Prints Selling at Function 13

Great News.
Some of my silkscreens and etchings are now for sale at Function 13. Function 13 is a one stop shop for design, art and technology and it was just voted #1 Design Store in Toronto by NOW Magazine.
They've been open for a year and already are making waves in the Design scene. Check them out at 156 Augusta Ave. Their hours are Mon-Fri : 12-7pm and Sat/Sun : 11-6pm.
For more information about Function 13 visit them online at www.function13.ca

New Women's & Men's Shirts for Sale

New Screenprinted shirts for both sexes now available for sale.
Prices range from 17-27 dollars.
Go to www.bretschger.com and click on the heart to see the full selection.
Also for the holiday season I have blank greeting cards for sale.

Artwork now up at Insomnia Cafe

Just installed my artwork for a group show at Insomnia Cafe. The artwork will be up until the beginning of November and I will be holding an opening sometime in Mid or Late October. For more information about the cafe go to http://www.insomniacafe.com/

It is located at 563 Bloor Street West in Toronto. They are open all day for lunch, coffees and dinner. Stop by and check it out. I have reasonable original artworks ranging from low 100's to high 500's.

OCAD WhoDunIt? Mystery Art Show

This will be my second year contributing to Toronto's OCAD Mystery Art Show. If your in Toronto November 19-22 go out and try and find me at the show. To learn more about it go to http://www.ocad.ca/about_ocad/support_ocad/whodunit.htm

From the press release:

". . . one of the city's most ingenious visual-art fundraisers"
- Sarah Milroy, Globe and Mail

The Whodunit? OCAD Mystery Art Sale is OCAD's signature fundraising event. It’s an exhibition and sale of pieces of original art by well-known and celebrity artists, OCAD faculty, alumni and students.
Gaining in popularity year after year, the Whodunit? OCAD Mystery Art Sale offers hundreds of original pieces of art donated by artists who are famous and not-yet-famous. Every piece measures 5½ x 7½ inches and each piece is $75. Like it - buy it - turn it over and see Whodunit!

How it works…
View hundreds of pieces of art during the Public Preview and write down the numbers of the pieces you would like to buy. Then be first in line on the day of the sale to make sure you get the pieces you want. Buy the art at the Public Art Sale. All art is sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Arrive early with the list of the pieces you like so that you can get your top choices.
Public Preview: November 19 to 21, 2008
Public Art Sale: November 22, 2008

All events take place at 100 McCaul Street, Toronto. Whodunit?

Come celebrate art, artists and friends at a fabulous party unlike any other. Preview the hundreds of pieces of mystery art for sale in the Whodunit? Public Art Sale on November 22. Bid on framed 5½" x 7½" mystery art chosen exclusively for sale in the Silent Auction or bid on large-scale art by a select group of artists in the Live Auction. Join mystery artists and friends at our exclusive party!

Gala Preview: Thursday November 20, 2008

Call me Mrs. Johansson

Well actually I'm going by Crystal Bretschger Johansson, quite a mouthful. I guess I will be changing my website from www.bretschger.com to something else. I was thinking www.mepaintyoubuy.com

Closing Ceremonies Beijing

Kevin and Oskar ended the Olympic Regatta in 4th. They performed extremely well in the second half of the regatta and scored 4 second places in a row. They just missed the bronze and made Canada, friends, and family extremely proud of them. China put on an incredible show and this olympic experience will be a great memory for the rest of my life.

Day 1 of racing in Qingdao

Oskar and Kevin were delayed after shifty and light winds. With one race into the 10 race regatta they are in 8th place. For full results go to www.sailing.org or www.tornado.org
I caught him on tv yesterday on the local network QTV, channel 11, but the Tornado race weren't televised. Instead the Stars were.
See below for pics.

Last night after racing and a debrief Oskar and I caught a taxi to go out to Italian. The taxi drivers are crazy here, but do tone it down for westerns, even so as we were pulling in front of the restaurant the driver slams on his brakes and we hear a huge crash.

Very scary considering their are no seatbelts in the back seats of the cabs. Anyway, it turns out the authorities were using what looked like an over sized bike rack to warn drivers of an uncovered manhole (no lights, cones, or lane merging devices being used). So Oskar and I ran out of the taxi, threw our 10 rambos at our driver, and headed to our table for a much needed glass of wine.

Apparently, I did a little research this morning. The first american death during the olympics, which was swept under the red rug, was of a female volunteer on her way home to her hotel at night and fell into an uncovered man hole. It turns out that the covers are a hot commodity and were being stolen for scrap metal to use in the construction going on in beijing and qingdao.

Around the Village...

Below are some pictures from around the athlete's village.




This is one of the many abstract sculptures on the outskirts of the athlete's village.




