The Glamour Issue (Spring 2011) by Sandbox Magazine

A bittersweet comedy about six Southern women who are ‘delicate as magnolias but tough as steel’…

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the glamour issue

20 departments 8) Backtalk 9) from the gays, with love 11) hot stuff What you don’t want to miss. This issue: a “peep box” fashion show and the weirdest thing dan aykroyd has ever done.

12) By design The locally-made feather jewelry that’s grabbing attention all across the country.

sandbox | spring 2010

14) aBout town

24) Beautiful man

Erin Kroeker satisfies Winnipeg’s crepe craving.

international model Jamie pryde gets down to his calvins for us.

16) the screen

28) talent & tits

The hot Hbo series filmed right

The surprisingly down-to-earth sara Jordan.

here in Winnipeg.

18) the sound

31) notes on love & sex

The guy responsible for getting “Tik Tok” stuck in your head.

annabelle ross navigates the single scene.

19) the stage

62) Bucket list

The girls-only comedy show and a prima ballerina.

label before you die.

10 reasons to start your own

32 features 32) give it to me, BaBy Fresh spring style to get you ready for Winnipeg’s shortest season.

40) the main event

53) i’m a survivor Vanessa Kunderman’s story of facing death and cancer with the help of a little glamour.

56) dream girls Three women doing what it takes

meaghan Waller talks about winning Top model, bitchiness in the industry, and her backup plan.

to find the job of their dreams.

48) lady like her

What it’s like to be ryan Wibawa, one of the most recognizable and hardest-working photographers in the city.

The alarmingly beautiful frontwoman of domenica, Winnipeg’s emerging grunge rockstars.

Uncovered

photo by matthew Kristjan. retouching by ryan Wibawa. styled by sula Johnson. Hair by Haley golin for berns & black. makeup by daena groleau for Fine Eyes.

60) portrait of a man

sandboxmag.com

sandbox magazine

Jeffrey Vallis

Editor

braden alexander

Creative Director

suzy bodiroga Editorial Intern Writers Janet Adamana Megan Dee Benedictson Taylor Benjamin Burgess Brenlee Coates Jillian Coubrough Vanessa Kunderman Izzy Goluch Annabelle Ross Courtney Rutherford Kristy Rydz Jill Sawatzky Shayna Wiwierski stylists Kristen Burton Sula Johnson Madison Rosas Niki Trosky Copy editors Kristy Rydz Alex Varricchio Website design Melissa Krawetz

photographers blfStudios Brittany Alyse Anna Borys Gaetan Harris Matthew Kristjan Eric Kwan MatĂŠa Radic Mark Reimer Cindy Titus Melissa Trainor Ryan Wibawa hair Haley Golin Chantal Hince Meghan Kinita April Miller Britney Robson Makeup Daena Groleau Meghan Kinita Kitty Brittany Robson Webhost MyNetMojo.ca

speCial thanks to Linda Averbach Berns & Black Lauren Best blfStudios Rebecca BockFreeman Charlie Tango Beverly Claeys Aaron Cohen

Connect Four Robert Dawson Breanne Delaney Kate Delaney Maxine Delaney Karine Driedger Chad Evans Kara Fast Julia Fehr

Fine Eyes Makeup Davin Furtado Alyssia Gerbasi Laura Gonzalez Veronica Hall Dave Hardy Aaron Kostuik Kenton Larsen Melanie Lee Lockhart

Randi McNabb Courtney Memryk Matthew Meisner Moments Event Planning MyNetMojo Mystique Nightclub Robyn Newton Kelsey Noren

Portage Place Shopping Centre John Pura Lori Turnowetski Nicole Trunzo Lorraine Vallis Bob Vallis Meaghan Waller Vanessa Wilkinson

sandbox | spring 2010

the sandbox collective

Meghan Kinita is the Berns & Black hairstylist responsible for both Maureya Lebowitz’s pin-up look on pg. 20 and the wicked hive Bekki Friesen rocks on pg. 48. Where does she find her inspiration? “From my dreams and the desire to enhance the world that surrounds me.”

“I’m a fan of Meaghan’s personality, but I’m still undecided about modeling in general,” says Taylor Benjamin Burgess, assistant editor at Stylus magazine and writer of this issue’s cover story. To prepare himself for the interview he watched the entire third season of Canada’s Next Top Model in less than 24 hours.

“Meaghan Waller is a really good person, you can tell. And she looks great in a one-piece mesh bodysuit,” says Sula Johnson who spent most of the shoot in the changeroom helping the woman of the hour into and out of the outfits Johnson styled herself. Ask her what she’s up to next and she’ll tell you she’s “co-creating with the universe.”

pHoTos by marK rEimEr

“I love, and need, to take photographs because I am terrified of forgetting,” says Cindy Titus, a student and photographer who worked with her boyfriend, Mark Reimer, on the shots on pg. 48. “Pictures give me the opportunity to remember things I may otherwise forget as time passes me by.”

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backtalk

MusiC to our ears

we have recently stumbled upon i love it! Great job guys. It looks i think you have a great idea and can’t wait for the first print ediyour fantastic magazine. Reading very professional. One of my favorthrough the articles, Winnipeg’s three degrees of separation were once again confirmed, for we knew many names and faces. This is exactly what Winnipeg needed—a magazine to highlight the cultural talent in this marvelous city. Now the question is... how do we get our greedy hands on a hard copy? Or is this an online magazine only? Thanks for being fabulous, Chelsey and Jackie

i just wanted to tell you what an

amazing job I think you guys are doing. It’s actually blowing my mind. Everywhere I turn people are talking about SANDBOX. And it’s such a diverse mix of people. It’s truly awesome! I think that by offering stories that capture a wide spectrum of local talent, and allowing up-andcoming contributors (of all disciplines) to be a part of the mag, you guys have created this really wonderful community. I’m excited to see what’s next. Julie

sandbox | spring 2010

ite parts is not just that the stories are current and target this demographic, but that the cover always catches my attention. I would definitely pick this up from a newsstand, had I not heard of SANDBOX before, simply because of all three covers. Visually, among other things like content, it’s all very well put together. Meg Blanchette

tion. I am thinking about starting a lifestyle blog and your magazine is something very inspiring. As a young person living in Winnipeg it is great to see people loving the city as much as I do. Katie Dubienski

Just wanted to send

words of encouragement, your magazine is just what Winnipeg needs. If you need volunteers for anything I would love to help you out but it seems like you’re doing a pretty amazing job as is. From the girls, to the gays, with love. Lauren Beerman

Glorious! By: Peter Quilter

MEDIA SPONSORS

APRIL 7–25, 2010

What she lacked in musical talent – lots – Florence Foster Jenkins made up for with unbridled confidence, elaborate costumes and a fabulous accompanist.

SPONSORED I N PA R T BY

The Gail Asper Family Foundation

/ / / / / BOX OFFIC E 9 4 2-5 4 8 3 / W W W.PT E.M B.CA

can remember her from my high school, and from around the neighbourhood. She was a small, quiet little thing. Although she was beautiful even then, she was somehow easy to pass by, never calling too much attention to herself. She was just a regular Charleswood girl with long, gangly limbs, and bright blue eyes and an absolutely heartbreaking smile. Her name was Meaghan Waller and none of us clowns could have predicted that she would stroll on to Canada’s Next Top Model and steal the title right from under the noses of her over-confident competitors. Watching re-runs of the show, you wonder how you could have missed it—that capacity for success lurking behind her braces and her prairie girl charm. In person, at the cover shoot, she’s much the same. All please’s and thank-you’s and not one ounce of entitlement. In fact, of all the places she could have

from the gays, with love

been during her few days at home between gigs, she spent it with us, leaving for China hours later. But even though she’s entirely down to earth, that girl can work. The moment she stepped in front of the camera, Meaghan was in control. She was Gisele, she was Daria, she was Naomi. She was 100 per cent model, and the rest of us mere mortals could only sit there, stunned, and watch. It’s this unassuming, unexpected brand of glamour that SANDBOX seeks to bottle up for you to see. It’s the kind of beauty and talent that’s hidden beneath the surface of this city and it has gone unnoticed by too many for too long. So this, our very first print issue, is about glamour. The glamour that Maureya Lebowitz brings to the stage when she dances. The glamour in Sara Jordan’s arresting gaze. The glamour in every piece of hand-crafted jewelry Sigourney

Burrell makes. The glamour that Vanessa Kunderman clung on to in the face of terminal cancer, hairless and swollen from the body-wrenching drugs she took to save her life. It’s this glamour we salute. But this first issue is about risk, too. Because every writer, photographer, hairstylist, model, makeup artist, and stylist that poured their talents and passions into this magazine took a risk. They were willing to give two little gay boys the chance to make something beautiful, something true. SANDBOX would not exist without their help and for that Jeff and I will be forever grateful. Holding this magazine in our hands, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. It’s small, and far from perfect, but it’s all yours. A gift to the girls, from the gays, with love.

Braden Alexander & Jeffrey Vallis

pHoTo by blFsTudios

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Allow Moments to create a beautiful beginning to your happily ever after.

