ACRYLIC and LIGHT

Kool-Aid Days

2013-04-07T03:48:00.005-03:00

Acrylic on gessobord, 12 x 16"

2013, painting #214

This is a gallery commission piece. The client is a collector of both Crown and Ball Mason jars, so this was the main requirement. I was pretty given much given carte blanche as far as the composition goes. As a still-life painter, objects often present themselves in daily life. If I have a visceral response to them, I will just buy them on impulse because one day these will serve as my muses to inspire an imagery worth considering. I have been holding on to these Kool-Aid packs since 2007. The teal tinted Ball Mason jar on the left and the hand- made paper drinking straws were both purchased on Etsy in 2011 from different vendors from Florida, the sunshine state. Last fall, I was lucky enough to acquire these Crown Mason jars from a local seller on Kijiji. These are in mint condition, so I was truly surprise to see the year 1948 on the bottom.

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack.To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953. Hasting, Nebraska, the town where the fruity thirst quencher was invented still celebrates a yearly summer festival called "Kool-Aid Days" on the second weekend in August. The title is in homage of it's inventor.

I remember as a child that we use to buy individual packages like these at 6¢ each from a nearby corner store. On hot summer days, we'd go swimming at the beach and upon returning a pitcher was soon empty with three kids going for refills. Check out this classic 1970's commercial - HERE.

-Gallery commission

Our past, present and future according to Suess

2013-03-27T19:49:00.000-03:00

Acrylic on gessobord, 12 x 12"

Painting# 213, 2012-13

This is my third painting paying homage to Dr. Suess. The first two featured our pet goldfish Maurice who is still alive and well and will mark his 3rd anniversary with us next week. I was contacted by one of the galleries that represent me in early fall of 2012, after a patron happen to see "One fish, two fish....gold fish" on their website. Since it had already sold to another collector, I agreed to do a commission piece for them. During the past decade, this patron had acquired several of my paintings, so I submitted several images for their approval which included this more personalized composition. Putting my own spin on the image, I continued along the lines of the postage stamp series and fabricated a First-Day cover. I used a fish in the Suessville postmark to indirectly add Maurice in the mix. The postage stamp I used was issued by the US Postal Service in 2004, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Theodore Suess Geisel, (b. March 2, 1904). I decided to omit USA in order to create a more fictional territory for the narrative. The remaining of the objects were suggested by the clients for possible inclusion.

My previous two posting on Dr. Suess does include a few biography notes. Instead of being redundant , I came across this very appropriate video on YouTube that appeared in Rocketboom News. Then anchorwoman, Molly Templeton does an astonishing and clever delivery of a rhyming prose as an homage for author/illustrator's birthday. Click on image below to play, or click HERE.

Molly Templeton (aka- Mememolly) of Rocketboom News

-Gallery commission

Marathon, a self portrait

2012-11-26T22:42:00.002-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 12''

2012, painting #212

The Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, CA invited me last summer to take part in an invitational group show entitled ''Face Yourself'' that will feature artist self portraits. The invite stated, ''This can be conceived from your own point of view, how you think people view you, etc...You can get as creative as you want, there are no rules. I think the possibilities are endless and the outcome of the show is going to be fabulously unexpected and fun''.

I really went outside the box for this one, and literally inside a jar. Although I have been painting for 25 years, my artistic professional career only began 10 years ago. Prior to 2002, I completed an average of only two paintings per year. For a full decade, my main focus during my spare time was pursuing my dream of being a marathon runner.

I started running in 1976 at age 14 while in junior High School. The Summer Olympics held in Montreal that same year would leave an indelible mark on me. When Canadian Olympian Jerome Drayton won the Boston Marathon the following spring in 1977, his victory would ignite the flame within me to become a long distance runner and to one day follow in his footsteps.

The journey getting there was long and arduous. After competing in athletics and cross country races in junior and high school, I made the transition to road races. During my twenties, I had my share of running related injuries and was diagnosed at age 26 with heel strike hemolysis. A long standing condition I had developed where there is a breakdown of red blood cells in the capillary vessels of the feet upon the impact resulting in anaemia. This was corrected with iron supplement and kept in-check afterwards while continuing the therapy.

In September 1992, at age 30, the stars finally aligned for me and I would run my first full marathon. I had waited so long for this day, and thought it might be my one and only, so I decided to go big and run the Toronto Marathon, the city where my hero Jerome Drayton lived. I was so overwhelmed by it all and remember being teary eyed several times during the race. Half way in, I was still on pace to qualify for the Boston Marathon. With about 5 miles to go, I would hit the wall. I would however get a second wind on the final mile and had enough left in the tank to sprint the last 200m as we were greeted inside Varsity Stadium where a massive jumbo screen was set up and spectators in the bleachers cheers us in. I finished in a time of 3h22:10. It was a defining moment in my life and from that point on, I was hooked.

My next goal was to achieve the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon which was 3h10:59 for a male runner under 35. This would finally happen three years later on May 14, 1995 at the Johnny Miles Marathon in New Glascow, Nova Scotia. My wife was 38 weeks pregnant with our only child. On this very difficult course, I would achieve a personal best of 3h11:30. Certain marathons are are allotted several seconds in consideration when the terrain is more challenging and hilly, and this one certainly was. I would find out later that year that my clocking would stand and I received my ticket to the start line of the historical 100th running of the Boston Marathon that was held on April 15, 1996. I was ecstatic beyond words. Running my first Boston Marathon easily qualifies as the greatest moment of my whole athletic journey. The history behind this event is rich and is considered by many as the people's Olympics. It has always been held on the third Monday of April on Patriots Day. The inaugural running of the Boston Marathon took place in 1897. It was inspired by the marathon of the first Olympiads of modern era held in Athens, Greece the previous year.

In total, I completed 22 marathons and every one hold a special place in my heart. From the get-go, I decided to combine the races with travelling, and visiting art galleries and museums whenever possible. For the exception of three Boston Marathons (1996, 1999 and 2000) and two New York City Marathons (1994, 2002), all the others were in different towns and cities, twelve in the United States, nine in Canada plus the Bermuda Marathon.

In the composition for this painting, the photograph of myself was taken during the last mile of the 1999 Boston Marathon.

The seven bid numbers used in the composition are among the marathons which hold the most importance on various levels. From the top left -clockwise:

1- New York City Marathon - 2002 - This would turn out to be the curtain call of my marathon career. I learned in late June that my application had been selected among the Canadian Roster going to the Big Apple. A week later, on July 4, I herniated a disc in my neck at C-7 while lifting weights at a gym. The next month would turn out to be the most challenging health problem of my entire life. With the help of a chiropractor, acupuncturist and physiotherapy, I was able to recover sufficiently to resume running seven weeks later. Progress was slow at first and it took me another month to be able to run 10 km without adding to much stress on my back. Afterwards, I did my best to focus on endurance rather than speed. Almost 4 months after the injury, on November 3, I was able to complete the course in 3:39:42. Almost 30 minutes slower than my PB, but a personal victory on every level. Only a year had passed since the event of the 9-11 disaster on the World Trade Centre and visiting the site during the aftermath was a numbing experience.

Bill Rodgers is a 4-time New York City and

4-time Boston Marathon Champion.
One of the greatest ambassador the sport has ever known.

2- Maine Marathon - 1998. The Maine Marathon was a tour-de-force effort and possibly the defining moment of my whole running experience. The previous week on September 27, I ran the Clarence Demar Marathon in Keene, N.H. I was in the best shape of my life. I had clocked several personal best during that summer including a 30:10 on a 5 miler, a 1:04:01 for a 10 miler and a half marathon in 1:26:26. I honestly believe that I could run under 3h05 and qualify for the upcoming Boston Marathon. I now needed a sub 3h15 which seemed like a sure bet. Up until 10km, I was still in fine form. Then the sun came out it to play and it became blistering hot and humid. I really don't deal well with heat. My inner thermostat just shuts down and I lose all speed. On that day I could only manage a 3:32:17. I was devastated. I remember sitting on the steps of a building on the University campus and breaking down in tears. A series of fortunate event in the following days lead me to the Maine Marathon 7 days later. I had not fully recovered from the previous week, but was really determined to return to Boston. I started conservatively and pace myself accordingly. With about 5 miles to go, a lone woman on the side of the road was cheering me on and said, "You're looking good, now that them one at a time". As my head turned towards the voice, I realized that it was none other than Joan Benoit Samuelson. She is a resident of nearby Freeport Maine and had just completed the half marathon in 1:17:11. She is better known as the first women to win an Olympic Gold medal at the marathon distance during the Los Angeles Olympiads of 1984. She is also a past winner of both the Chicago and the Boston Marathons. This had to be the most surreal moment of any of my races. During the final mile I had to slow down as I started to experience leg cramps. I had my eyes on my watch and manage to reach the finish line in 3:13:10. The qualifying period for the Boston Marathon runs from October to September of the following year. On this October 4th, I would qualify for both the 1999 and 2000 edition of the Boston Marathon.

3- The 100th running of the Boston Marathon - 1996. During the sports expo, I got to meet several legendary runners including Jacqueline Gareau (1980 Boston winner), Joan Benoit Samuelson and Steve Jones. Jones is a former world record holder at the marathon distance and a past winner of both the Chicago and New York City Marathons. He also won the 1992 Toronto Marathon which was my first. I was fortunate to get all three to autograph my bib number. Gareau's signature is hidden behind the mason jar.

4- The Toronto Marathon - 1992 - My first marathon as previously described.

5- The Fredericton Marathon - 2001. (Runner's World bib). This marathon was a long time coming as I first considered running it while I was 20 years old. At the time my anemia had yet to be diagnosed and running beyond 13.1 mile or a half marathon seemed improbable. I finally ran it when I was 39. It would also be my best placing, finishing 5th overall. During my entire marathon career, I always trained alone. Runner's World Magazine would become my best buddy. It was my main source of motivation, my trainer, my dietitian and how I selected the races.

