Winter Sunset

8"X6" Oil on board I am not getting very good reproductions, one of the problems with using oil on these short winter days. I can't scan them and by the time I am ready to photograph them there is so little light the results aren't good. The days are starting to get a little longer but it is hard to tell. We have been getting some real Canadian winter weather, overcast and snowing all day with temperatures around -9C. I go back to work tomorrow and am not looking forward to the drive, it is around 20 kilometres (12 miles) on rural roads, white knuckles all the way.
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Montreal Interior

7"X5" Oil on board I spent a few days in Montreal after Christmas, in a lovely house on the edge of Westmount. I always find it very inspiring because, as well as being very beautiful in its own right, with lots of wonderful light, it is also full of great 20th century Canadian art. This is a further experiment in my attempt to simplify my painting and develop value studies.
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Mr. Bassman




11"X14" Oil on board

I am still not achieving very much so I thought I would post something from the archives just to keep this blog warm. This is one of my sons, he hasn't been playing much recently, unfortunately. I hope he returns to it one day, I love the sound of the double bass.

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More Sketches





Various sizes pen & pencil in Moleskine

These are probably the last of the sketches that I will post from the craft show last week. Rebecca was selling photographs and paintings, Susan is a Jeweller, Melyssa makes lovely things from handmade paper and Charlene is a potter who makes ceramic jewelry. I don't know the name of the rather beautiful (and "julian") young man, he was volunteering I think for a non-profit arts centre which had a stall there. I did do a few more

I have been doing some sketching this week but never seem to get anything finished, even as far as these. I am also starting to work on the commission that I have been putting off for so long. I can't really post a WIP of that, but I may post it when it is finished.

Niagara Central Hobbies




7"X5" Acrylic on board


All artists in the Region are probably familiar with this building on St. Paul Street, St. Catharines. This is almost the only source of art supplies in the whole peninsula. There is now a Michaels, a store which I find deeply depressing and prefer to ignore, and WalMart sells some basic stuff. Even NCH is not a dedicated art-supply store and their selection is limited but it is what we have. The next best thing is a trip to Currys in Hamilton.

What Niagara Central Hobbies does have is one of the best supplies of model train paraphernalia in Southern Ontario. More than Half the store is dedicated to model railroad supplies and there always seem to be at least two elderly male shop assistants for every customer. They are very knowledgeable and sometimes I wonder if they are actually volunteers.

I cheated a little with this picture. There is actually an ugly apartment building behind the store which ruined the composition so I left it out.

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