PHOTOS BY: LUCKY GIRL, FRAZER PHOTOGRAPHY, DUSTIN LEADER PHOTOGRAPHY

www.momentseventplanning.com

sandbox | spring 2010

hot stuff

walk, walk, fashion, BaBy

EigHT local dEsignErs Join ForcEs WiTH THE cosTumE musEum oF canada To puT on a FasHion sHoW—THE liKEs oF WHicH WinnipEg Has nEVEr sEEn bEForE Although the rest of the world might be unaware, Winnipeggers know that a thriving local fashion scene can be found here, if you know where to look. On April 10, look no further than the Costume Museum of Canada (right here in Winnipeg who knew?) for “Peep Box,” a cabaret/burlesque-inspired fashion show featuring some of the city’s hottest design talent. Madison Rosas’ line of flapper-like headpieces and intricate intimates (beaded bras and high-waisted panties) fit the bill perfectly. For Rosas, a thorough lover of fashion, the opportunity to showcase her work was a dream come true. After studying fashion marketing and merchandising at the Vancouver Art Institute, she came back to Winnipeg where she works at Moulé; designs her line, Madison Ashley; and often styles for SANDBOX (check out her work on pg. 28 and 32). “I have always loved the beauty of intimates. It’s the first thing a woman puts on and the last thing to leave her body,” says Rosas who counts Dita Von Teese as her muse. “I’ve always thought that lingerie gives this certain empowerment to women and creates self confidence.” Models will don Rosas’ creations and the Spring/Summer 2010 collections of seven other local designers for the fashion show in April.

six oF THE EigHT local dEsignErs FEaTurEd in THE FasHion sHoW. pHoTo by Eric KWan

For information on this event including where to buy tickets, email Nancy Thich at nancy@costumemuseum.com.

boneheads if dan aykroyd offered you a skull-shaped bottle full of vodka, would you accept it? The answer, of course, is yes. apparently mr. conehead has moved from classic comedy to pushing nova scotiabrewed vodka with a vague tie to the supernatural world. according to a bizarre video on the crystal Head Vodka website, the bottle was designed by artist John alexander as a replica of one of the 13 crystal skulls which, legend has it, were crafted by ancient, super-intelligent beings and when brought together are capable of bestowing “vast knowledge and enlightenment.” We’re more interested in using it as a kick-ass paperweight when we’re done. Crystal Head Vodka available at Manitoba Liquor Mart. $49.95.

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Hair and maKEup by briTnEy robson

sandbox | spring 2010

by design

girls of a

feather

sigournEy burrEll’s disTincT brand oF HandmadE FEaTHEr JEWElry TaKEs FligHT as WomEn oF all agEs, including onE miss buFFy sainT-mariE, FlocK To buy iT story By izzy goluch photos By Brittany alyse

igourney Burrell sits wrapped in blankets in her studio in the Exchange District. Her space is crammed with art, records, books and more art. A large wooden table is covered with her latest project: a line of earrings, necklaces and headpieces combining recycled jewelry and feathers. The line is dubbed Ruby Feathers, a tribute to her much loved hollow-body guitar, Ruby. Inspired by the glamour of the 1930s and her own rockstar style, Burrell thinks of feathers as classic. “It’s hard to date feathers. You can go back to the age of kings and queens, so far back, tribal, Native American art, all over Africa, and tropical countries with carnivals.” Ruby Feathers started out fairly primitive. “I was at Michaels, browsing and saw a bag of feath-

ers, thought they were beautiful and took them home. I would take leather and tie them together, just for me personally, not a product line. I thought they were pretty. It just kind of exploded.” Ruby Feathers’ first big customer was singer Buffy Sainte Marie after her band happened to wander into Burrell’s studio while next door for a photo shoot: “They custom picked out their feathers, the style and they bought them. A month later I got an email from Buffy Sainte Marie with photos and that’s when it became real; a renowned Canadian celebrity was wearing [my jewelry].” Ruby Feathers has since taken off and is going international with buyers in France and the United States. Within Winnipeg, Burrel’s line is available at Paramix, Hooper’s and Urban Waves. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba, Burrell majored in painting, a skill

that she incorporates into her line, labelling each piece as “a little composition, wearable art.” Burrell says that her long feather earrings are by far the best seller, with feathered jewelry appearing in magazines and music videos. And though she is grateful, she would love to start creating edgier artistic feather pieces. Lady Gaga is her ideal candidate for a trial run. ”I think a sculptural headdress or some form of costume wear to adorn her would be incredible. But it’d have to be a sculpture not just a pair of earrings: a head-to-toe outfit of feathers and leather.” Her ultimate goal is to have her jewelry available in stores worldwide, but she’s hesitant about the idea of mass producing her art. “Quality is my concern. I have my standards and if I have a piece I’m selling, it has to be 100 per cent perfect. I wouldn’t want my name next to anything less.” Y sandboxmag.com

about town

cute to go

THE Woman-poWEr bEHind THE ciTy’s cHic nEW crEpE rEsTauranT story By Brenlee coates photos By anna Borys

Erin KroEKEr Holding up KaWaii’s signaTurE disH.

bond established over fashion, and a penchant for tapioca treats and comfort foods, helped give birth to a new business venture for Erin Kroeker and Candy Lam: Kawaii Crepe. To 25-yearold Kroeker, it’s quite literally

her child. “This is my baby, so I just want it to do as well as it can. I just want this to be home,” says Kroeker, taking a rare break from her busy role as owner and store manager at Kawaii. “I couldn’t be here 20 hours a day if I didn’t love it,” says Kroeker. Aptly titled Kawaii Crepe (kawaii means “cute” in Japanese), Kroeker and Lam’s Japanese-inspired creperie is a bright, modern-style café that hit Osborne Village like a tsunami when it opened early in December. Located beside Shout, and serving variations of both savory (or meal crepes) with insides like chicken, pepperoni, shrimp, scallops, veggies, tofu and nuts, arranged with complementary sauces and veggies like in a traditional wrap, and sweet (or dessert crepes) with in-

sandbox | spring 2010

gredients mostly gathered into compatible duos like peanut butter and banana or brown sugar and cinnamon, Kawaii Crepe quickly became the lunch date, hot spot for the winter-weary. In most restaurants’ slowest month of January, Kawaii continued to shatter its previous day’s sales record for crepes (the highest was about 400 crepes). Even its secondary menu item, bubble tea, has been selling steadily. Bubble tea, a climbing trend in the city and borrowed from Asian culture, is made with tapioca pearls and flavoured powder blended with ice. Kawaii goes the extra mile and also serves real, fresh fruit bubble teas like watermelon, canteloupe and strawberry. Kawaii is the result of a long-standing working relationship between Kroeker and Lam (Lam employed Kroeker as manager of her fashion boutiques Paramix and F&Q); and is a brainchild cultivated by Lam’s background and Kroeker’s frequent trips to Asia. Plus, a little bit of Kroeker’s Mennonite upbringing. “I’m a typical Mennonite cook,” says Kroeker. My mom taught me well.” Kroeker’s mom’s recipe is even the “Kawaiian secret

sauce” that complements the honeycomb puffs on the menu. Kroeker’s close friend and volunteer worker at Kawaii Crepe, Crystal Klippenstein, says the pair and their circle of friends used to meet once a week for a potluck, but Kroeker’s been MIA for months. “We knew she was having meetings for starting a business, but we didn’t know anything about it. When we saw it we were like, ‘OK, it makes sense that she didn’t have an hour free.’” Kawaii Crepe has a simple, chic design and all the crepes have cutesy labels with witty wordplay worked into them. The winking, Japanimation-style crepe logo is the first indication that the place was conceived by bona fide fashion savants. “We both had the same vision for it from the start,” says Kroeker of the blueprints for Kawaii. “We wanted it to be fun, modern, really comfortable—something that draws you in from the street.”

Kroeker was struck by the popularity of creperies in Asia where she lived for a year. “I always wanted to do my own café and I think just traveling in southeast Asia, creperies are everywhere,” she says. Future plans for Kawaii include the addition of soups and salads to the menu, which was the pair’s plan from the start, though they decided to keep it simple when first opening. “[Opening] was really scary. There’s so many unknowns,” says Kroeker. Starting on a smaller scale has helped Kawaii; it has the market cornered on bubble tea served all day in the Village. Plus, everything it does, it does well, using fresh fruit and vegetables in crepes and drinks. Kroeker says she and Lam plan to franchise and double their menu by including other sweets, a vegan batter and other alternative recipes to accommodate people with allergies. Next on the menu for Kroeker is a much-deserved, month-long escape to Thailand. Y

KroEKEr’s EmployEEs cooKing up FrEsH FarE.