6- The Johnny Miles Marathon - New Glascow, NS.- 1995. This was the qualifying race that earned me my first birth for the Boston Marathon. Johnny Miles was a past winner of the Boston Marathon in 1926 and 1929. Every year he would make is way from Hamilton Ontario as the official race starter. That year, the 91 year old could not make it as his wife had fallen ill. Johnny Kelley, the runner who's name is most closely associated with the Boston Marathon was invited as his replacement. The then 87 year old legend, winner of the 1935 and 1945 Boston Marathon and a 61 time finisher of the race, yes, you read right, 61 times.... not only fired the start gun, but ran the first few miles with us. The following year, he was invited as a guest speaker before the start of the Centennial Boston Marathon. He warmed up the crowd with his heart-felt rendition of ''Young at heart''. I had the honour of meeting him during registration of the Johnny Miles Marathon. He died in 2004 at the age of 97.

7- The Chicago Marathon - 1993. When I ran the Chicago Marathon, it was during it's rebuilding phase. Less than 7000 runners took part that year. The course is considered among the fastest in North America. Steve Jones had clocked a world record and Joan Benoit Samuelson, a world 2nd best time here. I also wanted to visit the Art Institute of Chicago, which made the trip even more pleasurable. The marathon was run on Halloween Day. During the pre-race expo, I got to meet Frank Shorter, one of my childhood idols. Victorious in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he was also the runner-up four years later at the Montreal Olympiads. His victory is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States during the 1970s. He was ranked #1 marathoner in the world during the first half of the seventies. On marathon Sunday, the Windy City lived up to it's name and snow was added in the mix. On this, my third marathon, I had a breakthrough run lowering my time by more than 5 minutes to a 3:16:45 and finishing in the top 7%.

By using a Mason jar, I am essentially preserving the memory of a self from a not so distance past, during a period where I physically felt the most alive and invincible.

UPDATE- January 5, 2013
This painting is currently on exhibit in ''Face Yourself'', an Invitational group show being held from January 3-31, 2013 at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.

Participating artists includes the talents of Lisa Alonzo, Teresa N. Fischer, Jeff Nebeker, Rogelio Manzo, Elizabeth Barlow, Jennifer Balkan, Ryoko Tajiri, Kenney Mencher, Micah Crandall-Bean, Byran Mark Taylor, John Tarahteeff, Jelaine Faunce, Randy Brennan, Gale Hart, Terry Pappas, Maren Conrad, Gary Pruner, Patricia Wall and John Karl Claes. Viewing at this LINK.

UPDATE- April 16, 2013
In the wake of the tragic events that unfolded yesterday with bombings at the finish line as the Boston Marathon was on it's final stages, you have to wonder; "What is this world coming to?" It is almost inconceivable that such a glorious event can become the target of an act of terrorism for all of the unsuspecting innocent runners, spectators, organizers and volunteers. This will surely add to the already complex measures taken when staging future grand scale sporting events as far as security issues are concerned. My heart and prayers goes out to those whose lives were lost or were injured. Also to people of Boston and to all those involved in dealing with the crisis and the aftermath, I feel your pain.

In Light and Love,
Alvin

To inquire about this painting please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery

1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811

Phone (916) 736-1429

e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

THE STILL LIFE INVITATIONAL / AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR - OCT. 2012

2012-10-05T23:24:00.002-03:00

I am very privileged to have been asked to take part in The Still Life, an Invitational Group Show opening at the Elliott Fouts Gallery tomorrow, October 6. This is also my third participation in as many editions. As in previous years, I have an image of one of my paintings currently featured on page 150 of a promotional article in the Oct. 2012 issue of American Art Collector Magazine. I have the pleasure to hang my work alongside 10 amazing artists: Elizabeth Barlow, Leigh-Anne Eagerton, Teresa N. Fischer, Thane Gorek, Michael E. Hockenbury, Sangita Phadke, Christopher Stott, Joanne Tepper, Kari Tirrell and Kathrine Lemke Waste. Opening reception will be held on October 13 and the show runs until November 1.

My two submitted pieces are-

Tangerines in a Hurricane Vase, an homage to Edgar Degas

15 x 11, acrylic on hardboard 2009/2012

___________

Famous for more than Fifteen Minutes

16 x 11' acrylic in hardboard, 2012

To inquire about this painting please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery

1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811

Phone (916) 736-1429

e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

Car Jam

2012-09-09T01:46:00.000-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 12''

painting # 211, 2012

This painting has been on the back burner for more than three years. I had purchased these Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars at the time and already had a concept in mind, but there was one illusive item to complete the composition and play with words that I have yet to find to satisfy me visually. In the past year, I came across this magnificent mason jar and book which in turn created a different narrative from my original concept.

The featured book, THE CAR, A HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE was written by British-born Jonathan Glancey, whom until this past February was architecture and design editor for The Guardian. He previously held the same position at The Independent and is currently a freelance editor. He has recently written several reviews for The Telegraph, including one about the recent opening to The ArcelorMitta Orbit at London's Olympic Park by artist Anish Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond. He has also written several books surveying the history of architecture, planes, trains and automobiles. This edition was published in 2010 by SevenOaks. The cover features a 1945 ZIS 110 Limousine, while the bottom is a Ferrari Enzo. I slightly played with the depth of field and keep the back imagery just slightly out of focus thus eliminating the very fine details so that the main details would focus on the jar and it's content.

The jar includes the following models from Matchbox- a 1957 GMC Pick-up truck, a 2008 Chevy Corvette ZR1, and a 2005 Dodge Magnum. To complete the quintet, two Hot Wheels muscle cars: a 1970 Chevelle SS and a 1971 Dodge Charger.

This painting is very much as the bold letter on the mason jar suggests, about the preservation and restoration of automobiles. There is great interest in vintage and classic cars. Here in Moncton, the city hosts the Atlantic Nationals, a car show held over 3 days in July where the public comes out in droves. It's an eye-candy love fest for car lovers of all ages. I recently spoke to the wife of the chap to whom I had sold my first car, a 1971 Chevy Mailbu. I sold it for $200, the same price I paid for it back in 1981. My father had helped me acquire the vehicle for a summer job when I was 19 years old and only kept if for 6 month. It was on it's last miles when I sold it.....until he completely restored and transformed it into a veritable muscle car. She told me that it had been parked in their backyard in recent years, but it was still his baby and that he fully intended to refurbish it before long.

This painting will be part of a group exhibition entitled:

ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
City of Saint John Gallery
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, NB CANADA
(506) 633-4870

September 7 - October 27, 2012
Opening reception is on September 7 - 5:30 to 7:30pm
Please consult this LINK for direction. Please note that there is major construction surrounding the Arts Centre and the current entrance in located on Carleton Street.

Please contact the Arts Centre or Handworks Gallery if you wish to acquire the painting.
12 King Street,
Saint John, NB, CANADA E2L 1G2
(506) 652-9787
e-mail - info@handworks.ca

A Closer Look at the Titanic

2012-09-06T19:56:00.002-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 9 x 12''

Painting #210, 2012

I had never considered doing a painting of the Titanic until this past late March. On the same day, I received a copy of National Geographic and Canada Post's Details catalogue in our mailbox, both had the Titanic on their covers. Canada Post was issuing a stamp not necessarily to commemorate the centennial of the it's sinking, but to remember the humane aspect surrounding the tragedy. Of lives saved and lost and to ''How the people of Halifax, NS rose to meet the grim duty placed on them.'' On the recovery of more than 150 of the victims, many of the unnamed, were laid to rest in three of the city's cemeteries as Halifax became the focus of the world's press.This tragic sinking of the Titanic after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912, has become an event in time that has touched so many lives and continues to intrigue and fascinate millions with the passing of time. Click HERE to view related story.

While browsing on eBay, I quickly realized that material was limited. So, I took the approach of exploring the postal service as the ship's full name was RMS Titanic which stood for Royal Mail Steam Ship Titanic. The liner had a extensive compartment for carrying mail overseas. During the crossing, 1700 bags of letters plus parcels had to be sorted out by five clerks which comprised of three American and two British citizens. A total of 6 million mail items were lost at sea, none were ever recovered. Click HERE for a view inside of the Mail Room.

On eBay, I found a green replica of the Titanic's launch ticket that took place at Belfast, Ireland on May 31, 1911. It is reported that 100,000 people attended the launch at sea. For the next year, the ship was docked and a massive crew completed the interior. I also wanted something authentic from the period, and found it in the form of an original 1912 post card that had an Art Nouveau flair with lotus flowers. The interior décor of the luxury liner was very much influenced by this style which was in vogue during this period. The postcard had a two cents stamp of George Washington, two post marks, San Francisco and Brussels, and a cancellation ink stamp of the ''World's Pan-Pacific Exhibition 1915''.

For the painting I would manipulate some details to link it in the narrative. Initially I had conjured up the idea that a passenger would have sent a post card to America a month prior to announce that they were boarding the steam ship on it's maiden voyage and were excited at the prospect of seeing each other upon their arrival in New York City.

National Geographic Society, Washington, DC

Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Washington, DC

In the meanwhile, our long weekend getaway spent in Washington, D.C. during Easter provided me with much more insight. The National Geographic Society was hosting the exhibit, Titanic: 100 Year Obsession, while the Smithsonian National Postal Museum had just opened a new exhibit entitled ''Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic'',where I picked up the idyllic post card of the ship combining vintage photography and modern graphics.

Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Washington, DC.

