When Marlena was 7 years old, she found herself reading about dinosaurs at a friend’s house and  decided to pick up some crayons and draw them herself. “That was the moment I fell in love with drawing. I remember feeling still, peaceful, and free,” she says. “I never stopped drawing after that and at night I would dream I was exploring and wandering around in my colourful world of crayon drawings.” Marlena has created a career through her colourful worlds, both as an illustrator as well as with other projects such as map making, painting, social work, and music.

Upon realizing Marlena’s interest in art, her parents (neither of them artists) did everything they could to nurture her talents. From sending her to art camps and community centre classes in drawing and painting, to finding an art focused high school for her to attend, “they’ve encouraged me all my life to live my dream,” says Marlena. During her high school years, she worked at a children’s book and toy store and became inspired by the “beautiful and playful illustrations” on the store shelves. It was then that she decided to pursue illustration as a career by attending OCAD.

Early on she worked mostly as an illustrator doing a lot of editorial work. “Most of my clients were from New York or LA,” says Marlena. “Then came September 11th.” As the American economy collapsed, magazines took huge budget cuts. Some of the first things sacrificed were illustration and photography as magazines turned to stock, rather than original, visual content. “I don’t think it’s ever fully recovered,” says Marlena. “I’ve actually moved away from editorial work in the last few years with book projects and map making.”

Marlena got into map making when she was asked to draw a map of Kensington Market for Murmur – an audio story-telling project. The project was successful and other map work started coming her way. It turns out that in the satellite mapping age of today, hand drawn maps are in high demand. “I think people are drawn to maps for many different reasons,” she says. “Maps help us understand the larger world around us and our place in it. I think that this is a basic and common desire.”

Along with her work as an illustrator, Marlena works at the Creative Work Studio - “an art program for people struggling with long term mental illness and or addictions.” She is also in a band called Tomboyfriend and they’re working on releasing their first album this October. “An even bigger project for me will be starting a family,” says Marlena. “I’ve focused my energy so much on my career for what feels like most of my life, it’s time for me to focus on my personal life.”

Anyone with even the slightest experience online, knows the depths a comments thread can quickly sink to. On YouTube this is perhaps more prevalent than most places. “I’d often put up comments to debate with other users or I’d send videos to friends; there was so much to say and yet the exchange was generally pretty poor and disorderly,” says Erik Rutherford – the creator of Ryeberg.com. The website “publishes essays about YouTube videos (or videos from any other video-sharing site), curated by writers and artists.”

Erik grew up in Toronto and Victoria, going on to study literature at McGill and then Oxford. He lived in Paris for 8 years, where he worked as a freelance writer, a teacher, and also produced two radio shows; since  2005 he has been living in Toronto. The idea for Ryeberg came to him “one night at a dinner party with everyone hunched over a laptop watching a YouTube clip.”

Erik thought it would be great to “subject all this perishable, popular video stuff to some kind of useful critique”. As a result, “Ryeberg would designate video clips to take note of and then wrap them up in intelligent text, perhaps even become a pole of authority.” The authority lies in the hands of an ever expanding group of contributors on the site, aptly named curators. Sometimes curators are recommended, on occasion strangers submit great content, and Erik has a running list of people he admires and hopes “might be enticed to contribute.” Recently, Ryeberg has broken free of it’s digital self through a live event.

“Ryeberg needed to manifest itself in the world of flesh and blood, like any other agorae of the web,” says Erik. “I also sensed that curated videos could work in a live format, and this turned out to be true.” When videos clips are watched in a group, “we are naturally more attentive,” says Erik, “they are transformed by the presence of other people”.

At the moment Erik’s number one priority is growth. “The essays on Ryeberg deserve many more readers,” he says. So if you haven’t taken a look at Ryeberg yet check it out and let all your friends know. Also, another live event is in the works so if you want to be kept in the loop be sure to add yourself to their mailing list.

If you have any questions for Erik you can leave them in the comments or email him directly. If you wish to make a submission to Ryeberg please send it to curator@ryeberg.com but first check out the guidelines.

