Amazing and shocking image

This is an image that I want to share with everybody on the planet. It’s by Dave Gallo from the TED conference and shows three comparative spheres. The first one is our planet. The second one is the amount of water on our planet. And the third shows the amount of FRESH water on the planet. Really shocking. Look closely. It’s barely visible. I think that most of us assume that there’s lots and lots more water. Please pass it on…..

Order of Canada

I am thrilled, honoured and humbled to announce that I am being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour by
her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada.
For more information please see http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5815.
The ceremonies will take place in Ottawa later this year. My deepest thanks to those who nominated and confirmed me.

Illustration Academy

Chris Payne, Sterling Hundley, Doug Chayka, Robert Meganck, Jon Foster. Mary Pratt with me, John English, Brent Watkinson, George Pratt

I just returned from teaching at the Illustration Academy at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota Florida. I’m going to attempt to put the student work up here, but the resolution won’t be great. I gave a conceptual portrait assignment to the students, and after rounds of sketch critiques they came up with some great work! Thanks to John English for making the school happen and thanks to the students for making my time at the Academy fun and inspiring. For more information about the Academy please visit:
www.illustrationacademy.com

ideaCity

This week marked the 10th anniversary of the remarkable ideaCity conference in Toronto, hosted by media guru Moses Znaimer. I had the great pleasure of once again attending. I’ve given talks about my work and successes in the past and this year thought I’d give the audience a brief talk about my failures!
I showed some of my ideas that were killed by the New Yorker magazine. There have been a few books published recently showcasing rejected artists’ ideas by The New Yorker and also by the New York Times.
In any event, the conference was amazing as usual.
Fifty speakers talked about everything from astronomy to bee societies. Dr. Josef Penninger the brilliant Austrian scientist gave us an update about how he will have a vaccine within a year that will significantly reduce the incidences of breast cancer
(he has already isolated the osteoporosis gene and his vaccine against that disease will shortly be available.)
Bobby Kennedy inspired us all with his activism stories related to saving fresh water systems.
Mark Showalter showed us gorgeous photos of Saturn’s rings. David Ben showed us how gambling greats cheat at cards! Tom Harpur spoke of uniting the great religions with the idea of peace. Richard MacDonald spoke of allowing severely ill people to die with compassion. Maude Barlow spoke of how we are in danger of ruining what fresh water we have left. The remarkable anthropologist Wade Davis eloquently spoke of tribal cultures. And much of that was only the first day!
It was great to see my friends Michelle Rainey (marijuana legalization activist)  Dr. Jaymie Matthews (astrophysicist and party animal) actor and artist Marilyn Lightstone, oceanographer Dr. Joe MacInnis (of the movie ” Titanic”) and the many others.
Happy anniversary Moses and thanks for allowing me to to be part of the ideaCity family.
Images:
Bobby Kennedy and me
Dr. Jaymie Matthews and me

Paris

My partner Dick and I returned last week from 2 weeks in France. We spent one week in Paris which in my opinion is the most beautiful city in the world, and then spent one week near Avignon in the south with the wonderful Ralph and Anna Steadman, at Ralph’s daughter’s summer home. The entire time we were in the south I was plotting how it might be possible to retire there (now!!) I can understand why artists like Picasso and more recently Robert Crumb moved there to live and work.

Anyway, if anyone doesn’t know who Ralph Steadman is, he’s wildly famous for his collaborations with Hunter Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, etc etc) along with his incredible books, both written and illustrated. Despite his Gonzo fame, I’m most impressed with his compassion toward humanity, and his concern about the world and the human condition (on his website you’ll find the Declaration of Human Rights). I’m humbled to know him.

While in Paris we met with Philip Brooker and his beautiful wife Lulu. Please see www.philipbrooker.com

Philip has recently moved to Paris from Miami where he is now working as a fine artist. And he’s currently got work at the Pompidou Center with another show coming this fall. Congratulations Philip!

Tomorrow I’m going to teach at the Illutration Academy for a week. I’ve been teaching there summers for going on 15 years now. I’ll report when I return. In the meantime please see www.illustrationacademy.com

New large drawings

Four of a series of twelve new large drawings on the subject of Symbiosis

New paintings

I’ve been working on a series of allegorical paintings. Here are three of them. In the past year I’ve been working much larger. Some paintings are 30″x40′. These ones are 15″x30″

SCAD Atlanta

I’m just back from Atlanta and the Savannah College of Art and Design where I taught a workshop with the supremely talented (and much taller) Sam Weber. It was great to spend some time with the wonderful students and instructors. Rick Lovell was responsible for bringing us down and we were impressed by what an engaged and passionate educator he is (and great artist in his own right). I hope the students keep in touch and let me know how you’re all doing!

Photo copyright Rick Lovell

SCAD

I’m off to SCAD Atlanta this week to lecture and give a workshop with Sam Weber. He’s an amazing young artist and I look forward to spending some time with him and the students. I’ll report back upon my return.

TED!

Well I don’t know what to say about the TED conference. I’ve been to two now, and each conference has been dazzling, mind blowing and unbelievably inspiring. From Al Gore’s stunning and frightening update to his “An Inconvenient Truth” film (the icecaps are melting even faster than we originally thought) to Sylvia Earle’s heartbreaking tales of how the oceans are dying, to Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk about creativity and genius, each session is captivating and life altering. TED is like the best school, with the most up to date information possible.
All talks will be available at TED.com at some point in the near future. I highly recommend seeing ALL of them.