"We opened April 1st, so it's just been a couple of months for us," said Robyn Drage, in July 2008. She, together with Tanya Kirouac and Kal Mansur, opened Studio 109, a small gallery in Artscape's Distillery building. They show their own work mostly, and each spends a day or two every week in the gallery answering questions and selling each other's work.

"I moved here about three years ago," Robyn said. She's from British Columbia, where she studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia (UBC). "I started out in studio art, was not thrilled with the programme, but the creative writing programme was fabulous. It was a great degree, great teachers." After a few years traveling the world and deciding what to do with her life, Robyn spent some time working in offices and painting in her spare time. But she wasn't happy. She needed to earn her living from her art.

"It would have been more difficult there to get my career off the ground," said Robyn. Harder for an emerging artist if you don't have a gallery. Here there are more options. Even if you don't have a gallery, there are more opportunities - like the summer outdoor shows." So Robyn moved to Toronto. "Seemed like the right thing to do."

"I think I'm one of those artists who can't not make art. So I'm thankful I can sell some of it. I have this energy that keeps bubbling up and I have to do something with it. And if I don't do something with it, I'm a fairly unpleasant person to be around." At the moment, with a broken finger, Robyn has been forced to slow down.

"I have these," Robyn said, pointing to several paintings hanging on the gallery wall, "which are my season pattern series. They are probably the most commercial of my work. It has more of a West coast feel to it. I also have people saying it has a kind of Japanese feel, Asian feel. I do figurative work now and those are a little quirky. And I do abstract work as well."

At TOAE, Robyn also had on display a series of drawings based on her interpretations of film scenes. "I have a movie thing, reinterpreting narratives and secrets in movies." Hitchcock is a favourite.

In addition to the Distillery gallery, Robyn has placed work at several other Canadian galleries. "And I'm working with an art consultant out of Atlanta," she said. "They have an office in Atlanta and one in LA. They sell a decent amount of work. They work with restaurants, hotels, spas, bigger companies." Robyn laughed. "I've got paintings in the Ritz-Carlton, but I could never afford to stay there."

Robyn also teaches part-time at Ryerson University. "In the January term, I was doing an illustration course for fashion students. Now I'm doing communication design - typography, digital media, that type of thing." Robyn has always enjoyed teaching. "I think it's good for my own skill-set. I found with the illustration class, in particular, I had to stop and think about my own process, and then break that down, and then try to explain that back to someone. That's a good way to force you to think more about your own process. And I learned some new techniques as well."

In 2007, Nuit Blanche expanded to the Distillery. "For Nuit Blanche [2008] the whole building will doing a theme on secrets," said Robyn. "Those types of events aren't so much about sales as they are about creating interesting art and bringing people into the space."

"To have so many people out, for an all-night art party, how great is that? I think it's fantastic. For us, we won't be going anywhere, but hopefully it'll be fun and interesting." Robyn, Tanya, and Kal will each have work on the secrets theme on display at the gallery. Robyn has a fairly good idea of what she would like to do.

"We can go for long stretches without selling anything," said Robyn of the gallery. "But all of us have sold work from here. And it's a neat venue for meeting people. I've had some really interesting conversations and some really weird conversations. Having spaces that leave those possibilities open is really fun. I'm really enjoying it."

"There are periods when I haven't sold anything for a month and a bit, and I ask myself 'Why am I doing this?' And then someone walks in and buys seven small paintings."

The Distillery is a curious neighbourhood, one visited more frequently by tourists than by people who live in the city. "I like that it's the only pedestrian-only area in Toronto," said Robyn. "There are some very nice commercial galleries. There's a whole range of things from coffee shops and galleries, to theatres, to a really cool industrial-design store. It's a neat spot. I really like being here." Robyn particularly enjoys the variety of people involved with the arts. "Opera singers, theatre people, dance companies. That's pretty amazing!"

"I like the chocolate shop," Robyn said, referring to Soma. "I'm a chocolate person. I like the Soul Pepper Theatre - their work is pretty amazing." Those are her two favourites. And "Balzac's Coffee is, of course, everyone's favourite meeting place."

And with Balzac's such a neighbourhood fixture, a group of Artscape residents co-ordinate art shows. With so many people visiting, who might not otherwise make their way into the Artscape building, Balzac's has become a good place through which to introduce Distillery-based artists to visitors.

"It would be nice if transit access in and out of the Distillery was better," said Robyn. She said most of the people who visit are tourists, and the majority of them drive rather than take transit. "A lot of people from Toronto don't really know it's here." Or if they do, but they consider it too inconvenient to visit. "It's worth coming to see," said Robyn.

"I think art chooses people. It's not always the people who are the most talented who make it. It's the people who are just stubborn enough to stick it out. Three steps forward, five steps back. It's not going to be easy."