Robyn McCallum graduated from Ryerson’s photography program several years ago and has been making great strides in the industry. At the moment she is the gallery manager at Bau-Xi Photo, co-curating the Canadian exhibition of the Flash Forward Festival, and will soon be the Chair of the SNAP! auction. Robyn discovered her interest in photography during high school in Ottawa. “They had amazing facilities and I was able to experiment with all different types of art making,” she says. “Photography was what really inspired me and so I stuck with it. “

During her final year at university, Robyn was hired as the development coordinator at the Ryerson Gallery. “I suspected I wanted to go down a more administrative road, but had never had any experience in the field so I wasn’t sure,” she says. Katy McCormick, a professor at Ryerson, let Robyn curate her first show at the gallery. “She really helped me through and showed me what had to be done and how to look at the exhibition itself as a single cohesive work of art,” says Robyn. This experience led to Robyn’s current role as the gallery manager at Bau-Xi Photo.

Interestingly, she acquired the position in a way that is unusual for the art industry but is well known to those in other fields – she saw an ad online and applied. “I have several responsibilities at the gallery,” she says, “everything from finding new artists to sweeping the floor.” On a day-to-day basis, a lot of her effort goes into dealing with clients, marketing, and getting press for the gallery. As if she wasn’t busy enough, Robyn’s latest projects – co-curating an exhibition for the Flash Forward Festival and taking over as Chair of the SNAP! auction have her working around the clock. “[I] try and do things that I’m excited about so I don’t mind coming home from the gallery and working on one of my other projects.”

As someone who has made a successful transition from school to work (somewhat uncommon for art students), Robyn says one of the best things she did was “stay engaged in the photography community.” Upon graduating you’re in the real world, “you should just embrace it and really put yourself out there,” she says.

If you have any questions for Robyn please post them in the comments or you can email them to her directly. To see her own work please visit her website at www.robynmccallum.com.

I met Lucy several years ago and have always been impressed by both her achievements and her humbleness. Though she might reply ‘not much,’ when asked what she’s been up to, that usually means she’s been doing something along the lines of building homes in New Orleans or sky diving by Lake Erie. Having recently graduated from McMaster University’s Health Sciences program, Lucy is taking a year off from school to see if she wants to continue on to medical school as she originally planned.

Lucy and her family moved to Canada when she was five – her father was pursuing a PhD in physics. “I think that being raised by Asian parents in a westernized society had a big impact on my life,” she says. Knowing the sacrifices her parents made to bring her here made her strive for excellence in school early on. “I decided at the age of 10 that I wanted to be a doctor.” After finishing high school she continued down this path, applying to Health Sciences, Life Sciences as well as other fields such as Business and Nutritional Sciences. She says, “ultimately, I chose Health Sciences for the unique program, for it’s style of teaching students that I thought would work for me and was unlike any other program I had come across.” Her other interests included community involvement and international travel, something she capitalized on while in university.

During her first year, a few fellow students wanted to organize a trip to New Orleans in order to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lucy immediately became involved in the project, which resulted in them rebuilding homes in New Orleans. “Knowing that I was actively making a difference in someone’s life was very gratifying and rewarding,” she says. The following year Lucy organized a similar trip for other students.  Also during university, she volunteered at a local elementary school as a teacher’s assistant in a kindergarten class. Afterwards she once again took on an executive role and organized placements for other students. Now that she has finished her degree, Lucy is reevaluating her goals and options.

“I wanted some time to decide if Medicine was really best for me,” she says, “and ultimately decided time off would be the best route for me”. Her work in New Orleans has piqued her interest in public health and humanitarian organizations. “I think that work in these sectors can make a positive impact on a large scale,” she says. While she is enjoying her time off, she is also looking into jobs in humanitarian aid. “Ideally,” she says, “I would like to work first-hand in a community in need, perhaps at a grass-root level to gain some experience. I am excited to see where this will take me and I would love to do some international work.”

If you have any questions for Lucy please post them in the comments or you can email them to her directly. You can also follow her on twitter.

