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