The photos I love to take the most are basically abstract colour forms. They spring from the well of curiosity in my brain - when drawing, I have always tried to depict reality; when painting it is usually a mix of reality and abstract; with photography it often becomes total abstraction - just colours, forms and textures.

I also enjoy taking photos that are not quite so abstract - ones that have recognizable forms within them... but it is still the colour forms that intrigue me.

The process of focusing, watching my breath, watching the movement produced by a breeze, the changing shadows as the sun appears or disappears - removes me from being involved in and weighed down by the events in the world around me.

The conscious mind is a very powerful organ and likes to have control over the rest of us. Any moments I can create to remove myself from its' influence and connect to something I have little control over are moments I cherish. It reminds me that there is a universe outside of myself that accepts me despite the things I do which may not be in its best interest. It allows me to be here and be who I am at the moment, struggle to figure out why - and what I might do about it all.

The above are what I have been working on lately in my photography. Below, you will find a retrospective of the types of work I have done in the past.

Past works are exhibited to show the progression from where I was to where I am today. With most artists, this progression slowly evolves over the years as they work in one style or another, one media and then another, as each new idea catches their interest and they begin to explore.  It has been that way for me as I have had new interests peaked and begun the explorations.

What drives this exploration is the dual quest to develop new techniques in different media, and investigate the relationship between humans and their environment. Very much interested in nature and Mother Earth herself, I am often caught up in the goings-on of the birds, animals and people around me - the colours and textures of things - their form. These usually get translated into my works in one form or another. This may not be immediately visible to an observers eye, but these interests are so ingrained and so important a part of my being, that they are part and parcel of whatever I do. Whether it be some galactic swirl of colors I have noticed in one of the NASA photos, or the twisted turnings of connections in my brain after having read an article on the lives of people in Tibet, it gets reflected in some way in my work, as it is a part of me, and the paintings, writing, photos, drawings - whatever I do - are from the very core of my being. I cannot separate the two.

The mythical progression from terrible to passable to better to decent to fantastic is not necessarily the way it goes for any creative person. As an artist, I have noticed a continuous fluctuation between the labels as I search new areas of interest and try to portray them, and also as I change from one media to another. It is never a straight line -- which is sort of like life as well. We think we are succeeding then something creeps up behind us and as we turn around we see things from a completely new perspective and realize just how off-track we may have been, or how much more there is to learn - perhaps a completely new direction calls to us.

So I hope you enjoy looking through these archives, and no matter what your likes and dislikes, I hope you find some  interesting thought to take away with you.

These pen and ink quick sketches were done quite some time ago to experiment with line sizes and ink patterns. Lots of fun to play with and turns out some interesting designs. Who knows why, but this one makes me think of champagne bubbles. They were done as experiments, opening myself to whatever came along, and as a result it gave me a great deal of enjoyment to do them. This freeform playing is important to artists as well as to every other human being - we take ourselves too seriously much of the time. ...... Play!

This one kind of reminds me of a leaning fencepost in the field, with tangled barbed wire -- but there also seems to be a small figure in the middle, on a bit of a kilter and seemingly quite befuddled by it all! Perhaps feeling trapped and contained and wondering how to get out without damage! Was this perhaps the inner me speaking out?

These rambling splotches of ink definitely came out looking like a brambles thicket to me, which brought out good memories of blackberry bushes at the base of the hill to my Grandfather's house. A work of art does not have to clearly depict a moment in time to trigger memories and reminders. It can evoke the atmosphere; combine the colours; have something in the rhythm or textures that recall the past. Our physical bodies absorb life in many different ways. Although we like to think of the brain as the keeper of knowledge, it is not as simple a process as that. Many parts of the body are busy absorbing information for it to keep on several different levels.

On the other end of the spectrum - these drawings have had much thought and specifically controlled work put in to them. There is very little freeness about them, and they definitely took longer to complete. These are more cerebral interpretations of the thoughts popping into my head concerning things I had read or been discussing with people. In the previous works I was experimenting and playing to see what could be accomplished if I just let it flow - in these I was definitely applying myself towards a specific outcome.

