Baaa

The owner just sent me a photo of this painting in his office.  What a nice surprise it was to see it after all these years!  The sheep looks very comfortable in that setting.

In the mid-80's I had a lot of fun using animals as subject matter for my paintings.

Going Somewhere?

Although we haven't been in each others' studio for many years, it is curious that my friend Loraine Stephanson and I are both putting roads in our paintings. Roads are something I used to ignore because they seemed hard to integrate into the composition and also because they are man-made, uninteresting.  Now roads are almost central to the painting.  Here are two small paintings from a few years ago, while the two bigger ones that you can't see properly are from this year. Sorry that they are upside down and partially out of the picture.

Memories

Yesterday there was a memorial gathering at the Art Gallery of Alberta for the artist Douglas Haynes, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.  I wish I could have been there to join the others in remembering the many ways in which Doug was a part of our lives.  He gave me so very much encouragement when I first met him at Emma Lake in 1980, and in subsequent years. Even today when I am working on a painting, I wonder, what would Doug think of this?

In those days we used to have great studio visits.  This is Doug, myself, and Scott Plear  on Thormanby Island studying some watercolours painted that day.  The photo is a bit fuzzy, but it was 35 years ago!

Paintings Hanging at the University of Saskatchewan President's Residence

It was a nice surprise recently to learn that two of my paintings are hanging in the renovated residence for the president on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.  This is a link to the article in the Star/Phoenix newspaper:

http://thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/local-arts/collecting-saskatchewan-u-of-s-presidents-residence-showcases-best-in-prairie-artwork 

The big landscape "Whereas", 55 x 80", was painted in 1994.  At that time I was starting my canvases in acrylic paint and finishing them with oil paint.  I liked to get a big start with the acrylic, but could achieve more subtlety with the colour by finishing with oil.  (Technically, you cannot start with oil and finish with acrylic because the paint would not hold very well.  But as long as you gesso the canvas first, the reverse is fine.) Here is my photo of it:

When you scroll through the video, you will catch a glimpse of another painting I donated to the university, my "Far Out Chickens".  I don't have a proper photo of it, so here is a photo from the video:

This acrylic is 42 x 56 inches and was painted in 1986.  For a few years I had a lot of fun using animals as subject matter.  

Cheap Brushes

These are the cheap brushes that I use for mixing my colours.  I put some paint into a container and use a plastic spoon or a little whisk to get started, but in the end I grab a brush like this because it does the job so well.  Recently I realized I could actually apply the paint to the canvas with them also.  However, there is no pleasure in the application; it is quite scratchy and rough.  A good brush with good bristles slides over the canvas in a luscious way.    

Happy Friends

Jane Crow took this photo at the opening of my exhibition in Calgary on Saturday.  I met both these two good friends many years ago at Emma Lake, the professional artists workshop in northern Saskatchewan.  Barbara Ballachey, when she is not voyaging around the world, lives and paints in Calgary;  she and I have travelled many times together to attend exhibitions in New York and London.  Michael Matthews hales originally from Calgary, but he and his partner Jane, also a painter, do their creating part of the year in Harrogate, B. C. and the other part in Syracuse, New York.  They both also travel extensively, and took the time to join us last fall to see the Matisse Cut-Outs Show at the Museum of Modern Art.

'Round About Midnight' Exhibition

I am off to Calgary for the opening of my show there on Saturday (September 19, 2015) at Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art.  The paintings are not of any particular place; they are more about memories of different occasions and moments.  However, it is hard for me to believe when I first visited this particular lake in Northern Saskatchewan what it would be the start of: