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The Land of Termina
Ocarina of Time, the landmark prequel to Majora’s Mask, holds the seeds from the which its future sibling springs. Some of these seeds are quite obvious: the masks, for instance. But, in my imagination, the most important seeds can be found in two seemingly unimportant moments. The first involves Zora’s Domain. As many dejected fellow gamers might recall, the enchanted winter that shrouds the Domain cannot be dispelled, even after destroying the appropriate evil spirit. The ice will supposedly melt at a future date beyond the game’s …

I went to India over the summer, and when I came back from the trip I almost had forgotten about the numerous pictures I had taken. But a friend of mine said, why don’t we go through them and see if we can’t edit them. So me and Jessica Valle (who already has a fantastic gallery on Playtime) combed through them and selected images we both dug. We flowed together perfectly and pulled photos out that I had just taken for my own amusement and made them work. …

Check out Jessica Evalyn Valle’s interview on Playtime Magazine, or head over to her personal photography website or Viyay Comics. You can also find more of her photography on Jessica’s flickr stream. Images selected and arranged by Zach Grizzell and Tracy McCusker.

Once in awhile, you come across a natural creative talent of sorts.  Jessica Evalyn Valle is one of those natural talents.  Some days you can see her at the range firing her guns–that’s right, a girl that knows how to shoot you if you mess with her.  Some days you have to bi-pass the fact that you have been waiting for said bio on your artist for weeks now and have to wing something.  You know how those artist get busy with their work, or watching Beauty and the Beast, …

Ah, Valentine’s Day.  Few holidays seem to raise the ire of internet denizens, brooding teenagers and twenty-something counter-culture warriors like good ole V-Day1.  Depending on your point of view, it’s either a cultureless wasteland of affected sentimentalism and crass commercial cash-ins or a special day for you and your beloved.  Then there are the rest of us: those of us who have experienced some sweet & thoughtful Valentine’s Days and remain effectively neutral on the holiday2.  We don’t quite understand those people who will wheedle dates, arrange extra weekend meetings, …

A selection of the paintings, photography, and sculpture of Mark S. Gagne. The second of a two-part Interview and Gallery for the Playtime Featured Artist of the Month series.

I Remember…
I remember when I woke up every night trembling and screaming, thinking that something bad had happened to my mother.  I woke up a lot when I was younger, scared that the one who cared and nurtured me as a child was gone. But every time I woke up, sweating, my mother was there.  There to hold me and to soothe me back to sleep.  Always telling me that she wasn’t going anywhere, that I shouldn’t worry about her. Her quiet and kind voice always gave me reassurance. Back …

Decay, dereliction, decline. All words with a negative association that conjure up images of rusty pipes and abandoned buildings. We never appreciate that even there, beauty can be found, until someone opens our eyes and shows us.

One of the beauties of the internet is that it allows you to meet all kinds of people. One of these people, whom I would have otherwise never encountered, is Sudbury resident Mark S. Gagne. I first met him on the Icine forums as Marv, a poster with a penchant for naughty humour, a deep fondness of movies and an artistic streak that became increasingly apparent as I got to know him better. Playtime Magazine sought him out and we sat down for an exclusive interview with this promising artist.

“What do you think an artist cares about?… Fine wines and black-tie affairs? No! He lives only for that narcotic moment of creative bliss. A moment that may come once a decade or never at all.” — Jimmy, Art School Confidential
I have a confession: I am a junkie. I have been addicted to National Novel Writing Month for the last five years, and my addiction shows no signs of abating.
Granted, it’s a pretty low-key addiction: a mere thirty days in November, cutting an obsessive swath into the holiday season. Those …

Because I was a movie buff long before I started taking pictures, I worship cinematographer Christopher Doyle the way other street photographers worship Henri Cartier-Bresson. I’m especially drawn to the rich but melancholy sense of romance Doyle created for director Wong Kar-Wai in films like Chungking Express. Perhaps that’s why I’m so fond of shooting in the subway, a place full of unexpected beauty where we glide through each other’s movies.