Drawings and Paintings exhibition November 25 to December 8, 2017

This work is from a two-person show with Jane Tarini at Village Studios in Stratford, Ontario, from Saturday, November 25th to Friday, December 8th. 

Still Life with Apples and Cheese

oil on panel, 18 x 24" SOLD

Still Life with Pear on a Linen Cloth

oil on panel, 10 x 18" SOLD

Mock Orange in a Vase

oil on panel, 18 x 14" SOLD

Grapes in a Silver Bowl

oil on panel, 6 x 6" SOLD

Pear and Grapes

oil on panel, 6 x 8" SOLD

Two Jugs

oil on panel, 6 x 8"  SOLD

Still Life with Pear, Grapes, and Copper Jug

oil on panel, 10 x 14" SOLD

Silo

oil on panel, 5 3/8 x 5 3/8" SOLD

Corn Field #1

oil on panel, 3 1/8 x 6" SOLD

Corn Field #2

oil on panel, 3 1/8 x 6" SOLD

Landscape #1

oil on panel, 6 3/8 x 10 3/8 SOLD

Landscape #2

oil on panel, 4 x 6" SOLD

Landscape #3

egg tempera on panel, 6 1/4 x 6 1/4"

Landscape #4

egg tempera on panel, 6 1/4 x 6 1/4  SOLD

Review of Sinopia products

I was invited by Jackson's in the UK to review two products, Sinopia Chalk Ground and Sinopia Casein Ground, for use with egg tempera. You can read my review here.

(Spoiler: I loved both of them.)

Path

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 4 9/16 x 5 15/16"

edition of 10

9 available

Pigeon

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 6 3/8 x 4 3/4"

edition of 7

7 available

Fly

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 2 1/4 x 2 3/4"

edition of 8

6 available

Duck

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 5 1/2 x 4"

edition of 6

4 available

Spider

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 20 1/4 x 2"

edition of 6

1 available

The plate for this print was made with a strip of a dog food bag turned inside out. The technical name for this material is BoPET, or biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate.  I glued the strip to a piece of mat board, then scratched the image onto the surface with a scalpel. The roughened areas where the dog food had abraded the BoPET left a nice texture that caused the ink to adhere to the plate, so the marks on the wall behind the spider thread were built in before I drew the image.  

Once again, I've used a pasta maker as a printing press.

Instructional Video: Printing with a Pasta Maker

Here's a little video I made:

Materials required:
- Pasta maker
- Printmaking paper
- Akua Intaglio Ink
- A scalpel or other sharp tool
- A piece of clear plastic from a food container (it should say PET somewhere on the container)
- Newsprint for protecting your work surface
- Tissue paper for wiping
- A drawing or photo to trace
- A piece of card stock or other heavy paper
- Water
- Sandpaper (optional)

Fish

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper, NFS

Orleans Park

Drypoint on Stonehenge paper

plate size 5 1/4 x 4" 

edition of 9
5 available

Drypoint with a pasta maker

I have been experimenting with a printmaking technique called Drypoint.  Instead of working on a traditional metal etching plate, I've scratched a piece of plastic with the tip of a scalpel to create the image. When intaglio ink is spread onto the plate and rubbed away with a piece of tissue paper, the scratches retain the ink.

Since I don't have a printing press, I've used a pasta maker to roll a damp piece of Stonehenge printmaking paper against the plastic. The rollers provide enough pressure to transfer the inked image onto the paper.  Here's the result:

Field Mouse, plate size 3 x 3"

Drypoint, edition of 10

SOLD OUT

Balloon Dreams: exhibition opening Saturday, June 10

In this series, I continue my exploration of surrealism. For me, this way of painting is about placing subjects in unexpected settings.  In the past I’ve focused on animals. This year I’ve turned to a styrene wig stand, a cast-off brought home by my daughter many years ago. Since I also paint portraits, I’ve been unable to look at this wig stand without thinking that it’s a face asking to be painted.

Humans anthropomorphize objects, especially objects made in our own image. From the moment we receive our first doll, stuffed toy, or action figure, we begin to think of this thing as another personality: a personality capable of reflecting our own feelings back to us.  When we see a blank-faced wig stand in an unexpected environment, we can’t help but impose our own emotions onto it.  We imagine that “it” is in fact a “she” and that she actually has something on her mind. If she’s lying in a puddle, or at the side of the road, she’s been thrown away. If she’s sitting on a table facing a window, she must be looking through that window, and she must be seeing what is in front of her. We know very well that she is made of plastic foam, but still we can’t stop empathizing with her.

As for the balloons, they are symbols of hope, a literal rising beyond earthly constraints. A head without a body can’t go anywhere, but a head watching balloons in the sky is a head that is dreaming, possibly of better things. 

Rock Pool

acrylic on muslin laid on panel, 36 x 36"

Balloon Dreams

acrylic on panel, 36 x 36"

Portrait of a Wig Stand

oil on panel, 14 x 11" SOLD

Shadow

acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36"

The Guardian

acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24"

Window

acrylic on panel, 20 x 16" SOLD

Clock

acrylic on panel, 20 x 16" SOLD

The Princesses' Bedroom

acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16"

Stairs

acrylic on panel, 18 x 14"  SOLD

 Arrival at Ile d'Orleans

acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36" SOLD

 After the Flood

acrylic on canvas, 20 x 30"

 No Exit

acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24"

 Gathering

acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18" SOLD

 Wardrobe

acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18"

 Arrival at Russell Square

acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16" SOLD

Hall

acrylic on birch panel, 14 x 14" SOLD