What Lies Beneath

This painting, created about a year, was revisited the other day.  I am preparing for a show at the Museum of Northern BC that will feature my fire paintings.  This painting, which was originally not a fire painting, I decided I would "toast" a little so that it would fit in with the show.

I had forgotten that beneath the top layer of canvas on this painting, there was an old painting beneath!  What a surprise when the vibrant red poked through a blackened hole.  The result is of an almost visceral quality-- the feeling of something intimate revealed beneath a burned away facade.

Landscape in a Landscrape

This is a new photo of an old painting.  

It was taken for a slide for a project proposal.  Rather than a boring gallery photo of the painting, I thought I would give it some of its original context.  A photographer friend and I (Ryan the link to your site would go here!) went out in search of clearcuts, and managed to find this beaut of a slash pile.

Green Greatness Prevails

Its been a long winter.  At last the green greatness of Spring is prevailing over the dreary grey remnants of a long Bulkley Valley Winter.

Fears Forsaken: Daisy Arises

Two years ago, inspired by a good book, I asked myself a fateful question:  What do I fear?  The list, short at first, grew long.  A burst of courage inspired me to challenge those fears.  One of them, near the top, was Death and Aging.  An off shoot of this fear I observed to be manifest in my circle of friends and acquaintances-- they were mainly my age.  I had very little contact with anyone over 60 or 70 years old.  In a small community, this is a notable social generation oversight, that surely said many things not just of me, but of my culture.

I decided to tackle this fear head on.  I came up with a devious scheme.  Why not do an art installation in the local seniors care centre?  One phone call lead to another, alot of political and social engineering ensued by myself and others, and I now find myself now on the third phase of a major project.  

Beautiful things happen when one tackles one's fears head on.  

There is a fantastic three panel cartoon I remember seeing that illustrates the process of confronting fear.  First frame:  Man running away from giant sized monster.  Second frame:  Man turning to look at slightly smaller monster.  Third frame:  Man walking towards shrunk mini-monster with foot poised to easily step upon.  

I can now imagine the fourth frame:  Little daisy rising from spot of squished monster.

Hello world!

This simple entry was made while cycling through Houston BC, on my new iPod Touch, a little gizmo that you can put in your pocket.  I remember, back in the day, when making a webpage involved multiple programs, servers, and FTP clients.  Now, it can be done wirelessly with a device the size of a deck of cards, while cycling through a strange town using only one's thumb to touch buttons on a screen.

Wow. Nice?

R.

Mural Progress at the BV Seniors Home

My current artistic endeavour:  The third of four murals at the BV Lodge Seniors Home in Smithers.  

New Painting: A circle of eight

A new painting.  It is composed of nine paint leads that I have used as incidental pallettes over a period of three years.  Each lid had developed its own character.  I couldn't resist putting them together.