These two pieces will be part of my upcoming exhibition in Los Angeles at the Billis Williams Gallery, opening on February 24th.
My last exhibition in New York involved many large paintings, so this time around, I decided to work on a slightly smaller group of canvases.
Three Clocks & Pelican Classics / 18 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2024 / on the easel
Also, the black. Let’s talk about it. Years and years ago, I regularly set my work on deep black ground. I gradually phased that out and worked exclusively on white — or near-white grounds. In the past few years, I have done smaller paintings in black; it revealed my subject in a fresh and new way. So, above is the first of a slightly larger painting of what will become a new direction for my work.
Below, we have a neutral grey approach. Another way to make the subjects pop right off of the canvas.
Six Clocks – Folk Tales and Fables / 18 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2024 / on the easel
At the end of February, we will see the opening of an exhibition of my latest paintings in Los Angeles at the Billis Williams Gallery. I have been working on tiny details for months now.
Memory: Facts and Fallacies No.2 / 16 x 20 inches / oil on canvas / 2024 / on the easel
The subjects will be familiar to anyone who has seen my work before. Perhaps this time, you will catch new groupings of subjects with more contrast and depth in the lighting.
Memory: Facts and Fallacies No.3 / 18 x 24 inches / oil on canvas / 2024 / on the easel
In a word, the theme of this body of work would be Memory.
I will share more of the new paintings in the coming weeks.
New work has just arrived in Miami for the upcoming art fair season. I sent two new bubble gum paintings to be shown with the George Billis Gallery. The Red Dot Fair runs from December 6–10.
Gumball Machine & Red Trunk No.1 / 36 x 24 inches / oil on canvas
Who doesn’t love a big colourful bubblegum machine?
Gumball Machine & Red Trunk No.2 / 36 x 24 inches / oil on canvas
And so again, I have entered the quiet, busy painting phase as I work toward an upcoming exhibition in Los Angeles for late February 2024.
Everything is framed and shipped to the George Billis Gallery. As I write this, many paintings are in transit, somewhere in the middle of the continent and scheduled to arrive at the gallery in New York on Monday morning.
When the paintings are in transit, I suffer from mild anxiety. It has happened a few times when the heavy-duty packaging has arrived damaged, and I dread to think of how it happens. But 9 times out of 10, everything goes as expected.
The show goes up on the gallery walls on October 3, and the reception is on Thursday, October 5, from 6pm – 8pm.
1926 Royal P Typewriter with Pencil & Black Telephone Receiver / framed
I just completed a series of three paintings for my upcoming exhibition in New York City. Three birds-eye view typewriters.
1928 Underwood Portable Standard Typewriter with Three Pencils / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
I love painting the mechanical components of the machines.
1964 Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 Typewriter with Pencil & Book / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
There will always be something charming and delightful in typewriters. Each piece is 2 feet tall and three feet wide. The typewriters are all depicted as life-size. My goal with these paintings is to have a viewer almost get a sense of being able to touch and use the typewriters.
1926 Royal P Typewriter with Pencil / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
When I start each painting, it never fails that I end up slightly overwhelmed at the number of keys I’ve locked myself into painting. I once told someone that my ability to sit quietly and do something as tedious as painting 150 tiny circles and squares is probably the key to why I can paint as much as I do.
I have been working in the studio every day for the past three months. Well, I did take four days off to visit with family, but I made up for lost time by working in the evenings because I have an upcoming exhibition in New York City with the George Billis Gallery. The show goes up on October 3, and I have just sent the first batch off to the framers. I’m down to the wire finishing up the last few pieces before I can officially relax and come up for air.
In a few weeks, I’ll share the new paintings. This one here won’t be part of the show. It’s already on its way to a collector in New Jersey, as it was sold before it even went to the gallery.
Three Gumball Machines / 40 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
I am participating in two group exhibitions this month — the first up is with the George Billis Gallery, a show featuring gallery artists in Manhattan. My contribution is shown here in the gallery window.
1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe / 30 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / gallery window in Manhattan
And quickly followed by this exhibition is the same typewriter composed face-in instead of birds-eye with the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, North Carolina.
1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe & Pencils / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / on the easel
Study for 1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe & Pencils / 9 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / on the easel
This invitational exhibition features study paintings shown alongside the fully realized larger version. The Robert Lange Studios always have interesting ideas for exhibitions.
I am happy to share the news that I will be exhibiting some new paintings in New York City — the paintings go up from May 24 to June 11, 2022. The George Billis Gallery has a space at The High Line Nine Gallery at 507 West 27th Street for the summer.
If you are familiar with my work and have been following the progress for some time, you’ll see a new direction in some of the paintings. It would be about 14 or 15 years ago that I painted in “black” — and I have to say that I find it refreshing to take my favourite subjects and breath new life into them.
New Work / George Billis Gallery NYC / May 24 – June 11, 2022
After several months of steady work, I have completed 22 new paintings that I have started shipping to the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles for my upcoming solo exhibition that goes up on February 26 and runs through March 26. So you’ll be reading and seeing plenty from me now that the hard work is done.
Books & Colored Pencils / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel
I have been painting still life for over twenty years now. So much of what I do is honestly about making a balanced, crisp, clean composition of objects to entice the simple act of observation. I use the opportunity to paint to make something delightful and pleasing. Not only for myself but for other people to enjoy as well. I have always drawn my inspiration from the long-established still-life painting tradition, which was first introduced in the form we know today by the French painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin in the 18th century.
The Attributes of the Arts and the Rewards Which Are Accorded Them / by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin / oil on canvas / 1776
I could take a deep dive into the significance of Charin’s paintings to the world we live in, not just in art, but in all things, but I’ll spare you for now.
Instead, I want to show how I draw inspiration and remix the visuals he introduced centuries ago. His painting depicts “the attributes of the arts” — his palette and brushes on top of a box of paints, a plaster cast used to practice drawing, books with instructions and inspiration, and an award given to him for his accomplishments.
In my work, I use the propped books as Chardin did, but I have pencil crayons. Specifically, they are Laurentien pencil crayons which are an iconic part of a Canadian child’s early school experience. These were my introduction to the possibilities of art-making. My work is high-key (bright and airy) compared to the dark and shadowed Chardin visual world.
Books & Colored Pencils + Trophy / framed and ready to go
And here is the painting, varnished, framed and ready to ship to Los Angeles. Shown here along with another smaller painting (Trophy / 16 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / 2021) which is my nod to the rewarding life that painting has given me.
