Putting the finishing touches on this vintage 16mm Ampro film projector. This will be for my solo exhibition at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles, which will feature a dozen new paintings starting on May 21, 2016.
I have a little over a month to finish up the work, so I came up for a quick breath and then I’m heading back down to focus on finishing the paintings.
Above is an early evening view of the easel as I shut down after a long day of working with tiny brushes on the details of these vintage cameras. I like seeing the paintings in different light, I grabbed my iPhone and took this quick snap as the light faded.
For over a month now I’ve been flowing along in the studio, working on numerous paintings that will be heading to the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles for an exhibition running from May 21 – June 25, 2016.
The paintings I’ve been working on are complex and full of details, so all my focus and energy has been on the paintings. By the time I’m done a painting session I find myself a bit mentally exhausted. Retreating from social media is important when I’m focussing on painting. There seems to be this pervasive pressure to constantly share what one is up to in the studio, but honestly, I find it easier to just rest instead of coming up with something put on Facebook or Instagram.
Ebb & Flow. For most of my life I lived landlocked on the prairies. After years of talking it over with my wife, we decided that we had enough harsh, long winters between the two of us and wanted a change.
And so we packed up and moved to the West Coast, Vancouver Island. And now we find ourselves surrounded by all new flora and fauna. Everything is different. We ended up living right by the water, so every morning I get up and look out the window and am able to see the ebb and flow of the tides as they come in to the inlet I live on. Something that seems foreign and exciting to a prairie kid.
We got our wish, to be able to walk out our door any day of the year, no bone chilling, threatening wind chills. And I can walk every day around the inlet. And every day I see swans, herons, eagles, otters, seals – it all seems so exotic. I have to always remind myself to slow down and really observe these things around me. Read more
They Big Picture – this painting is about perspective.
I will use the painting as a metaphor. I obsess and focus on tiny one inch square areas of a painting, moving across the painting as I work over several days, sometimes weeks. Within each of these small spaces I pour detail and concentration. But I always have to remember to step back and look at the entire painting, to see how it works overall, to see that I have made progress.
It’s like this in life, no? If you focus on making each day as good as you can, eventually you can step back and see what is hopefully a life you are pleased with. Read more
The World We Live In, The Distressed Mind, The Neurotic Personality of Our Time, Coast to Coast, Old World Horizons.
It seems as though we live in a perpetual state of anxiety – obsessing over doom and gloom news events and seeing nothing but a bleak outlook. And then we imagine things used to be better and we want to reverse and go back to the way things used to be.
I recently listed to the Munk Debates on Progress – “be it resolved humankind’s best days lie ahead” (listen to it here). Four thinkers and writers on stage, two arguing that things are getting better, two arguing things are getting darker. I’m inclined to think things are going to get better. I do not deny that there are certainly grim things going on around us, but I believe that we’ve lost perspective. Instead of simply dwelling on all the negative events and news around us we have to explore positive things as well. Read more
This is simply about what it says – Good Stories.
This group of monochromatic book paintings are not just about the colors. This yellow grouping of books is all positive, forward moving stories. These are vintage children’s primary school readers and story books. They project a naïve, rosy view of the world. Sometimes you need a bit of positive reinforcement, to be able to see the sunny side. That’s what this painting is about. Read more
I use books in my paintings to project ideas, rather than the actual plot or storyline of the book. These books, all antique and vintage finds, are sometimes subtle and sometimes blunt. Whatever the case is, it’s the theme I’m most interested in.
See a portfolio of 160+ other book paintings.
I like the balance of five – I’ve recently painted other sets of five clocks. I like the sense of rhythm they give.
This painting is part of Arden Gallery‘s group still life exhibition which runs from February 2 – 27, 2016. Read more
These two paintings are part of a group exhibition of still life paintings at the Arden Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. The exhibition runs from February 2 – 27, 2016.
For several years the Arden Gallery has asked me to show work with them, so it feels good to finally be able to participate in an exhibition.
This painting of a little blue electric fan is in the beginning stages.
2015 was a very busy year for me. I had two solo exhibitions which I find remarkable that I was able to pull off. Not sure how I was able to do that… or if I’d ever do that again in coming years.
Right now I have several paintings in the works in my studio. I’m enjoying my time focussing on painting and have decided to take a bit of a break from social media and get some work done. I’ll share what I’ve been up to at the beginning of 2016.