News

During my Residency at the Union Club I completed several new paintings. With the restrictions of space and time, I decided to use ready made stretched canvases, smaller than my usual size and easily transportable. With an original pastel sketch in hand each Thursday was a challenge to complete, or nearly complete, a painting in one day. Often I would have to take the painting back to the studio for its final edits and always added the signature flourishes of liquid paint in the safety of my own space.

The results were a more traditional approach to my material, often representing a plein air visit to a favourite venue in and around Victoria.

‘View from Tower Point’ 28 x 36 inches

‘After the Harvest’ 28 x 36 inches

‘Point no Point’ 18 x 24 inches

‘Poolside’ 18 x 24 inches

‘Light over Gonzales’ 28 x 36 inches

I’ve been selected as Artist in Residence at the Union Club in Victoria for the months of June and July. This beautiful building with oak paneled rooms was built in 1885 and retains the full splendour of that era. I have 7 of my large canvases in the Dining Room and a space in the entrance lobby for on-site painting every Thursday.

‘Deep Grasses’ 44 x 48 inches

‘Seagull’ 44 x 48 inches

Dining Room showing ‘Poggio Harvest’ and ‘Gonzales Willows’

This summer I have the exciting opportunity to display my paintings in new venues. The first is at the Abstract Developments Bowker Penthouse on Cadboro Bay Road. I have six large canvases on display in the showcase apartment. Chosen by their Interior Designer, you can see the venue and paintings below.

Here is a Virtual Tour of the Bowker Penthouse:

Two large canvases created in Feb/March this year. The first is a layered structural piece of the ocean. The second an abstract synthesis in the forest.

I’ve been busy over the winter with several new paintings. The theme this year examines the energies of the land. The colours of a winter landscape display the visible and invisible energies and subtle movement of tiny microns of matter in air. A land sleeps and is awake, dreams and connects to the deep creation.

‘Winter Festa’ Acrylic on Canvas, 18 x 24 inches

I am offering a Refresher Day for painting, at Xchanges Gallery & Studios. This is an opportunity to bring along a work-in-progress or start a new painting. If you would like support in your painting process, or need some inspiration for a new painting, this is the chance to spend the day with others and share ideas.

Tuesday, February 18th
10:30am – 2:30pm
Xchanges Gallery, 2333 Government Street, Victoria B.C. V8T 4P4
(I apologize, there is no disabled access at this venue. Please note 2 flights of stairs)

For full details, click on ‘Classes’ on the Menu Bar.

Thank you to everyone who completed the voting slip for my Free Prize Draw. At the Bridge Studio Crawl the Glass jar was full of completed slips with many people giving their paper an extra fold for luck! Last night the Winner claimed her framed, Giclée Print on canvas of ‘Visions of Metchosin’. (See Below)

The Visions of Metchosin’ Prints on Canvas have been very popular, and I created a 30 x 30 inch print recently, the same size as the original painting. I work with a photographer to match the colours exactly and create an image which is extremely high resolution across the surface of the canvas. This image is then taken to the printer who makes the printable image on screen, in order to create a wrap-around Gallery-Wrapped canvas on a wooden stretcher. I transport the original painting there to once more balance the colours and confirm the final, printable image.

It is a long and complicated process but worth the effort when the final result is so close to the original artwork that the brushstrokes on the grain of the canvas are visible, and the colour-match perfect.

A Giclée high resolution print can be ordered (any size) for the following paintings: Visions of Metchosin, Rocky Point, Poggio, Breath of Spring, Gonzales Willows.

‘Visions of Metchosin’

Friday, November 1st 7pm-9pm is the Opening of the Xchanges Members Exhibit at Xchanges Gallery. Come by for some refreshments and to see the beautiful range of work from Xchanges Members. I have 2 paintings in the exhibit, one from the ‘New Dawn’ series and one created specially for this exhibit.

Friday, November 8th is the start of the Bridge Studio Crawl. I have my studio open to the public on Friday 4pm-8pm and Saturday, November 9th 12pm – 5pm. Several other Arts Collectives in the Bridge St area will also be open to the public on these days. A great opportunity to see what Victoria artists are creating right now!

After completing a series of sketches over the summer months, I started work on a new painting of the energetic properties of harvest. This new painting is inspired by a sketch of the view from my daughter’s little wooden balcony in northern Italy. Their tiny house is parched on the top of hills, with a view over chestnut forests in Liguria. Many years ago these villages were abandoned and many are still empty, their red terracotta roofs reflecting the summer sun. Terraces, cleared, vegetables planted, fruit harvested in baskets, this is a view humming with vitality. In the distance another small village is visible on the crest of a mountain.

In response to my own need to protect my canvases from damage, I have created a new system of BearHug Canvas Protectors!
They are adjustable, heavy plastic corners with soft cushion interior to protect Gallery-Wrapped 1.5 inch deep artwork from damage. These not only protect the corners, they save any damage from dragging or moving on a floorspace.