It was all about the hammer.

First thing Henry grabbed when he entered the gallery.

But his mom brought in a folder of Henry’s drawings.

We spread them out on the floor and I marveled at his mark making.

Henry showed his embarrassment by grabbing the ones he thought I shouldn’t see.

The subject matter was that of any typical 12 year old……sci-fi, comic, warrior, fighting, robot beings.

But there was an intensity about the way he attacked the lines.

Also these were a few of many hundreds of drawings.  Henry draws ALL THE TIME.

But only with pencil.

I pulled out some charcoal sticks and large paper.

Asked Henry if he would like to try drawing with these materials.

Curious as always he jumped at the chance.

I showed him how an eraser and brush….and even the hammer…. could also be used as drawing tools.

He chose to draw ETRIGAN.  I don’t usually dig this boy stuff at all.

But watching this Demon (who actually does good deeds) come to life at the hands of Henry was like watching a live animation come to life.

Henry was ecstatic when I took the drawing and hung it on the wall.

Then some healthy destruction was needed.

He wandered the gallery with hammer in hand just wanting to rip it up.

I got a plywood sheet, a big piece of grey cardboard, and some sticks of chalk.

I love watching the process of experimenting with materials.

Is a magical, chaotic symphony.

In the end it was just about ways to dissect the chalky sticks.

I let him use scissors and a tool with a razor blade. He was so excited to use these ‘dangerous’ tools.

I let him continue using them as he listened to my safety and how-to-use-properly instructions very carefully.

Through the 2 hours Henry kept saying “quotes, quotes”

I kept asking him what he meant.  Eventually he pointed to the ETRIGAN drawing and said “quotes quotes”.

We went online and sure enough there are a bunch of quotes as said by this demon creature.

“It is the Demon who dominates, now! It is the Demon who will deal with our ruthless enemies! Instead of fading into limbo, so an imposter can take my place — I now have another chance to fight for my existence!”

Whoa.

Read more here

Awake from your hibernation and join us at grunt gallery for an EARLY Winter Solstice party.

Shine up your dancing shoes, shake the snow off your favourite party-wear and get ready for our annual get-together. We invite you to celebrate the winter season with grunt’s friends, supporters, community members and artists.

This year’s festivities includes a screening of a new video by artist Francois Roux. Born and raised in France, Roux interned at grunt gallery in 2012 and later exhibited a project entitled H20 Cycle. Make sure you arrive to the party early so you can take part in a solstice-inspired game developed by LEAGUE. LEAGUE is a group-based project, facilitated by artist Germaine Koh, that works with community members to create new games and sports (http://germainekoh.com/league/blog/). Hiphop artist, Ostwelve (Ron Dean Harris) will be keeping the beat with a DJ set at this year’s party. A long-time friend of grunt, grunt first met Ostwelve through the Beat Nation project.

We’ll provide an array of snacks to nosh on but feel free to bring an appetizer that you fancy to the party.

This year’s gathering should not be missed!

Event Info:

The Winter Solstice comes early this year at grunt, taking place on Thursday December 19th (rather than the 21st). Stop by anytime from 7-11pm. Please know that the event is family friendly; you’re more than welcome to bring your little ones. There is no cover/admission to this event.

Add the Facebook Event here