A ‘stepping stone’ piece that came out of a year of experimentation.

You win something. You lose something. It seems that in this day and age - with an abundance of information at our fingertips - that we have become more binary and accept little grey in-between. In this piece I am suggesting scientific and written communication that is covered over, eradicated or partially seen. It is best to see both sides of the issue so we can see that we are missing part of the puzzle. It is then up to us to live with the bargain or to renegotiate the terms.

We are in an age that could be overwhelmingly perceived as magic. We live in a modern era full of technological marvels that provide reality to anything we can dream about. We can effortlessly fly through the air. We can create objects out of seemingly nothing. We can communicate in real time anywhere in the world. Complex calculations are achieved in a fraction of a second. Deep and complex knowledge is literally at our fingertips. It is a world spurred on by invention.

A message of hope, dreams and perseverance. Any previous stage of human history would view today’s technology as magic. Through science and technology we build on the success of others. In our ancestor’s concept - we are living their future with magic.

Inspired by a parkade post in old Quebec City. Signage has come and gone. The overwriting. The obliterating of communication. The mindless utilitarian obfuscation. The past is history. The future is for deciphering.

Inspired by industrial technology, this piece suggests a rhythm of velocity industrial rough edged music/ sound… perhaps from a tanker, a ship or jet of some kind.The rhythm of multiple staged bands of colours are orchestrated across the surface create a sinusoidal wave feeling.

This piece was inspired by a broken interior wall in an abandoned school house on the Expanse townsite in Saskatchewan. If walls could talk… would this wall speak of world knowledge or classroom antics?

“Make Me Proud”. Possibly the last words of encouragement the wall communicated to its students as it sent them out into the world.

Loosely inspired by industrial elements lost to time. An excavated surface to reveal evidences beneath the surface. The elements on the surface are partially rivet like with all its appropriate hatches and access panels. This piece is partially inspired by the lost Canadian Avro Arrow interceptor. A little bit of rivets from a jet fuselage. Overpainting and repair. A bit of perfection damaged over time.

In reference to the school room where the students would become educated. The painting suggests a school room blackboard and elements of writing on the board. It also suggests schoolroom antics of drawing on the chalkboard and being erased.

Note: ”Send in the Clowns” is a song written by Stephen Sondheim for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. It had a nicer ring than ’send in the fools’.

Inspired by the forgotten classroom walls and blackboards… and the desire to create ‘a big blue painting’. The writing is partially student graffiti and over remnants of teacher’s daily instruction. In the end the artwork became a personal piece with observations and revelations. In fine detail there is a quiet confessions scribed into the surface.

Everything was once shiny and new - full of promise and expectations. Old and beaten up. Repaired. Obscured. And then lost. Does the promise still hold true?

The name ‘Whiz Kid’ comes from the one child in every class who shines. Sometimes the anointed child will falter and fail. Sometimes the whiz kid will shine through and champion thinking and thought.

Inspired by industrial technology, this piece suggests a rhythm of velocity and industrial rough edged music and sound. The cadence of music is achieved through the spacing of colour and lines. The passing of time is expressed by a textural surface and lost typography.

The title is from Emerson’s “Go, speed the stars of thought…”

Once upon a time shiny and new - full of promise and expectations. Bumps, scratches, dents and then twrinkles. Painted. Overpainted. Adjusted. Repaired. And lost. Inspired by an old quonset shed with repurposed signage or its end walls. Also inspired by the old petroleum signage from when I was a kid. The result is a happenstance graffiti effect. “Hooptedoodle”- a fun sense of bounciness, whimsy and nonsense due to accident and chance.

Muse Gallery - Toronto $7600

The triptych displays a wall of textures. The fragments suggest the wear and tear of life juxtaposed with the ability to last and persevere. The translucent depths of layers of the encaustic medium bury past iterations of information. Signs of distress, possible repair and irreverant overpainting relay a timeline of use.

This piece fills the space like a chunk of wall.

What advice and philosophy was shared in the presence of the wall?

If the walls were a recording device - it would have witnessed the conversations, hopes, desires and lives that came and went.

The title is a derivative from Claude Debussy - “Music is the silence between the notes”. This painting has a suggestion of heraldry, illuminated lettering and manuscripts. It resides in a medieaval fort in a small village in France. The foundation of the fort has evidences of Roman roadhouse origins.

Loss is all around us. An elegant decoration was initially a show of wealth and power that was celebrated.

Then time had its way. Everything fell out of favour. Forgotten. Dismissed. Buried. Put to a utilitarian use. Overpainted. Partially excavated as from some archaeological dig.

We look at what went before us and we are forced to consider if we have learned from the past. Or not.

The word “Aeolian” is reference to ancient music chords. The beeswax medium produces vibrant lustrous colours, translucent layers, and deep textural carving. The underlying markings and scraping reveals the passing of time. The artwork suggests music, but the actual ‘art object’ exhibits a patina and marks of wear and use. The artwork is presented as a fragment of a greater whole - as if it was a precious object from the past.

I have been thinking a lot about the world we live in today. Communication and scientific advancements are hard fought for. I have been using Zeppelin-like shapes in my artwork. The wireframe suggests science and planning. I often juxtapose two at-odds elements - progress and development is often at odds with what-we-know and opposed with barriers, erasure and obfuscation.

I always seem to be exploring established and lost communication. In this one I am suggesting technology, science and innovation. At the same time - I was exploring the quiet subtleties of communicated elements in both the dark areas and the light areas.

“The Silent” Four obvious strokes of colour are overlaid onto a heavily incised background that has some visual message communication. A second look wWithin the four strokes are very subtle elements of faces and technology - silently observing or communicating.

In this piece I approached it almost like a painted sculpture. From a distance the painting is simply a big chunk-o-dark on a lighter background. There are some marks visible, but the painting is quite simple. At a mid viewing distance - this painting has subtle line work showing wireframe zeppelins and geometry elements. In an intimate viewing situation - marks are seen, perhaps passively, on the surface of the painting. This is best seen when angled light source lights the painting from the side.

This was a test panel for a much larger piece called “YesNo”. I wanted to achieve a solid chunk-o-colour. I organized the art panel so that it is composed by a lightening bolt that reveals a heavily textural area that is a light area with subtle stripes. The encaustic medium is excellent for gnarly textures - and yet achieve smooth lustrous surfaces.

I have been using Zeppelin-like shapes in my artwork. The wireframe suggests science and planning. Scientific progress and development is often opposed barriers of the naysayers. Communication and scientific advancements are hard fought for. In this instance the symbol of science is pushing through a monumental opposition.

This seems like a worn, distressed and cracked plaster wall. Seemingly it is defaced with doodles and writing. Closer observation shows something more serious - as the ‘doodles’ are scientific in origin and consist of plans and diagrams. My intention is to suggest the persistence of minds, thinking and invention.

Scars of use and neglect are additions to a distressed and chipped blue wall. At first glance it appears vandalized. Further investigation reveals a wireframe zeppelin shape incised into the surface. Mystery is revealed in the background where there is subtle, hidden and partially obscured typographical communication.

A second meaning is created through a double entendre. Perhaps what is obvious isn’t the whole story? At first glance this piece suggests textural calla lillies curling over a heavily worked surface. Upon closer observation, the lillies consist of geometrical and scientific information. The mysterious background has sculptural elements of typography and design which can best be seen through light coming in from an acute angle.