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the screen

you’re so vain boTH bEnJamin arTHur and JosH, His cHaracTEr on Hbo canada’s Less tHan kind, sEEm morE comForTablE sHirTlEss — and THaT’s alrigHT WiTH us story By Janet adamana photos By ryan wiBawa

porting nothing but a pair of torn jeans and a black beanie, the selfproclaimed exhibitionist, Benjamin Arthur, sits with a permanent smile on his face as he talks nudity, workouts and the second season of his hit TV show, Less Than Kind. The Canadian comedy series, filmed and set in Winnipeg, revolves around 15-year-old Sheldon Blecher, played by Jesse Camacho, as he battles self-consciousness and teen awkwardness, while trying to survive life with his troubled driving-instructor father and pyromaniac of a mother. Arthur stars as Sheldon’s older brother, Josh, the down-and-out, has-been actor. Before moving back in with his parents, Josh was the star of the show Thunder Bay O.P.P. After falling victim to the downsides of a sudden rise in fame, Josh finds himself back in Winnipeg begging his parents for money to get him to Los Angeles so he can really make it big. “He’s still kind of living in the past and caught up in the dream,” says Arthur. Despite Josh’s fall in popularity, his attitude and self-image remains. “He’s very vain,” says Arthur. “I’m wearing body make-up because that’s who he is. He fake tans and he

sandbox | spring 2010

tries to dress in the way he thinks guys in LA would dress.” When Josh isn’t dolled up in his wannabe-attire, the egotistical character is often seen without any clothes at all; an aspect of the role that Arthur says doesn’t bother him. “I have no problem with the nakedness. There’s something very freeing about it.” Whether he prefers it or not, the B.C. born actor is given some privacy where it counts with what he calls “a banana hammock.” The skin-coloured, thin piece of fabric that hides and holds together his “naughty-bits.” He sees refusing to do the nude scenes as adding restrictions to his character; and taking them on as something he should do, especially after all the time and sweat he’s invested at the gym. “I’ve worked my ass off at the gym for the past ten years.” Exercise has always been a part of Arthur’s life. He’s spent time with a personal trainer in Vancouver, doing four core-based sessions a week. He has done pilates and has recently started muay-thai kickboxing; all of which keeps him healthy and matches his character’s persona. Although the first season of Less Than Kind, showed more of the narcissistic and apathetic side of Josh,

the upcoming second season brings on some changes. “He is no longer fighting so hard,” says Arthur. Josh’s goal is still to make it to LA but he begins to come to terms with reality. “He has to sort of accept the fact that he’s in Winnipeg now and he’s got to make some money.” Those moneymaking aspirations are worked into the family’s attempted revival of the family business, Blecher’s Driving School. Although the antics from the Blecher family and friends remain present in season two, character maturity also makes itself an underlining theme. Winnipegger Brooke Palsson plays Sheldon’s best friend and love-interest, Miriam Goldstein. Season two brings on a growing relationship between the overweight Sheldon and the geeky, braces-wearing Goldstein, as the two are confronted with problems of sex, bullies and growing up. “You see Miriam going through some tough experiences,” says Palsson. “It’s not always the best situation in the show but she always tries to make light of it.” Y Less Than Kind is produced by Breakthrough Films & Television and Buffalo Gal Pictures. The second season premiered on HBO Canada on Feb. 19.

sandboxmag.com

the sound

the Man behind the MusiC

the 21-year-old responsiBle for some of top 40’s most infectious hits story By taylor BenJamin Burgess photo By neon hitch

is name isn’t strung up in lights—it’s found in liner notes. But it wouldn’t be hard to find a copy of some of Benny Blanco’s records, because he’s produced some of the most luminous Top 40 singers of today. Most recently, the 21-year-old has co-written and produced Ke$ha’s delightfully glitchy “Tik-Tok,” which reached #1 on U.S. and Canada’s pop charts. He’s also added production to Katy Perry’s two most massive songs, co-written Britney Spears’ comeback single “Circus,” and done official remixes for Kylie Minogue, Justice, and 3OH!3. Only in the past couple years, the Virginia-born Blanco has worked side-by-side with disciplined producers like Dr. Luke, Disco D, and Matt Squire. SANDBOX gave him a call in his new NYC apartment on a lazy Monday afternoon. SANDBOX: What is it like to be so young and have a hand in so many commercially successful songs? Benny Blanco: When I wake up every morning I have to pinch myself and say, “Holy fuck.” ’Cause one night I was sleeping on couches, staying in studio apartments, and now I’m making records for a living. Everything’s making me stoked. Life can’t get any better. SB: How long have you been producing records for? BB: I did eight months in the pop world—but it wasn’t registering. There was so much to do and places to go that I didn’t have time to register what was going on. It was like, “Now get on a plane to L.A. Plane to New York. L.A. Atlanta. Philadelphia.” It was like I didn’t have a life, then. SB: When you’re in the studio with an artist, who has more creative control? BB: When I get in with people, it doesn’t matter who comes up with it, the best line wins. If the delivery guy came in and said “Hey, I think it should go like this,” and it sounded the best, I’d say, “Hey, man, thanks!” Because the ego’s this size

sandbox | spring 2010

when everyone walks in that door. I’m looking to keep doing something special, always have to advance things. My manager brought me up saying, “Look, everything you do has to be on the next level,” since I was 17 or 18. SB: And what is that next level? What’s that sound that you’re looking for? BB: I gotta find that edge, like when you turn on the radio and go, “Wow!” It’s gotta turn something on like a lightswitch, otherwise it’s going to be another song in the background. SB: A lot of people we know would consider major label songwriters and producers evil. Is there more to your job than just selling records? BB: I do it because I love it. I grew up underground, making beats for Amanda Blank, Spank Rock, Santigold, but I make pop songs because someone’s gonna love it—I mean someone in China could be listening to my song. I think that’s cool. You could be walking down the street and a little girl might be singing your melody, or someone could have their ring tone as your song. I do it for the music—money is just a perk. But it is nice to make music and not have to do something on the side. Y For more Benny Blanco, check out myspace.com/bennybyoudig

the stage

the training Bra

transcripts

TWo girls groWn up discoVEr THEir cHildHood diariEs and THE HilariTy oF THEir losT innocEncE

t age 11, my biggest concern was likely deciding which of my seven best friends I’d have accompany me as maid of honour at my wedding to Leonardo DiCaprio. On second thought, it may have been deciding what the flower arrangements would be. Regardless, it was reassuring when Barbara Gehring and Linda Klein, of the upcoming MTC production Girls Only, confessed their adolescence was spent pining over much the same (of course my Leo was their Sean Cassidy). Based on the diaries of these two women as young girls, Girls Only, is a spontaneous comedy, filled with sketch, improv, audio and video with appeal for all generations. It all began when the ladies discovered their junior high diaries. As they read through them and exchanged stories, they realized how wildly hilarious they were. Gehring, who grew up in Winnipeg, and Klein, from a small town near Denver, Colorado, say despite the specifics of day to day, their diaries were quite similar. They recognized that girls everywhere deal with the embarrassment of maxi-pads, training bras, and pantyhose, so why not embrace it? The show celebrates the humility of these awkward, vulnerable moments. “When am I least vulnerable? When I’m the least attractive,” says Klein. “No one looks good putting on pantyhose. Why not celebrate it and elevate it?”

story By suzy Bodiroga photo By terry shapiro

Although these moments are enough to make a grown woman blush, the sheer innocence and sweetness of it all is rather endearing. Gehring recalls “the worst day ever”, the day she had a valentine returned to her. “I kept it. I stuck it in my diary. You don’t throw that away,” Gehring says. “That was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to me. [But] even the sad things are sweet.” The ladies agree it’s these experiences that flavour their sense of humour now. Girls Only was created specifically for woman, not to exclude men, but because, “Although men may understand it intellectually, they don’t understand it emotionally” says Gehring. “It’d be like inviting a grown man to a 12-year-old

slumber party,” she laughs. The show involves interaction from the audience, which makes for a great, girl-bonding night. The ladies have hosted book clubs, church groups, as well as bachelorette parties in the past, and urge women of all ages to join them for a night of reunion. Returning for the first time since their hit stint at the 2007 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the women are jumpstarting their international tour right here in Winnipeg. For Gehring, Winnipeg is the very root of her adolescent tales, so bringing this story home is rather humbling. Y Girls Only runs March 18 to April 3 at MTC. Go to mtc.mb.ca for more info.