I did the photo study in June and started the preparatory drawing in late July. Upon drawing the Launch ticket, I noticed that the lettering had been meticulously done by hand. So, I did an Internet search to see if another variation of the ticket existed and it is at this time when all of the elements came together to create the full narrative. On the 100th Anniversary date of the sinking, April 15, Bonhams Auction House in New York held an auction of Titanic artifacts which included a similar ticket in white, numbered 193, that still had it's perforated admission stub. It fetched a whopping $56,250 USD. A postcard sent on April 6, 1912 by Titanic wireless telegrapher Jack Phillips to his sister Elsie went to a lucky bidder for $20,000 USD. It was inscribed as follows:

''Thank you very much for your letter.

Having glorious weather, went to Cowes yesterday.

Will write later before we sail.

Love All Jack''

Using this information and another image of a postcard that was sent to his sister Ethel the previous year, I followed up with an imaginary last postcard for the painting that would have been sent to Elsie as promised by Jack, postmarked on April 11 in Southampton, the day after the departure, which would also have been Jack's 25th birthday.

Jack Phillips was a pivotal figure prior to Titanic hitting the iceberg and the aftermath of rescuing the passengers. He was the senior wireless operator of the Marconi equipment aboard the Titanic. Joined by Harold Bride, they both worked separately alternating 6-hour shifts. Among their tasks of communicating with other ships sailing the Atlantic, they were also assigned to
send telegrams from passengers to the mainland. On the evening of 14 April, in the wireless room on the boat deck, it is suggested that as Titanic had come within range of Cape Race coast station situated in Newfoundland. Jack Phillips was attempting to clear a huge backlog of telegrams for the United States that had accumulated when the wireless had broken down the day before. Vital warning from ships Mesaba and SS California of icebergs ahead were overlooked by the overworked Phillips as the messages received from both had been sent without the MSG prefix, indicating a personal message for Titanic's Captain - which was required by regulations then in force to be personally acknowledge. This is a deleted scene from James Cameron's Titanic for which Phillips would have said to Cyril Evans of the SS Californian ''Keep out, shut up, you're jamming my signal. I'm working Cape Race''.

After hitting the iceberg, Phillips and Bride vigilantly worked at their stations sending distress signals of their location up until water started pouring in the Marconi room and power was lost. The message "CQD" means a general call to all vessels, which indicates the vessel sending is in distress and requires immediate assistance. At the time of the "Titanic" sinking, the Marconi company's "CQD" was still in common use, although it had been officially replaced by the well known "SOS". One hour forty minutes after the sinking, RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene in response to Titanic's earlier distress calls. 710 people survived the disaster and were conveyed by Carpathia to New York, while 1,514 people lost their lives. Phillips and Bride were washed off the ship as the boat deck flooded, but managed to scramble onto the upturned lifeboat Collapsible 'B'. Bride was rescued by the Carpathia the following morning. Despite being injured, he helped the Carpathia's wireless operator transmit survivor lists and personal messages from the ship. Sadly, Jack Phillips died of hypothermia on or near the same lifeboat, his body was never recovered.

Much can be said about the Titanic and it's place in history and in popular culture. Much of the resurgence can be attributed to James Cameron. The film maker has led three expeditions to the bottom of the Atlantic to the site of the sunken vessel. He developed and piloted a new class of nimble, fibre-spooling robots that brought back never before seen images of the ship's interior and was able to shoot actual footage of the ship underwater, which he inserted into the final film.The movie went on the become a phenomenal box office blockbuster and received much deserved critical praise.

The Canadian stamp in the painting was designed by illustrators Mark Little. I did choose to alter the top section of the chimneys since all source photography I found informed me otherwise. The reference to Cape Race on the stamp was also the instigating factor that lead me to explore the Jack Phillips trail.

I have affixed both stamps used in the painting along with a postcard of the Titanic on the back panel of the frame. The other Stamp is an English half-penny that features King George V with a killer moustache.

Noteworthy- On July 12, 1986, American Robert Ballard leads an expedition aboard Atlantis II and dives to the wreck of the Titanic in the submersible Alvin (no, we are not related!).

Update- On Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Halifax and took the opportunity to stroll in the Fairview Cemetery where many of the Titanic's victims where laid to rest. Since the release of the James Cameron's film, it has become somewhat a tourist attraction. One tomb in particular does attract of fair amount of attention, that of J. Dawson. It was revealed that the grave site is attributed Joseph Dawson, an Irishman who worked in Titanic's boiler room as a coal trimmer and not the film's fictional lead character Jack Dawson.

Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, NS

My wife Suzanne with J.Dawson tombstone

This painting will be part of a group exhibition entitled:

ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
City of Saint John Gallery
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, NB CANADA
(506) 633-4870

September 7 - October 27, 2012
Opening reception is on September 7 - 5:30 to 7:30pm
Please consult this LINK for direction. Please note that there is major construction surrounding the Arts Centre and the current entrance in located on Carleton Street.

Please contact the Arts Centre or Handworks Gallery if you wish to acquire the painting.

12 King Street,
Saint John, NB, CANADA E2L 1G2
(506) 652-9787
e-mail - info@handworks.ca

ASPECT OF REALISM

2012-09-05T01:10:00.000-03:00

I am very fortunate to be included in a group show entitled ASPECT OF REALISM that is opening at The Saint John Art Centre on September 7, 2011. Five of my recent paintings will be included in the lot. Also taking part are realist artists Peter Cunningham, Manami Fukuda, Cathy Ross, Peter Gough, Peter Salmon, Herzl Kashetsky, Brian Lasaga, Cliff Turner, Bruce Pashak, John Pottle, Lynn Wiggington and myself. All artists are represented by either the Trinity Galleries, the Peter Buckland Gallery or Handworks Gallery.

Opening reception is on Friday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The show runs through October 27, 2012.

Artwork featured in HERE Weekly publication p. 28, Sept 13-19, 2012

Saint John Arts Centre
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, New Brunswick
Canada
E2L 5A5
Phone: 506-633-4870
Fax: 506-674-104o

OPEN TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 9:00 to 5:00 pm - Admission is FREE

View this LINK for direction and please note that there is major construction around the building. The main entry door is temporarily located off Carleton Street.

Famous for More than Fifteen Minutes

2012-08-05T23:30:00.000-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 11''

painting #209, 2012

Today, marks the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's untimely passing at the age of 36. The circumstances surrounding her death has been the subject of much speculation and mystery. There are a few actresses of the golden age of cinema that still continue to mesmerise me and these include- Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly. For Marilyn, her vulnerability and timeless beauty captured both on film and in photography makes her immortal and her ever growing appeal continues to fascinate half a century later.

Ed Feingersh photography

The genesis for this painting was ignited after viewing two films this past February. My week with Marilyn for which Michelle Williams received a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination and the 2009 film Coco before Chanel starring Audrey Tautou. A most famous photograph of Marilyn taken by Ed Feingersh was the catalyst that sparked the whole concept. In the 1950s the glamour of Chanel No. 5 was reignited by Monroe, whose unsolicited endorsement of the fragrance provided invaluable publicity.“What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course,” the Daily Mail quoted Monroe as saying in the ad. In another 1994 ad, model Carole Bouquet was morphed into Marilyn for a clever Chanel No. 5 video commercial. (click HERE to view)

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in Saumur, France in 1883. She first branched out into fashion as a hat designer. She revolutionized the fashion industry with menswear-inspired design done in simple elegance which made her a rebel in the 1920's and 30's. She rejected a lot of the feminine fashion of her day and created a more androgynous look. Her House of Haute-Couture became famous for her tweed suits, little black dress, costume jewelery, top-stitched bags, chain belts and of course the world's most famous perfume, Chanel No.5. The scent was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. In 1921, the perfume's first 100 bottles were given as Christmas gifts to her best clientèle. The following year, it was made available to the general public, marking 90 years in 2012. A bottle of Chanel No.5 is sold every 30 seconds.

After doing a bit of research I realized that I was also able to pay homage to my favourite Pop artist Andy Warhol, who's anniversary of his death also coincides with the milestone year of 25. And tomorrow, he would have turned 84.

The Chanel No. 5 bottle, over decades, has itself become an identifiable cultural artifact, so much so that Andy Warhol chose to commemorate its iconic status in the mid-1980s with his pop-art silk-screens. Even empty, the bottle are highly collectible. It took me more than two weeks to acquire one on eBay that was not going to cost upwards of $20. For it's 75th anniversary, Chanel issued a special edition of No.5 using one of Warhol's serigraphic images on the box that holds the decanter. Of course the title was inspired by the Warhol quotation, ''In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes''.

The image of Monroe used in the painting appears on the cover the slip case of a massive two-volume book set entitled ''Modern Art'', published by Taschen in 2011. (Marilyn, 1964, silkscreen on canvas 40'' x 40'' by Andy Warhol). I came across these books at the Museum Shop of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC during a visit this past Easter. Since I was travelling light with only a backpack, at a hefty 11 lbs, I opted to buy it on-line through Amazon.com upon my return. For this composition I used a crystal ball much like a clairvoyant would do to channel their spirits. The lives of all three did become intertwined because of their fame. All three are iconic figures of Popular Culture for the significant contribution to the arts.

On a personal note- Monroe died in 1962, seven months after I was born. Warhol died on February 22 1987, the same month I completed my first original painting. Back in 1986, I had purchased an exhibition poster of Andy Warhol that coincided with an exhibition two years prior held at Galerie Borjeson in Malmo, Sweden. These became available through IKEA. I was fortunate to purchase the last one that was in their display rack. Since it had a few pieces of double-face tape in the back, a store clerk reduced it to $2. Last week, I saw a few eBay listings for posters of the same series with starting bids varying between $499 to $899..... In 2006, we vacationed three days in Oiron, France to visit a friend of the family. We spent a full afternoon in Saumur where Coco Chanel was born, visiting châteaux along the Loire River in this very scenic town with black slate roofs.

