Here is the second night of a two night shoot for the Artist Next Door Series.  I’d never been to the Graffiti Gallery before, and like many inner city gems, was surprised as we pulled up along an emptier stretch of Higgins Avenue to find a warehouse full of art.  This show featured a variety of local artists, including handmade postcard-maker Becky Thiessen, story-teller Hannah Godfrey, painter Arlea Ashcroft, photo/video designer Tyler Funk, and was headlined by a performance by singer/songwriter Don Amero.

As always, I love playing with light.  The warehouse space was surprisingly large and was lit mostly by fluorescents, so I purposely set up my flashes to overpower the ambient light and create some more interesting directional light. And with the display of paintings in the background, it made for some pretty neat and colourful backgrounds.

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Even though I’ve lived in the North End for quite a while now, I’d never heard of Gordie’s Coffeehouse before I arrived to shoot the first of two new episodes for the Artist Next Door series.  Granted, you wouldn’t suspect from the outside of the big Gordon-King Memorial Church that there was a coffeehouse nestled inside offering concerts every Thursday night.  Once inside, you find yourself in a cozy little room full of chairs, tables, knick-knacks, and just enough room for a stage up front.  If you’re into live music in an intimate setting with an attractive price of admission (free), you might want to check it out sometime.

Local duo Prairie Jewel opened the evening with a folky set featuring some great harmonies.  They were followed by artists Ray Dirks (who had some fascinating paintings inspired by his travels abroad) & Tom Andrich (who has painted not a few of the murals we see around Winnipeg).  Sister Dorothy capped off the evening with a lively and upbeat performance.  One thing that stood out for me on this shoot was the choice of footwear on stage – it must be a pretty different experience singing in front of a crowd barefoot vs. stomping around in vibrant red boots.

After a whirlwind road trip out to Saskatchewan for a wedding, Katrina and I raced back to Winnipeg to shoot the season 2 finale of the Artist Next Door series at the Neighborhood Cafe in the Wolseley community.  This happy little cafe, whose walls are filled with what seems like a million paperbacks, was packed with people who came out to see performances by local fiddling sensation Sierra Noble (www.sierranoble.ca) and Brazillian guitarist Marco Castillo.   The concert also included performances by Taiko drummer Phoebe Mann, hand drummer Brian Cloud, percussionist Scott Senior, and presentations by artist Diana Thorneycroft and poet Jan Guenther Braun.

It being a packed house, it was super warm and really tight for space, making it a bit of a challenge for shooting.  That said, it’s always nice to work while listening to good music.

While I usually cross paths with my videographer friend Derek Eidse during the wedding season, I occasionally have the pleasure of working with him on his other projects.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot stills for his production of the Artist Next Door - an ongoing TV series broadcast on MTS On-Demand about local performers and artists in the Winnipeg community.  Sunday’s production, which was filmed live at the CYRK (a private club/theatre/concert hall in the West Broadway neighborhood), included an exhibition of work from animator Alison Davis (www.errantline.com), a skit by actor/director Stephanie Plaitin, and was headlined by the Juno-nominated duo Twilight Hotel (www.twilighthotel.ca).

I really enjoyed my evening – the CYRK turned out to be a very cozy venue, reminiscent of a modern-day underground poetry café, and the performances were all excellent.  Ms. Davis’ shorts were an interesting blend of hand-drawn & computer animation, and I was blown away by the richness of sound that Twilight Hotel was able to accomplish with just their vocals and two instruments.  While the Artist Next Door episode won’t be available on MTS for some time, it’s worth the time to stop by these artists’ websites to view/hear their work.