Dog Day Afternoon in the Dead of Winter

Recently, I've had the pleasure of spending some quality time at my easel with a couple canines.
"Loved Ones" really do come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of fury-ness.
It was quite fun to work on these commissions, and I've been told that Jilly (the pug) even barked at her own painted portrait. A true compliment, indeed!

 "Jilly", oil on linen, 11x14"

"Yawn", oil on canvas, 12x12"

Art Refined

Late September I got involved in a little project with a little oil company called Shell.

Shell put out a call to artists to capture the moment at an oil refinery as it goes through a 'turn around' (or a proverbial house cleaning).
From those artists who answered the call, 10 were selected and invited to spend a day at the Shell Scotford Refinery, site to one of the most modern and efficient refineries in North America.

Just a year prior to this call I desperately (and unsuccessfully) tried to gain access to an actual oil refinery site. I learned quickly that getting on a rig site is not easy for an artist with a camera and a vision of painting portraits of the workers. When this call from Shell surfaced, I jumped at the chance to get involved.

After passing a safety and security orientation, I donned coveralls, a hard hat, steel toed boots, an H2S detector, ear plugs, safety goggles and gloves. I quickly became 'one of many' and was now ready to tour the site (in the company of a designated Shell staff member, of course).

Hobbling in my big boots amidst the clanging noises of the refinery, climbing the towering scaffolding built up around a myriad of pipes and wires and tubes... I felt like a martian. I've never been to Mars, but I imagine that it bears resemblance to this place. Ironically, what impressed me the most was the human element amongst all the heavy equipment and mechanical noise. There were happy hard working faces, peaking out from a welding helmet, waiving from the window of a truck. Smiling gregarious characters met my camera, and were eager to share their story.

The image below is of the four I chose to paint. From a brief interaction, I learned that they're pipe fitters who have been working together for 30 years. They still seemed to genuinely like each other.

One lesson learned from working with Shell is that things move quickly in the oil and gas business: we only had 3 weeks to complete our work (which is a far cry from how long I would normally spend on a painting). Though I'm not terribly happy with the finished product, the visit to Shell Scotford was a genuine adventure.

This picture, along with the work of other artists made in response to their site visit, will be at the Alberta Gallery of Art for the month of December.

(24x30", oil on linen, 2013)

I Doubt It

At a fundraiser event for Latitude 53, an artist friend of mine won the bid on a silent auction item: a commissioned portrait by yours truly. It turned out to be one of the highest bid items at the auction. Though incredibly flattering, this did put a certain amount of pressure on me. My friend Edmund, a very talented portrait painter, commissioned me to paint his portrait.

Commission work often comes with its share of personal doubt.. "Can I capture this likeness, the glint in this eye, the angles of this particular mouth..? Will the person who knows this face best recognize it? Will I be able to create the illusion of life on a two-dimensional surface, without losing soul?"
Now for the first time ever, I faced the challenge of painting a fellow artist. With each brush stroke, I kept thinking of how he will be scrutinizing not just his likeness, but the technical execution of the drawing, the quality of the light in the paint, the successful risks taken or not taken, etc.

But, in the words of a famous Canadian, you gotta kick at the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight, right? Right.

This afternoon, I delivered the finished painting and I do believe that Edmund was pleased with it. 

Anya = 1
Darkness = 0

Edmund, 11x14", oil on linen

(pardon the glare on the image)

 

OIL IN OIL

I have been working on a series of unsolicited portraits for a little show at Latitude 53, as part of the Incubator series the Gallery hosts each week. The show, entitled "Oil in Oil" is now on view,  and will be up until July 28 2012. Please come take a look!

Please visit the Latitude 53 Blog for additional information.

Below is the Artist Statement that will accompany my show at Latitude 53; it provides good context and summary for what these images are about:

At a recent Latitude 53 Fundraiser event, I had a conversation with a man working “up North”. We didn’t have this conversation face to face, as this man was still in Fort McMurray at the time of our chat. His friends were in attendance and were sharing his texts with me. Through these texts he informed me that he would like to commission a portrait of himself, in the grand style of ‘old school’ paintings, and that he wanted himself pictured with a wolf and a bottle of vodka as props.

Price didn’t seem to be an object, but time was. Turns out he wanted a mural, painted on the wall of his mobile home and he thought it shouldn’t take too long.

