the TERRA show ends soon

June 22, 2011

By the beginning of July my spouse and I will have moved to beautiful Stratford, Ontario to start a new phase of our lives there. It’s a wonderfully creative city with beautiful parklands throughout.  We’re excited to be living close to the park system, and just a few minutes walk from the Avon River. Once we’ve established ourselves in our new home I’ll be setting up a new studio site somewhere in the city so I can get back to painting. Meanwhile I’ll be using my camera and exploring our new surroundings. Hopefully some of these pictures will end up on this website.

The TERRA show at AYRspace in Ayr, Ontario, runs until the end of this month. If you’re in the area for a pleasant weekend excursion drop in on Jill Yuzwa, the curator, for a look ’round. There are some wonderful paintings by Zenon Billings and yours truly, as well as glass creations by artist Kim McKellar. This show runs through Sunday July 3, 2011. Check www.ayrspace.ca for specific hours.

Some of you might have seen a recent blog entry showing pictures of our century old schoolhouse when we were using this site to advertise the house for a private sale. We’re happy with the results of our sale and sold within a matter of several days. Congrats to the new owners, and “thank you” to all who contacted us or came to the viewing at our Open House.

It’s time to for us move on!

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What a day!

March 12, 2011

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally begun the process of taking charge of my own website!

Thanks to Adrian for teaching me the ropes with several excellent instructional videos and for maintaining a very patient attitude throughout my slow learning curve. Thanks to him as well for keeping my website fresh and updated in the past.

Please take the time to view my website additions. Some of you will recognize older paintings, but there are also quite a few newer pieces. It will be obvious that I am currently pursuing a decidedly non-representational approach to painting. It’s quite a refreshing change for me; a different mindset that reflects my current life-style of fewer professional obligations in my daily life and more free time to delve into new interests in greater depth.

I have been working on a series of related pieces under the umbrella title of Terra. The inspiration for this set of paintings was a radio show interview on the CBC with Dr. David Suzuki. His passion for the preservation of all species, and his strong comments about the continuing Tar Sands developments stayed with me. That and the selection of books I have been reading as a long-time member of a book group moved me to look for a spiritual expression in my art; a spiritual expression with a distinct appreciation for the spirit of our planet. My Artist’s Statement elsewhere on this website states: I hope these paintings effectively communicate my belief that we live in a spirit-filled world. Ours is a world of astounding beauty too often taken for granted. I drafted those words several years ago but I still think the same about our little planet. I continue to believe each sentient being has a responsibility to live in harmony and with compassion for our fellow species.

This seems all the more relevant as I write this today, the day after the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that devastated a large portion of Japan’s east coast, and changed the lives of many humans and other living creatures for ever. Our belief that this earth is a place to be used and abused for our benefit is once again in question as the world grieves with the people of Japan and waits anxiously to see if a nuclear meltdown is about to take place. Meanwhile people in Libya are being assaulted and murdered by hired thugs after some 40 years of plunder and subjugation by one of our world’s many “strong men”. I can’t help but think that some of our technological advancements and some of our political practices exemplify the worst of our treatment of each other and of all life on this planet.

Our various cultures are operated from within patriarchal power frameworks. Endemic to them is the core assumption that we are the one species that has the right to control and to be the great “deciders” ( …sorry, I couldn’t resist) about everything on this planet, and that we can do so with impunity. The term used for this is anthropocentrism (always prioritizing the human). Most religions, most politicians (male and female), most nation states, most rulers, most people in “authority” behave in this fashion. This creates a co-dependency in which a very small number of people get to make all the decisions while almost everyone else is never able to behave as an adult in the truest sense. Someone else is always making decisions for us, and most of those decisions reflect little more than the desire for expediency and greed. Perhaps the celebration of women, such as the world recognized just this week, should be a reminder to us that there can be different approaches; there can certainly be more nurturing and compassionate approaches.

If you wish to explore some of these philosophical ideas in greater detail, please check out this link (http://www.diarmuid13.com/) for Diarmud O’Murchu whose idea about co-dependence I used above. His work challenges traditional religious thinking in profoundly meaningful ways that extend far beyond religious boundaries.  If you are interested in environmental information, please refer to the David Suzuki link posted on my website’s blog page under Worth Looking Into.

By the way, I also have a habit of listening to CBC radio for a good portion of every day. Our “Harper government” is eager to slash funding for this national voice in Canada. You can read more about this attack on the CBC by clicking on the link below. You’ll be given the opportunity to send our Prime Minister a letter and to caution him that you, as a Canadian adult, wish to maintain funding for our sole national broadcaster. Here’s the link:  http://act.friends.ca/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=33&ea.campaign.id=9810

My apologies to my readers for standing on my soapbox today. Sometimes a person just has to do so.

If you’re here for art, please check out the work done by Jose Seoane  (http://seoanestudio.com) and Becky Fixter-Vagners (http://www.canvasgallery.ca/images/artists/fixtervagners/FixterVagners.htm#). The former is from Cuba by way of Windsor. His work is liberating and exciting. The latter is an ARTspace member whose work is becoming more well-known of late. She is a vibrant and energetic artist. You can find out more about her at  http://artspacechathamkent.com/artists/beckyfv.htm.

You may also wish to check out http://ayrspace.ca/events-/intl-women-celebrate if you are in the Kitchener-Waterloo area sometime in the next several weeks. AyrSpace currently has an excellent show of more than 100 pieces of art created by women from around the world. It’s a truly impressive collection of art reflecting thoughtful and too-often-ignored values and ideas.

