One of my favourite human beings who I never met passed away on the 21st of November. What I loved about him was not only his art itself, but the extraordinary vision behind it. He’s also interesting, because his combination of talents
Hi, I’m Paul Snyders. Welcome to Large Ess Small Press. I have worked as a technician, educator, writer and art model, and now I write about friendship, love, work, art, heart and striving – and the sort of crazy pratfalls and misadventures
Hi folks! Something a little bit different today (for a change – ha!) I have been drawing, making music and writing ever since I was a kid. There are years of my life when I did a lot more of one than
Friendship is magical stuff, I write about it a lot, because I think we grow more through friendship and love than by any other means. But I’m also fascinated by the strange incalculables, the stuff that we know is true because we
As a lifelong book-nut and ‘mister curious’, I have asked a ton of people about their favourite books. More than once I’ve made a deep connection, by identifying a book we both regard with special reverence – my favourite instance being a
I can’t be the only book maniac here who associates odd places with profound book experiences. I can even remember which subway stop my train was pulling into, when I first encountered life-changing paragraphs. Perhaps the strangest place I have found conducive
Some books bring us pleasure, some books stretch our minds, some books broaden our philosophy and expand our moral understanding. Some books hit us at a special moment in our lives and will forever bring us a whiff and resonance of that
There are quite a few libraries in Toronto which hold a special place in my heart. I’ve shown the lovely Yorkville and mentioned the even more original and architecturally exquisite Wychwood library, both of which came from Carnegie’s still reverberating library building
Toronto lost a genuine hero-artist a few days ago, and with all the chaos nowadays in the news, many barely noticed his passing. There are so many different things one can say about Michael Snow (born Dec 10 1928 right here in
I must admit that when I say it simply, it still sounds like a silly bit of dinner party wit, even to me, but I actually was part of a socialist comics collective way back in the late 1980s (my early twenties).
Loring, by Wyle (top photo) One of the biggest problems with so many oversimplifying explanations of how society ‘really’ works is that these theories always seem to leave out one of the most interesting and important parts of any society – its
Reopening and vaccinated at last. It is time to get the world-engaging side of my productivity-engine chugging again. So I’ve been cleaning out the boiler, checking gaskets, reviewing supplies of coal and water on hand and scouting new tracks, routes and customers.
Photo Credit: Catherine Barnes I had a strange experience this week, which seemed to bring together a number of questions which have been troubling me recently, and also suggest a curious new arrangement and focus for some answering ideas. For the first
I want to be this playful in my late eighties! On the surface, visual arts are all about looking – which feels like obvious and objective stuff – but sculpture is always a tricky challenge for a photographer, because a sculpture can
Hi folks As my friends of longstanding will have already noticed, I seem to have wound up with a little bit of talent at almost everything – except for that small but important range of mercenary skills. This is by no means
I have to open this with an apology – I have been meaning to get it done and posted or awhile now. On the other hand, this may be the perfect moment. By now most of us are facing the prospect of
Toffel digs inIllustrations by Andrew Rewfoe Foerster, from the upcoming book – “Stymie and Toffel” This is a weird and difficult time to be a kid. Childhood has actually been increasingly weird and difficult for several generations now, but the truly shocking
March of the Weavers (top image) I am continually amazed by the valuable clues we uncover when we dig into art history. These clues are never confined to the artist themselves or their work, but enrich our understanding of the places and
Hello my friends – time for a new song! I wrote this one a couple of years ago, and I’ve been playing with the arrangement in my head (mentally multi-tracking it) ever since, but it wasn’t until Catherine ordered me not to
Dragon at Croydon – For a story from youth, a picture by the youth at the time I’m working on putting together two books at once right now, and this feels like a very cheering and natural publisher growth process. I have
Eternal proof – one person’s mind can change the world Here’s one for my pal David Spencer – a fellow fan of longstanding. It also serves as a funny sidebar to my lovely Vale of Avoca walk a few days ago. For