This painting will be exhibited in ''The Still Life'' Invitational group show during the month of October at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California. Details to follow.

To inquire about this painting please contact:
Elliott Fouts Gallery
1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

-SOLD

One fish, two fish....gold fish

2012-07-06T02:01:00.001-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2012

8 x 10'', painting # 208

It has been a while since I've completed a painting. I've been busy taking care of other aspects of my life while trying to keep everything in balance. With this said, I hope to devote more time to my artwork in the coming months.

This painting is of sort, a companion piece to ''A Cat and Fish Tale'' created more than two years ago. It is also a piece about celebrating life. In this case, the life of Maurice the fish. Maurice, our pet gold fish was purchased in April of 2010, specifically as a painting prop. Much to my surprise and delight, Maurice is still alive and well and has probably grown about an inch since his first modelling assignment.I did the photo study for the painting in early March on his two year anniversary with us, which would account for the snow outside the window.

''A Cat and Fish Tale''

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 8 x 10'', #180, 2010

After spotting Dr. Suess' ''One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish'' 50th anniversary edition book with the gold cover in a few stores around town, the concept came to me. However, I decided to use a regular edition book with the yellow cover to anchor the composition. It was purchased as a set along with ''Green Eggs and Ham'' on eBay. These books are Dr. Suess' three best selling titles. In 2000, they were ranked in the top 15 best selling children books of all-time.

With the most recent box office success of the computer-animated film ''The Lorax'', the spirit of Dr. Suess (Theodor Suess Geisel) remains alive and well. Life often has a funny way of letting you know what is important if you are awake enough to see the signs. This past Easter while walking in front of the White House in Washington D.C. during the Easter Egg Roll, this young mother and child were leaving the grounds and she was sporting a very familiar tote bag, which reminded me the importance of pursuing the imagery.

Easter in Washington, DC.

-SOLD

The Richard Family goes to Washington

2012-04-29T18:47:00.001-03:00

click on photo for details

This past Easter weekend we flew to Washington DC for a 5-day getaway. It was our first visit here and one that I had anticipated for such a long time. I still remember our 6th grade teacher telling us that we should all try to visit the Smithsonian some day......Mrs Babineau would be pleased. We had visited London England twice before, and the two Capitols share many common traits; a Mall, grand monuments, amazing architecture and some of the most famous museums, most of which are free.

The year 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the 100th anniversary of the Gift of Cherry Trees to Washington DC from the Embassy of Japan. There are 1700 cherry trees around the Tidal Bassin and another 2000 spread around the city. We were there during the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn hosted by the Obamas and the Cherry Blossom Festival. Many cherry blossoms were out in full bloom, especially in front of the Japanese Embassy and Arlington Cemetery. With the unusual warm weather and Spring coming so early this year, the variety around the Tidal Bassin had already reached it's foliage stage.

We had the opportunity to view some amazing art at the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, the Renwick Gallery and the Hirshorn Museum / Sculpture Garden and my personal favorite the National Portrait Gallery /the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The paintings I was most anticipating were the Luncheon of the Boating Party by Auguste Renoir, the Vermeer's at the National Gallery of Art and the many Edward Hopper and John Singer Sargent's spread in the many museums listed above.

We also visited most of the monuments and war memorials. We went on a guided tour of the Capitol Building, and breezed through the National Geographic Society, the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the Library of Congress, the US Botanical Garden, the National Postal Museum, the National Building Museum, the National Archives and last but not least the National Air and Space Museum. This last museum is listed after the Louvres in Paris as the world's 2nd most visited yearly. It really has the WOW factor. I was able to see the ''Spirit of St. Louis'' which was the inspiration of a painting earlier this year -view link for update.

We really tried to cram up as much as we could during our stay, but we only scratched the surface. With that said, we hope to return sometime in the next decade as there are more than a dozen museums we did not have time to visit.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2012-03-03T13:20:00.001-04:00

The three paintings that I have most recently completed will all be shown in the ''PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES'' Invitational exhibition that opens today at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacamento, CA. Nostalgia is one thread that links all the imagery together. I have the honor to hang my work along side a very select group of artist that includes the likes of Alan Gorman, Brian O'Neill, Bryan David Snuffer, Bryan Mark Taylor, Dianne Gall, James Crandall, Janet Ternoff, Jelaine Faunce, Joe Santos, Kari Tirrell, Mark Oberndorf, Robert LaDuke, and Vic Vicini. To preview the show, click on this EFG link.

Click on image for a closer view

I was advised by the gallery that ''Lucky Lindy flies the Air Mail'' and ''Caboose on Pennsylvania Railroad '' both sold yesterday. Many thanks to the patron who acquired them and to the gallery for hosting and their promotional work. The opening reception will be held next Saturday, March 10, 6-9 pm. If distance was not part of the equation, I would surely attend.

To inquire about ''9-11 on a Dice Roll'' and other available paintings please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

Caboose on Pennsylvania Railroad

2012-02-29T18:27:00.001-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 8 x 10''

Painting # 207, 2012

The only toy that I've kept from my own childhood is an electric toy train set, comprised of a steam engine, three wagons and a caboose. This Mantua train set was given to me by my next door neighbor when I was about 12 years old. It belonged to her youngest son who was more than 10 years my senior. At the time, he had moved out of the homestead and his mother came upon it while cleaning out the remains left behind. I would estimate that it is close to 50 years old.

When I started to read about the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on Wikipedia, the genesis for the composition came me. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PPR) was founded in 1846. It's headquarters was located in Philadelphia, Pa. The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the twentieth century and was at one time the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. At its peak it controlled about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail line. At one point the budget for the PRR was larger than that of the U.S. government and at its peak it employed about 250,000 workers. In 1968, it would merge with it's rival, the New York Central Lines to form the Penn Central Transportation Company.The Interstate Commerce Commission required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather conditions and the withdrawal of a government-guaranteed 200-million-dollar operating loan forced the Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970. The Penn Central rail lines were split between Amtrak and Conrail in the 1970s. After the breakup of Conrail in 1999, the portion which had been PRR territory largely became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway.

This painting chronicles in a whimsical way, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company during it's 122 years of operation from 1846 to 1968. I've been collecting stamps since my early teens. I've always viewed them as miniature artworks, so as the previous painting, I'm incorporating a very appropriate stamp in the composition. This first-day cover does not exist in real life. I took bits and pieces from of other medias to fabricate an imaginary first-day cover marking the last day (January 31, 1968) the company operated before merging with it’s rival, the New York Central Lines.This US stamp was actually issued at 32¢ on May 28, 1998, to celebrate the ''Electric Toy Train''. From a timeline of the US Postal Services, the cost for mailing a first-class letter in 1968 was 6¢, so I changed the amount accordingly for the painting.

1998 US- 32¢ stamp celebrating the

''Electric Toy Train'' used in the painting

I chose Atlantic City, NJ for the postmark, since the PPR once served the city and it is the setting for the Monopoly game on which the composition in anchored on. The lone caboose serves as a sign of the times. Until the 1980’s, laws in the US and Canada required that all freight trains had a caboose and a full crew for safety. Technology eventually advanced such and in effort to save money and reduce crew members, it was stated that the caboose was unnecessary and their use has since declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and small railroads.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Museum which is located east of Philadelphia, outside of Strasbourg Pa in Amish country. In relation with my previous painting, Lucky Lindy flies the Airmail, that museum is currently restoring ''The Lindbergh engine'', PRR #460. During his first stop in Washington, DC on June 11, 1927, after returning from Europe and his transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh was promoted to colonel and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Calvin Coolidge. Two rival newsreel companies, who were each vying to be the first to have their films of the ceremony shown in New York theaters before Lindbergh's visit to the Big Apple two days later, chartered a train and an aircraft, respectively, from Washington to New York City. No. 460 headed up the charter train, pulling only its tender, a baggage car and a passenger car. The train departed Washington at 1:14 PM and arrived at the Manhattan Transfer, outside of New York City, 2 hours and 56 minutes later. Even though the aircraft arrived in New York first, the film brought by No. 460 was in theaters hours before the other, thanks to a film processing lab on board the baggage car.

This completes the trio of paintings for

the ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' Invitational group show

at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March 3- April 5, 2012.

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
-SOLD

Lucky Lindy flies the Air Mail

2012-02-23T02:24:00.000-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 10¼ x 12¼''

Painting # 206, 2012

This painting is my second entry for the ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' Invitational group show being held next month at the Elliott Fouts Gallery.

After reading Charles A. Lindbergh's biography on Wikipedia last fall, I started browsing on eBay to acquire some artifacts or memorabilia related to this much celebrated aviator. I would end up acquiring more than I could use. During the Christmas Holidays I read his first autobiography entitled WE, published on July 27, 1927, only two months after his historic transatlantic flight. A testament to his phenomenal popularity, this June 1928 edition featured in the painting was already on it's thirty first printing, .

Charles A. Lindbergh was born in Detroit Michigan on February 4, 1902. His fascination with aeronautics started in 1912 at the age of 10, upon seeing his first airplane. After graduating High School, he enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall of 1920. By the end of March 1922, he quit college, hopped on his motorcycle en route to Lincoln Nebraska where he enrolled with the Nebraska Aircraft Corp. to earn his pilot's wings. Because the novice flyer could not afford to post a bond required to cover possible damages on the school only plane, he was never permitted to fly solo. He took matters in his own hands and did his first solo flight in May 1923 after buying a WWI surplus Curtiss JN-4, ''Jenny'' bi-plane for $440 and trading-in his Harley-Davidson. Prior and after purchasing of the ''Jenny'', he did some barnstorming across the mid-west and at state fairs. Popular in the 1920's, barnstormers would land in a farmer's field and offer plane rides lasting five to 10 minutes for $5 to any adventurous bystanders. In order to attract crowds there was often some sort of aerial side show associated with wing walkers and parachutists of which Lindbergh would engage in, becoming somewhat of a daredevil. In March 1924, he began a year of military flight training with the US Army Air Service and would graduate top of his class. In October 1925, he was hired by the Robertson Aircraft Corp. in St. Louis as an airmail pilot providing service to the newly designated 278-mile Contract Air Mail between St. Louis Mo. and Chicago Ill, which included two intermediate stops in Springfield and Peoria Ill.

Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis

But Charles Lindbergh had loftier goals, one of which was pursuing the $25,000 Ortieg Prize to be awarded to the first successful non-stop flight made in either direction between New York City and Paris. He would later dedicate his best-selling book WE, to his mother and the eight spirited men from St. Louis who financed his adventurist project. Lindbergh would oversee the construction of the $15,000 one-seater, single-engine monoplane built by Ryan Airlines of San Diego, California. In order to keep the plane as light as possible, he carried an earth inductor compass, a periscope instead of a windshild, no radio, no parachute and no co-pilot, preferring to use the additional weight for extra fuel tanks carrying 450 U.S. gallons (1,704 liters)

The first successful transatlantic flight had actually occurred eight years earlier on June 14-15, 1919. Two British aviators, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown flew a modified Vickers Vimy IV bomber from Lester's Field near St. John's Newfoundland over open waters covering a span of 1,890 miles to Clifden, Ireland.

Several unsuccessful attempts to win the Ortieg Prize had claimed the lives of six pilots. On May 8, 1927, twelve days before Lindbergh's attempt, two French war heroes Captain Charles Nungesser and his navigator François Coli departed from Paris - Le Bouget Airport and contact was lost after crossing the coast of Ireland, never to be heard or seen again.

On May 20, 1927 at 7:52 am, the twenty five year old Lindbergh took flight in the Spirit of St. Louis departing from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY. For the following 33½ hours, the chosen curved line flight course of 3600 miles would take him over New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, eastward over the Atlantic, down past the southern tip of Ireland, across the narrow strip of England, the English Channel into France and over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He faced many challenges including skimming over both storm clouds at 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and wave tops at as low at 10 ft (3.0 m), fighting icing, flying blind through fog for several hours and combating fatigue from already being sleep deprived even before his departure. He successfully landing his Ryan monoplane at Le Bouget Airport at 10:22 pm on May 21 where an estimated crowd of 150,000 awaited. From that moment on, life would never again be the same for the previously little known former U.S. Air Mail pilot who had just achieved virtually instantaneous—and lifelong—world fame.

After much deserve sleep he would remain in Paris for several days and for the following weeks would go on a tour where his exploit was celebrated. Among the festivities were ceremonies, dinner receptions, galas and parades. Everybody wanted to shake his hand, from the common mortal, political figures to royalty. Before leaving Europe, the cities of Brussels and London greeting the new aviation phenom with open arms.

At the time it is probable that when Lindbergh reached America, he got the greatest welcome any man in history has ever received; certainly the greatest when judged by numbers. The celebratory victory tour focused on three American cities, Washington, DC, New York City and St. Louis.

On June 11, 1927, Washington DC was more than ready to honor him. After being greeted by President Coolidge, it was the turn of Postmaster General Harry S. New who presented Lindbergh with the first special airmail stamp. He concluded his speech with the following statement. ''It has no titles to bestow- no medal it can add to those that have been given in recognition of your splendid achievement. There is one thing, however, it can do that will everywhere be regarded as most appropriate. It has issued a stamp designed for a special use with the airmail which bears your name..... It is the first time a stamp has been issued in honor of a man still living- a distinction which you have worthily won''.

The Lindbergh Airmail stamp (C-10) that is

featured in the above painting under magnifying glass

is in mint condition and has been attached

to the back of the frame for the prospect buyer.

On June 13, 1927, New York City was more than impatient in voicing that he hurry to the celebration awaiting him there. It is estimated that a crowd swelling from 3 to 4,5 millions lined the streets of Manhattan where among the many festivities was a ticker tape parade. During his last day in New York City, on June 16 he went to Brooklyn where more than a million people gave him another moving welcome. He would attend a large tea and reception at the Hotel Brevoort where Raymond Orteing presented him with the $25,000 prize for the first New York to Paris flight.

On Saturday June 18, 1927, the city of St.Louis hosted a huge parade with luncheon and banquet to follow. The following day he gave an exhibition flight in the Spirit of St. Louis over the former 1904 World's Fair grounds. Not an hour, scarcely a waking minute, was he free from demands upon his time an attention. It is estimated that he received more than 2,000,000 congratulatory letters.

The top letter in my composition- postmarked St Louis, on June 18, 1927, also bears a special ink stamp in celebration of his crowning achievement on the same day the city would honor him. This random letter is addressed to an Albert Ellbogen of Chicago, which has an indirect link with the Elliott Fouts show's theme, since Mr. Ellbogen was a past vice president of the National Railway Time Service Company.

Although Lindbergh never returned to service as a regular U.S. Air Mail pilot, he used the immense fame that his exploits had brought him to help promote the use of the U.S. Airmail Service, who's catch phrase was ''AIRMAIL SAVES TIMES''. The price for mailing a letter with the Airmail service at the time was 10¢, vs 2¢ for a First Class stamp using ground transportation. Lindbergh would return to his former route of St.Louis to Chicago in a CAM-2 for two days so that he could pilot a series of special flights (northbound on February 20; southbound on February 21) on which tens of thousands of self-addressed souvenir covers sent in from all over the nation and the world were flown, back stamped, and then returned to their senders as a further means to promote awareness and the use of the Air Mail Service. Souvenir covers and other artifacts associated with or carried on flights piloted by Lindbergh are still actively collected under the general designation of "Lindberghiana." The bottom letter postmarked with a lucky horseshoe -''Lindbergh flies the Airmail again'' was one among those thousands he carried and that I was so grateful to acquire.

Curiously enough, both envelopes featured in my painting bears the name Mr. L.A. Wehrle of Belleville, Ill. Belleville is located only 17 miles away from St. Louis, MO. The first letter is as the sender, the other as the recipient.

The book that grounds the composition is entitled, Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St.Louis by Dominick A. Pisani and Robert Van Der Linder, with foreword by his daughter Reeve Lindbergh. It was published by Harry S.Abrams Inc. in 2002 for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington where The Spirit of St. Louis is on display. I positioned the book so that in viewing the postage stamp under the magnifying glass, Lindbergh's eye from the cover is looking at the viewer from the other side.

After reading WE, I also had several viewings of Billy Wilder's film ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' starring James Stewart as Lindy. The movie was based on the 1958 Pultizer Prize winning book of the same name penned by Lindbergh himself. Both gave me a glimpse of his visionary insight and for his will for the advancement in aeronautics. He was young lad, highly intelligent, courageous, a fearless adventurist who attributed the success of his non-stop trans-Atlantic flight to meticulous planning and all those involved in financing and building the Spirit of St.Louis. In his later years, Lindbergh became a prolific prize-winning author, international explorer, inventor, and environmentalist. It is a post that may seem endless, but I am just barely skimming the surface of whom Charles Lindbergh was. I am only focusing on narrative relating with the items I was fortunate enough to collect in order to set up a composition in this homage.

Update- April 27, 2012

This past Easter we took a 5-day vacation to Washington DC. On Easter Sunday we visited the National Air and Space Museum where the original Spirit of St Louis and other navigational instruments of the Ryan monoplane are housed and preserved. I had studied it so closely, so it was exactly as I had imagined it and somewhat humbling to be in it's presence. After the Louvres in Paris, this museum is the second most visited in the world and for good reason. It has a WOW factor the moment you step in.

''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' Invitational group show

at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March 3- April 5, 2012.

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
-SOLD

9-11 on a Dice Roll

2012-01-29T16:16:00.001-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard,11¼ x 14¼''

Painting #205, 2012

This past September I was invited by the Elliott Fouts Gallery to take part in a group exhibition entitled ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' scheduled to open on March 3. The idea of using a Monopoly game board came to me during the following week as I was driving to the Greater Moncton Airport to pick up a family friend who was on a returning flight from Montreal. Upon taking the airport exit, you have to cross a railroad track to get to the terminal. So there I was, in an automobile, crossing a train track, to get to a plane.

My initial idea was using one of the four railroad spaces on the Monopoly game board. But the concept changed once I was able to acquire a plane and a train token on eBay. The locomotive engine token is part of the Monopoly ''70th Anniversary'' edition, while the jet plane game piece is from the Monopoly ''Here and Now'' edition. All three token have different finishes, the car has a semi-luster metallic finish, the train has a chrome finish while the plane is made of pewter.

As I was setting up the board game for the initial photo study and started moving the pieces around, the whole narrative came to me when I dropped the jet plane on New York Ave. I felt my heart sinking and it became a very unsettling moment. At the same time, it felt too important to dismiss. By the time I was done setting up the props, my initial concept would take on a whole new direction. The image may seem whimsical on the surface but has many cross references. The first serving as a 9-11 memorial on lives lost, the many injured and those left behind. The 2001 World Trade Center disaster was also an attack on democracy and freedom, and the aftermath would immediately impact air travel, airport security and cross border crossing on a global scale. The count of dots on each dice totals 9 + 11, and the two hotels are in reference of the Twin Towers.

September 11, 2001 is forever etched in our consciousness. I was driving to Fredericton, NB to view an art exhibit at the Beaverbroook Art Gallery when I heard the drama as it unfolded live on radio. Later that evening and for the following days, I just sat in a numb state, transfixed and in disbelief in front of the TV set, absorbing the surreal video footage being replayed which also included two other passenger planes, one that targeted the Pentagon in Arlington, Va and a fourth (United Airlines Flight 93) that crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The repercussions of the September 11 terrorist attacks are all immeasurable in the emotional, financial and physical realm. It would later lead indirectly to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as additional homeland security spending, totaling at least $5 trillion.

