Knuckle Tattoos for Academics

Interdisciplinary: stuck in academic ghettos?

Oh hello Etsy!

Chocolate Lab Puppy (this one sold, but there is a new one posted)

I decided to post some of my small sketches on Etsy yesterday. I think a lot of hobby painters get to the point where they do more "warm-up" works than anything else, and I'm certainly no exception. My small apartment has one large room dedicated to my art equipment and it's over flowing with older, smaller works - so I figured I'd try putting them out there in the world. 


For example, last year, for one of my classes I painted 36 8" x 8" puppy paintings. This repetitive painting project was aimed at creating multiple similar, yet unique portraits of a number of the breeds most commonly found to be produced at puppy mills in N. America. 

Puppy Mill Project Installed

Each 8" x 8" painting is produced using a series of stencils and some freehand painting. Each painting is a unique combination of colours – so while they look remarkably similar to one another, they are each their own dog.


A number of these puppies are available on Esty for a tiny $19 - $5 of which will go to the Montreal SPCA, as I feel like those folks have to deal with a lot of unwanted dogs resulting from this kind of cruel, surplus breeding.

International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas

Next May, Montreal universities will host the first International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas. This conference presents an opportunity for students and the general public to interact with scholars, artists and professionals interested in reshaping society into one that is more just and sustainable.

"Twenty years after the Earth Summit in Rio, the linkage of sustainable development to economic growth requires profound rethinking. It has not offered a convincing solution to one of the most dramatic crises in history: how to avert ecological collapse while enhancing social justice and improving life’s prospects. In advance of Rio plus 20, our Conference seeks to challenge and move beyond the sustainable development agenda. A degrowth perspective will help us visualize and build towards a truly prosperous world." Read more...

There is an open call for proposals with the intent to "build a degrowth movement in the Americas with rigorous examination of issues, involving academia and social movements, arts and sciences, thought and living experiences. For this purpose it will be a "slow" one-week long conference to experience degrowth." Read more...