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the stage

can i have some

maureya? THE sTory oF HoW THE gorgEous maurEya lEboWiTz madE HEr Way To cEnTrE sTagE isn’T ExacTly onE oF HardsHip, buT iF you THinK sHE Hasn’T WorKEd For HEr immEnsE succEss, THinK again story By courtney rutherford photos By Brittany alyse

sandbox | spring 2010

sandboxmag.com

Hair and maKEup by mEgHan KiniTa. sTylEd by KrisTEn burTon. all cloTHing From amErican apparEl.

sandbox | spring 2010

the stage

he’s gorgeous, her technique is impeccable and she’s one of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s youngest professional dancers. Meet 19-yearold prima ballerina, Maureya Lebowitz. Lebowitz grew up in Montana, where she began her dance training. At the time, she was studying in all disciplines, but her passion was in ballet. While many children involved in dance quiver at the thought of a ballet class, Lebowitz was the complete opposite; she couldn’t get enough of it. As her parents and teachers started to notice her natural talent, they decided it was time to take her dance to the next level. Her parents purchased a loft in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, and enrolled Lebowitz in dance training at the RWB. She was only 11 years old. The Lebowitz family kept their home in Montana for their son to live in and would commute back and forth to allow Maureya to train with the RWB. If that sounds like the definition of a charmed life, it only gets better. Now, eight years later, you can find this young, vibrant dancer performing alongside some of Canada’s top ballet dancers, including Tara Birtwhistle, in the Corps De Ballet, parr the professional division. Being the youngest dancer in the company is an incredible accomplishment, but she’s aware of how much more there is to learn. “There’s so much time to watch and really be observant,” says Lebowitz. “You can be a sponge and just take it all in.” Although it may appear that life have been served on a silver platter for this beautiful bun head,

being part of the ballet isn’t always as glamorous as the music and costumes may let on. “There are days when you just feel so down on yourself,” says Lebowitz. The pressure to stay a certain size, protect yourself from possible injuries and keep up with the pressure for perfection makes training with one of Canada’s top schools hard on someone so young. But there is one thing that keeps her going. “If you can enjoy the whole process, you will be able to enjoy the training, and being on stage is the ultimate,” says Lebowitz. Her positive attitude and love for performing earned her one of the most prestigious roles in the industry. Lebowitz was offered the title role in RWB’s performance of Romeo and Juliet. Although it wouldn’t be hard for Romeo to fall for this beauty, the role was quite stressful, because she was under serious time constrictions. “I had to learn it in four weeks.” Even with the pressure to learn a piece that would normally be practiced for months, just four weeks later, she was in (stage) love

in front of a sold out audience. But as the final song played and Lebowitz grabbed her partner’s hand for their final bow, her emotions were running wild. “I was completely emotionally and physically drained of all my energy, but it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” she recalls. Physical exhaustion is something any ballerina can identify with. Traveling with the company across North America is strenuous on these dancers’ bodies. “New theatres and [some] floors aren’t ideal. The climate is different, as well as your diet. Everything takes a toll on your body and you’re doing so many shows that need performance energy all the time, on top of an extreme schedule,” she explains. But Lebowitz has learned to take it all in stride, because her passion and love for ballet will always outweigh any of its drawbacks. “It’s because of the audience’s energy,” she says. “You rehearse and rehearse, but once you’re on stage, it starts again. It feels fresh and new again. It’s the live music and the orchestra playing along. It’s gorgeous.” Y

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sandbox | spring 2010

beautiful man

Morning glory WaKing up To THis FacE Would bE WorTH THE burnT ToasT

ince we started objectifying half-naked straight guys for the sake of our adoring readers, we’ve been getting emails from tons of people recommending their best friend’s beau, their coworker, or their high school crush as a future beautiful man. But even better than having a muscular heartthrob handed to you is finding one for yourself. It’s the thrill in the hunt, and a game we’ve been lucky enough to call “work”. So when we walked into one retail store and spotted this month’s beautiful man, we knew we had struck gold and couldn’t let this hidden gem go undiscovered for much longer. As it turns out, he wasn’t exactly “undiscovered”. In fact, he had already traveled to Los Angeles, Greece, Thailand, and all across Europe as a budding fashion model. Alright, so maybe we didn’t discover him, but hey, at least we had the balls to ask him to strip down to his Calvin’s and show off his sculpted physique and unbeatable model pout. Let’s give credit where credit is due. SANDBOX babes, meet Jamie Pryde. Sandbox: So how did you get your start in the industry? Jamie Pryde: Basically, I just walked into an agency. My mom’s always actually wanted to get me into it, but I grew up in a small town, so it was hard. When I moved to Winnipeg, I figured I should give it a try and it went from there. I just asked them if I had potential, and I guess I did. Sb: Small town, hey? You must be like a celebrity around those parts now – key to the city, park named in your honour? What’s small town living like?

story By Jeffrey vallis photos By ryan wiBawa

JP: They only got a Wal-Mart five years ago, and that’s where we hang out (laughs). I’ve always wanted more. The city’s nice because no one knows you, you can walk around and no one will know your name. You walk around in a small town and everybody knows something about you or has an opinion about you. Sb: So you’re shy then? Maybe a bit self-conscious? JP: I’m definitely self-conscious; everybody is, but especially models. Models are probably the most selfconscious people you’ll ever meet because they walk into a room and a total stranger will look them up and down and tell them everything that’s wrong with them. Sb: Sounds similar to how our last relationship ended. Speaking of, what’s your “type”? JP: My type is whoever makes me happy I guess. Sb: That’s straight from a Nicholas Sparks novel isn’t it? Seriously though, do we have to have a tight bod, clear complexion and fierce model strut to get in your pants? JP: No, it’s more about personality for me. Of course everybody has their type and their taste, and I do, but modeling’s never really affected that at all. I’ve dated models, but it’s not a factor. Sb: Does traveling all the time hurt your game in the relationship department? JP: I did long distance once, but I’ll never do that again. I was always wondering what’s happening in their world.

Overseas, that’s probably the hardest. I’m not the relationship type, anyway. I’m about me right now. Sb: Funny, we’re all about you, too. While we’re on that topic, what’s your favourite part of your body? JP: How am I supposed to answer that? (laughs) Maybe my calves? I had a personal trainer tell me I had really good calves. Your body is supposed to be in proportion, right? So your calves are supposed to be the same size as your biceps, and mine basically are. I have good calves? (laughs) Sb: From where we’re standing, that’s not all that’s “in proportion”. So what’s a girl gotta do to get some alone time with Jamie? JP: I don’t like dates. There’s that expectation because you’re there for a date. I like it happening randomly. You meet someone, randomly hang out, and don’t realize what’s going on until it’s happened. You go in with expectation if there’s a date, and then it’s awkward. Sb: So if we asked you to make us a nice home-cooked meal, we’d be out of luck? JP: I’m good at baking - I can make really good cookies - but anything that requires babysitting or care, I’m not your guy. I’m more of a Kraft Dinner and toast kind of guy. I burn grilled cheese, and the inside will be cold. I just can’t do it. Sb: That’s no problem. We’ll just take one of you… to go. Y Email us at mail@sandboxmag.com to nominate the next Beautiful Man. sandboxmag.com

beautiful man

sandbox | spring 2010

sandboxmag.com

talent & tits

you look like a girl from

aBercromBie & fitch sara Jordan, THE FacE oF polo parK and onE oF WinnipEg’s mosT succEssFul modEls, on HEr liFE in THE FasHion indusTry and WHaT sHE ValuEs morE THan THE glamour oF THE runWay

see her mane of hair before I really see her. Then she smiles and waves—even her wave is grinning. She scurries into Starbucks, “I had to do two laps just to find a 30-minute parking spot!” she apologizes. Maybe it’s the way her long, perfectly dishevelled hair frames her famous face or her irritatingly poreless skin. Maybe it’s the fact that she plays down her pretty with a Rolling Stones t-shirt, or the way she’s able to talk and smile at the same time. But I think it comes down to the little gap, right between her front teeth, that makes Sara Jordan immediately congenial. This Winnipeg woman shares all the trappings of a supermodel with all the makings of your real life girl next door. For instance, before handing me her high profile portfolio to browse, she endearingly dusts off the dog hair settled on the cover. Inside, the evolution of a girl to a woman; an average adolescent to leggy model; the evolution of ‘90s fashion to the present. The book in

sandbox | spring 2010

story By Jillian couBrough photos By ryan wiBawa

my hand is “one of many” she confirms, and contains photos by names like Bruce Weber; garments like Issey Miyake and Guess; magazines tear-outs from Vogue, Elle, Rolling Stone; and campaigns for the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch. If I sound envious, I might as well admit it. At age 13, Sara enrolled in selfimprovement classes at Panache Management and was soon after discovered by IMG model scouts visiting from New York. Brushing her parents’ scepticism aside, she packed her bags and hopped on a plane to the Big Apple. “It was crazy, you get off the plane, you get to the agency they just kind of say ‘OK, here’s where you need to be today’, they give you your go-sees, a subway map, and say ‘here you go, on your way.’” Sara broke right into the New York market, which is irregular for a new model as NYC is usually the last and hardest city for models to make their mark. Straight away she was taking regular leaves from her six best friends and self-proclaimed “sheltered” junior high life here

in Winnipeg to live for weeks or months at a time in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, South Beach, and Mexico City. “I never wanted to be a model,” she tells me. “It was just something that sort of fell into my lap and came easily to me.” Most of the time Sara set up camp in model apartments where she shared rooms with up to ten other models. “People expect that there’s a lot of cattiness, but it’s actually the opposite. You develop a real camaraderie.” Despite doing a lot of impressive work prior, Sara attributes the Abercrombie & Fitch campaign as her real claim to fame. “I was used to doing a lot of European stuff that I didn’t really know. Abercrombie I knew, and I always loved it, so that was exciting. It was often like ‘Ohh, she did Abercrombie!’” she recalls. How did she land the landslide? It was simple. Famed American fashion photographer Bruce Weber saw some of her pictures and specifically requested Sara for the A&F shoot. “Bruce was fantastic. He knew

Hair by cHanTal HincE and maKEup by KiTTy, For bErns & blacK. sTylEd by madison rosas. racHEl mara maxi drEss and bib nEcKlacE From moulE.

