Miles Vernon - Band

Here is a great up and coming band named MILES VERNON. They have a dreamy-like, low-fi sound.
The members of Miles Vernon are Deidre and Emily. Emily was born in Newfoundland but raised in British Colombia. Deidre was born and raised in Newfoundland.
It is an incredible story... how they met.
Deidre and Emily met through mutual friends in Montreal only to realize upon meeting that they had been childhood friends at a very young age. Their parents were friends and had set them up on a couple play dates. They never heard of each other after since Emily's family moved out of the province. Who would have thought 15-16 years later they would meet again and form a band together!
They are incredibly talented! Listen here !

Here is an interview with Miles Vernon (Deidre and Emily)

SARAH:
What made you guys start to make music together?


DEIDRE:
Right time, right place, right people!

SARAH:
What music inspires each of you?
DEIDRE:
Usually whatever I happen to be listening to at the moment in ma vie....currently am loving jazz vocals of Nat King Cole, Sufjan Stevens, Wu-tang, some dub-step, Dusty brown, Radiohead...and the list goes on!
EMILY:
Old folk music, old bluegrass...or any music that talks directly to my soul..

SARAH:
Do you plan to record a whole album anytime soon? What sound do you want to accomplish with an album?
EMILY:
Currently recording our demo now! We are trying to emulate individual moments and feelings of our lives through sound..

SARAH:
What other kinds of art do each of you make? Does it have any influence on your music?
EMILY:
I currently study fashion at LaSalle college.
DEIDRE:
I'm also a visual artist and I enjoy clothing design as well. I think we're both creative individuals who try to find the beauty in everyday and everything and translate that into our art, which does include our music among our other artistic endeavours.

SARAH:
Any big plans for your band in the next year?
EMILY:
Yeah! We're going on tour across Canada in June 2011, starting from St. John's Newfoundland and driving west to Victoria British Colombia. One home town to the next!

Check out MILES VERNON play at Dakota Bar on December 9th:

-Sarah

Erika Arbour-Nevins - Painter/Drawer/Photographer

 Photos by Sarah O'Driscoll

This is Erika Arbour-Nevins, a great friend of mine and a wonderful artist. She is from Gaspesie, Quebec. Erika has many ways of working. She paints, draws and is also really starting to take photography seriously. She is great in everything she does. When I first saw Erika's work I fell in love immediately. This girl has some serious talent! She received her bachelor of fine arts at NSCAD in 2004. She is currently working as a photo retoucher and is signed with Dulcedo modeling agency.  She is making a lot of art on the side.

Here are some examples of Erika's watercolor portraits, I find these to be some of her most interesting and unique pieces:

Here are some other paintings and drawings that Erika has done:

Lastly, here are some examples of Erika's photography:

Here is a stop-motion video I recorded of Erika drawing last spring : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma_PhG7fsY0

Here is an interview I did with Erika regarding her artwork:

ERIKA
9:24pm
ok so shoot me them questions

SARAH
9:27pm
okay so the first is when did you start liking/enjoying art in general and why?

ERIKA
9:30pm
well my parents have told me i always loved drawing and making crafts
as i kid (that i can remember) i loved coloring, painting - with whatever, sometimes in the summer i did it with water on the floor outside and it would dry, then id start over and over
but mainly i guess high school i became aware that i really enjoyed it, had a talent for it, and wanted to do something that had to do with art with my life

SARAH
9:32pm
did you take many art classes while you were in high school?

ERIKA
9:33pm
i took a couple. it was a general art class. for a year or so i did nude drawing classes every sunday
i had a great art teacher for a year, but when i did IB, she got really sick, and we had a replacement teacher ,who was a terrible teacher. so i feel like i didn't take a class really when he was teaching. i was mainly doing things on my own, researching a lot of artists, known or unknown
(the IB is a two year program where you take 7 subjects for 2 years, and i had a "art research workbook course." it was art making, your own projects, had a little show, and we had to keep an art journal, very frequently)

SARAH
9:38pm
are you glad you got your degree? and can you explain exactly what it was that you studied?

ERIKA
9:40pm
i am glad, altho i wish i could have had more time/money to keep going a year or two. there is just so much to tap into!
there are definitely things i wish had been done differently at my school, because i feel a bit lost, as my degree is so broad but i don't regret a second of it.
My degree is a bachelor of fine arts interdisciplinary
i studied photography, painting and drawing, and dabbled in so many things! i did welding and metal work, i did some printmaking, sculpture(not very much tho) some bookarts, weaving (loved it!) and probably a lot of stuff i can't remember right now
my main focuses were definitely photo, drawing and painting. i started drawing a lot more once i left school tho, since i didn't have as much access to studios and facilities

SARAH
9:43pm
what inspires you?

ERIKA
9:43pm
so many things
friends and the relationships we create with people - whether it be your parents, a stranger ,a lover, a friend really interest and inspire me
how our past and present affect our interactions
nature
industrial things
fashion
art
some poetry
and individuality.

SARAH
9:45pm
where would you LIKE to see yourself in ten years

ERIKA
9:47pm
in ten years i hope to be fully making a living out of something i enjoy doing, and can be creative while doing it! hopefully i can still be modeling and making money, taking pictures and drawings. if i do none of that i will be disappointed in myself
i hope to have shows in galleries, sell some works, publish some and be able to live comfortably and happily with what i do
it could be so many things

SARAH
9:52pm
thanks girl! <3

here is Erika's website: www.erikaarbournevins.com

ENJOY!

-SARAH