TOAE Crunch Time!

POSTED JUNE 27, 2007 AT 12:00PM

My favourite event of the year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, is fast approaching and the studio is full of action. Here is a list of the week's activity:

1. Finish four new paintings.
2. Order ten frames for the new paintings.
3. Prepare and mail out the exhibition post card.
4. Prepare and send email newsletter.
5. Update website with newest work.
6. Deliver paintings, several still wet, to the frame shop.
7. Gather exhibition booth materials - chair, gridwall, etc.
8. Watch my daughter play soccer.
9. Get a haircut.

It is such a busy time that my four year old daughter helps out. She added five leaves to 'Autumn Color, Salmon Lake No.2' and was very proud. I'm looking forward to spending July 6-8 in Toronto talking with countless art lovers and fellow artists. This year, I will be showing 25 paintings at BOOTH 435 and I hope to see you there!

The Envy of Celebrities

POSTED JUNE 8, 2007 AT 5:00PM

In the documentary 'Sketches of Frank Gehry', by Sydney Pollack, the world-famous architect says,

"If I have a big envy in my life, it's about painters. I wish I was a painter. What I'm fascinated with is the moment of truth. There's the canvas - it's on your easel. You've got a brush and this goddam palette of colours and what do you do? What's that first move? I love that dangerous place."

He is then asked if he has ever tried to paint? Gehry answers, "Never. I won't dare because I wouldn't know what to do. I know how to do a building."

I haven't felt this envied by a celebrity since I was in graduate school studying landscape architecture and Brad Pitt stated on Oprah that if he wasn't a movie star, he would be a landscape architect. On a serious note, the moment that Gehry speaks about is always one of excitment, anticipation and adventure. However, when I sit in front of a empty canvas, I am largely filled with impatience because I can't wait to see the finished product and the response it will pull out of its viewers.

Painting is Fiction

POSTED MAY 9, 2007 AT 9:00AM

In the Author's Notes of the Man Booker Prize winning novel 'Life of Pi', Yann Martel writes that fiction is "the selective transforming of reality" and the "twisting of [reality] to bring out its essence". Painting in many ways is the same as fiction. Working from photographs, I transform reality by capturing the necessary details - color, texture, light - to bring out the essence of the landscape. This process of 'twisting' what you see is unique to each artist (the artist's vision) and is what ultimately makes the arts - literature, painting, music - so varied and exciting.

Twisting reality to bring out its essence - literature, painting, music.

New Mt. Nemo Painting - First Stages

POSTED APRIL 26, 2007 AT 11:00AM

The first painting from my memorable winter hike at Mt. Nemo is underway (see 'In The Woods', Febraury 28 blog entry for hike details). Working from photos, I made a quick ink sketch to feel out the composition. I actually did the sketch while sitting in my booth at the OneofaKind Show in March. The next step was to create a small oil painting study to further refine the composition and work out how to capture the key details. Having analyzed the landscape twice - first when doing the sketch and then when doing the study painting - I now have a strong understanding of how to capture the light and depth of the image and I'll be starting the final large-scale painting in the next couple of weeks.

(left) Ink sketch. (right) Study painting, 10x8 inches, oil on board.

OneofaKind Experience

POSTED APRIL 5, 2007 AT 4:30PM

The dust has now settled from the OneofaKind Show in Toronto and it was a success! The show started off with a bang as my painting 'Into Summer Woods' was featured in the popular Thumbprint Magazine on the OneofaKind website. All week people came to see the painting in person. As the show progressed, it was great fun to watch and chat with thousands of people. The solitary working life of a painter can be a challenge - some days I don't even use my voice - so it was nice to get out from behind the easel. Thanks to everyone - family, friends and art patrons - for visiting me at the show. Now I'm excited to get back to work on five new paintings and soon it will be time to get into the woods to look for more ideas.

Booth K-46 at the Spring OneofaKind Show - my home for five days.

Then and Now

POSTED MARCH 14, 2007 AT 1:00PM

I have uncovered some early evidence suggesting that I would one day be a landscape painter focusing on trees. This sketch of a forest dates back to 1974 when I was four years old growing up in downtown Toronto. It contains a key element common in my paintings more than 30 years later - the tree in the foreground creating depth and visually pulling the viewer into the landscape. So, if your four year old daughter is always pretending to be a doctor, you might want to start saving for med school tuition.