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talent & tits

my name when he introduced himself, and for him to know my name before he even met me was huge. He was definitely a diva! He had people changing his lenses, when he wanted to lean back he had people who held him up; he really just took the picture itself. But he was caring in that he made an effort to know all of the models and I think that’s why he takes such great pictures, because he really has the ability to make you feel at ease.” But the girl next door confesses, “I didn’t know he was a big photographer at the time, I didn’t know it was a big deal. So for me, I was just having fun.” Sara was front and center for the entire Abercrombie catalogue, posters, store boards and even the bags. So I had to ask, what is it really like seeing yourself on a billboard or bag for the first time? Sipping on her coffee, she divulges.

“When I model, there are two separate people. There’s just me, and I’m not glamorous. But then there’s the modelling Sara who I consider a totally different person. So normally when I see those pictures, it doesn’t really feel like it’s me, it’s just more of a creation of the photographers and the makeup artists.” For someone to remain so impervious and more than modest about her career, makes me question whether the industry is as glamorous as we like to think it is. “Not at all—not even a little bit,” says Sara, and laughs. “Model apartments packed with girls, on the subway, walking all day to gosees, you’re rejected 9 out of 10 times for jobs.” But whether it’s the end of the catwalk or the end of the day, she says, “I wouldn’t trade any of it. You can live a lifetime of adventures in a few years.”

“I never wanted to be a model. It was just

something that sort of fell into my lap.”

sandbox | spring 2010

lacE drEss by mason and pEarl nEcKlacE From moulE. sHoEs From ToWn sHoEs.

After the lifetime of adventures she’s had in her 15 years as a model, Sara Jordan has finally decided to hang up her high heels. “I do love modeling, but I’m glad to be out. I am still getting offers to travel but I’m done. Mostly because I’m 28 and I have to do something else now,” she laughs. When I asked Sara to look back at what she is most proud of in her career, when she lived a life so many go to sleep at night only dreaming about, she left me with this: “I am most proud of being able to leave modeling. Youth and beauty are fleeting things. While you’re doing all that traveling you realize how blessed you are to have your friends and family. I’d rather be sharing a bottle of wine with my friends than be in Paris with people I don’t know. No amount of glamour can make up for that.” Welcome home, Sara Jordan. Y

notes on love & sex

oh what a

tangled weB columnisT annabelle ross’ sEarcH For THE sparK TaKEs HEr onlinE

little about me? I’m a single lady who’s been in a number of unsuccessful relationships and a handful of nearly successful ones. I’ve been to school, have a job and don’t mind leaving the house once in a while. And, I recently ended a two-year relationship and am only now just starting to slowly dip my toes back into the dating pool. You remember dating don’t you? I barely do. I’ve been on “dates” a handful of times, although I’ve been more prone to “relationship” rather than date. You know this one ladies: girl meets boy, girl likes boy, boy and girl sleep together and whammo - you’re in a relationship! (That’s assuming he calls the next day… and you remember his name). That was more my style; Dinner and a movie, not so much. But my approach hasn’t been working out. The “relationship” escalates to “girl-becomes-obsessed-with-boy,” only to be followed by “girl-wantscommitment-from-boy,” which ultimately sends boy running for the hills. Story of my life. This time around, I’m doing things differently. I’m taking things slow. I’m dating. And where better to start than on the Internet? OK, I know what

you’re saying, “no way, not for me. Online dating is a place for basement-dwelling shut-ins and socially inept mama’s boys.” But I beg to differ. Thanks to the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, more and more people are putting themselves out there for all of cyber world to see. Whether you sign up for a free site or fork over cash for one of the paid options, the first thing they all ask you to do is write a “profile” about yourself. This is your chance to shine; to let the online world of men or women out there know how fun, fabulous and truly together you are. Or in other words, lie. I did just that. I adopted a fun screen name, wrote a cheery description of myself and my interests, and offered it up to the cyberdating gods. It worked. I netted an inbox full of gentlemen suitors, eagerly awaiting my reply. Quite the catch, considering the hastily constructed profile and blurry headshot of me in Mexico. But before my ego had time to truly inflate, I saw exactly who was contacting me: Tattooed Ultimate Fighting aficionados, divorced men in their mid 50s, committed guys looking for a little “something” on the side, and, my favourite, men wearing no shirts, on fishing or ATVing expeditions, or both.

If this was the world of online dating then I had my work cut out for me. First step, revise the profile paragraph. “I’m a nice, friendly girl, who is looking to date a nice, friendly guy. I will not be your mistress, so guys with girlfriends just bugger off please. I do have an age requirement, and if you’re 52 you’ve just exceeded it by at least 20 years. Also, goatees (in ANY form), beer bellies, and a passion for a sport that involves men barbarically squaring off in a cage are general deal breakers. Oh, and if you are appearing shirtless, holding a giant fish or doing both in your profile picture, then sorry, it’s just not going to happen.” It worked, sort of. I still get a handful of shirtless, Ultimate Fighting fishermen contacting me from time to time, but more often than not I am hearing from guys who seem genuine or at least say they get a chuckle out of my brutal honesty. Oh, and while we’re at it, sonic69, I know I’m not all that. I do not need to get over myself. And while size does matter, it takes more than eight inches and a cute face to please this girl. Now shave off that goatee and then get back to me. NEXT! Y Coming up: Annabelle’s first online date goes Intercontinental.

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sandbox | spring 2010

blaCk laCe stirrup leggings and blaCk silk disCo shorts by aMeriCan apparel. shoes by kate and Mel froM toWn shoes. shirt froM ragpiCkers. braCelet froM Vintage glory. neCklaCe by ruby feathers.

give it to me, baby 33 must-have spring style sandboxmag.com

styled by madison rosas. photos by matthew kristjan. hair by april miller and haley golin for berns & black. makeup by daena groleau for fine eyes.

sandbox | spring 2010

necklace by ruby feathers. shirt and skirt from vintage glory.

mint green/white mesh dress by american apparel. boots by steve madden from town shoes (pictured sandboxmag.com on pg. 5). floral skirt from ragpickers. necklace by ruby feathers. tights, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own.

sandbox | spring 2010

military jacket from vintage glory. shirt, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own. skirt from ragpickers. boots by town shoes. hairpiece by sandboxmag.com ruby feathers. cuff bracelet by five left, vancouver.

sandbox | spring 2010

left: black lace tank by aritzia. bleached jeans by american apparel. ring and necklace from vintage glory. gloves, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own. right: denim jumper by american apparel. earrings by ruby feathers. necklace from ragpickers. belt from vintage glory.

sandboxmag.com

Main Event the

meaghan waller made

winnipeg proud when she won the title of Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next top model on national television. and although weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re impressed by her talent and success, it was her genuine prairie-girl charm that made us fall madly, hopelessly in love. Story by taylor benjamin burgeSS. PhotoS by matthew kriStjan. Styled by Sula johnSon. makeuP by daena groleau for fine eyeS. hair by haley golin for bernS & black.

sandbox | spring 2010

sandboxmag.comnecklace, 41 top, mesh

body suit, gold studded belt and black leather shorts from ragpickers.

“Gorgeous!” fluttered Nolé Martin in the third season premiere of Canada’s Next Top Model as he craned his head around the dual-monitor computer. He was talking to the very fresh Meaghan Waller, who, less than a month before, was studying architecture at the University of Manitoba and working at American Apparel and Swank Boutique. “You never did a photo shoot before? You are awesome!” For the first challenge, Meaghan was paired with a wolf. She was stroking it, making the absurd task look comfortable, as if she and her dog were taking a photo for a Christmas card. The judges criticized her lack of mouth movement, debating whether someone with braces could become a superstar model. But they were impressed enough to keep her around. On the show, she was little Meaghan Waller from Winnipeg, the reality television archetype of the calm and collected contestant who flies under the radar. Though she had a couple of emotional moments on shoots, she never bubbled temperamental. And though the judges made her sweat and cry near the end of the series, she lasted to the final four, then three, and then two. The finale aired in July and the Winnipegger won the season, earning her a modeling contract that has since taken her from France to China. But first, she had to return to Charleswood, not tell her friends where she had gone, and continue on with her routine of retail work. It probably wasn’t too hard, seeing as how only a few weeks earlier, she’d had absolutely no ambitions to be a model.

the secret life of meaghan waller Meaghan showed up at Berns & Black salon early on a warm Sunday morning for the SANDBOX photo

sandbox | spring 2010

shoot. Most of us were either dizzy or clutching desperately onto a cup of coffee, but she greeted everyone rather bright-eyed. We almost couldn’t believe she even showed up. She was only home for three days between gigs, which could’ve been spent catching up with her family or friends, but there she was, perfectly pleasant. Her calm smile belied the fact that she would be boarding a flight to China in a matter of hours. Her demeanour was courteous, but in the modeling world, Meaghan says that it’s painfully out of place. “I was at this party in L.A. and I wasn’t talking to anyone or anything, just standing around. Someone came up to me and said, ‘You’re Canadian, aren’t you?’” Canadian, yes. Dull as a doorstop, no. Face to face, she was doing a lot of the talking, and more often than not, she had great stories with well-timed punch lines. Nothing at all like the Meaghan Waller on CNTM. “When I got back, my friends said, ‘We just wanted to go on the show and shake you!’ They definitely played up my quiet side.” However, when adoring fans approach her, she always quiets down and denies being the ultra-fierce celebrity that she is. And because Canada has gotten to know her face underneath makeup and flashing lights, it happens often. “In Toronto, it’s basically everywhere I go. In Winnipeg it’s even worse. I can’t go out at night.” She lies about her name whenever people approach her, though they press that she really looks like the Meaghan Waller. She was under strict contractual obligations, (with a fine of $1,000,000) but none of them said that she had to lie about her identity. She did have to keep it secret that she already won, though, even from her parents, which was hard because she’s so close to her mother.

