Mean Creek

Revenge is anything but sweet in Mean Creek, a haunting morality tale from debut writer/director Jacob Aaron Estes. Deciding it's time that bully George (Josh Peck) received some payback, pint-sized punchbag Sam (Rory Culkin) and his brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) lure the troublemaker on a boat trip designed to leave him stripped and stranded. But on the river things start to look a lot less black and white - and it's the shades of grey that make this much more than just another teen movie.

Superbly steered by Estes, example of everything that is good in American independent cinema. The boat journey is the heart of the movie, and it's clear something awful's going to happen. This film is beautifully conceived, and complemented by some of the best performances you are likely to see this year. All of them from a cast of actors under the age of 20.

Fropig

Anyone seen a Fropig before? Chances are you haven't. Winner of the Worth 2004 Best Animal Award, Nikolay Yanchukov's off-kilter entry. The Andorra-based artist's response to a call for Photoshopped animal hybrids, has that stop-and-stare quality that marks out all clever artwork. Humourous, yet believeable!

Advanced Photoshop Magazine (October Issue) is currently running a 'Design-a-Hybrid' competition. 10 copies of Fluid Mask is up for grabs.

Clayton Hanmer

Clayton Hanmer (aka CTON) has been a Toronto-based illustrator, visual artist, and designer since graduating from George Brown College School of Design in 2001.
He has worked with numerous publications, artists, and clients across the globe including The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Toshiba, The Progressive, Dose, Owl magazine, and Cottage Life magazine. Appropriately, his work has been recognized by American Illustration, Coupe, Applied Arts, and Graphis.

As an artist, Clayton has used both acrylics and serigraphy to exhibit his twisted spin on life as a Canuck. He is also an original member of the Toronto-based international artist collective known as Thoughtcrimez. Click on title to visit his website.

Nicholas De Genova

Born and raised in small town Belleville Ontario, Nicholas di Genova moved to Toronto to attend the Ontario College of Art and Design at age 19. Although he enjoys incorporating lots of different materials into his work, the theme of adaptation is consistent through all of it. The characters he creates are highly specialized creatures that have evolved over a long period of time to fit perfectly within their habitat. Land mammals with umbrellas growing out of their backs, rodents that have taken on the guise of mushrooms for camouflage, giants with rock-hard skin; this is the wildlife that he sketches, much more entertaining than elk and owls. Although these creatures are perfectly suited to survival in their particular habitats, they are still vunerable. Change the habitats that they have adapted to and they will die. Click on title to visit his website.

Justin Hampton

Justin Hampton has been creating high impact imagery since his arrival on the scene in 1990. He began his tenure in Seattle working for famed graphic designers Art Chantry and Jeff Kleinsmith at the Rocket Magazine. A decade and a half later, he is renown as one of the leaders in the modern rock poster scene and has garnered international attention. His bold line work and sublime color pallette mixed with a vivid imagination are unmistakable. His work can be seen in various galleries in Europe, Asia and Australia as well as the in states. Click on title to visit his website.

Basher

We recently commissioned Basher to provide illustrations to accompany In-volve's drug information pack. A task that he has achieved with flying colours. I think the illustrations communicates brilliantly the effects of drug use, and is available through In-volve. The launch of the Drug Information packs will be in October - if you have an interest in drugs education, please leave a comment and I will put you in touch with them. In the meantime, be sure to check out Basher's World. Click on title to visit his website.

BeatBug

BeatBug is Jules Mann, a good friend of mine (though I haven't seen him for a while!), a sheer talent for creating nice clean simple illustrations, that is easily identifiable. Great for dressing up those dormant spaces, t-shirts, and album covers. Click on title to visit his website.

Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon. They are the epitome of progressive 70's rock - if there is such a thing. I have seen them 6 times now! Excessive I know, but it seems that they are the only band that rocks a full set. Four times in London, once in Liverpool, and the other in New Orleans at the House of Blues. What a great venue, hope it's still standing. Looking forward to the next album. Click on title to visit their official website.

New Orleans

It seems that the only pictures we now see of New Orleans are the ones of devastation. So for those of you who only have that to go by, this is what it used to look like. We were there in March 2005, and the New Orleans we saw was completely different. It's such a beautiful place, full of culture, great food, and friendly people. I can only hope that one day it will receive the budget it needs for its flood defence, to restore it to its natural beauty, and for it to be habitable for those people who call it home. My heart goes out to all those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Click on title to see more photos.

Jeff Buckley

I am still surprised to learn that some people still don't know who Jeff Buckley is. I guess it figures when he only completed one album before he met his untimely death. Grace is definitely an album that needs listening to, it's so beautifully crafted, and his vocals are simply angelic, especially on Lilac Wine and Hallelujah. Other oustanding tracks are Grace, Dream Brother and Lover, You Should've Come Over. He's also an enigmatic performer. I was priviledged enough to see him twice back in the 90's - at The Garage, and LA2. Bless his beautiful soul. Click on title to visit his website.

Photo: Bruce Weber

Gig Posters

Great gigs need great posters. It's a great way to view portfolios and get in touch with artists. Or to buy decent posters for the four walls you inhabit. Click on title to visit their website.

Benedict Campbell

With 20 years experience in advertising as a photographer and digital artist, Campbell has produced marketing images for many of the world's leading brands. From the muted and tonal simplicity of a well-lit photograph, to the lush, sensual gloss of a computer generated image, then end product is guaranteed to leave an imprint on the mind. Click on title to visit his website.

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens is a 25-year-old American, Greek, Lithuanian fiction writer, musician, and knitter of ski caps. He loves to crochet and sew. There's nothing wrong with a man using a needle and thread.

By now we all know the story of Stevens' attempt to tackle all fifty states - an album each. Plus, most everyone has probably spun Illinois at least once or twice. So here is a new one.

Two producers from NPR, interested in how Sufjan writes his songs, decided to provide him with a topic and have him write a song specially for NPR. The topic they gave him was the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, the bird that was believed to be extinct until about four or five months ago. So the over-achieving bastard did it. You can download 'The Lord God Bird' free (check out links).

Honestly, I think the guy could take a crap directly into a CD player and it would sound good. Click on title to visit his website.

Home

Isle of Man will always be Home. This photo was taken at Peel Castle August 2005. Go see the place if you haven't already.