A year later, I would visit ''Ground Zero'' where the World Trade Center once stood. Seeing the cross made from recovered steel beams rising above the ashes like a Phoenix was an overwhelming sight. As was the banged- up Sphere Sculpture that once stood outside the World Trace Center (surrounded by a water fountain) that was recovered in the wreckage and installed as a memorial site next to an eternal flame as the centerpiece of the Hope Garden in nearby Battery Park.

The Train engine on Kentucky Ave is in reference to the ''Blue Grass State'' for having the most productive coal field in the US and for it's mining history. Coal was the primary source of fuel for steam engine locomotive prior to WW2 before eventually switching to gasoline, diesel and electricity. Kentucky is also the fourth largest producer of automobile in the United States. The Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR, Ford Explorer, Ford Super Duty truck, and the following Toyota vehicles: Camry, Avalon, Solara and Venza are all assembled here.

And of course the little roadster is on ''Free Parking'', since ''the Best things in life are still FREE'', including a smile. There is currently a price to pay for clean air, clean water and personal freedom. The top numbers on the dices equal seven as a symbol that we can still count our many blessings even when life has many unexpected turns.

Trivia-
-In the Monopoly ''Here and Now'' edition, the railways have been replaced by the four
largest airports in the US. The tokens have also been revamped. The Scottish Terrier has
been bumped by a Labradoodle, the boot by a New Balance sneaker, the car by a Toyota
Prius, there is also a large McDonald's fries, a Starbucks Coffee mug, a Motorola cell
phone and a laptop computer.
-Tokens from the Monopoly US ''Here and Now'' Edition were flown into space aboard
Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2007.

''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' Invitational group show

at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March 3- April 5, 2012.

To inquire about this painting please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

Marbles over Tintin

2012-01-02T15:26:00.000-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

5 x 7', painting #204

Maybe I should have entitled this painting ''Losing my marbles over Tintin''. I first mentioned Tintin in 2008, when the book, Tintin in Tibet by Hergé appeared in my painting ''Are we there yet?''. I have been a fan of The Adventures of Tintin since elementary school. Having read all of the two dozen comic books which were written and illustrated between 1929 to 1976. My son Jean-Luc has the entire collection of book and made-for-TV animated series on DVD. Tintin is a globe-trotting, crime solving Belgium journalist/reporter. He is strong for his stature, an agile fighter, car and motorcycle driver, flies planes and an able marksman. He relies greatly on his keen sense of deduction and intuition to save the day. He was created by Georges Rémi under the pen name Hergé. Tintin first appear as a comic strip in a newspaper in Belgium in 1929. The books have been translated in 50 languages and 200 millions copies have been sold. It remains one of the most popular comic book in Europe, and in French Canada.

Tintin and Snowy (Milou) by Hergé

I learned back in 2008 that Steven Spielberg had begun work on the film ''The Adventures of Tintin'' with Peter Jackson as a producer. Spielberg had first acquired the rights to make a film based on Hergé's comics back in 1983. It is rumored that someone made a remark to Spielberg after the release of the first Indiana Jones movie, which reminded him of the Adventures of Tintin. At the time he was not familiar with the Tintin serial and was given the whole comic book series in French.

The film, The Adventues of Tintin opened in Europe in October and has since grossed in excess of 230 million dollars. Opening on the North American screens to favorable reviews on December 21, the film has amassed 40 million dollars on it's first 10 days. The script for the first installment combines the story lines of three books, The Secret of the Unicorn as the main story plot with exerts of Red Rackham's Treasure (1943) which is it's sequel. Scenes from the earlier The Crab with the Golden Claws (1940-41) is intertwined in the script to introduce the Captain Archibald Haddock character, who would eventually become is best friend and joined him in later escapades.

Theatrical poster

The film has already garnered a Satellite and a Golden Globe Award for best animation film. Producer Peter Jackson, whose company, Weta Digital provided the computer animation, intends to direct a sequel.

Realism may be falling at the wayside with Academia and the art world, while the opposite is happening in animated movies. The facial features of the characters do retain a cartoonish flair, but the rest of the visuals are simply mind boggling. The hands of Captain Haddock appears so life-like. The evolution in digital animation is so advanced that it is often indistinguishable from real life.

Hopefully the film will act as a vehicle to promote the books to a greater audience. Respected film critic Leonard Maltin noted in his review that he was ''completely unfamiliar with Hergé’s popular illustrated stories''. Hoping that this film will change all of this.

For this painting I used the cover image of the hand-drawn animated series on DVD of ''Le secret de la Licorne'' (The Secret of the Unicorn) from which the Spielberg film is based on. Underneath the mason jar glass lid hides the Unicorn, the ship that was once the vessel of Captain Haddock ancestor.

Tintin Trivia:

-The very successful 1980's British band, The Thompson Twins was named after the latter characters.
- Tintin lives at 26 Labrador Street, Brussels, Belgium.

''Tintin is myself. He reflects the best and brightest in me; he is my successful double. I am not a hero. But like all 15 year-old boys, I dreamt of being one..... and I have never stopped dreaming. Tintin has accomplished many things on my behalf.''

-Georges Rémi (Hergé)

Exhibited at Handworks Gallery

12 King Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 1G2

-SOLD

Always Coca-Cola

2012-01-01T12:57:00.002-04:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

7 x 5'', painting #203

The title is from a 1993 Coca-Cola slogan. The image is a crop shot from the same source photo used for Coca-Cola Bottles. This is the actual original version before I started to change colors using Photoshop. I was hoping to get this painting and tomorrow's posting at Handworks Gallery way before Christmas, but there was just too much stuff happening in my life to reach the deadline.

Wishing you all the very best for 2012, with a full new year ahead of us, all is possible. May your inner light shine brighter than ever before.

Available from

Handworks Gallery

12 King Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 1G2

Phone: (506) 652- 9787

e-mail: info@handworks.ca

Book Club: Late afternoon coffee with Oprah

2011-12-18T04:52:00.000-04:00

14 x 14'', acrylic on gessoed hardboard,

2011, painting #202

Where does inspiration comes from? For me it's often a sequence of events that ignites the idea. This past spring, I watched the last 30 episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show. After 25 years, she was saying goodbye to daytime television and moving on to her own network, appropriately named OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network). During this same period, I was browsing through the used book section at a Canadian Dollar Store here in town, when I spotted no less than a dozen books that were chosen as past selections for her Book Club. What are the odds, since the book display case is only a two sided, four feet wide rack. When I got back home, it all came to me, an homage to the grand lady of television. The next day, I went back and bought seven of them, adding to the four I already had purchased in past years. When I really think about it, over all those years, even if I had only watched 50 shows per season, it would amount to 1250 episodes.......1250 hours in front of the tube.

She started her book club in September of 1996. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard was chosen as the first selection. Viewers were invited to read the book and the author was often present for an audience discussion at the conclusion. During the fifteen years, 67 books were introduced to her viewers. Because of the book club's wide popularity, many obscure titles have become very popular bestsellers. Several novels have sold in excess of one million copies, this occurrence is widely known as the Oprah Effect. It is estimated that the sales of the ''Oprah Book Club'' editions has sold in excess of 55 million copies. The top five with sales figures as of May 2011 are:

Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, 3,370,000 copies
James Frey, A million little Pieces- 2,695,500 copies
Elie Wiesel, Night- 2,021,000 copies
Cormac McCartney, The Road- 1,385,000 copies (after the book was selected, it was awarded the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2007)
Joyce Carol Oates, We were the Mulvaneys, 1,348,000 copies

Many of the titles would later be made into film, such as The Deep End of the Ocean, The Reader, The Pilot's Wife, White Oleander, House of Sand and Fog, A Map of the World, the Road and Love in a Time of Cholera.

Around 1996, was also the period when she started to enlighten people by having spiritual authors with their words of wisdom. This was the time when I really started to tune in, and had my own spiritual awakening while reading Celestine Prophecies by James Redfield. Many people viewed this as a menace to established religions vs church free spirituality. I view them as two separate entities, which I won't go into details, but both are connected to God or a ''higher being''. She would emerged as a spiritual leader in the process, which continues on her own network with ''Oprah's Lifeclass''. In fact, the only book that I have read from the Book Club selections is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, which is my all-time favorite spiritual book. However, I have read many of the other books that were introduced on air during these spiritual classes from authors like Gary Zukav, Sarah Ban Breathnach, Shirley McClaine, Dannion Brinkley, James Van Praagh, Carolyn Myss, Rhonda Byrne, Wayne Dwyer, Richard Carlson, Betty J. Eadie and several others. These are the authors that bring enlightenment with what Oprah calls ''A-ha moments''.

For this painting, I went for the visuals. In this lot of seven books are no less than three Nobel Prize Award Winners. Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garcia Marquez for literature and Eli Wiesel for Peace. The titles are as follows (clockwise)-

1- One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (featuring a painting by Cathleen Toelke)

2- Stones from the River - Ursula Hegi (featuring a painting by Albrecht Durer)

3- Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison

4- The Bluest Eyes - Toni Morrison

5- Night - Eli Wiesel

6- A New Earth- Awakening to your Life's Purpose - Eckhart Tolle

7- Love in a time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Toni Morrison books are kind of hidden, but they are at the base level and they anchor the composition, plus she is one of Oprah's favorite person. I chose Love in a time of Cholera for a few reasons. It really complimented the color scheme of the cup and saucer. This Royal Albert demi-tasse with floral motif is called Camelot. It once belonged to my wife Suzanne's grandmother. When she died, Suzanne's mother Viola inherited the heirloom and displayed it in a curio wall cabinet for many years. Viola passed away, 6 years ago, she was an avid fan of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

In related stories, I've been sponsoring a boy from Haiti for three years now, specifically with money I earn from selling art. I only get a letter from Wilky about once a year. The second letter I ever received was on January 12, 2010. It came with an updated photo of him. That evening as I was about to put his photo in a picture frame, I switched on the television as they were announcing and covering the devastation from earth quake that had just hit Haiti. The fact that I was holding his photo, also shook me. Fortunately for him, he does not live near Port-au-Prince and their area suffered minimal damage. On the same day I purchased the lot of seven books which including Love is a Time of Cholera, I was to receive the only letter from him this year. That day I read that his family had been afflicted during the recent cholera outbreak. He became gravely ill and one of his brothers almost died.

