Painter's Notes, Microsoft, AI Edited: I stopped by Edmonton City Hall to hear Mayor Andrew Knack respond to the Alberta budget — just a citizen with a sketchbook, a camera, and a lifelong habit of showing up where democracy still has a pulse. After I recorded the video, the Site Manager of the Northern Alberta Commissionaires sent someone over to inform me that I’m “not allowed” to film press scrums... Here we go again!
Now, here’s where the flavours kick in: There’s always that moment when authority leans in and whispers, “Hey kid, stop pointing that thing at the truth.” It’s the same old dance — power gets nervous when a citizen remembers they’re allowed to film in publc. And of course, I’m standing there thinking, “Really? Me? I’m the threat? I can barely keep my phone steady, let alone topple an institution.” My inner voice is already spiralling into a monologue about existential bureaucracy.
Citizens documenting public officials in public spaces isn’t a crime; it’s a contribution. It’s part of how democracy breathes. For nineteen years, I’ve practised free press as an art form — drawing, painting, listening, and showing up in the open air, in faith spaces, in galleries, and yes, in government buildings. Art is how I participate. Art is how I thank the people who keep democratic tools alive. So I’ll keep showing up listening, regardless if someone in a uniform gets uncomfortable.
Art is Freedom
O'Canada, Red🍁, White & Blue
Spring Listen Label Wear
Remember to Smile
Virgil Abloh, Figures of Speech
Chicago, MCA Basement Washroom, July 2019
Birds of a Feather Art Project
Faith, Democracy, and Nature
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This recycled cartoon lands like a quiet gut punch. “DEMOCRACY” glows inside the blue window, staged and triumphant, but the public only sees it through stacked filters: the yellow Corporate Media frame, the pink King Charles III layer, and finally the truck’s own glass. By the time the family leans in, they’re peering through someone else’s framing.
The orange Free Press truck tries to help but ends up blocking the view—trying to explain the meaning of life while standing in front of the projector. Meanwhile, the crane‑mounted Talk Radio mic dives in with talk radio energy, bypassing the polite layers and plugging straight into the “Listen” outlet. It’s a reminder that unfiltered voices still find ways to cut through the static.
The whole piece lands like a CBC‑era wink: the mind isn’t controlled by media so much as curated by whoever builds the windows. In an age of AI‑tuned feeds and silence‑as‑power tactics, this cartoon simply holds up the panes and says, “Here’s the view we are getting. Thought the dirty window panes, notice the fingerprints? The Painter. Grok AI & Microsoft AI Edited.
Like Peering Through A Glass Darkly
Windows Incorporated