While it is no coincidence that Summer Love ended up a documentary film maker, it was certainly never part of the plan. Having been taught by her mother, a “fiercely independent” woman, to pursue her dreams regardless of others opinions, Summer studied Political Science and History at York and the University of Ottawa. “I’m fascinated by and passionate about politics,” she says, “understanding how the world works and the underlying motivations of decision makers feeds a certain curiosity within me.”

That curiosity is what led her to start working in the media monitoring unit in the Cabinet Office. “I loved watching how the media was dissected and enjoyed crafting and spinning the messages.” During the next 8 years, Summer would work in various roles in the government’s Communication Branch. In the 2002 however, as a result of a strike, she began to look for other prospects. This search lead her to volunteer at a production company called Trailervision and allowed her to work with people such as Albert Nerenberg (director of Let’s All Hate Toronto).

From Nerenberg, Summer learned about documentary film making – “how to use humour and satire to illuminate serious issues, and perhaps most importantly – how to be fearless with a camera. Eventually she decided to buy her own camera to which Nerenberg replied, “you’ll never regret it and you’ll never look back”. Summer had the drive, know how, and now the equipment, but she was missing a subject. It turned out that inspiration was close to home.

During a conversation with her mother in March 2003 – just prior to the invasion of Iraq, Summer’s mother stated that, unlike during the 60s, “there was no protest music anymore despite the growing need today.” Upon hearing that, Summer decided she would prove her mother wrong by setting out on a quest “to not only find the Dylans, the Lennons and Woody Guthries of [her] generation but to find out why their voices didn’t sing loud enough for people like [her] mother to hear.”

The resulting film, Sounds Like a Revolution, recently had it’s premier, very poignantly, during the G20 in Toronto. What initially started out as a short project turned into a seven year adventure. Summer says that making the film captures some of the best moments of her life thus far and has felt surreal at times. During production she has also stumbled upon her next project. “I’ve started working on a biographical film about the legendary blues and funk singer/guitarist, Mr. Johnny “Guitar” Watson,” she says.

Please view the trailer for Sounds Like a Revolution below and keep an eye on the site for screenings near you.

Instead of a profile this week, I want to introduce to you a new addition to the blog - Atlas Books. A few months ago I started asking Atlasers to name books that have in some way deeply affected or inspired them. Being an avid reader myself, I thought it would be interesting to share their favourites here.

The responses have been great with people often listing multiple books and sharing what makes them special. The diversity of the recommendations is also impressive. You will find everything from art books to business books, and a variety of both fiction and non-fiction. To browse the selection follow this link or use the new “books” tab in the top navigation bar. The link will take you to a store I have set up with Amazon’s Associates program. By buying books through there, you will not only be guaranteed a great read, but will also be helping out Atlas – Amazon will give small percentage (4 to 7%) of each purchase back to me.

As I profile new people, I will upload their recommendations to the store and every few weeks do a summary post. If ever you want to know who recommended a book, you can find it directly below the price of the book.

Happy reading!

For the curious amongst you, this is the 32nd profile! From the beginning of Atlas the goal has been to do a year’s worth of profiles – 52 in total. With only 20 left, I’m already working on my next project which I hope to launch early next year. I will also be rolling out an Atlas Books section next week – a custom Amazon store stocked with Atlaser’s favourite and most life changing books. Fun!

I’ve featured a lot of photographer’s on here – photo-journalist types, long-term documentary, digital artists, fine art – Mark Peckmezian however, differs from the rest because for him photography is less of a tool and more of an obsession. Having lived in Toronto all his life, Mark wanted to be a film maker early on but moved to photography because he preferred working independently. “I still think it’s basically the ultimate medium, at least for what I like,” he says of film making. Having attended Ryerson’s Image Arts Photography program Mark says it was both a gift and a curse. “The resource centre, particularly their slide collection, was one of the best things. I learned more from going there than from any class, without a question,” he says. However, he never really got along with most professors and couldn’t stand the “tedious hoop-jumping assignments”. He says, “I’m too skeptical of authority, I think, I’m not cut out for school.” Currently Mark is working on breaking into Toronto’s editorial and commercial worlds.

