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
My great-grandmother, whom I was close with growing up, was born on a farm in Poland in 1904. When she was ten years old, she and her family became shrouded in the brutality of World War I. The farm they lived and worked on became the stage of the Eastern Front. As a child, she was an eyewitness to the horrors of The Great War. We heard snippets of what they had to do to survive, but it was difficult for her to talk about the war. It was as awful as you could imagine.
She left Poland with her own young family in 1934, just after the Nazis came to power and just before World War II. The rest of her life was lived in peace in Canada.
She died in 2000, at age 96. I always thought about the scope of her life, about the profound changes the world went through over the near-century she was here. And now I am left wondering how she would think of the current situation.
I collect these vintage and antique books that I use in my paintings. This particular piece has a Victorian-era philosophy text long side classic Penguin paperbacks.
The ideas and stories in these books are not old, useless and out of date. Instead, it would seem that everything old is new again and in the wrong way — as evidenced in yet another terrifying war in Eastern Europe.
We Have Read This Story Before / 16 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel
Tell Me a True Story / 24 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2022 / on the easel
Tell Me a True Story / 24 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2022
These two paintings are being installed on the gallery walls in Los Angeles today. The exhibition will run from February 26 to April 2, 2022.
My last exhibition in Los Angeles was exactly two years ago. So much has happened in these two years it’s almost hard to wrap one’s head around. I am left wondering what the next two years will bring.
A World on the Wane / 24 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2022 / on the easel
A World on the Wane / 24 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 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.
If anything, my paintings are about objects that can be touched and held in hand and have some history recent enough to make sense to the viewer but obsolete enough to become almost useless to modern life. To me, the experience of these objects is more melancholic than nostalgic.
Colored Pencils / 16 x 16 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel
“No age has a monopoly on misery,” and with that quote, the book featured in this painting starts the guidance on how to live an abundant life.
Published in 1950, The Art of Real Happiness is a reconciliation of old-age religious beliefs and modern psychology. I always try to have a book on the go, and I have been reading history books lately, and if there is one theme that is consistent through millennia, it is the collision of “old” and “new” ways of thinking.
It seems as though we are entering a new era where our conflicting ways of thinking, our myriad of philosophies and beliefs are colliding. And as a quiet observer of the world around me, I find myself straddling feelings of excitement and worry.
I’m putting the finishing touches on this painting on what is a very optimistic day.
There have been so many setbacks for everyone, especially in this last year. But it is beginning to feel like we are turning a corner and things will again move forward.
These primary readers from the 40s, 50s, and 60s are sending me the signals. On we go!
New work available at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles.
Red Pencils / 16 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / 2020 / on the easel
One of the best parts of elementary school was always getting a set of new pencil crayons at the beginning of the year despite having perfectly good ones previously.
HB Pencils / 16 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / 2020 / on the easel
I have said it before on this blog, but the subjects that I choose are more than just neat objects that happen to be old. I use them as symbols more than anything.
Despite there being such easy ways to stay connected to people now, it’s remarkable that we still let some essential relationships fall to the side. The other day I was driving in my car and noticed someone walking on the street who looked remarkably like someone who I was once very close with and saw regularly. It was an uncanny resemblance, but it was not the person in question when I got a closer look.
Long Distance IV / 18 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2020 / on the easel
For the rest of my drive, I was stuck recalling memories of time spent with this person who has faded from my life. How and why did we drift apart and lose touch? It is almost as though we all chose to leave our phones off the hook.
Long Distance III / 18 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2020 / on the easel
These paintings are on view at the George Billis Gallery in New York City until October 24.
