starting today until second last week in june, a selection of my watercolours are on display and available for purchase at BLUEBIRD, a fabulous boutique curated by Crystal Silden filled with beautiful things for the home and body... if you're in the neighbourhood, please stop by and take a look... ♥

BLUEBIRD

758 Queen Street West

Toronto ON M6J 1E9

416-535-3232

Store Hours

Monday-Wednesday 11-6

Thursday-Friday 11-8

Saturday-Sunday 11-7

PATTI SMITH: A writer or any artist can’t expect to be embraced by the people. I’ve done records where it seemed like no one listened to them. You write poetry books that maybe 50 people read. And you just keep doing your work because you have to, because it’s your calling.

But it’s beautiful to be embraced by the people.

Some people have said to me, “Well, don’t you think that kind of success spoils one as an artist? If you’re a punk rocker, you don’t want to have a hit record…”

And I say to them, “Fuck you!”

One does their work for the people. And the more people you can touch, the more wonderful it is. You don’t do your work and say, “I only want the cool people to read it.” You want everyone to be transported, or hopefully inspired by it.

When I was really young, William Burroughs told me, “Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned with doing good work. And make the right choices and protect your work. And if you can build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.”

recent work on paper...

花鳥風月 kachou fuugetsu, 9x10" watercolour on paper

recent work on paper...

the wish, 9x12" watercolour on paper

recent work on paper...

be like a child looking, 9x12" watercolour on paper, 2013

recent work on paper...

contessa of street animals, 9x12" watercolour on paper, 2013

the elder, watercolour, acrylic on canvas

self-portrait october 2012

*TONIGHT* don't miss the screening of SOCKEYE at the Royal Cinema

directed by Ben Roberts with Rick Roberts and Michelle Bellerose

feedback: "Awesome work on Sockeye. Sexy, natural and wicked......"

with poet Kathy Figueroa following a performance in Bancroft, Ontario

imperial pub, toronto, september 2012

photo henry martinuk

recent work on canvas

self portrait june 2012

*NEW* HAMILTON GIG FRIDAY JUNE 8 

>> my showtime is 7p <<

THE UNDERGROUND, 41 Catharine Street North

tickets $22.50 online at TicketScene.ca

this gig is the pre-show party for Gilby Clarke's appearance at Club 77 as part of Spring Music Festival... tickets are for the headline show which includes the pre-show at the Underground... its the only way to get in...

"Gilby, along with a selection of local up and coming independent artists, will be performing on Friday June 8th at Club 77, 77 King William Street, Hamilton. Tickets are $22.50 in advance and available at Dr. Disc and online at TicketScene.ca..."

http://www.ticketscene.ca/events/6393

MICHELLE BELLEROSE showtime 820-850pm

courtesy 'what's on thorold' and Stephen Dyell

feedback

"Michelle Bellerose put on a phenomenal show this evening at The Craftsman Restaurant, in Paudash. I'm going to have to invent some new ways of describing music to adequately convey how amazing she was. The best thing I've come up with, so far, is to say that her singing and songwriting abilities are to music what the storytelling and magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez are to literature. Amazing and brilliant... It's like her voice and instrumentation (including all sorts of recorded tracks) combine elements of Laurie Anderson, The Cocteau Twins, and Loreena McKennitt. I even thought of Grace Jones, at one point... The music is really complex and makes a lot of other stuff seem weak or diluted, in comparison. Amazing, amazing, amazing... Everyone was just raving about her show and I think she might've sold out of the cds that she brought." [Kathy Figueroa]

feedback

"I had so much fun opening for you. And you are soooooooo amazing live! It's all my friends and I could talk about Saturday heh, how much you blew us away and how big your voice was and how awesome you sounded." [KA]

feedback

♪You were amazing! I hope you have more concerts coming up!
Beautiful haunting melodic spiritual earth grounded music that gets you moving deep inside .. :-)
-JM

feedback

"Thank you Michelle for bringing such a great show to St. Catharines. It really was one of the best events Aina and I have attended this year and far surpassed in quality a lot of other musical events on bigger stages with big audiences." [DF]

the toltec agreements

1. Be Impeccable with your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

[from The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz; all artwork on this page by Michelle Bellerose]