Last week at the Renegade Craft Fair I met the artists from Sérigraphie Cinq Un Quatre, a Montreal studio that bears the name of its area code, 514. I was browsing through the pile of posters displayed in their booth when I overhead one of the artist, Jason Cantoro, saying he and his studio partner, Alice Jarry, were from Montreal.

Since I've been living far away from home for so long it's always a treat to meet montrealers traveling to Los Angeles. Besides the enjoyment of speaking french, it reminds me of the way I looked at the city when I first arrived and for the time we are talking I am seeing it again with fresh eyes. Alice and Jason founded their printmaking and art studio in 2003. They create posters, cd covers, textile graphics while also regularly exhibiting in local and international shows.

Their artwork combine different techniques like screenprinting, lithography, etching, painting and drawing. As subjects they use their own photographs, found vintage images, and various textures and graphics. What makes their work particularly enjoyable and unexpected I think, is the mix of all these diverse elements. I especially like the mural above, because to me it represents L.A. with its colorful flowers and palm trees in front of an edgy urban scene, never mind that it actually belongs to the decor of a New York restaurant called Fatty Crab... I browsed the booth for a while and finally chose the two prints below, which look great in my bedroom and have just the right touch of nonchalance to inspire my dreams.