Paragraph.

"Executive Burnout" is the title, and it depicts all the things in life we get caught up in, in the effort to be the very best we can be! At the same time, we can become overzealous and bite off more than we can chew - the end result being a fizzle, sizzle and meltdown.

It is amusing now, to look at the shapes and sizes of the phone, tape recorder and computer keyboard! They look monstrous compared to the electronic gadgets we stuff in to our briefcases these days. As we evolve, our 'stuff' evolves along with us - it would be an interesting study to ponder.

My usual form of working previously was 4' x 5' mixed media canvases. I would begin my process with a kernel of an idea and let thoughts flow freely about it as I was stretching and preparing the canvas ready to paint. Once the canvas was ready I would have some definite ideas I wanted to portray in the working of the subject - connections to,  similarities between, differences from "it" and other ideas. Any type of media was fair game to use, but it most frequently included acrylic paint, pencil rubbings, torn paper, photographs, inks and pastels. They were all used to enhance thin layers of acrylic paint patterns and create interpretive images on the topic in mind.

The following is written onto the painting and worked into the design. At the time I was in transition from one lifestyle to another, and asking many questions, feeling many emotions, and healing them through opening up my mind and awaiting the answers - in whatever form they might come in.








"Who am I , what am I, where am I going on these pathways through time.
The spaces that surround me are not always kind to my face.
The willows weep and leave a babbling brook that yearns to wash me out to sea,
to float without a boat eternally.

What untold secrets, locked within, hold the keys to me.
Somewhere in the depths lie the answers.

Somewhere in the flotsam and jetsam of my life -
within the garbage that washes up on the shore -
within the maze of pathways I follow, there is a reason.
For being where I am.
For being who I am.
For going where I go.
But I can't quite lay my finger on it.
It stays just far enough out of reach
- to keep me searching."

This one is toying with thoughts of "the other side" of life - death. Not as in suicide, but more that one can feel an affinity with the tranquility that the state brings - and the knowledge that there are some people who toy with going as close to that edge as they can without disconnecting the chord that ties them to the living side. They want to be both places at once, thus, in the painting, there is a photo of my reflection on both sides of the 'shore'. Following is the writing from this one:






"Time passenger - riding silver threads of time
from watery birth to drifting through the tranquil sea.

The twinkling lights beckon from the far shore.
You reach for them - yearn to become part of them,

But know in doing, you will have undone.
The silver thread disconnects."

A moment at the place where the sky meets the sea and the sea meets the shore and I am in the centre of it all. It was a life altering moment that has stayed with me the rest of this life I live. The water's edge is often where you might find me - filling the well.









"Someplace where the sky meets the trees
and the trees meet the water
and the earth becomes one with itself.

The space between the sea and the shore on a windy day
when the gulls screech and the children shout,
but one cannot hear them.

Spaces and places, these I need
the hungry soul within to feed,
to recall again the overall plan,
to be at peace with who I am."

For a period of time I was interested in doing three dimensional works. They became quite a challenge, not only to construct, but to ship and store. This one involves the destruction of the environment.

It is created of canvas covering a wire frame which is attached by leather thonging to a willow branch frame and stands slightly larger than 4 feet by 5 feet in size.

We have light clay cliffs along the lake that have been worn and weathered over the centuries. They stand as guardians of the valley, and have seen many changes in their time.


The Hoodoo spirit of the clay cliffs spoke -
"Once upon the clear blue waters a great wind from the east brought a white tide. Fierce as dune sand in wind storms it was blown across the land. In the wake of the storm it settled in pockets and multiplied, eroding great holes in the earth allowing her soul to seep out. It has drunk dry the fluids and spat them out as sludge. Coyote has played his greatest trick. You must summon the whirlwind so that you may know one another. It is too hard to breathe in a whitewashed skin."

This one again is canvas over wire frame and strung onto willow branch frame - about 4 feet by 5 feet 6 inches.

When I settled enough to do paintings again, they became more colour forms than anything realistic. Continue on the next page in Bio Too if you want to see what came along next.

Home      Blog       Gallery       Digital       Bio Too          Just For You       Products