Saturday, April 6, 2013

Iqaluit, Day 20: How To Party In The Arctic

If you have ever been on a night out with me, you probably know about the concept of the infamous "Pub Diary". It's simply a small book I use to bring along with me. And any time I end up somewhere in a pub, bar, restaurant, concert venue or basically any place where there is socialising going on, I doodle some impressions and thoughts into it. And of course I invite everyone around me to write or draw something into the diary as well. You can imagine, over the years there have been quite a few little books filled with hilarious memories!

So, yesterday we had a night out in Iqaluit. And I better let my pub diary speak...

A child-friendly pub. And of course the kids had to
write something into my pub diary... rules for example!

Left: Isabelle, my partner in crime for the night. Plus, she's a pirate.
Right: Had some Moosehead!

Left: 10 year old Katie May loved my hair so much.
Right: We went on to the legendary Legion and someone
wrote down what it is all about.

More great advice!

I like making musicians feel uncomfortable
when they realise I am drawing them :P

Thor does not only have an awesome name, he was also
one of my students at the workshop. And the drummer of
the band that played last night. Talk about talent!

Does it ever stop with the rules??
I should be in jail already...

You never know when you need a hebrew translation
of northern words here in the Arctic!

The room next door: The nightclub and Lottery

The things people philosophise about when they are tipsy ;)

Groovey live band

Iqaluit Disco!

Iqaluit, Day 19: The Arts

What would be the whole point of being an illustrator going up so far north without checking out the local arts? In today's post I'm going to show you a small selection of what's going on art-wise in the Northern Territories of Canada...

At the Iqaluit Fine Arts Studio.
Soapstone carvings are very popular
and beautifully done.


The Master at work

Details of an antler carving
  

Tupilaks are ritualistic monster figures.
Read more about them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupilaq



Carved whale bone


Inuksuks are a popular carving motif.

I came across one artist, Germaine Arnaktauyok, and I really dig her style. She's very popular here and I've seen many of her art prints decorating the walls of people's homes.

"Sleep My Little One"

"The Shaman's Apprentice"

"Mother Earth"

And last but not least, I contributed to the local art scene a little bit as well :) I held a Digital Painting Workshop at the Nunavut Arctic College on four evenings and one Beginner's Course on the weekend.  It was fascinating to see the students getting into it so fast and with such great interest. Really proud of all of them!