Me Artsy

There are a few questions that professional artists get asked regularly: Where do you get your ideas? How did you get started? And be honest—are you really in it for the money? Following the highly successful Me Funny and Me Sexy anthologies, Me Artsy answers these eternal questions and more. With essays from fourteen First Nations artists from a variety of disciplines, the collection provides insight into the paths that led each artist to pursue and develop his or her craft. The essays explore many common themes around the role of art in First Nations communities, including the importance of art for creating social change, the role of art in representing Native culture and the fusion of traditional and contemporary techniques. On a more personal level, the essays describe the significance of art in the lives of the contributors, along with their sometimes unlikely journeys to success, stories which are often touched with humour and humility. Chef David Wolfman describes gruelling years of prep work in the kitchens of the exclusive National Club; filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk discusses leaping into his first feature film without knowing how to finance it; fashion designer Kim Picard describes making a dress inspired by coffee beans; and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor tells the story of putting a bullet through his first play and burying it in his yard. Other contributors include actor/playwright Monique Mojica, painter Marianne Nicolson, painter Maxine Noel, blues pianist Murray Porter, scholar Karyn Recollet, dancer/choreographer Santee Smith, director/actor Rose Stella, drummer Steve Teekens, writer Richard Van Camp and manga artist Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas.

Humor has always been an essential part of North American aboriginal culture. This fact remained unnoticed by most settlers, however, since non-aboriginals just didn’t get the joke. For most of written history, a stern, unyielding profile of “the Indian” dominated the popular mainstream imagination. Indians, it was believed, never laughed. But Indians themselves always knew better. As an award-winning playwright, columnist, and comedy-sketch creator, Drew Hayden Taylor has spent 15 years writing and researching aboriginal humor. For Me Funny, he asked a noted cast of writers from a variety of fields — including such celebrated wordsmiths as Thomas King, Allan J. Ryan, Mirjam Hirch, and Tomson Highway — to take a look at what makes aboriginal humor tick. Their hilarious, enlightening contributions playfully examine the use of humor in areas as diverse as stand-up comedy, fiction, visual art, drama, performance, poetry, traditional storytelling, and education.

They say he’s been stealing art. But is Attila being framed? Outdoor art is disappearing all over the neighbourhood! From elaborate Halloween decorations to the Stream of Dreams fish display across the fence at Stephen and Renée’s school, it seems no art is safe. Renée’s brother, Attila, has been cursing those model fish since he first had to make them as part of his community service. So everyone thinks Attila is behind it when they disappear. But, grumpy teen though he is, Attila can do no wrong in Renée’s eyes, so she enlists Stephen’s help to catch the real criminal.

Aldo Zelnick is not an athlete like his older brother or a rock collector like his best friend; he’s just a regular kid who likes to draw. One summer Aldo's grandma, Goosy, gives him a sketchbook in which to record all of his ideas and adventures, and Aldo quickly discovers how much fun cartooning is. From petitioning for a neighborhood pool slide to his passion for slushies, Aldo illustrates his summer vacation, wacky friends, and loving family in this charming comic novel that blends text with illustrations on every page. Engaging and entertaining, the story and drawings in this book will captivate both enthusiastic and reluctant young readers. This first installment in an A-to-Z alphabet series includes a glossary of words to help kids broaden their vocabulary.

In this YA pop punk debut about queer romance and destroying labels, a teen risks everything to write his own story. Perfect for fans of Sonora Reyes and Adib Khorram. Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself. Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time. As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place. From a debut author to watch, Skater Boy delivers a heart-wrenching, validating, and honest story about what it means to be gay in a world where you don’t fit in.

Since her small towns beauty pageant began years ago, every female in Geena Johnsons family has won and the quirky inhabitants believe this winning streak to be the sole reason why their town flourishes. Now, it is Geenas turn but the youngest member of the prestigious Johnson clan absolutely refuses to compete. Geena soon realizes, however, that the more she works to get herself expelled from the pageant, the more everyone tries to keep her in it. Yet, after gathering her own group of misfit helpers, Geena defiantly vows to change destiny.

Inspiration is like a wild horse galloping on a vast deserted island: you never knowwhich way it will go or where it will breed. Inspiration runs free in the minds andthe souls of the people it touches. The beauty of the Midwest, the love of a few, and some quiet times to reflect onexperiences have opened a door leading to an undiscovered part of myself. For me, this has granted a new perspective on life. The magnitude of these creative insightscome as suddenly as a spring thunderstorm and are expressed through poetry. Creativity charged by inspiration, likewise, becomes an unfettered wild animal.

There were all these maddening permutations of what could be that were not to be ignored....Yet, there was also a stunning beauty to all of this that was so profound that one could not help but love every facet of every conceivability, whether realized or beyond reach. There was so much to capture even in stillness that was akin to grasping at grains of sand so fine as to elude the grip-it was all so intricate, so overwhelming and so rapid, and nothing ever ceased in its glorious transformation...There was an exhilaration in being engrossed in the details that evaded capture and in being oneself ensconced in constant flux so as to surrender without recourse to what was to come...There is no instance that ever becomes the destination, no circumstance the definitive possibility, and one, for that very fact, could scarcely help but be filled with a heartening love for all of creation...The Moment, after all, was Always and thus there was no 'before, ' no instance preceding the instance