An Artist Muses

I'm a pretty big fan of classical music, thanks in part to my father who was also a fan.  And one of my all-time favorite symphonies is "The Planets" by Gustav Holst.  Much of the seven-movement "Planets" would be familiar to the ear of even the casual classical listener, in particular "Mars - The Bringer of War" "Venus - The Bringer of Peace" and "Jupiter - The Bringer of Jollity". "Mars" written in 1914, perfectly captured the incoming storm-clouds of world war, with it's relentlessly dark driving rhythm.  It's arguably the most recognizable of the seven movements.  The last movement "Neptune - The Mystic" is the only one that includes the human voice.  On the night of its premiere, the women's choir performing it was kept off-stage, so that the effect was that their haunting, ethereal notes drifted down through the hall in a disembodied manner that suggested the vast eternity of space.  I ha

Even though I typically paint winter scenes, rarely are they overtly Christmas-themed ones.  In part it's a function of not wanting to even further #pigeon-hole myself as being a #vintage#winter#Christmas genre painter.  That said, snowy winter nights and warmly-lit sanctuaries are such part-and-parcel of what I do that inevitably a Christmas painting or two would be the emergent result. This entry, "Last Minute Shopper" is based upon a photo I found of downtown Ogden, New York, where the main street was decorated for Christmas.  Even though it's a specific time and place, it really could be any main street in Canada or the Northern United States. I have a great affinity for this time period (I peg it as sometime in the late 50's or early 60's) because it is essentially the era into which I was born.  I remember the big cars, men wearing fedoras, and the stand-alone department stores with lunch counters in them.  Stores like Woolworth's used to

In a previous blog I talked about the various trials and tribulations I had with venues for my Christmas Carol exhibition.  Now I'd like to delve more into the creative process behind the actual paintings.   *A quick note: the paintings won't be numbered in order because the original six-painting series was expanded with the insertion of four new ones into the mix the next year. Back in 2013 when I started the series, I decided I wanted to do relatively large canvases of uniform size that could accommodate a lot of detail.  I settled on 30 by 40 inches, which, based on the space available at my first venue, would mean a series of six paintings.  So how best to represent the story using only six images?  I confess I had never actual read the original Christmas Carol book...not much of a book, actually...more of a longish short story it turns out.  So job one was to read it, sans preconceived ideas as much as possible, and allow whatever images to form in my head bas

On my 50th birthday, 2013, I received a call that I'll never forget.  It wasn't some sort of memorable birthday salutation, but rather an art-related phone call that ultimately proved that when one door closes, another...in fact many...end up opening.  The backstory: The Toronto Public Library has gallery spaces at many of its branches and artists can apply for a month's exhibition at the branch of their choice.  I thought it sounded interesting so I applied for a space at the Mimico branch, since at the time I lived just around the corner and would be able to easily pop in on the show during its appointed month.  In early 2013 I was accepted and told that my exhibit would be up for the month of December.  My thoughts immediately jumped to doing a Christmas Carol show...something I had long mused about (the era suits my style), and since it would be in a literary setting, and in December, I felt the time was right for it. I planned for six large paintings and set down