This past spring our 16 year old son was hospitalized for the first time in his life with viral infection that compromised his immune system. During this time he was reading Night by Eli Weisel for a book report in his English studies class. One morning as he had a fever of 104 F, and felt too weak to read, I sat at his bedside and read out loud a few chapters of the author's personal heartbreaking account of family rupture in concentration camps during WW2.

I'm planning to do a complimentary Oprah Book Club piece next year taking a slightly different approach.

To acquire this painting, please contact the
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB. Canada
(506) 536-9000 or e-mail-gallery@nbnet.nb.ca .

Mes ailes (My Wings)

2011-11-29T08:33:00.002-04:00

14 x 18'', acrylic on gessoed hardboard

Painting # 201, 2011

This painting is a commission piece done from a photograph provided by the client. Operating from Oregon, Van's Aircraft is an American kit aircraft manufacturer, founded by Richard "Van" VanGrunsven in 1973. These aluminium planes are sold as kits for self assembly. This RV-7A model from the Van's Aircraft fleet had received a striking custom paint job.

The painting was a surprise gift for her husband who was the original owner of the plane before upgrading from a two to a four-seater.

Speaking of planes, I've been invited by the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, Ca to participate in a spring group show that will be entitled, ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles''. I will be taking a more conceptual approach for these paintings.

-commission

Friday Feature- Interview by Carrie Waller

2011-11-04T22:45:00.002-03:00

Let it Snow, 6 x 8'', watercolour

by Carrie Waller

Carrie's Creations is a blog that features the artwork of gifted watercolorist Carrie Waller. She recently started a weekly post series interviewing fellow blog artists. I am the lucky beneficiary of this week's Friday Feature. In one single interview, I am probably revealing more about my background and creative process than if you read my whole blog from the first posting.

To check out the interview link or view Carrie's compelling watercolor paintings, do visit her blog. Many thanks Carrie for this unique opportunity.

Pops on Pop Art

2011-10-25T00:10:00.000-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

12 x 16, painting #200

The inspiration for this painting is a play on words that emerged during the photo studies I did for the painting ''Sally blowing bubbles, an homage to Charles Schulz''. Pops, a hard candy lollipop with a bubble gum center was introduced after Tootsie Roll acquired Dubble Bubble in 2004. It is a modern take from the Tootsie Pop, first introduced to the public in 1931, 80 years ago.

The art book is Pop Art, by Tilman Osterwold, originally published in 1990 by Taschen. This edition was part of Taschen publishing 25th anniversary, printed in 2007 featuring Roy Lichtenstein's M-Maybe (a girl's picture), 1965 on the cover. In reference to the book's content, an original Tootsie Pop appears in Richard Hamilton's 1956 collage, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?

This is a milestone painting in my artistic career, as it marks my 200th original piece. I have been painting for 24 years. From 1987 to 2000, I only produced an average of two paintings per year, 27 in fact. I became more prolific in 2001 when I started painting for my first solo show that consisted of all new works. That 2002 show entitled Perspective would be the catalyst to jump start my professional career. My artwork is forever changing, but it doesn't get any easier with time. I found this piece to be especially challenging. It might just be the fact that I'm tackling subject matter that I often find intimitating to paint. Rather than viewing it from a technical aspect, I try to focus more on composition, artistry and content.

-SOLD

Group Exhibitions

2011-10-13T09:46:00.004-03:00

I live on the Atlantic coast of Canada. During the month of October, I am participating in three group exhibitions. One on the west coast of Canada and two others on both coasts of continental United States. Not so long ago, this occurence would have been only possible in a dream.

The Still Life, an invitational group show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento California opened on October 1 and runs through November 2. The opening reception was held last Saturday on October 8. I have three paintings in this exhibition, and am currently working on a fourth that will be a late entry. I've been very busy of late with other aspect of my life and could not make the deadline in time. I am fortunate to be included in a very select group of artists that includes- Jeff Cohen, Jelaine Faunce, Teresa N. Fisher, Todd Ford, Russel Harris, James Neil Hollingsworth, Mary Ellen Johnson, Judy Nunes & Christopher Stott.

The Elliott Fouts Gallery has done a phenomenal job in promoting the show. I am grateful and fortunate to have more than my share of exposure. Held over Klimt is currently the image on the gallery's website home page. Red Velvet Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud was printed in full color in the Sacramento Bee (newspaper) in the Arts & Museum section. And Black Forest Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud appeared along with an artist's statement on pages 164 & 165 of the October 2011 issue of American Art Collector. This last painting sold even before I shipped it.

To inquire about the artwork please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

photo on left- opening reception photo taken my Neil Hollingsworth, also featured - Andrei Palmer

In Atlanta Georgia, ''The Real Thing'', an invitational group exhibition celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Coca-Cola opened on September 16 and runs through the month of October at the Mason Murer Fine Art. Among the artists taking part are Jelaine Faunce, Teresa N. Fisher, Todd Ford, Neil Hollingsworth, Kim Karlson, Otto Lange, David Malan, Rick McClury, Burton Morris, Michael Naples, Andrei Palmer, Christopher Stott, Sally Tharp, and Vic Vicini .

To inquire about these two pieces, please contact-

Mason Murer Fine Art
199 Armour Drive
Atlanta, GA 30324
404.879.1500
info@masonmurer.com

Last but not least, my painting ''May Blooms in a Mason Jar'' was juried into the Annual International Representational Show - AIRS (2nd edition) hosted by The Federation of Canadian Artists that is based out of Vancouver. I've was elected as an active member in the fall of 2004. Several of my past submissions into their juried thematic exhibitions were rejected, so I am especially thrilled to have a chance to exhibit among a exceptionnal group of artists on a larger platform. The exhibtion opened on October 4 and runs through October 23.

The Federation of Canadian Artists was founded in 1941 by a group of influential artists, including Group of Seven luminary, Lawren Harris, it continues to operate as a non-profit organization with chapters throughout Canada. Dedicated to its aim of gradually raising the artists’ standards by stimulating participants to greater heights of achievement.

Held over Klimt

2011-09-18T12:01:00.015-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

12 x 9'', painting #199

Last year, my painting- Held over Monet was a result of discovering the fabulous art glass of Robert Held. This new painting is a result of history repeating itself. Of life imitating art and vice versa. Fast forward one year, our son Jean-Luc's soccer team was taking part in another tournament on Prince Edward Island in late July. Different town, different art galleries visited during down time, but same outcome. They win gold in the finals and I acquire another piece of his wonderful art glass. This painting pays tribute to two amazing artists.

Robert Held was born in Santa Ana California. He studied painting at Whittier College until ceramics artist F.Carleton Ball crossed his path. Pursuing a Master's Degree in Fine Arts at the University of Southern California, Robert was awarded the graduate assistantship. At this time, he won the prestigious "Glen Lukins Award" for new work in ceramics. Upon graduating, Robert was offered a position as Head of Ceramics at a college being built in Ontario. He accepted the position becoming the youngest department head at the Sheridan College - School of Design.

In 1968, after a visit to the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Robert Held discovered a new love: the art of glassblowing. He returned to Sheridan College inspired and succeeded in launching Canada's first college level hot glass program in 1969. This program allowed many Canadian artists to become skilled in this medium, and crowned Robert Held as the pioneer of art glass in Canada.

Eventually, Mr. Held left the teaching world, and in 1978 he began his own glass studio known as Skookum Art Glass Inc based out of Calgary, AB and operated there until 1987. At this time, he moved to Vancouver, BC, and continues to enjoy much success there today at his studio: Robert Held Art Glass, and also through the many fine galleries and gift shops that carry his work throughout North America, Europe and Japan.

Some works are inspired by the paintings of famous artists such as Monet and Klimt, while others take inspiration from photographers and even interior designers. This vase is from the California Poppy collection. This line was inspired by the famous impressionist painting ''The Poppy fields'' by Claude Monet. In keeping with the color scheme of the vase, in lieu of Monet I was inspired to use an art book of Gustav Klimt featuring ''The Kiss'' on the front cover to ground the composition.

Born in 1862, Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and the founding father and a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement, a group of artist who consciously rejected the academic style of the late nineteenth century. Even though he had formally studied art at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. He received training as an architectural painter and was classified as an academic painter who could paint hyperrealist portraits. He became celebrated for his rich, complex, gold-dazzling friezes and portraits of powerful, chic woman from Vienna's turn of the century society. His artistic vocabulary incorporated esoteric design and eroticism, which was not always well received, including some commissions which were never revealed. His work was greatly influenced by the Byzantine movement and he also was associated with Art Nouveau when the movement was at it's peak.

''The Kiss'' (1907-08) is a celebration of his deeply held belief in the transforming power of idealized love. Klimt himself is the male figure embracing his life companion Emilie Flöge. The art book's author Gilles Néret notes, ''Klimt's otherwise dominating woman becomes submissive. She yields to the man, abandons herself to him, and sexuality shimmers through her clinging gown''. I read this passage during the time I was doing the preliminary drawing on paper. By the time I started to paint, it dawn on me that the position of the vase and window frame in relation with the image, casted a shadow on the woman side. The positioning of the heads creating polar opposites like a ying-yang and it's attributes. Ying is seen as dark, passive and feminine while yang as light, active and masculine. And of course the only red flowers from the woman's gown are cast in the shadow of the vase, which itself boosts flowers in the same color palette. It becomes easy to over analyse imagery and create a narrative when you have a connection the goes beyond the surface.

