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.

Snapshots from our friend Livia MacQueen’s concert to launch her new CD – Frogs in Your Underpants (some very unique and original renditions of children’s nursery rhymes set to good musical arrangements; for parents with young children, this is a disc you could enjoy listening to on “repeat”).   Both the performance and the cupcakes were well received by all.

A gap since my last post – I figured the hard part about keeping a blog would be finding material to post.  As it turns out, it seems I have a lot of things I could post but it’s finding the time to sit down, process, and post the images!

Local singer/songwriter Rik Leaf recently released a new album and wanted some coverage as he performed a set of new songs to the folks at the Festival du Voyageur. Although he himself thought the show was slowed down by “technical difficulties” at various points, I thought the performance went well and was enjoyed by all.  The artists and dancers he had performing with him made for good eye candy for the camera too.