezra’s e-ramblings. This may be the first in an avalanche of newsletters, or more likely I will completely forget I have one in the first place and this is the LAST time you will hear from me. Hopefully it is something in the middle.

___

We are two months out from moving to Winnipeg. I am foaming at the mouth thinking about driving a U-Haul 2000kms with the wife and kids (cats). My desire to Marie Kondo my life away is overwhelming. I am living in the purgatory of wanting to pack up my life already, and not being able to.

I have been described as a menace when it comes to decluttering, so I am resisting the urge to impose my jitters onto others. One must keep busy when the passage of time feels a bit too slow. Here’s some things I’ve been working on:

Sun Dragon (24”x18” - Ink Pen + Paper)

Enjoy this janky photo of this little beast for the year of the dragon. I will be getting some nicer photos taken, prints will be in the future soon :) I also have some shirts with just the plain design with no background available on threadless. My new years resolution this year was to be twice as good at art, so my goal is to work mostly on my technical skills and work on contrast, balance, and composition. Previously my work was very scattered and unfinished, so I consider projects that are more refined to be a reflection of a less scattered and more peaceful inner world as well. Shalom!

Dreaming of Installations + Interactions

The past 10 years I’ve been dreaming of making a Garden of Eden installation. I have made some one off large plants in the past using poster paper + acrylic with pencil crayon overtop which has created a really nice effect. Next time I make one I would like to emulate the movable lizard puppet I used for my art show two summers ago using a type of foam board to stabilize the plants and beasts better.

I picture a small room with hanging plants, something maze like and even overwhelming to walk through. I recently watched a Wes Anderson adaptation of Roald Dahl stories that used this type of set design. Still workshopping some more kinetic aspects, but I do not have an engineering brain so that is more in the section of play: research and development.

Another pondering for an installation I’ve had is transforming my grasslands masked creatures environment into sets that can be interacted with by the viewer. It lives in a colourless world of their own. Maybe you could keep it company. I made a mini zine about it, and shall upload it to my website in due time…

Here’s the concept I was tinkering with the other night:

Tattoo Stuff

My Vancouver books are officially closed! Thank you everyone who has gotten tattoos from me over the years while I crawl myself towards learning to walk and eventually run as a tattooer (my dream job since the tender age of 9). I love to think of tattoos as an archaeological record of our lives, marking change and the passage of time. It’s an ancient exchange between 2 people, fun, sacred, and powerful. Love you all!

I’m very excited to be starting my time at Ritual Winnipeg come June, and hope to meet lots of fantastic people while in Winnipeg.

Once I am settled no doubt there will be guesting in the future, likely quarterly in Vancouver, and once or twice a year in more remote places like the Kootenays, and Powell River. I’d also love to visit in Calgary again - and even the Maritimes! Feel free to shoot me a message if you have an LGBT+ space you think I should visit :-)

Etc. and Goodbye

Keeping myself sane while doing admin and taxes with Benny Benassi’s Tomorrowland set, if you’re into EDM. I’ve also been delighted that Nine Inch Nails put their album Hesitation Marks back on Spotify as it’s one of my favourite albums.

I recently picked up a Radiohead songbook to play on the piano and I look forward to poorly playing and singing Paranoid Android. I’m more of a classical guy so I look forward to tryin out something contemporary.

If you’re into comics and haven’t read this yet, take a gander at the fantastical world of Frank by Jim Woodring. It’s colourful, morbid, bizarre. Check it out!

I think that’s all for now! If you’re in Winnipeg and want to chat tattoos or art, HMU :-)

Chat soon,

Ezra