The Kiss was done during his ''Golden Phase''. During this period he used gold leaf prominently on the artwork, which brought him both success and critical approval. Many of those Golden Phase paintings were confiscated by the Nazi regime during WWII. The image below entitled Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer 1(1907) once belong to the Bloch-Bauer couple until it was seized by the Nazis and bought by the Moderne Galerie (now Österreichische Galerie) in Vienna in 1941. (The Kiss is also housed here). In 2006, after a lengthy battle, a court decision attributed the ownership of that painting and four other Klimt paintings to Maria Altmann, a former Jewish refugee and niece of the Bloch-Bauers. On June 18, 2006, on her behalf and the family's heirs, the painting was sold at auction by Christie's to Ronald Lauder (cosmetic mogul of Estée Lauder Co.) for a reported 135 million, the highest price ever paid for a painting in history. Later that fall, Jackson Pollock (No. 5, 1948) and William de Kooning (Woman III, 1953) would both eclipse that figure. The remaining four paintings owned by Maria Altmann were sold at auction for a reported sum totaling 192 million.

On November 2001, Ronald Lauder opened the Neue Galerie in New York City, an art museum a few blocks away from the Metropolitan Museum, dedicated to art from Germany and Austria. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is the centerpiece of the museum's collection.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer 1- 1907

Oil, silver and gold on canvas, 138 x 138 cm

Neue Galerie, New York City

Next year in 2012, the city of Vienna Austria, will mark the 150th Birthday of Gustav Klimt with special exhibitions all over the city. We were born exactly 100 years apart, so I too will be celebrating a milestone, but under much less fanfare.

''Anyone who wants to find out about me- as an artist,

which is all that's of interest - should look

attentively at my pictures.''

GUSTAV KLIMT

Book: Klimt, author- Gilles Néret, published 2007, TASCHEN

This is my third entry for The Still Life, an invitational group show to be held at the Elliott Fouts Gallery from October 1 - November 2, 2011

-SOLD

Coca-Cola Bottles

2011-09-09T00:37:00.009-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

14 x 14'', painting# 198

I was invited to take part in a group show entitled ''The Real Thing'', celebrating the 125th anniversary of Coca-Cola. The art exhibition is set to open on September 16 at the Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia. The headquarters of the world's most famous soda pop is also located here. The gallery received a request by the Coca-Cola corporation to host this special anniversary show for the general public and for it's 200 top shareholders

For this painting I was hoping to find some vintage bottles with white lettering. The same type of bottles that would have been in use when I was growing up. I couldn't believe my good fortune when I found some on a Kijiji listing from a seller who lived only 2 miles from my house.

Also in this composition is an early 20th century replica tray that boost the 1904 slogan ''Delicious and Refreshing - Sold Everywhere 5¢''. A later 1909 slogan, '' Whenever you see an arrow think Coca-Cola'', prompted me to use a carboard cut-out that I had picked up at a yard sale last summer on Prince Edward Island. I believe it was part of a larger advertising display. It had a retro look and I instantly recognized it's potential as a prop for a future painting.

The bottles from this painting were actually clear glass. I took the photo studies on our green tinted tempered glass patio table, that boost a green market umbrella and I slid a green place mat under the tray in hoping that some of the green would somehow be absorb by the glass, which it did. After doing a tighter cropping on Photoshop, I tweaked the color green a bit, and a new heighten imagery popped on the screen.

My very first painting done in 1987 featured my wife with a Coca-Cola cup & straw. My oldest painting to sell done in 1989 was of a Corner Store with a Coca-Cola button sign. For this show, I was hoping to produce a piece that really had a WOW factor. With that said and many Coca-Cola paintings done over the past 24 years, this one is my very favorite.

Twelve artists are taking part in this exhibit which also includes the talents of Neil Hollingsworth, Jelaine Faunce, Teresa N. Fisher, Todd Ford, Otto Lange, David Malan, Michael Naples, Christopher Stott, Sally Tharp, and Vic Vicini .

----------------------

Update - September 7, 2012
This painting will be part of a group exhibition entitled:

ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
City of Saint John Gallery
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, NB CANADA
(506) 633-4870

September 7 - October 27, 2012
Opening reception is on September 7 - 5:30 to 7:30pm
Please consult this LINK for direction. Please note that there is major construction surrounding the Arts Centre and the current entrance in located on Carleton Street.

Please contact the Arts Centre or Handworks Gallery if you wish to acquire the painting.

12 King Street,
Saint John, NB, CANADA E2L 1G2
(506) 652-9787
e-mail - info@handworks.ca

Red Velvet Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud

2011-08-25T22:12:00.004-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

12 x 12'', painting # 197

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the dessert industry with the Red Velvet Cake (click here). The redness is attributed when the red anthocyanin of cocoa is revealed during a reaction between acidic vinegar and buttermilk, although most recipes also include red food coloring. The Red Velvet cup cake in this painting is from the Cake Box here in Moncton. It is their best seller. In fact, if you want one, you have to go early during the day cause by mid afternoon there all gone. I had never heard of Red Velvet cake until last year. I ate some for the first time this past Easter, when we had lunch at the cafeteria of the Art Institute of Chicago.

This painting is a companion piece to ''Black Forest Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud'' that will be exhibited in The Still Life, an invitational group show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California during the month of October. In this rendering, we have a better view of the book ''Delicious, The Life & Art of Wayne Thiebaud'', by Susan Goldman Rubin (published by Chronicle books -2007).

Wayne Thiebaud, Cakes, 1963

oil on canvas, 152.4 x 182.9 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Continuing Wayne Thiebaud's biography from my previous post -
As a teenager, he worked in the animation dept. of Walt Disney Studios. Early in his career he was employed a cartoonist and advertisement designer. During WW2, he enlisted and served as a war artist (1942-45). During the early 1950's, he earned a bachelor and masters degree in art and would go on to teach art until he retired at age 70 from a full-time position at the University of California, Davis. He would continue to teach studio art and art history on a part-time basis afterwards. One of his most celebrated student is Mel Ramos.

Thiebaud's first solo exhibition was at the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento. Between the years 1954 and 1957, he produced eleven educational films for which was awarded the Scholastic Art Prize in 1961. The greatest break of his career came in the spring of 1962. He had travelled to New York City in search of finding a commercial art gallery to represent him. After many rejections, the Allan Stone Gallery took him in and organized a solo exhibition entitled ''Wayne Thiebaud, Recent paintings''. To everyone's surprise, even himself, the show sold out. A piece was even purchased by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). This exhibition was followed by his first solo museum show in San Francisco at the de Young Museum. Later that year he was included in the landmark group exhibition, New Realists, at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York.

He has remained active throughout his life and his work has received some of the highest honors, including major retrospectives. As gallery owner Allan Stone once said, ''His work is about celebrating the Joy of Living''.

Please visit this 2001 CBS documentary segment for a quick life retrospective.

-SOLD

Black Forest Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud

2011-08-01T17:54:00.123-03:00

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011

12 x 14'', painting #196

I'm a usually a healthy eater, but I have to admit that I have a sweet tooth. I have a weakness for desserts, chocolate and ice cream. Whenever I pass in front of a glass front counter in a grocery store, a café outlet in a mall or the front window of a pâtisserie, I come to a complete standstill. If the goodies are behind glass, it makes them even more sinfully delicious. The same can be said about a glass dome plate. I found this glass cloche at Wicker Emporium just down the street from where I live. Directly across from that store is a small outlet called The Cake Box where you can specially order fancy cakes for any occasion. Their main business is selling decadent cup cakes which in recent years is back in vogue and all the rage. TV shows on the W Network, The Cup Cake Girls and Cup Cake Wars on the Food Network are cashing in the hype. Keeping the imagery very local is the window sill from our kitchen window looking into our unimpressive backyard.

This painting is an homage to Wayne Thiebaud, an American painter born in 1920. He is closely associated with the Pop Art movement. But unlike many Pop Art artists, his artwork does not survey items of advertising, commercialism or popular culture. His artwork celebrates objects found in mass culture. He's better known for his depictions of food products found in production line settings such as markets, cafeteria and diners...... notably cakes, pies, hot dogs, ice cream and candies. His oil paintings of food are often executed in thick, buttery paint, using bright and often exaggerated colors. Paint on cakes for example are applied to give the appearance of thick frosting. Other still life paintings included lip sticks, paint cans, shoes and gum ball machines.

His body of work also studies portraits and landscapes. Like many artists, composition and use of color and light take center stage. Inspired by French painters Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard, he paints with colors that seem to create their own light. His use of mediums includes oil, watercolor, pastel, graphite and printmaking. Click HERE for this Google link for an colorful sample of his artwork. My next posting will feature more bio notes on Mr. Thiebaud. I am currently working on a companion piece featuring a Red Velvet Cup Cake.

The book that anchors this composition is entitled, ''Delicious, The Life & Art of Wayne Thiebaud'', by Susan Goldman Rubin and published by Chronicle books (2007).

Mr. Thiebaud has lived the majority of his life in Sacramento California and will be turning 91 this coming November. For the second year, I am fortunate enough to have been invited to take part in ''The Still Life'', an invitational group show being organized and hosted by the Elliott Fouts Gallery also located in Sacramento.This is the first of hopefully four paintings that I will be submitting. The exhibition will open on October 1 and runs until November 2, 2011.

Elliott Fouts Gallery

4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819

Phone (916) 736-1429

e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net
-SOLD