Jen-collins - Jen Collins · Blog

TO/NY + others in between

we just returned from what ended up being the best trip i've ever taken. a week in toronto & a week in new york, which also included visits to haliburton, new haven, salem & boston. despite a bout of jet-lag that feels more like a two day hangover, i'm going to attempt to summarise the trip before my terrible memory forgets some of the things that i want to remember.

TO: pre-travel nerves & crappy BA service at edinburgh airport · good films & no sleep thanks to a group of brummies on the flight from london to toronto · meeting our wonderful transatlantic friend at pearson · fighting 22 hours of no sleep/humidity & still triumphing (with beginners luck) at blokus · witnessing alan drive an automatic car on the other side of the road, both for the first time · heading north in a fiat 500 to "halibut town" according to alan's auto correct · CORN (it's awesome) · WE SAW A BEAR · ian's lovely family, a gang of dogs & late evening lake swims · beers & chat around the fire · bugs like biting alan, apparently · canoeing up kennisis river · more swims, grilled corn & beer · paddling back to the cabin down the river & across the lake · jalapeño poppers with fake bacon · beers & board games · back to toronto with naomi behind the wheel · a slow wander around kensington market, with stops at wanda's pie in the sky, last temptation & good egg · ICED CAPP · baseball, soccer baseball & beers in the park · home for some drinks on the deck until the small hours · a caesar = gross, sorry ian · inferior frisbee syndrome (ours didn't light up) · beers, illustration chat & alan falling asleep in the park · delicious french toast for breakfast at the rustic owl · hanlan's point is a nudist beach you guys · spot the scottish person in the sun *wilt* · ferry to toronto island · frisbee & swimming in lake ontario · visiting the church of hockey or something? · a pitcher too many with alan, ian & john · an early morning & a hangover · one last visit to tim hortons · bye TO, hi NY

NY: tiniest plane · OH GOD WHY IS IT SO HOT · finally finding our cute little airbnb apartment in park slope, brooklyn · accidentally trying to get into the upstairs neighbour's place · sampling poutine at last · beer & board-games at skylark · a much needed lie-in · wander through prospect park to get to the brooklyn museum · hanging out with leah, dylan & baby moses · too many beers. just too many · filming alan asleep on the subway & not remembering much of the journey home · hungover. the worst · practically crawling to grand central to get the train to new haven · hello conneticut · hanging with tuesday, yelena, pete & lil' mischka in their beautiful new apartment · first night with no beers, thank goodness · mischka stealing pillow space & kneading alan's face in the night · road trip to massachusetts! · bunghole liquors. oh yes · meeting the lovely elise (& yoshimi the bunny) · life alive & its semi-erotic dish names (anyone for a hot & healthy bachelor?) · train to boston · boston is rainy · seeeeals · elise & tuesday's floating heads · finding out salem has not one but two bunghole liquors · impromptu sleepover at the snow residence · driving back to new haven accompanied by 90's pop music · time to return to ny · checking into our cute little hotel, offloading the bags & heading out into the city · visiting the 9/11 memorial site, which has changed so much throughout all my visits to ny · early night, long sleep · delicious brunch at good enough to eat · wandering around the museum of natural history, learning about forests · oh hey they have tim hortons here too · shopping for comics & graphic novels at jim hanley's universe (have done so on every visit) · vegan korean food at franchia · rooftop bar beers · last minute city wandering on our final day · quick walk across central park in the ridiculous heat · home time. sad face.

so that was pretty long. i'm not expecting anyone to spend their time deciphering the details, but i do want to highlight the people who made our trip way better than we could have by ourselves: ian turner (i love & miss toronto way more than i thought i could thanks to this guy); leah goren & dylan ousley (super talented & lovely people who i'm so happy we got to meet); tuesday bassen, yelena bryksenkova & pete gamlen (new haven got lucky with this bunch); & elise towle snow (rad lady who i've wanted to hang out with for so long! yes!).

i'm picking up a few rolls of film from our trip tomorrow & will share more once i've got them uploaded.

new blue

rather pleased with my new bags! black cats on a blue cotton tote; snap one up here.

shop update: activity zine

stave off rainy day boredom! pick up your pencils & battle dark winter evenings! fight long train journeys & arrive at your destination feeling glorious & victorious! well, hopefully & perhaps. the newest addition to my shop is a twenty page activity zine. complete drawings, dream up patterns & add your flair to some silly little illustrations of mine. have some fun along the way too. pick one up from today.

earthly delights

if you're anywhere near minneapolis then you should probably do yourself a favour & visit light grey art lab; as well as it sounding like a pretty great place, they've got an exhibition on at the moment featuring a ridiculously good selection of artists & illustrators, including some of my favourites (somehow i snuck in there).

the garden of earthly delights is curated by ms tuesday bassen & mr pete gamlen. it just opened on friday & runs until 13 july. as someone who currently spends twelve hours a week commuting through the scottish countryside on a train, my piece (above) is inspired by about how much i'd prefer to be out in the forests and fields rather that headed towards an office at 70 miles per hour.

one last drawing for 2012. happy new year, friends. may you see it in with the people you like the most & with your beverage of choice in hand.

red cat tote

after pretty swiftly selling out of blue cat totes last december, i finally got back into the print studio to make some more, this time in red. due to the unpredictable nature of screen-printing (& the fact that my arms are weak, weeeak), there's a pretty limited number of these kitties available. however, i also stumbled upon a happy accident; i'll reveal more next weekend...

on a somewhat related note, i'm almost at the milestone of 500 sales in my shop. that's kind of incredible. there'll be a small heap of extras going out to whoever lands on five-oh-oh.

lately

man, i am no good at updating my blog these days. i think it's partially to do with the move to tumblr - i can't quite put my finger on what i mean by that, but i think other platforms are probably much better suited to the way i like to use my blog. however, i'm going to stick it out. also, that aside, i've just been too busy: living in two places, making lots of new items to sell & day-to-day life haven't left much time for blogging. hopefully, once life's kinks have been ironed out, i can fit in a bit more writing.

work-wise, i gave my website a long overdue update today; take a peek. all jobs i've worked on over the past few months are now out in the world, so i've finally got them all online. i might go into a little more detail about individual jobs on here in future, but i probably shouldn't make any promises!

Wondering what the moon's up to next year? This Lunar Calendar I designed for Tiny Showcase has got you covered. $25 for 366 moons (leap year!) in a five colour screen-print.

Order before Thursday 26 November if you want one in time for gift-giving.

in wild waters

my boyfriend recently opened an online shop to sell his prints. all bias aside, i recommend you take a look at his work (including the above print, in wild waters). he's had a few sales already, but he's still offering a free mini-print with the next seven orders. go!