He is represented by Stash - “a new commercial agency that specializes in more fine-art and creative commercial work.” This works great for Mark’s photography – all shot on film, mostly black and white, and printed by him in a darkroom. This way of working originated as an economic decision but has now developed into an ideology. “I don’t like having complete control and I get a lot of inspiration from trial-and-error”, he says. “Also film, and the darkroom, makes available a whole photographic and cultural vocabulary that you can leverage, one with a rich history.” He recognizes however, that Toronto might not be the ideal market for his type of work.

“I’ve been told many times by industry people that I’ll probably have to move to find sufficient work,” he says. “Toronto has a small, conservative photography market, one that a photographer like me probably wont be able to find much work in. New York is probably where I’ll end up sooner or later, whether I like it or not.” For now he is content with just making photos, though that too presents a problem. When I asked him how long he spends each day in the darkroom, he replies, “enough that I’m worried about my health (darkroom chemical fumes aren’t very good for you).”

To see Mark’s work visit his website here. If you have any questions, you can post them in the comments or email him. As always you can nominate people you think are interesting via the Nominate page.

Talking with Lisa Martin and Steve Ferrara was not only inspiring but left me with a feeling of hope. I have never met two people so genuinely interested in doing the right thing. Through their organization Well and Good, they plan to make the “community and planet more liveable, lovable, and more engaged.” It’s Well and Good’s “mandate to create value and well being through events and programming that bring together audiences with artists and cultural producers of all types,” says Lisa. Their combined experiences gives them the edge to be able to know what sort of help emerging artists need and give it to them.

Lisa – having worked extensively in both the film and fashion industries – knows the ins and outs of the creative world. Steve on the other hand holds an MBA and is experienced in both starting and running businesses. Having met three years ago, Well and Good grew out of M-ONE-11 – a clothing boutique and gallery Steve was running at the time. “I began hosting events, and came to see the boutique as an entry point – not to encourage our current culture of consumption, but to provide an alternative way to engage people to examine local and social issues through art,” says Steve.

Well and Good allows Lisa and Steve to do this on a larger scale – their latest project 52 McCaul Art Hub is an art gallery, shop, and community centre for artists all rolled into one. “Every day we get to meet and connect with new people from around the world, discuss art and culture, and its role in healthy lives and communities,” they say. Keeping the whole thing running however, is tough.

Because Well and Good is entirely independently funded, their income is soley based on their efforts. In the current economy, “many people don’t see the value of art and culture so we have our work cut out for us,” says Lisa. This has them working 70-100 hours a week – forget about vacations and weekends. There is also the issue of becoming to invested into the organization. “As a result we forget the value of our time and over extend ourselves, putting our own health at risk,” says Steve. To combat this, Lisa and Steve are taking a short break at 52 McCaul to regroup and focus in on the core of what they are doing. “We need to take some time to reflect on the past 7 months and strengthen our model,” says Lisa. Without doubt, they will return stronger than ever.

If you have any questions for Lisa and Steve you can leave a comment here or email them directly.  Also be sure to follow Well and Good and Lisa on Twitter.

First of all, a big thanks goes out to Devon Burke who nominated today’s Atlaser, follow her on Twitter here.

Carl W. Jones is the Vice President and Executive Creative Director at Grey Canada – one of the top ad agencies in the world. Having graduated from OCAD, he has worked for the likes of Ogilvy & Mather and BBDO. For the past seventeen years, he has lived in Mexico creating award winning campaigns for his clients, while at the same time starting a school for advertising students, opening a nightclub, and working actively as an artist. Carl has recently returned to Toronto to take on his current position at Grey. I talked to Carl about the experience of moving and adapting to a new country as well as staying relevant in the fast paced world of advertising.

Upon moving to Mexico Carl was faced with many challenges in both his career and everyday life.  “Having my hair cut was a nightmare,” he recalls, “I didn’t speak the language and didn’t know how to explain what I wanted, so I shaved my head, and have been this way for over 17 years.” It took five years to become comfortable with the language, mostly learning from taxi drivers during his daily commute to and from work. Carl also experienced an internal struggle in letting Mexico’s culture seep into him. Originally resistant to that type of change, wanting to preserve his Canadian outlook, he realized that giving in was the only way to truly experience and understand the culture that was his new audience. “To have a career that advances you have to be able to expose yourself to new ideas,” he says, “when you work on planet earth during these times you have to know what is out there and adapt.”

