Here’s the latest project for the Dream Love event coming up on the 11th at the Meeker Street Market. Another nice unfolding process from this one. I got wicked sick in the middle of its creation which it made it an extra bit of a challenge but challenges are always a welcome experience in my book. It was funny how the original style wound up getting resurrected after I thought it was completely shot down during the first round of revisions. It just goes to show that you never really know how things will turn out. Enjoy!

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Because it may never see the light of day anywhere else I thought that I would share. This was a great lesson in communication with clients for me and others involved. It was also a test of my own skills as a designer to try to create something that needs to change a lot very quickly. I don’t think that I’ve ever had to shift styles so fast for a project. Although it was frustrating at the time I think the progression is fun to see. Enjoy!

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I wanted to let everyone know that I’m going to be doing some live painting at 11.11.11 One Dream NYC this Friday into Saturday. I’ve never tried to paint in front of a bunch of people but I’m banking on having everyone get occupied doing other things so I’ll be able to have a little bit of peace. Either way it shouldn’t matter too much once I get going. Things kind fade out when I’m connected to what I’m creating. I’m still playing around with some ideas about what I actually want to create. Almost there I think. Hopefully I can come with something already fleshed out so I can just go at it when I get there. I’m hoping to paint the whole 24 hours. I love the excuse to stay up and do awesome stuff and meet great people!

I will also be selling my world famous Astral Snacks Popcorn the whole time. The folks from Golden Drum and my friends KA will also be there representing as they bring in the dawn Saturday morning. Stick around for the whole thing and check it out. Peace!

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The new batch of shirts are ready! Good news is that I’ll have a site up for the shirts up this weekend. Until then you can contact me at
matthew.canale@gmail.com. I am also printing all of the shirts on American Apparel. Made in the USA. So that’s good. All of the proceeds go to Golden Drum a community center that helped create in Brooklyn.

I was at Occupy Wall Street the other day with some friends. They were helping facilitate a Meditation Flash Mob. It is an event where people come together at a specific time and place to sit and meditate in public. It was the first time that I had attended one. It became obvious to me why what we were doing was so important. People need to see peace. It is not so often that people can be seen in a state of peace. Sometimes, just seeing people meditating is enough for others to be more calm. It is from that place of stillness that we can connect to the heart. We will not win over anyone through anger and aggression. If we are to proceed, we must come from a place of love and compassion. This is not a call to passivity. This is an invitation to connect to the space from within. If we are firmly rooted in peace and truth we will create the change that we wish to see in the world by first emodying that change. This shirt is a symbol of that spirit that I invite more people to represent in this great time of change.

Below are some photos of a test print that I made in the print lab the other day and the other is of my screen that I’ve been using. Enjoy!

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Write to your grandmother. Write to your parents. Write to a sister or brother. Write to a friend. Call, draw, sing, dance, create for others. Do it for yourself. Show love. Always.

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. . .
I made this a few months ago when I was in the Dominican Republic. It was a very relaxing trip. The land is so lush and beautiful and it really seemed like people had a sense of responsibility when it came to their relationship to nature. That meaning that they actually wanted to take care of it. For a while now the heart has been a big thing for me. At the moment it seems like it probably will be for a long time. At times I feel as though my heart is on fire spiritually as I continue to do the things that I love. It has empowered me to keep moving forward. Its drawings like these that help me connect back to that feeling.

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I’ve been going on a little colored pencil kick lately. Learning some more limitations and strengths of the medium. Its a somewhat fun investigation for me. To be perfectly honest I’m glad to be done with this little guy. I have no attachment to this drawing what so ever. I don’t know how I finished it to be honest. I’m really sick of looking at it. With that said, it’ll probably be the last meticulous colored pencil imagining in a while. If anything I think I’ll be gravitating more towards the scribbles of my previous post. I feel like there’s a little movement to this but nothing like the other one. And seriously, what the hell is this thing? I have no idea. I think that’s why I’m not crazy about it. Anyway, Regardless of what I feel about it, I hope that you enjoy it on some level. Peace.

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I was having drawing time with a friend of mine last week. We were about to get started when she told me about a therapy session that she had years ago. Her therapist asked to draw something on a piece of paper. She saw a lamp in the room and started drawing it very carefully. With great care she tried to capture it exactly how she saw it. The therapist asked if she was finished with her drawing. She thought a moment and said yes and gave her the piece of paper. Without hesitation the therapist proceeded to draw a smiley face over my friend’s drawing. Needless to say my friend was a little pissed about the latest revision to her masterpiece. At the same time it was liberating because at the same moment she was able to release the expectations about what she wanted the drawing to be.

As she told me the story she drew a smiley face on the piece of paper that I was about the draw on. With the same spirit in mind I kept the smiley face on the paper and scribbled over it and let that be the starting point for something unplanned. It kind brought me back to college a little. It has been a while since I’ve just let go a little. I gotta admit, its a nice space to create in.

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Hi Everyone. I’m catching up on a lot of things tonight and I thought sitting down to share about one of my new projects should definitely one of them. For over a year now I’ve been giving classes in NYC and talking about the art of lucid dreaming. One of the things that I’ve heard from a lot of people is that they enjoyed the workshops but were wondering if there was a way to follow up to make it easier for them to develop a regular practice. Even I’ll admit that there’s a lot of things to learn and process when it comes to delving into the world of dreams. One thing that I came to realize that it really helps to have other people to share the journey with. Even though dreaming is an amazingly personal experience we often are blind to many of the messages that come to us. Its amazing what a little shift in perspective can do to illuminate what our dreams are trying to tell us.

Sharing our dreams can be amazingly healing. One of the greatest benefits of becoming part of a dream meet up group is that you get to put yourself in the shoes of others. You get to see the real fears of people which in many cases are quite similar to your own. A friend talked to me the other day about how he heard 20 people talk about their dreams one day. He was amazed by how similar they all were! When we consider that we all feel the same emotions its really not that crazy of a thought. It seems like we are so separate but we are all working with very similar building blocks that make up our life experience. Once we realize that I believe it makes life a little bit more manageable. Its some what comforting to know that your anger is the same as some one else’. It may even look different when it is expressed in waking life or in a dream. We are all on a journey of learning and I think if we can be there for each other as we go through our own personal transformations then we will all be stronger for it.

I hope to see you at one of the upcoming Shamanic Dream Collective gatherings soon. Our next meet up is on June 22nd at 8pm at Golden Drum 97 Green St Apt G24 Brooklyn, NY. Until then, much love.

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It’s nice when the universe gifts you a model right when you sit down to draw. This one laid right down to sleep just as I sat down to doodle something at the kitchen table today. Its also nice when the model gets up as you’re drawing them and then a little creative liberty gets thrown into the mix. Keeps me on my toes.

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