“She was so bad for it,” Waller says. “We would go for jogs and she would say, ‘So—Top Model?’” And all Meaghan could do was shake her head until the finale aired months later. She would lay pretty low and didn’t go out often, especially when episodes started airing. When she first got back, she couldn’t even tell her friends that she participated in Canada’s Next Top Model until the season started. Her friends knew that she was away, but they didn’t know where or for how long. And when she got back, she had to do some pointblank, flat-out lying. “They were like, ‘We didn’t know that you knew anyone in Toronto.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I know tons of people.’ And they were like, ‘But no internet? Or phone? Or anything?’ And I said, ‘No, I just needed to get away for a while.’” Meaghan said they bought her lies and she shrugged it off, saying that maybe she has really gullible friends. But I doubt it. When she was telling this story, her voice was so deadpan that it could’ve been interpreted either as sarcasm or enthusiasm, which would make her, I think, a pretty great liar. But chock that up to her easygoing attitude. Meaghan says that she isn’t worrying about the future. If it all ended tomorrow, she would go back to the University of Manitoba to take up architecture again. “I definitely wanted to be an architect [before Top Model]. I tried to take online courses when I was travelling in the fall, but I was never guaranteed internet access.” She isn’t expecting her modeling career to implode, but she’s trying to keep her head about it. “Some girls I’ve met along the way think that they’re going to be modeling forever and I think that’s a really naïve way to think.” Maybe it’s because she does have a back-up plan in mind, but she doesn’t classify herself as a competitive person.

silk tie, fringe skirt and stockings from ragpickers. top from october. shoes from town shoes.

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Her advice to new models is to “not take things too seriously”—she’s referring to situations like her experience ignoring Nikita and Linsay bitching and staring her down during their final Fashion magazine photo shoot. But since CNTM has ended and her modeling career has started, she’s seen models steal shoes out of purses and rip other people’s passports up, which makes Meaghan laughing at Maryam in the confession booth and stealing Nikita’s cab in New York just look juvenile. (When I brought up the New York challenge, Meaghan blinked, stared off into the distance for a second, and said, “Um, it’s a competition,” which is probably as aggressive as Meaghan Waller gets.) She talked about psychotic models, professionals telling size zeroes to lose some weight, models being forced to wear rubber boobs and butts, and cli-

“And then I was home for a couple hours, had to unpack my suitcase, repack it, and then I was back in Toronto until Friday. I was home all day yesterday and I’m leaving again today. So, I haven’t really had a chance to sit down yet.” While she was changing into her next outfit, I asked her where she sees herself in five years. She paused and said, “Ooh, that’s a good question.” After tugging on her high heels in a moment of contemplation she said, “Hopefully I’m still doing this, and I’m still getting excited to travel somewhere new.” In front of the camera, Meaghan dropped into pose after pose quickly and naturally. Within a matter of ten pictures, the photographer gleefully sent her off to get into the next outfit. But why? Why is she just so damn good at modeling?! All she could offer was,

wished and hoped all of her life to be a model. She was discovered the week before Canada’s Next Top Model auditions. She was working at Swank Boutique when one of the women from Winnipeg’s Swish Model Management firmly asked that she come down and pose for some pictures. Meaghan opposed the thought, but day after day, she kept getting bothered to go in. “Finally I was like, ‘Fine, I’ll humour you and take some pictures.’ Within the same day I got a call from Elmer Olson in Toronto being like, I saw pictures of you, and I want you to meet me. I was like, ‘I don’t even know if I want to model yet.’” But even though Meaghan had doubts about modeling, she was convinced by the world-renowned model agent Elmer Olson to go for it. “He’s

“I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Now you’re trying to talk me into doing a reality television show, which basically goes against every single one of my morals.” ents passing around cocaine on photo shoots. But Meghan stays out of it all, and rather than let the trials of the model’s world get to her, she tries not to take any of it too seriously.

a born natural The photo shoot was in a high-rise apartment that overlooked half of Winnipeg, and even though the city was all grey, the view made the shoot feel especially glamorous. Meaghan has been modeling pretty much non-stop for the last few months. She started in July—literally the day after the finale of CNTM aired, she was posing as the face of Capezio Shoes’ fall campaign. After that, she’s had a stint in the Bahamas, Montreal, two solid months in Europe, went to Toronto Fashion Week, and China. Then she went to Cuba with a friend for Christmas, and was at the Golden Globes in January.

sandbox | spring 2010

“Being a drama geek in high school helped, I’m more used to making a fool of myself now.” All morning we flitted around Meaghan. She says that she’ll never get used to being the center of attention, but she’s alright with being bossed around to do this, go here, and so on, although sometimes she just thinks the people she’s working for can be a little much. Two minutes after putting on her next outfit, Meaghan took one look at herself, grabbed her ruffled skirt and pulled it out to her side, revealing its wonderful pattern underneath. We all gasped and cooed, because it was nothing short of a wild bird showing off her feathers. That’s what the entire shoot was like: natural and beautiful. No doubt, Meaghan has had much more practice since the show has ended, but it seems like there’s still something else about her, some unquantifiable essence. After all, it wasn’t like Meaghan

very persuasive,” said Waller. But shortly after that, he dropped the bomb that he had sent some pictures of her into Canada’s Next Top Model, and they said they were very interested in auditioning her. The auditions were the next day. “I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You convinced me to model today, which is something I thought I’d never do, and now you’re trying to talk me into doing a reality television show, which basically goes against every single one of my morals. But yeah, like I said, he’s very persuasive.” In less than a week, Waller’s career was already rocketing high. In the Toronto auditions, Olson arranged to have her pulled to the front of the line. “I was scheduled to work the next day but they said, ‘No, no, no, we need you here all weekend.” Her boss at American Apparel thought she was crazy for staying and giving it a shot. “Showed him,” she scoffed quietly. Y

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necklace, mesh bodysuit, gold sequined fanny pack, skirt, and shoes from ragpickers. shirt from october.

silk tie and mesh bodysuit from ragpickers. strapless lace top sandbox and leggings from october. shoes from town shoes.

| spring 2010

SHIRT dress DRESS from FROM shirt OCTOBER. fringed FRINGED october. SHOULDER pads PADS BY shoulder and kerchief from NORWEGIAN WOOD. ragpickers. shoes KERCHIEF FROM from town shoes. RAGPICKERS. SHOES FROM TOWN SHOES.

sandboxmag.com

D lady like her

at 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;11â&#x20AC;?, blonde and beautiful, bekki friesen, the frontwoman of grunge band domenica, looks like she belongs on a runway. that is, until you get her behind a mic. Story by megan dee benedictSon PhotoS by cindy tituS and mark reimer

sandbox | spring 2010

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orn with a look more top model than hard rock, Domenica’s front woman Bekki Friesen is used to people underestimating her. “They think ‘put a hot chick in front of a band and there you go,’” the statuesque blonde with stunning, almond-shaped blue eyes says. But with her low, powerful voice, and enough writing talent to make good use of it, she can easily dismiss any haters, who she says are usually converted the moment she gets to work. “My job is to get on stage, not care, and rock their faces off.” It’s a job the 25-year-old has been preparing for most of her life. Despite growing up in what she describes as a strict and sheltered household, she says she knew at three what she wanted to do, confi-

rooms for months at a time. Domenica’s first album, The Luxury, was released in Canada and Japan in September. The title could be referring to how fortunate Friesen feels to be hammering away at her dream full time. “I have the luxury of having someone else pay my bills while I do my band thing,” she says, referring to her husband. Unfortunately it’s a luxury the rest of the band doesn’t share with her, as they balance their passion for music with regular day-jobs. But Bekki isn’t just sitting at home waiting for fame to find her. Hardworking and deeply passionate, she treats the band like a full time job, scheduling its tours, managing press and coordinating internationally with the band’s numerous indie labels. She also flies to L.A. several times a year to make

scribes as leaving her own brain, she is an introvert at heart. “I’m not a loner, but I like my alone time, sitting in my basement, on my computer writing songs,” she says, with ease that suggests genuine self-awareness. She is trying to do what she wants to do, on her terms, although there are times when that can be a struggle. In the video for their single “Above Me,” she loses her t-shirtand-jeans-style effortless beauty to dance in a slinky dress, and sing from a bathtub full of rose petals. “To be completely frank, it took them a full day of arguing to get me to do it,” she says, making it clear she dreads being asked about the video. “I’m not Britney Spears, I’m more Mötley Crüe.” But she adds she came to terms with the concept,