I have not painted this mural yet, but I did get to thinking…

Are there others who work ‘up North’ who would want their portrait painted? And if so, what kind of objects/props would they want to include in these pictures?  How would they want to be immortalized? I was starting to form an entire project in my head that revolved around the concepts of identity, industry and the interdependency we all share in Alberta with the ‘bubbling crude’ that comes out of the ground.

My thoughts on this subject were also bubbling, so I thought I would start with simple portraits for now.

The paintings in this “Incubator” exhibit are studies - a chance to engage with those who work ‘up North’. Through these unsolicited portraits I had a chance to visit remote work sites where every day, 24/7, oil and gas is extracted from the ground by men and women. I have never been to an actual rig, and was humbled to find out that it’s not easy to gain access to these sites. I also visited a training workshop, where tech operators were learning to use specific equipment that pumps oil out of the ground.

I quickly noticed that most people I met seldom let the top of their head show. Whether hardhat, or baseball hat, heads were covered.

The faces seen on these walls are just some of the people I met. Everyone was incredibly open and willing to participate in these ‘unsolicited’ portraits, and I am very grateful to them.

Eventually, I would like to take this series further – to arrange time for those who work ‘up North’ to sit for a portrait. My hope is to have each person tell me how they want to be portrayed, what ‘props’ they would want to have in the portrait with them and let the painting process unfold as a conversation between us. The human face is magic, and tells a story. As an artist I feel it is a true honour to be in communion with that magic, and the responsibility that comes with such story telling is a privilege. 

The story of oil, Earth’s ancient resource is a global story. However, brining it home I hope to explore the impact ‘oil’ has on present-day Alberta; I would like to tell this story through the faces of those people whose livelihood depends on what the Great White North has coursing through its earthly veins.

Ultimately, I hope to create a moment of dialogue between the face looking at a portrait and the portrayed face looking back, pausing to think about the legacy we all leave behind.

Here's a sneak peak at the work that's on view:

 "Harley Davidson", 9 x 12" oil on linen

 "I've Been Doing This For A Long Time", 20x30" oil on birch panel 

 "Let Me Get My Welding Helmet", 20x30", oil on birch panel

 

Father's Day in Review

A large-scale construction project is going on in Edmonton - the City is expanding its Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines. In order to protect some of the vegetation that neighbors the construction sites, the City has built plywood boxes around the trees. These boxes are functional, but sadly look coffin-like.  

So, a group of friends in Edmonton decided to get together and make art that would amp up the aesthetics of these function-over-form structures. I was honored to be included in this group.

The theme was Father's Day (#poppaart), and this is what I came up with:

acrylic on wood, 27"x48", Dad c.1975

The adventure of putting up unsolicited art was quite fun, and the look on my Dad's face when he saw his portrait hanging on a tree on Father's Day, was priceless.

Hopefully, nobody walks off with the picture... But it is the public domain, so I guess 'art getting jacked' is all part of the process.

 If someone does appropriate this portrait, I just hope they're nice to my Papa.

Dad on tree

Twenty Twelve!

After such a long absence, it feels a little strange to be back, but the calendar now reads 2012, and it's high time to dust off the old blog.

Although life has been full, busy and time has not been on my side, I have managed to complete a few pieces that I would like to share.

Here is one, of a beautiful girl named Ramona (8 x 10", oil on wood).



I will post others before it is 2013.

What's the Latitude for the National Portrait Gallery of Canada?

Apparently, the answer is 53. Latitude 53.

Over the past few months I have been working on a painting of Rich Terfry, a.k.a Buck 65, a.k.a host of "Drive" on CBC Radio 2. He has graciously agreed to be the subject for a portrait that is on view at Latitude 53 until July 17, 2010.

The portrait was completed for a show entitled: National Portrait Gallery, whose curatorial focus stems from constructive criticism on the state of the actual National Portrait Gallery of Canada (the NPG collection is currently warehoused and not available for viewing).

I am thrilled to be a part of this cheeky project. It has been a dream working with Rich Terfry, who has been an incredible inspiration and a true friend.

I am having a very 'proud to be Canadian' Friday night. Maybe at the opening reception tonight, I'll have a Canadian or two. On second thought...

Winter Silence is Over

... Here comes the sun.

Life has presented many distractions lately, so artistic productivity has sadly been on the decline. However, I have been plugging away on a rather large portrait of a rather cool guy, for a group portrait show coming up in June. Here's a sneak peak of the 'eyes', in detail. The whole painting is 24" x 36", oil, and I'll post the full view once it is complete.

Thanks for checking out the blog, despite the long winter silence.

Baby Steps

Have been working on a little portrait of a little girl named Sophia.