Now back in Toronto, Carl has noticed several key changes in the media landscape from when he left. Before, “the medium dictated how the idea would be. Now what we do is first create the big idea and then look for the best media to express it,” he says. This has resulted in “a changing of the guard, where the older mass media oriented creatives are leaving the business because their jobs are being taken over by people who are more open to the new media that seem to be invented every month.” At the end of the day however, it is the the big idea and the right media that creates a great campaign. In this regard, there seems to be a disconnect with students coming out of school. “There isn’t enough ideas in the students portfolios for media such as digital and video,” says Carl. “When you are a student, it is the time to experiment and NOT be conservative.”

Carl is also a working artist, having gotten back into painting after working with a curator for an ad campaign in Mexico. “It is very hard to dedicate yourself to two things at the same time and do them well,” he says, “but I still believe (hopefully) that I can multitask.” Currently he is wrapping-up a five year personal project while working on two screenplays. He admits that taking on this many things is a bit crazy but remains confident. “I will finish them, I just can’t guarantee the exact date,” he says.

If you have any questions for Carl please post them in the comments. You can also follow him on Twitter and check out his LinkedIn profile. To see some of his work, please visit his website.

As some of you might know, I am a contributing photographer to Torontoist – a blog that features all things interesting related to our fair city. I met Jaime Woo through Twitter a couple of years ago while he was writing for Torontoist, when they featured a story on my project In Praise of Shadows. Last week I finally had the chance to meet Jaime in person and learn about his past and the different things he is currently involved in.

Had you known Jaime when he was still in high school you would probably have some difficulty recognizing him now. Having excelled in math and science, he went on to obtain a degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Nowadays however, Jaime helps “small businesses and nonprofits share their stories” by creating written and video content as well as organizing events. He is also the creator of #QueersAndBeers, TOin6Words (see below), and the co-creator of Gamercamp. So what happened to cause this dramatic switch in his career?

After graduating, Jaime started working for a biotech start-up as a research assistant.  Having always been a high-lever thinker, he was much more interested in the big picture rather than individual details. “Research starts off that way”, he says, “but the big picture won’t set up the equipment nor manage the experiments.” Working at a lab he learned “to think through the steps and become skilled at the execution of the work.” Ultimately, lone long-term research work didn’t fit with Jaime’s core interest in story telling and people.

Having left his job with no real plan or idea of what he wanted to pursue Jaime started working as a freelancer, writing articles on medical communications. With his new found freedom, Jaime also took six weeks off to travel around Europe, an experience that remains “among some of [his] most treasured memories.” On his return, he was offered a full-time contract position at a medical communications agency as a writer. “It seemed a perfect way to combine my loves of writing and science”, says Jaime. Around the same time, he started writing for Torontoist, broadening his scope to finance and technology, in addition to science. In the last year Jaime has launched his own business creating content to help small companies (often non-profits) share their stories more effectively.

“Starting and growing my business has been the most difficult and gratifying thing I have ever done”, says Jaime.  He laughs “when people try to make entrepreneurship appear glamorous.” Between working 12 hour days and surviving on a diet of cereal for days on end, it can be quite an up hill trek. Even “when you’re not working, you’re looking for new work and chasing existing clients for payment.” The plus side however is the ultimate reward – “every hour I spend goes toward my goals, my aspirations,” says Jaime. You can also choose when and how to work. “Seeing where this endeavour has gone since it was just an idea in my head is deeply fulfilling and I love what I do,” he says. “However, you really need a high risk-tolerance. Maybe, even a sense of danger.”

Also, I want to experiment with featuring things that Atlasers create, right in the post. To start us off, here is a project by Jaime Woo and Suresh Doss called TO in 6 Words – “a video that captures Torontonians from all walks of life describing the city they live in.” Let me know what you think.