“my job iS to get on Stage, not care, and rock their faceS off.” dently telling surprised parents “I’m going to be a rockstar.” By junior high she was teaching herself guitar and writing songs with the goal of being a “badass chick in a badass band.” She reached that goal in Winnipeg in 2004, when she formed Domenica with drummer Steve Hrycyshyn, bassist Kurtis Wittmier, and a guitarist who has since been replaced by Josh Bedry. She describes the band as a laid-back, open-minded family who she constantly laughs with, even on tour, when the four must share tiny hotel

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connections, and collaborate with heavy hitters in the metal scene such as Marcos Curiel from P.O.D. And that’s on top of hours spent writing the first drafts of songs which her bandmates help shape, songs which mix hard-rock’s heaviness with melodies that stick. “It’s just so satisfying to bang out a song and think, Yeah! It’s killer. And it gets stuck in your head for days,” Friesen says. It’s writing that drives her the most. Although she says nothing compares with the adrenaline of being on stage, a sensation she de-

“At the end of the day, it’s a lusty song, and a lusty video, and I’m OK with it.” Her reluctance to give in only demonstrates her conviction for the band to control its own destiny, a career she is adamant will last at least another four albums. And she thinks doing it their way will propel Domenica forward, because, as she puts it, “honesty is what’s going to stand out.” Y For photos, tour dates, and more visit domenica.ca. The Luxury is available on iTunes.

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survivor when she was 11 years old, vanessa kunderman lost her father to cancer. at 16 she was diagnosed with lymphoma. what did she learn from these traumatic events to help her through it? never underestimate the power of hair extensions and fake eyelashes. sandboxmag.com

y adoration with glamour festered when I was a little girl, eagerly pouting in front of the large mirrors in my mother’s hair salon. I would spray myself silly with leavein conditioner and sticky hair sprays. By six, I could decipher between eight different brush styles and knew the distinction between the scents of permanent and semi-permanent hair colour. My sister and I used to flop on my mother’s king-size bed, watching her mouth gape open as she swiped on black mascara and doused herself in Chanel No. 5. I couldn’t get enough. But it wasn’t just my mother’s beauty regime that amazed me. Watching dad shave with unwavering precision, slick back his dark hair and spritz on the heavy scent of Eternity was just as engrossing. He could do all that, and knot his tie, before mom was even out of bed. I could always appreciate the beauty in things. So as I watched my father’s remains being lowered to the ground at his funeral five years later, I remember being fascinated with the slight green flecks throughout the marble of his urn,

causing me—only for a moment—to forget where I was. My pantyhose were torn and my feet were wet from sloshing through the wet grass in the cemetery, but the scene was almost beautiful as the rain trickled down through the trees. I remember thinking that angels must have been crying for my mother, sister and I. My family’s two-year cancer raid was over, and so too were the afternoons I spent marveling over the way my parents dolled up for one another. By 16 I was coping. My attitude problem had started to inflate, but I wasn’t hopeless. I kept busy. I had taken a whirlwind of dance classes. Large cat-eyes and pounds of hair glitter were must-haves, making dance lessons my favourite pastime. And then one evening, in a primrose dress and black sling-back heels, my life tripped over itself again. I weaved between my classmates during my date’s graduation dinner, mentally counting down from ten as the blackness crept in around the edges of my peripheral vision and I collapsed. A few days later, I sat alone in a beige room unable to feel my legs, unable to

move my neck, and extremely annoyed with the constant breathy hiss of saline dripping into my left arm. I hadn’t slept in three days, hadn’t showered in four, and wore a pair of long, messy braided pigtails. “I don’t understand how this happened to me,” I said to the doctor. “Sometimes the body attacks itself. It could be for a number of reasons.” “When did my body decide to start doing that?” “Well, due to the size of your tumor and the progression of your cancer, we think the mass started growing around puberty. Probably when you were 11 or 12.” I sat up in my wobbly silver bed, placed my cumbersome legs over its edge and hoisted myself into the bathroom. I peeled off my fake eyelashes, a token from the graduation ceremony a few nights before, and untied my unruly braids. Then, my legs gave out. I crumpled awkwardly into the bathtub where I laid for an hour sobbing before a nurse came to pick me up. Back at my family home in the country, in my mother’s makeshift basement salon, I sat in her black leather

“my Sixteen-year-old brain wa going to be thiS ugly durin

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chair, like I had so many times before, and braced myself for another haircut. She panged the clippers on and gently held the crown of my head with her free hand. With one smooth swipe, from temple to nape, my mom glided the blades across my scalp. My hair delicately wafted into my lap. “This might be the easiest buzz cut I’ve done yet.” “What? Why?” “There’s no resistance from the hair because the follicles are all dead.” I began sobbing quietly beneath my black cape. And mom did too. Soon, my eyelashes, eyebrows, arm, pubic and leg hairs were falling out, and my urine was fluorescent orange from the doxorubicin chemotherapy I had taken. You haven’t smelled anything until you’ve smelled chemo pee. The prednisone steroids I was taking not only gave me mood swings and acne, but an insane appetite. My usual clear skin turned blotchy and spotted along my wig line (the invisible line where my hair should have been). I learned how to give myself a needle in my leg every day and had developed a neuropathy in my left foot, a rare side

effect from the combination of chemotherapies that attacked the nerve endings farthest away from my heart. It gave me a sexy, senior-like limp. I’d sit in front of my mirror for hours, wondering why no pamphlet or doctor had warned me about all the consequences. Sure, I read about how I could develop drooping eyelids, infertility and bowl problems, but no one warned me about the fact that I may eat my own snot when it dripped freely into my tomato soup. Or that every drug I took would taste like I was swallowing wet pennies. So I bought more wigs. Wigs are expensive beauty products, but how was my mother supposed to say no when her youngest daughter looked like an 80-year-old man? And though it was against the advice of many estheticians specializing in cancer patients, I bought every pair of false eyelashes I could get my hands on. Oh. I fucking rocked them, too. And I still do. My sixteen-year-old brain was constantly wondering: was I going to be this ugly during my last days on earth? Would I ever have sex? Would anyone

ever find me beautiful again? Was I being punished? Was I going to die a rotting, shriveled little child? I decided that if my face was forced to look like a piece of swollen fruit every morning, I at least had the choice to do something about it. Every cancer patient I met marveled over my elaborately made-up face, which I maintained even if I was having chemo or radiation. Many of them asked me why I even bothered to get done up if I was just having treatment – what, and look like a sick person? What a slippery slope! If I shouldn’t bother getting dressed then why should I bother eating? And if I’m not bothering to eat then why should I get out of bed? You can see where that road could have easily lead me. I can’t write the cancer makeup manual, and I can’t go back to the healthy body chemistry I once had. But I can say that (heaven forbid) should I have to do it again, I would do it exactly the same. Had I ended up on my deathbed, you can bet your ass I would have been barking at my mom to glue on my eyelashes and tease out my synthetic wig before I went. Y

aS conStantly wondering: waS i ng my laSt dayS on earth? ”

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dream girlS three driven women and the distinct paths they’ve taken to follow their dreams Story by kriSty rydz PhotoS by matÉa radic anna borys

ill of all trades, Julijana Capone embodies a distinct pensive confidence. She twirls her statement silver and turquoise ring, after I ask her about the word ‘glamour’. She answers only after serious pondering and speaks with purpose—both marks of someone who understands and respects being on the other side of an interview. “I have a problem with that word. A journalist or a [fashion] buyer isn’t glamourous. They’re actually quite the opposite. I wear Sorels and I live on Furby St.,” the self-proclaimed overtly creative freelance journalist said with a laugh. “I walk and I take public transit. Is that glamourous?” Capone has chased down careers in the worlds of both fashion and now journalism and says she honed not only her writing skills, but her self-assurance during her two years

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in Red River College’s Creative Communications program. “You don’t really have a life. It is your life. You bust your ass for two years,” she said of the intensive, hands-on professional program that specializes in journalism, public relations, advertising and broadcast production. “You have to watch your step. It’s like you’re constantly on an interview.” It’s that professionalism and perfectionism that Creative Communications (CreComm) is known for instilling in its ambitious, hitthe-ground-running grads, through real-life, assignments with tight deadlines in high-stress situations. Capone, who holds a diploma in fashion merchandising from the Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver, B.C., touted as Canada’s number one makeup, fashion and hair school, is currently working toward her BA in Communications at the University of Winnipeg.