(left) 'Forest', pencil on paper, 1974. (right) 'Into The Woods', oil on canvas, 2006.

In The Woods

POSTED FEBRUARY 28, 2007 AT 5:30PM

Fresh snow, warm temperatures and sun are the three key ingredients for my favourite winter hiking conditions. This afternoon was perfect so I spent two hours hiking through the woods at Mount Nemo - a 169 hectare park on the Niagara Escarpment in Burlington. The trees are spaced beautifully on the rolling terrain and blue shadows cross the snow that is dotted with fresh deer tracks. I've always been intriqued by the contrast between the stillness deep in these woods and the hustle and stress of the urban world all around. I hope that this contrast is apparent when looking at my paintings. As soon as I returned to my studio, I loaded the photos onto the Mac and found that there will be more than one painting coming out of this afternoon's hike.

There are two paintings created from previous visits to Mount Nemo on the
PAINTINGS AVAILABLE page - 'Winter Birch, Mount Nemo No.2' and 'Winter Shadows'. On the PAINTINGS SOLD page, 'Winter Woods' and 'Autumn Field' are also from Mount Nemo and the print available on the PRINTS page is 'Winter Birch, Mt. Nemo No.2'.

Happy artist in the birches on Mount Nemo.

Work In Progress

POSTED FEBRUARY 21, 2007 AT 9:00AM

I will be displaying a work in progress from time to time so you can share in my excitement as a new painting takes shape. I work from photographs and make a small painting study to determine if it will be a successful large-scale work. I am currently creating a 30x36 inch painting of the study shown below. I'm intriqued by the distant lake in the upper left and the slightly pastel color palette of late autumn. This image was photographed on Thanksgiving weekend - my favourite family cottage weekend of the year.

'Autumn, Near Salmon Lake-Study', 8x10 inches,
oil on canvas board.

Two More Weeks

POSTED FEBRUARY 14, 2007 AT 9:30AM

The show at IMA Gallery is getting a great response and you have just two more weeks to check it out. With my paintings, I aim to pull the viewer into the landscape so come in out of the cold and go for a walk in the woods.

IMA Gallery is located at 114 Yorkville Avenue
in Toronto. Visit www.imagallery.ca for details.

Painting Delivery

POSTED JANUARY 29, 2007 AT 10:30AM

This weekend, I delivered five new paintings to the IMA Gallery in Toronto's Yorkville to be exhibited for the month of February. As a child, I spent many weekend afternoons touring the numerous Yorkville galleries with my parents never thinking that one day my work would be on display in this famous Canadian art district. I am very excited with the paintings at IMA and hope that you make it to the gallery to see them in person.

The paintings are on the PAINTINGS AVAILABLE page and can also be viewed at www.imagallery.ca

Musical Inspiration

POSTED JANUARY 26, 2007 AT 4:15PM

I am inspired by other creators - architects, movie directors, chefs and musicians. Whether it's an eye-catching building or a perfectly composed plate of food, when something unique and complete comes out of the exciting and puzzling creative process, it inspires me to jump in. When I hear a great song, especially for the first time, I stop painting, sit back and absorb the inspiration. When these songs fill my studio, the toe starts tapping, paint brushes become drum sticks and I have to fight the urge to get up, grab my guitar and play along. Below, I've listed my five favourite songs for the month of January.

1. Beggar's Oil by Kelly Joe Phelps from the CD 'Beggar's Oil - EP'
2. Down In The Willow Garden by Jerry Douglas, from the CD 'Tone Poets'
3. Long As You Get It Done by Guy Davis, from the CD 'Legacy'
4. Hook's In The Water by Colin Linden, from the CD 'Southern Jumbo'
5. Help Me by Harry Manx, from the CD 'West Eats Meet'

Playing at the cottage this summer.

Exactly!

POSTED JANUARY 24, 2007 AT 11:00PM

Dorata Kozinska, a Montreal-based art critic, wrote in the spring 2005 Les Vie Des Arts magazine that "young artists are focusing once again on producing works that please the senses, in the process rediscovering the endless inspiration of nature and the pure joy of painting." I was excited to find this quote because it captures my primary motivation when I paint. I'm continually asking myself if the painting I'm working on is something that I would like to look at every morning when I walk into my living room or office.