Until next time.

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Website Update!

January 24, 2011

As you’ve probably noticed, my site has been given a facelift. The website update is almost complete. In the coming weeks I’ll be uploading and updating my back catalogue of paintings and photos. Once the site is completely finished I’ll get back to blogging on a regular basis. Please let me know what you think of the update, and let me know if you have any issues with the new site. Thanks!

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A painting completed, a work in progress, and more…

June 03, 2010

Welcome back, friends.  I admire your willingness to journey with me even though I am not always a consistent and faithful guide.  Thank you for checking in on my progress once again.  It helps keep me focused when I remember there are readers and viewers who follow my haphazard journey.

I just completed my widest painting by far [100 inch (254 cm) long in three panels 24 inches high (61 cm)].  This triptych is titled Purdy Lake Sentinels.  It is now posted for viewing on the website as a “new” entry in the Paintings section.  The painting is based on a section of shore line on a small lake near Bancroft, Ontario, not far from the village of Maynooth.  I spent the better part of a week there last summer.  A wonderfully peaceful location; not overly populated with cottagers.  I was even afforded the gift of a pair of loons calling to each other.  You can hear and see a brief loon clip here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO2jE0a2Xro&feature=related.

What struck me most profoundly about my short stay on Purdy Lake, aside from very pleasant company, was the shoreline.  Gliding along in a paddle canoe or with a small trolling motor in an aluminum fishing craft one can get lost in the profound beauty of it all, especially on a week-day when most of the cottagers are still away.  Unusual rock formations jut out into the water at various points along the shore.  Their white surfaces gleam against the darker backdrops of the undergrowth; sometimes their bright colour is played off against the bold greens, golds, and reds of shore trees that have taken root around them.  One of these looked like a tree-beard.  Some of these pics were previously displayed on my website.  I have worked some digital magic with several more of them and included them as additions in the photographic section of the website.  Look for them there when you have time.

I indicated in my last blog entry I would be developing two paintings, a triptych and diptych.  The first is now on my website, but I’m still playing around with the diptych and its composition.  Here is a thumbnail sketch from my notebook plus a watercolour/ gold ink / black ink study.

As you can see, I almost always use sketches and draft painting plans. These can be of great help when deciding whether some idea should be explored further or not.  I don’t think I’m ready to tackle a very large painting of this subject just yet.  It will likely not be a diptych, in any case.  I think it will be a 60 inches tall painting divided into two clearly distinct parts (as shown in my sketch).  I need to do another colour study or two to develop my ideas and see where it will lead.   Check back in a week or two for another painting (hopefully).

Meanwhile, visit ARTspace in Chatham-Kent (http://www.artspacechathamkent.com)   on June 9 and the rest of the month for Tapestries of a Colourful Life, an exhibition of hooked rug tapestries by Chatham-Kent artist Karen Dysarz.  And, if you’re in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, drop in at AyrSpace in Ayr, Ontario for their latest show: What’s in your barn?  What’s on your farm? (http://ayrspace.ca/featured).  The show opens on June 4 and runs for the month.  It’s a group show featuring rural themed art.  I’ll have six paintings in that show as well.  As well, check out this juried show (http://www.desmondart.com), the Desmond Juried Art Exhibition and Sale,  in Ridgetown from June 12 through the rest of the month.  I looked through their on-line selections of the last two years.  Some wonderful work there; a variety of media used by talented Southwestern Ontario artists.   The newest painting on my website, Purdy Lake Sentinels, will be included in this year’s show.

Until next time,

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SEAland finally opens

May 15, 2010

My website has been updated quite regularly lately.  That’s because it is managed by a very capable person, Adrian Bos, who takes great care to make me look good on the web.  I can’t speak highly of my self, as far as my web responsibilities are concerned.  This blog, for example, has been neglected far too long.  Oh, I have been busy doing other “art” related things, but, I have also chosen not to keep up with it as I had intended.  This, then, is an attempt to update any readers I might still have left after a very long absence.

At the outset, I’d like to thank some people, many of whom will remain un-named.  These are people who have helped me to expand my artistic expression a little more, and I am grateful to them.  Here is the list of people I’d like to recognize:

  • The friends and visitors and supporters who were able to share in the opening of my first “featured artist” show in many years (http://www.artspacechathamkent.com)
  • The friends and members of ARTspace in Chatham, Ontario, who came out to support the latest show of paintings and pottery by various ARTspace members
  • Peter Moffat, who shot many pictures at the opening, burned them onto a cd for me, and gave me permission to use them here in this blog
  • The excellent team of Carl and Sonya, who keep things moving along smoothly and so professionally at ARTspace
  • Andrea Vuletin who graciously provided me a selection of her pottery, so I could choose the pieces that best suit the window installation at ARTspace
  • The poet Rumi, whose wonderful and inspiring words continue to enlighten people’s hearts today
  • My fellow “book group” thought-travelers; some of them were also at the SEAland show at ARTspace
  • My family (immediate and extended) … always supportive and encouraging

If you’ve read any of my previous blog entries, you’ll know I had been working on a series of paintings inspired by a trip to the East Coast.  The set of some twelve paintings was winnowed down to the six called SEAland. Here are some pictures of the event, courtesy of Peter Moffat:

Again, I apologize for the long break between entries.  I’ll do my best to add another entry when the two Purdy Lake paintings are completed.  Check in for that addition to my website in about two weeks or so.  Until then…

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