She says CreComm forced her to confront personal fears like public speaking and discover talents like graphic design. One specific component of the program, combined with Capone’s own talent and determination, has garnered the journalist many career advancing opportunities—and flashes of reality. For the program’s thesis equivalent, the Independent Professional Project (IPP), Capone wrote a series of linked articles on underground Winnipeg businesses and hangouts with strong roots of everything from punk rock to vintage books. The stellar collection earned Capone the Eric and Jack Wells Award for Excellence in Journalism in addition to launching her on-going freelance work at the entertainment weekly, Uptown. It also forced her, as an intern, to interact with an editor whose former drunken escapades were sprawled across the pages of

her chronicle of funky locales. “It was good because it was a real life experience. It was a lesson to me because it’s a small city and you’re going to run into people you write about,” she said. Looking back on her fashion school days, the now part-time communications assistant for the Children’s Hospital believes that if you want to work in that industry, it’s best to just work your way up and skip the schooling. Speaking from experience, Capone was successfully doing just that in Vancouver years ago at one of her favourite boutiques. With time, however, she became tired of calling out sizes and dealing with the “crazy eccentrics” she says the fashion world is full of. While she has no doubts that had she stuck with it she would be a buyer and manager by now, she feels she outgrew that dream. “Sure, it’s fun to make someone feel beautiful, but writing is developing relationships with the community and having people be excited to tell their story,” she said. The fiercely self-motivated optimist maintains she’s always been realistic about where her education could take her. “I always knew I would be writing. And I always knew there would be a job to pay the bills. I’m not trying to be something I’m not.” Neither is up and coming photographer Anna Borys. The 21-year-old grad of Winnipeg’s PrairieView Photography School, considered one of Canada’s most comprehensive photo programs, works for her family’s glass and aluminum company, Border Glass, while moonlighting with her growing company, Anna Borys Photography. Having to build her profile

slowly with her diploma in tow as a professional photographer was one of the many parts of the industry that the extensive 10-month program explained. “It’s tough. They stressed in the first three to five years that it was going to be tough,” Borys said. “[PrairieView] offered every possible perspective of photography. But to start off as a commercial photographer, I don’t think it gave me the push I needed.” The expressive photog feels she developed her skills and eye with helpful teachers and non-typical school assignments demanding weekly photo shoots, including a mock wedding, to gain a vast collection of knowledge in areas from dark room film to digital technology. However, after working in editorial, landscape and commercial capaci-

ties since she graduated in 2007, the aspiring food photographer wishes she could have learned more about the ins and outs of specific applications, like Adobe Photoshop. “They just didn’t hammer home certain aspects. They kind of skimmed the edges,” she said. While the girl who would rather taste food with her eyes than her mouth found the program beneficial as a basic foundation, she felt it was geared toward those who want to become wedding and portrait photographers. “I like to take pictures of things that don’t have opinions,” said the bubbly Borys with a smirk. Preferring to find beauty in architectural photos for Border Glass’s job sites and projects in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Arizona while dreaming of being published

JuliJana capone

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in food magazines and assisting her friends with shooting events, Borys can’t deny the appeal of a paycheque from taking on an event herself. “I do it because it’s money but it’s not really my thing. When I book a wedding, there’s anywhere from $1,600 to $2,000 right there. The more I’m shooting, the more I’m learning,” she said. Balancing money and learning isn’t anything new for Borys. After dishing out around $15,000 for tuition plus another $3,000 for equipment, film and other supplies over the term, getting what you pay for took on a whole new meaning. “Looking back, I loved it. It hardly seemed like school when you’re doing photo shoots for homework. But considering how much we paid, they definitely didn’t get as in depth as we would have hoped or would have liked,” Borys said. Photography isn’t the only career-starting program with a hefty price tag, according to Daena Groleau, co-owner of Fine Eyes Make Up Artists. “I’m still paying it off,” Groleau, 26, said of the $17,000 she paid to earn a diploma in global makeup from the prestigious Blanche MacDonald Centre. “I paid the same amount for my car.” The trade off was a 10-month overview of the diverse world of makeup including the basics of day and night looks, airbrushing, the history of fashion as well as special effects. “I think it would have been best if you could have done the full year but continued on with one area,” said Groleau, whose company has worked on ads for an extensive client list including Ricki’s, Warehouse One, the Blue Bombers and rising comedic star Sugar Sammy.

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Groleau, who once styled a new look on a job with only a brush, a tube of lipstick and mascara, headed west because no similar in-depth program for makeup is offered in Winnipeg. “It was fun for me because I thought it was like playing every day,” said the woman who totes an 80lb trunk of makeup with her on projects. “The only thing I had trouble with was that I was stuck with a bunch of little girls who didn’t take it seriously.” After working hard to put together a kick-ass portfolio, Groleau and, now business partner, Janique Lavoie rose to the top of the class and eagerly took on additional internship opportunities from knowledgeable instructors when they weren’t attending the two and a half days of classes each week. With a diploma in Multime-

dia Communications from College Universitaire de Saint-Boniface, makeup artist Groleau started Fine Eyes with Lavoie when they headed home from Vancouver in 2006. Since then, they’ve blossomed by capitalizing on Winnipeg’s networking ability—“It’s amazing how everyone knows someone,” Groleau notes—and never turning away a project whether it be a charity fashion show or being the official makeup artists for CBC and RadioCanada at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Reflecting on where she’s been, where she’s at and what’s to come, Groleau believes her success is a collective effort of her own insatiable drive in addition to her education. “It’s a mix of everything. Without multimedia, I’d never be able to run a business and without makeup I wouldn’t have a business.” Y

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Portrait of a man the Jetset life of the notorious ryan wibawa Story by Shayna wiwierSki PhotoS by ryan wibawa

sandbox | spring 2010

ou may have seen his stuff floating around the net, the hundreds of photos depicting human beauty though the eyes of fashion and simplicity, and more importantly, through the eyes of the creator—Ryan Wibawa. Wibawa is a Winnipeg-based fashion photographer and graphic designer. If his name doesn’t sound familiar, maybe the name of his company will—Virulent Valmont, a name he got a few years ago while taking graphic design at Red River College that represents his cutting edge style, design and photography. Splitting his time between Los Angeles and Winnipeg, the latter which he calls home, Wibawa started taking photography seriously in 2007. The art of taking pictures was always a passion for him, teaching it to himself, finally putting it together with what he learned in college to produce his company. It was a great move on his part. Quickly becoming noticed through his online presence on Facebook, MySpace, Model Mayhem, and VirulentValmont. com, he soon started landing gigs shooting models in international locations. In fact, his favorite shoot to date was one that landed him across the border and in a bit of trouble. “We were shooting in this beautiful dessert of El Mirage in California. The models trespassed into a gated, muffler garage and in the back they had a bunch of wrecked cars. We shot there and finished just in time, right before the owner stopped by to yell at us.” Although he is one of the most popular fashion photographers in Winnipeg he still has his dream models (Victoria Beckham and Justin Timberlake) and his greatest influences (surreal photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani, as well as David LaChapelle). But the thing that works so wonderfully about his work is his perspective on beauty and it’s downfalls. “[Our] perception of beauty has been distorted for a long time in our

society. What you see in the magazines, well, they have to be flawless. In that case I tend to be a perfectionist, even from the start of the shoot. But I’m not obsessed with perfection in general - I think some of the best things in life are purely beautiful mistakes.” So for someone who shoots internationally, what is he doing in little old Winnipeg? Well, Wibawa says that this city is home and couldn’t imagine living elsewhere. “I think Canada is one of the top places to live - and Winnipeg is very cozy as I have spent a great deal of time here. It’s also very central to base my stay and just travel all over.” But what about the juicy stuff? Unruly, diva models, bad experiences on set, you know, the behind the camera stuff. Well, the twentysomething Wibawa is pretty gracious when it comes to spilling the scandalous details of the fashion world few get to see. In fact, he can only think of one instance where he had to deal with a difficult model. “[The guy] thought he was all that, so he didn’t take my directions. I tried to drag him one way, but he thought it was kind of stupid and awkward, so he didn’t feel like doing it and said that he knew what he was doing. He made pretty much the entire team uncomfortable. He was also criticizing the makeup artist and the stylists, so overall a very difficult person to deal with. But I mean it was one out of a hundred cases.” So what’s next for one of Winnipeg’s most famed photographers? Wibawa says that he’s going to keep pursuing what he’s doing now, but there’s one dream he would love to accomplish, with a small step holding him back. “I would love to be an-editor in-chief for a magazine, but I’m not good with writing.” Y

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bucket list by jill sawatzky. photo by melissa trainor.

10 reasons to start a fashion label before you die

1) Buying overpriced fashion magazines is no longer considered indulgent: It’s market research.

6) You get to spend your time in fabric stores with the quilting population.

2) It’s completely acceptable to replace the evening news with Fashion Television.

7) Tom Ford. Enough said.

3) When you look at the big picture, you get to do crafts all day!

8) Orchestrating the aesthetic of a photo shoot is empowering. The short, crafty girl tells the tall, gorgeous model exactly what to do.

4) You can make your own clothes, and you can make them exactly the way you want them. (I have no accompanying wit, it’s just awesome.)

9) Starbucks while you’re working. Starbucks while you’re meeting with a client. Starbucks at the photo shoot.

5) You get to see that look on your great aunt’s face when you respond to her question of “what are you up to nowa-days?” with “I’m a fashion designer.” It never fails to illicit expressions similar to that of, “I’m a kung-fu astronaut.”

10) Clothing = essential + universal. Clothing = fashion. Fashion = wearable art. What’s more inspiring than that?

sandbox | spring 2010

Jill Sawatzky is the designer of the label Tony Chestnut. Her line is available at FnQ in the Exchange District.

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