The red wall is where athletes can sign their name and leave a message.







The Tornado is the most popular boat to be showcased on the building sized posters around Qingdao.



This is the view of the harbor from Oskar's room on the 10th floor.

The Olympic Village

Oskar gave me a tour yesterday of the Olympic Village and it's awesome.
The guys are staying at a 5-star hotel, but for free. All athletes have at their disposal; unlimited massages/reflexology, healthcare, food (dining hall and take-away cafe), gym, olympic sized pool and an army of volunteers. The newly built hotel offers the athletes sheek cafes/lounges, modern styled bedrooms with king size beds, views of the harbor, flatscreen tvs, wireless internet, and uber-fancy bathrooms. I'm really curious what these rooms with go for on a nightly basis once opened to the public.

Jet-lagged in Qingdao

Landed safetly in Qingdao and am finally beginning to feel like myself again. The 12-hour time difference really left me feeling like i was standing on my head.

Oskar and I are staying at the Gloria Inn and are really happy with our accomodations. It is an Olympic approved hotel and because of that service and quality are up to a certain standard. I really appreciate the complimentary jasmine tea, fruit basket (that contains chinese peaches which are in season right now), hot water, and king size bed. After seeing the squat toliets at the Qingdao Airport, I must admit I was a little scared.

Oskar starts racing the 15th, with a practice race tomorrow.
To watch his races go to:
U.S viewing schedule: http://xrl.us/nbcsked
Canadian viewing schedule: http://xrl.us/canadiansked

Already the 49er's, laser, laser radials, windsurfers and finn's are half way through their regatta. The Canadian Finn sailor, Chris Cook, is having a great regatta and is currently in 4th place.
Oskar's family and I have tickets to watch the racing from the break wall, but the coverage on tv is alot better. Unless, you have a high powered telescope, it is really difficult to tell what's going on.

Our hotel tv has great coverage of the Beijing and Qingdao events. There is Qtv which is fully dedicated to the water events taking place locally. Also, in the malls the chinese have set up a seating area with large screen tv's, which have the added bonus of ac.

In terms of food... Oskar's playing it really safe so that he doesn't get sick pre-games. He's sticking to non-chinese restaurants that import most of their ingredients. I on the other hand can afford to be more risky. A great breakfast buffet is provided by Gloria Inn. This morning my favorites were the noodle soup in a chicken broth with scallions and tomatoes, steamed buns, and spinach/pork dumplings.

For lunch I've been hitting up the 6th floor restaurant that specializes in szchuen & chinese food. The portions are huge and the prices are low, however the food has been on the oily side (even when ordering vegetarian) so I may try something new today. I don't like eating vegetables for dinner and then leave the table feeling like i just had an unheathly meal. Eating western you'll pay the same prices as home, where as eating local you'll pay a third of the price.

Samui Regatta Dinner at Bo Phut Beach

We had a great dinner a couple nights ago held on Bo Phut beach for the Samui Regatta.
They had a deejay, tent filled with yummy thai food, free booze, fireworks, sparklers, and candle lanterns... This sounds alot like a wedding.
See pictures below of the festivities.

Day Trip around Koh Samui

Had a great 1/2 day trip around Koh Samui with the girlfriends & wives of the other sailors. We saw alot in 1/2 a day and I'm really glad that I got a chance to see outside of Chaweng.


The first photo is of several shrines setup next to a view point. I've seen 1 or 2 shrines that are usually set up outside of businesses, but I have never seen this many in one place. They were beautiful.


After stopping at the view point we headed to 2 waterfalls. They were weak. I don't know if it was their dry season or what, but it wasn't even worth the 10 min hike down to them to see.


Next was the Aquarium. The fish were nice to see and they had big sea turtles that you could feed lettuce to for 50 baht. My favorite part of the Aquarium wasn't actually the aquarium, it was the animals outside in the cages; Elephants, Tigers and Monkeys. Both the elephants and tigers had a baby that was a treat to see.


At this point we had really worked up an appetite and were ready for lunch. One of the woman suggested we eat at "The Cliff" which was advertised in one of the brochures we had. I was pleasantly surprised. The view was incredible (taken of the "elephant rock" below) and the food was quite good. They served complimentary bruschetta which was toasted perfectly and not too garlicky. I had a coconut shake and a seared tuna salad, both of which I really enjoyed.


Another great day in Koh Samui.

My Birthday Treat

Along with getting a Thai Oil Massage for my birthday, I treated myself to a mouth-watering lunch at Green Olive, my favorite restaurant thus far.

Green Olive is part of the Buri Rasa Hotel located in the Center of Chaweng Beach.

Below are the pics from my scrumptous lunch, Barbeque Chicken over Papaya Salad and a Coconut Shake.