NEWS RELEASE
After engaging in a handful of artistic pursuits over the past decade or so – Canadian-born painter Julian Ayrs (and well-known blogger) – has returned to his roots.
“During a recent trip to San Francisco, I was inspired to take up the brush again,” he enthused in a recent interview.
Ayrs is currently working on a spanking-new series of paintings – crafted in pencil, chalk and water color – that is appropriately titled:
“Color, Spirit, and Light"
“The creations sprang up from an inner joy I experienced in recent days during a vacation to the picturesque tourist mecca. I find that San Francisco is very conducive to the creative spirit.”
Ayrs first exhibited his fine line drawings and sketches at Rochdale College in the fall of 1968 in his hometown (Toronto/Canada) @ 341 Bloor West.
A group show followed at the prestigious Galerie Allen in Gastown the following fall when he relocated to the West Coast of Canada.
The young painter's work was well-received by the local art community and noted art critics such as respected Joan Lowndes at the Vancouver Sun (Southam News).
A one-man exhibition of major pieces followed in March (1972).
In 1972 Ayrs was also commissioned to create street kiosks for the downtown core in Vancouver (B.C.).
The following year, the city also purchased a handful of original paintings to enliven the halls of public buildings and government offices.
A brief stint in New York City - and a tunnelful of images in the city's underground subway - inspired a series of graffiti paintings which were summarily unveiled at the tony Contemporary Royale Gallery (owned by high-flying financier Nelson Skalbania) in 1974.
The Vancouver Sun profiled Ayrs in a feature in the afternoon daily (reference/Holyoak).
For a brief period, Julian tried his hand at model ling. His face has graced the pages of slick ads for American Express, the Hudson Bay Company, T. Eaton Company, and Datsun.
In 1983, Ayrs jumped at the chance to pursue his literary interests once again, when he was offered a column in the Province Newspaper (Southam News).
Ayrs regular feature - "Dressing Right" (which focused on menswear and fashion) - appeared in the morning paper for a year-or-so before Ayrs up and moved to the U.S. to pursue an acting career.
Ayrs was first published by Coach House Press (IS.8/Victor Coleman/Editor) in 1968.
A short story - "Cottage Cheese" - was purchased for broadcast by CBC Radio in 1972 (Robert Chesterman/Producer).
Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Ayrs became a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and began landing acting jobs in Hollywood.
Julian first starred in the one-act play - The Marriage Proposal - by Anton Chekhov.
He was given the nod with an "Award of Merit" by Simpsons Drama Festival jurors early on in his budding career.
In Hollywood, the struggling actor managed to land a few bit parts on the popular TV sitcom "Murphy Brown", the comedy variety-show hit "In Living Color", and highly-rated daytime soap operas such as "General Hospital" and the "Young & the Restless".
For a period of approximately two years, Ayrs was also a Literary Agent representing screenwriters at Roy Wallack & Associates and the Camille Sorice Agency (both SAG franchised agents) respectively.
During his tenure at Wallack, Tom Hank's film production office invited Ayrs to submit story ideas for projects, with the specific aim of changing the actor's "Big" image, and the express hope that the rising star stretch his acting "muscles".
A scripted idea for an A.I.D.S. drama (conceived by Julian) was originally rejected by Hanks ("who didn't want to do an A.I.D.S. feature at the time) but later embraced for some inexplicable reason.
During the first season of Fox's reality show - "On the Lot" - which focused on fledgling filmmakers (Steven Spielberg/Executive Producer) - Ayrs was invited to pen a blog.
Ayrs' posts were often featured on the main homepage, and subsequently, he drummed a huge reader base interested in his daily musings on celebrities, show business-in-general, and what-have-you.
When the experimental night-time bill-of-fare was can celled, Ayrs moved over to Google, and started up his own blog which became known as "The Tattler".
Today, the Tattler has made Mr. Ayrs one of the world's best-known bloggers in the world (recognized at high-profile red-carpet events, in the bustling streets among the common folk, etc.)
http://www.ijulian.blogspot.com/ Daily, avid readers surf to the current highly-ranked site to peruse movie reviews, reports on celebrity figures, and catch up on his - at times controversial - social and political commentaries (with a main thrust on Pop Culture).
Ayrs intends to exhibit his new series of paintings in the near future in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.
CONTACTJULIAN AYRSTelephone 310.929-1445 e-mail i.julian@yahoo.com BLOGhttp://www.ijulian.blogspot.com
Art is first love!
