I have recently been exploring the world of painting in more depth. I love this mysterious territory, which becomes poetic and archaeological at the same time. Painting teaches many lessons that are more broadly applicable to the art of living: the skills of courageous non-attachment, courageous attachment, of spontaneity and of careful planning, of attentiveness to the emotional reality of the moment, and perhaps most importantly, of turning the canvas when the gestalt seems stuck.

This year I’ve been fortunate to work with my friends Joshua Bendah and Dawn Davi on a short film for Dawn’s composition “Luvu”. Our film is the alchemy of light, stone, piano and synth.

You can watch a hi-res version of the film “Luvu” on the Yellow Castle Vimeo channel.

This is a collaboration I filmed and edited with Joshua Bendah (directing) and Tsuyoshi Niwa, a soprano saxophonist and jazz improvisor. The project inaugurates a new film collaboration which we’ve called “Yellow Castle Films”.

This piece features Tsuyoshi and Joshua in conversation on jazz improvisation, alchemy and the divine mystery of the flow state.

With Music by:

Tsuyoshi Niwa (Soprano Saxophone)
Steve Koven (Piano)
Briyan Skol (Drums)
Chester Manoharan (Bass Guitar)

I feel very lucky to have been a part of this collaboration with Joshua Bendah, Sacha Williamson and Steve Koven. “Thinking of You” was shot and edited over the summer of 2018. The music, composed by Sacha Williamson and Steve Koven, is a tribute to their late mothers. Filming this video is my tribute to mine.

With Music by the Koven Collective:

Steve Koven (Piano)
Peter Eratostene (Bass)
Sarah Thawer (Drums)
Sacha Williamson (Vocals)
David Abramsky (Cello)
Pedro Orrego (Guitar)

Directed by Joshua Bendah

Cinematography by Owen Sheppard

Editing by Owen Sheppard and Joshua Bendah

(Gouache, gold leafing pen, and ink on Tomoe River paper. 21 x 17 cm.)

Here’s a second piece of Gothic calligraphy, this one based on Dr. John C. H. Wu’s translation of the Tao Teh Ching. I made this using gouche, gold leafing pen and ink (Noodler’s Bad Belted Kingfisher and Platinum’s Cassis Black) on Tomoe River paper. The ibis has been a symbol of writers since ancient Egyptian times, and here he bursts the frame to take the nourishment of water into the airs of the writerly mind.

I Sat to Play Checkers…

The other day I made a first attempt at a Gothic-style illuminated text with gouache, gold-leafing pen, Noodler’s Bad Belted Kingfisher (blue ink), and Platinum’s Cassis Black (red ink) on Tomoe River paper. I used a Lamy 1.5 italic nib for the text and a fine pointed brush for the gouache. Incredibly, only the gold leafing pen bled through the Tomoe paper despite multiple coats of fairly wet gouache. The text is my composition.

I’m an award-winning Toronto-based filmmaker, writer, and visual artist with expertise in videography, video editing, and media training. I have ten years of video production experience in Toronto, Canada, and from 2007 to 2012 volunteered to produce videos and video trainings in Nairobi, Kenya.

I currently work as a freelance videographer-editor. I’m also an obsessive dream-journalist, phenomenologist, visual artist and writer now working on a novel that has been about half finished for about five years.