An Artist Muses

  "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is arguably my defining mantra, so keen an environmentalist am I... ...actually that's complete bullshit.  I'm no better or worse on the environmental front than the average humanoid I'd say.  But with my latest work, I did find a way to recycle some old parts that were hanging around, and as such probably saved the world from the manufacturing and shipping of at least one standard-sized canvas.  Baby steps. The piece is entitled "On the Noir Train", and it is a composite of about ten or so of my previous paintings.  I had always felt that I had enough elements from my various works, plus the requisite skills in Photoshop, to create a completely new (digital) painting from scratch.  And so I set off... First and foremost, I knew the dominant element of the new piece would be the train, and that everything else would need to be built around that.  So I started with the painting "Newmarket Station". I cut out the train ...

  "Krampus at the Window" If horror or the macabre is not your thing, then I encourage you, gentle reader, to divert your eyes forthwith.  For I am about to descend into a truly dark and eerie place...that is, the cobweb-filled forgotten corners of my mind.  And trust me, it ain't pretty! "The Black Lady" What is it about horror that appeals so much to the human mind?  As genres of entertainment go, it is as much a part of the human landscape as any other.  There's probably dozens of reasons for this.  Perhaps we confront (and learn to live with) our most primal fears via our art forms, from the safety of our couch or theatre or quilt-covered bed.  As a modern society, we may now be protected from the predators of the night that once stalked our ancestors, but fear responses are still well and truly baked into our DNA.  Fear can certainly set the heart racing, just ask any adrenaline junkie.   "The Loch Ness Monster" I must confess a lon...

I think I'll file this blog under the already full category of 'Things I Paint Not Because I Want To Paint Them But I Have No Choice But To Paint Them Because I Paint Archival Scenes', henceforth to be referred to by the handy acronym: TIPNBIWTPTBIHNCBTPTBIPAS.   That's because this blog is all about horses.  That's right...horses.  There are a few things I truly don't want to paint simply because I feel it's very 'typical' subject matter that seeming legions of artists have previously painted before me.  Tiger faces and large flowers are two of these.  Horses too, flirt dangerously close to that sort of banal, overdone subject that no artist need ever paint again.   If someone were to ask me "Dave, do you do paintings of horses?" I'm sure my hackles would immediately go up and I'd issue a dismissive scoff, "Pshaw, NO!!" And yet I have painted horses.  Many of them, it turns out. But the horses I paint, I've learned t...

"The Streetcar Yard"  If you paint vintage urban scenes of Toronto, there's simply no avoiding the fact that you'll end up painting streetcars, whether you want to or not.  Indeed, even contemporary scenes could easily...and often do...have "The Red Rocket" in them, since T.O. still has its fleet of streetcars, unlike many other Canadian cities that once deployed them but now no longer do.   "The Newspapermen" a scene from Hamilton circa 1900 With the possible exception of the Bloor/Yonge subway, no element of Toronto's transit system is as iconic as the streetcar.  Unlike their subterranean kin, streetcars propel you through the heart of the city at street level.  You are not bypassing the busy streets, you are a part of them.   Live in Toronto long enough, and streetcars become woven into your fabric.  I've lived and commuted in Toronto since 1985 and have ridden them too many times to mention.  I've boarded at the Long Branch loop, ...