When you are passionate about your subject matter and your art you want it to show. You want it to be bigger than life, obvious to everyone and you want your artwork to last beyond your own lifetime. Below are paintings from my oeuvre that are on a large scale. Each painting was carefully and thoughtfully developed. Each was lovingly produced and created. Each artwork required long periods of dedication to bring them to fruition.
When you are passionate about your subject matter and your art you want it to show. You want it to be bigger than life, obvious to everyone and you want your artwork to last beyond your own lifetime. Below are paintings from my oeuvre that are on a large scale. Each painting was carefully and thoughtfully developed. Each was lovingly produced and created. Each artwork required long periods of dedication to bring them to fruition.
Cause & Effect: The Story of Harper's Foreign Policy
( 2015 diptych )
About "Cause & Effect: The Story of Harper's Foreign Policy" :
This diptych painting was created to point out the gross inconsistencies and hypocrisies emanating from the Harper government's foreign policy for Canada. Bombing campaigns in Libya, Iraq and now Syria coupled with mission and combat creep has exacerbated the situation. Harper's government has made Canada less safe and more of a target for terrorists. There are no signs of peace on the horizon. This new, aggressive and "tectonic shift" in foreign policy and international behaviour is a major break from the traditional Canadian position of being an honest peace broker and middle power among the world's nations.
"Cause & Effect: The Story of Harper's Foreign Policy" took five months to complete (from the beginning design stage to the finished painting process). Approximately 780 hours went into this artwork's creation. The diptych has not yet been framed but the image shown here is an accurate simulation of how the framed diptych (complete with mattes and frame moulding) will appear on the gallery wall. When framed the diptych will cover a wall space of approximately 39.5 inches tall by 51 inches wide ( or 98.75 cm high by 127.5 cm wide ). Additional close up images from this diptych's panels are posted on this website's Detail and Gallery Pages.
Figures in a Landfill (2012 triptych)
About "Figures in a Landfill" :
Figures in a Landfill is a seminal painting in my oeuvre and a complex work that covers a wide variety of pertinent topics. Uniquely Canadian, surreal and rich with political satire, it was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights". This masterwork was designed to make Canadians think about their political leaders, Canada's history, future, the environment and the legacies we create by our choices, (both personally and collectively as a society). In many ways the word legacy sums up the crux of this highly detailed artwork.
The triptych's creation was funded by a Creation Grant to Individuals from Arts Nova Scotia. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Arts Nova Scotia and to the artists on the selection committee for believing in my vision for this project proposal. Without the financial and moral support provided this triptych would not have been made.
I began creation of the triptych on schedule (August 1, 2011). It was completed almost one year later on July 25, 2012 involving approximately 2,500 hours of intensive work. A labour of love, my heart and soul went into "Figures in a Landfill", making this my most complicated painting to date. I am very excited about the results.
Framed the presented work covers an eye popping area of approximately twelve and a half feet wide by four and a half feet tall. Additional close up images of the three panels and specific images highlighting the triptych's detail are posted on this website's Detail and Gallery Pages.
"Figures in a Landfill" was chosen as one of the paintings in the landmark PLANS (Professional Living Artists of Nova Scotia) exhibition, "Capture 2014: Nova Scotia Realism". This exhibition was organized by the Dalhousie Art Gallery and sponsored in part by the Robert Pope Foundation and the Craig Foundation. The exhibition was curated by noted curator/art historian Tom Smart and co-curator Peter Dykhuis. It was on display at the Dalhousie Art Gallery from January 17 to March 9, 2014. "Capture 2014: Nova Scotian Realism" is currently touring galleries in Nova Scotia with the possibility of touring Canada in 2015 and or 2016.
Figures in a Landfill is a seminal painting in my oeuvre and a complex work that covers a wide variety of pertinent topics. Uniquely Canadian, surreal and rich with political satire, it was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights". This masterwork was designed to make Canadians think about their political leaders, Canada's history, future, the environment and the legacies we create by our choices, (both personally and collectively as a society). In many ways the word legacy sums up the crux of this highly detailed artwork.
The triptych's creation was funded by a Creation Grant to Individuals from Arts Nova Scotia. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Arts Nova Scotia and to the artists on the selection committee for believing in my vision for this project proposal. Without the financial and moral support provided this triptych would not have been made.
I began creation of the triptych on schedule (August 1, 2011). It was completed almost one year later on July 25, 2012 involving approximately 2,500 hours of intensive work. A labour of love, my heart and soul went into "Figures in a Landfill", making this my most complicated painting to date. I am very excited about the results.
Framed the presented work covers an eye popping area of approximately twelve and a half feet wide by four and a half feet tall. Additional close up images of the three panels and specific images highlighting the triptych's detail are posted on this website's Detail and Gallery Pages.
"Figures in a Landfill" was chosen as one of the paintings in the landmark PLANS (Professional Living Artists of Nova Scotia) exhibition, "Capture 2014: Nova Scotia Realism". This exhibition was organized by the Dalhousie Art Gallery and sponsored in part by the Robert Pope Foundation and the Craig Foundation. The exhibition was curated by noted curator/art historian Tom Smart and co-curator Peter Dykhuis. It was on display at the Dalhousie Art Gallery from January 17 to March 9, 2014. "Capture 2014: Nova Scotian Realism" is currently touring galleries in Nova Scotia with the possibility of touring Canada in 2015 and or 2016.
Ode to Democracy (2011 triptych)
About "Ode to Democracy" :
Ode to Democracy was created as a protest to the Canadian Government's actions during the 2010 G8/G20 summits held in Ontario. Several thousand Canadians were detained and imprisoned in a wide sweep round up by security officers pursuing protestors and rioters. Many of the citizens were innocent shoppers and bystanders on the streets of Toronto who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some were beaten, others manhandled and some detained in jail for days. This assault on democratic rights was done in an unprecedented, heavy handed approach and sanctioned with the blessings of both the Canadian Federal and Ontario Provincial Governments. Using tactics unseen in Canada, unidentifiable police and private security officers committed appalling and inappropriate actions against many Canadian citizens, actions reminiscent of a police state. This triptych was designed to remind Canadians of these awful events and to invoke Canadian voters to take peaceful and lawful action by holding their respective governments accountable for government sanctioned actions. By using our democratic rights to vote in subsequent democratic elections, Canadians can help form the government that they want to represent them.
Ode to Democracy took six months to create. The painting was modeled partly on comic book - pop art. It uses text, symbolism and superhero motifs to present a stylized and colourful message. Framed the presented work is slightly over five feet wide by three feet and four inches tall. Additional close up images of the three panels and specific images highlighting this triptych's details are posted on this website's Detail and Gallery Pages.