ABOUT the artist
Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. – John Ruskin |
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There is a saying that art is a way of showing that the ordinary is extraordinary, and it is this idea that motivates my work. I am inspired to find beauty in the most ordinary places. There is a great richness in everyday life: colours, textures, shapes, the quality of light . . . these are only some examples of the beauty that surrounds us. I try to capture the positive things found in everyday life and convey the feelings that this richness inspires—the peace and grandeur of the landscape, and the warmth, dignity, and inner strength of people.
I work mainly in oil paint because I love the richness of its texture and colour—and I have to admit that I even like the smell. I also enjoy creating drawings as finished works in their own right. Drawing has a wonderful immediacy about it, and I enjoy the challenge of capturing the complexity of a scene or expressing a personality using a simple pencil or single stick of charcoal. Recently I have been drawing in silverpoint, which is a very old medium that is not often used now. It is interesting because the silver oxidizes (tarnishes) and changes colour as the drawing is exposed to air, and so the drawing changes and ages and in a way, takes on a life of its own.
My work has been shown in several venues, including Toronto's historic Distillery District, the Varley Gallery in Unionville, and the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, the Bisset Art Gallery in Calgary, the Cumberland Gallery and the Foyer Gallery, both in Ottawa.
I work mainly in oil paint because I love the richness of its texture and colour—and I have to admit that I even like the smell. I also enjoy creating drawings as finished works in their own right. Drawing has a wonderful immediacy about it, and I enjoy the challenge of capturing the complexity of a scene or expressing a personality using a simple pencil or single stick of charcoal. Recently I have been drawing in silverpoint, which is a very old medium that is not often used now. It is interesting because the silver oxidizes (tarnishes) and changes colour as the drawing is exposed to air, and so the drawing changes and ages and in a way, takes on a life of its own.
My work has been shown in several venues, including Toronto's historic Distillery District, the Varley Gallery in Unionville, and the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, the Bisset Art Gallery in Calgary, the Cumberland Gallery and the Foyer Gallery, both in Ottawa.