June newsletter

​Good morning!

I hope this day is off to a fine start for everyone.  Here in Calgary it has rained quite a lot lately, which is great for our garden, and sometimes leads to a rainbow.  Today the rain has stopped, the sun is shining, and I'm appreciating some indoor rainbows cast on the wall by a prism hung in the window.

A few new things have been going on with my art practice:

First, I am very pleased to relate that I have recently been accepted into Christine Klassen Gallery here in Calgary.  It has been some time since my old gallery, AXIS, closed its doors, and now I'm glad I waited to find a new place which seems like it will be an excellent fit.  Christine Klassen, Hilary Knutson and James MacIntyre are a great team with some out-of-the-box ideas on promoting the gallery and artists, and the gallery space itself is absolutely gorgeous.  I feel honoured to be working with them!

There is an introductory exhibition at CKG of work by myself and Calgary artist Mike Binzer; we are both new to the gallery.  The exhibition runs from July 10 to August 22, 2015.  There will be an opening reception on Friday July 10th, from 5-7pm, and I will give a brief talk about my work at 6pm.  Please come out and celebrate with us!  The exhibition will include selections from the Multiples series, and from the most recent Ellipse paintings which stem from an experience I had during an Artscape residency last November.  To view images of the work, click here.

Secondly, I have a 3-D piece accepted into "This House Is On Fire" at the New Edward Gallery", an alternative gallery space also in Calgary.  It's an exciting opportunity to make and show work which lies outside my usual studio practice.  This event, which includes visual art, music and food, opens on Wednesday, July 1 from 6-11pm.  The art will be up for 3 days only, from July 1-3, 2015.  Join us for the opening celebration or stop in to the gallery to view the artwork while it's up!

Thirdly, in May of this year I had another super fun creative opportunity: to alter and paint 3 hard hats for the groundbreaking ceremony of cSPACE Projects at the old King Edward School in Marda Loop, Calgary.  If you'd like to see the hard hats I did and learn a bit more about this cSPACE project, click here.

Finally, the AGA's Travelling Exhibition "Eye And The City" will be hosted by the Onoway Public Library from June 24 to July 22 and the Mayerthorpe Public Library from July 29 to August 26, before moving on into the Medicine Hat region for the next leg of the journey.  "Eye And The City" is an exploration of urban landscapes through artworks by Russell Bingham, Gordon Harper, David Janzen, Paul Murasko and myself.

I hope you are enjoying your day and taking time to pause for rainbows - literally and/or figuratively!

Until next time,

Meanwhile, in the studio...

A rather bland portrait made a couple of weeks ago:

looks more lively when photoshopped:

A new 2D series begun, these are 16.75 inches square:

And a 3D piece underway for an exhibition in a non-commercial gallery!  Here are some detail shots of the first prototype in my studio:

I will make another attempt at this, using a smoother string so the knots are more easily visible.

receive and send

Before I begin with the art news, allow me to show you this beautiful wildflower bouquet, comprised partly of garden plants (columbine, poppy leaves, arugula flowers) and partly of plain old weeds (grasses, violets, dandelions, and other nameless things)  Is it not wonderful?

One might say I receive the beauty of the weeds, and try my best to send some beauty back into the world.

The same day I composed that delicious bouquet, I received something else: a few older works back from one of my galleries.  I'm glad to see this painting again:

Precipitate
mixed media and stitching on canvas
45 x 51 inches

The title is interesting as this painting was made on the eve of a tidal change in my work.

There's a lot I like about "Precipitate" as it is, but now seeing it again after two years I can imagine some improvements.  It is from a series of works I made where I left quite a bit of the raw, unpainted canvas showing.  In this particular piece, I think there may be too much of that same raw canvas colour, so I may adjust the top portion a bit.

Between taking in older work and preparing newer work to send out, my studio can get a bit cluttered:

before

after

Ah, that's all nice and tidy now.  Hey, aren't artists supposed to be messy, creative geniuses working in hives of clutter?  *laughs*  Not this artist, apparently - at least, not all the time.

9 large and 55 small paintings
arrived at CKG gallery

I'm really excited that my work is now being represented by CKG here in Calgary!  The people at CKG are wonderful, the space is beautiful, and they have some exciting out-of-the-box ideas about promoting the gallery and artists.

It's been a year and a half since I've worked with a local gallery.  During that time my work has evolved quite a bit.  First the Multiples, and now the new Ellipse series have taken me wholly into the world of pure abstraction.

I've really felt that I'm going out on a limb in making these purely abstract works.  Going out on a creative limb is exciting and invigorating! ... but the potential of a parallel financial limb can be stressful.  This is something to consider when making artwork for one's living. I wouldn't have it any other way, though.  

After periods of darkness there is always light.