Look what grew.
Not every strange idea scribbled on a scrap of paper makes it into the world—but some of them do.
Gains is where Agains Da Grain celebrates the things that made it from “What if we did this?” to “Holy shit, we actually did it.”
What began with two neighbours making art in a living room grew into weekly art jams, warehouse Tuesdays, pop-up art markets, collaborations, friendships, experiments and a creative community built around making things together.
This page is a growing archive of those moments.
Some Gains are big. Some are tiny. Some are polished projects, and others are experiments that somehow worked. They all represent something learned, made, shared or accomplished along the way.
Because success around here has never been about doing things the conventional way.
Sometimes a Gain is an exhibition.
Sometimes it’s learning a new skill.
Sometimes it’s turning a pile of scraps into something worth keeping.
Sometimes it’s watching someone who wasn’t sure they were an artist start calling themselves one.
And sometimes it’s simply taking a ridiculous idea seriously enough to see what happens.
FROM SEEDS TO GAINS
This page isn’t meant to stay finished.
As new projects grow, experiments become realities and unfinished ideas find their endings, they’ll make their way from Seeds to Gains.
A little record of where Agains Da Grain has been—and proof that weird ideas are worth growing.
Made something. Learned something. Gained something.
~grAins gain when they grOw against the grain~
THE WEEKLY ART JAMS
THE GAIN: Tuesday Art Jams
Where Agains Da Grain took root.
In November 2021, Agains Da Grain found a home at The Nest, where Tuesday nights became a standing invitation to show up and make something.
Affectionately known as “Arty, Not a Party,” the weekly art jams brought people together to create, experiment, share materials and learn from one another. There was no pressure to arrive with a finished idea—or even an idea at all.
People brought projects, supplies, half-finished experiments and whatever creative energy they happened to have that week. Skills and techniques were passed around, creative blocks were worked through, and collaborations happened naturally around the table.
What started with Fat Pat and the Lizard Queen making art together grew into something much bigger: a welcoming little community where creativity could be social without needing to be a performance.
WHAT WE GREW:
A creative community, new friendships, shared skills, collaborations, confidence—and a place where showing up to make art was enough.
Video Link: Arty Not a Party
COLD NIGHT FAREWELL
December 10, 2021 · Gustoe
A story without words.
On December 10, 2021, Pat released “Cold Night Farewell” under his musical alias, Gustoe.
With no lyrics, the instrumental track tells its story entirely through sound. It takes the listener on a musical journey through an experience shared by two people in love as they face the bittersweet moment of saying goodbye to one another on a cold winter night at a train station.
The song leaves space for the listener to imagine the scene for themselves—the cold, the distance, the departure and all the emotion that can exist in one final moment together.
The release also became an early multidisciplinary collaboration between Fat Pat and the Lizard Queen. While Pat translated the story into sound as Gustoe, Charissa collaborated on the cover artwork, creating a visual companion to the atmosphere and narrative of Cold Night Farewell. Together, the music and photography approached the same story through two different creative languages.
It was an early example of something that would become an important part of Agains Da Grain: creative practices crossing over, ideas being passed back and forth, and one person’s art becoming an opportunity for someone else to create alongside it.
Cold Night Farewell was released on December 10, 2021, and made available through Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music—sending a piece of Pat’s musical world beyond the studio and out into the world.
WHAT WE GREW:
A finished and released piece of Pat’s musical storytelling. An early collaboration between Pat’s music and Charissa’s visual art. And a reminder that sometimes a story doesn’t need words to say something.
One cold night. One goodbye. A story told through sound and image.
Cold Night Farewell — Gustoe
Cover artwork collaboration · Fat Pat + Lizard Queen · 2021
Listen to “Cold Night Farewell” by Gustoe on Spotify
AGAINS DA GRAIN
THE GARDEN OF GAINS ART MARKET
June 24, 2022 · The Nest
A birthday. A first. A whole lot of art.
After months of weekly art jams, experiments and Tuesday nights spent making things at The Nest, it was time to put some of that creativity on the walls.
On June 24, 2022, Agains Da Grain hosted an art market at The Nest featuring collections by Fat Pat and Charissa “Lizard Queen” Leitch. The night marked an important milestone for both of them: it was the first art event where Pat and Charissa were featured as the main visual artists.
It also happened to be Charissa’s birthday, making the night part exhibition, part birthday celebration and part gathering of the creative community that had grown around Agains Da Grain.
The night expanded beyond Pat and Charissa’s collections, bringing together more visual artists, vendors and a full lineup of musical talent.
Visual Artists & Vendors:
Street Rock · Kerzeka · Josh Creighton Art · DreamWeaver Arts · Lizard Queen Conceptuals · Fat Pat · 50 Shades of Dre ·
NibruMusic By:
Proph · Fat Pat · Crystal Fresh · Chef Beatz · Mellifluous × Soul - FT. Lazarush · Ty Soulstice · Zeka
For Pat and Charissa, the night represented something bigger than simply hanging finished work on the walls. The same space that had become home to weekly art jams, half-finished experiments, shared materials and creative conversations was transformed into a place to celebrate what all that making had produced.
It was a moment to look around and realize that Agains Da Grain had grown from two neighbours making art together into something worth gathering people around.
WHAT WE GREW:
A first featured exhibition for both Fat Pat and the Lizard Queen. A room filled with visual art and music. A birthday worth remembering. New connections, new confidence, and one of the first big milestones in the Agains Da Grain story.
Video Link:
Art Market Ad in Big Kitty Mag