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Upcoming Workshops. A Reminder.

Summer. oil on linen. 8 x 10

Summer. oil on linen. 8 x 10

Don’t delay.
Sign up for July plein-air workshops at Iona Beach Regional Park.
Space Limited. Landscape Painting opportunities vast.

Please see Summer Plein-air Workshop post for more information or click on painting above.

Posted in Plein-air Posts, Summer Workshops, Tuition Posts.

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Tips of the Trade

Temperature oil on linen 25 x 29.5

Temperature oil on linen 25 x 29.5

It is almost summer and a great time for visiting your local market to get some interesting fruit and vegetables to paint. It is always advisable to use a Alla Prima technique when painting objects such a fruit, veggies and flowers, as their life-span is short. Depending on the technique and mediums used, sometimes you have to learn to improvise when painting a still-life.

While painting “Temperature” I decided in advance to build up the surface quality of the fruit over a period of time to achieve the waxy and fleshy texture of the mangoes. I used stand oil to get the viscosity of the paint just right. Stand oil takes longer to dry than linseed oil, but gives a wonderful glass like sheen to the paint while adding to a thicker look. Using a bit of cold wax medium in selective areas added to the difference of surface from mat to sheen, which on close inspection these mangoes have.

The tablecloth was painted in a radically different way, more impressionistic, dry and dense. This added to the optical illusion of the sheen on the mangoes and wooden plate. When replacing objects because they change color and start to decay, try not to “chase” the shape. Keep the initial shape and only adjust the color, tones and surface appearance.

The people at the market must have thought that I was nuts and really hungry because I had to look at each mango carefully to try and get a similar replacement every other day but I sure had some great mango smoothies while painting this still life.

Posted in Studio Posts, Tuition Posts.

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Summer Plein-air Workshops

Join us for outdoor painting this summer.
Outdoor painting requires a painter to render in shorthand the essence of a scene. It requires a set of skills of acute observation, simplification, technical mastery, maturity and intellect, to respond not just aesthetically but emotionally and to expand on our visual and felt understanding and experience of the natural world around us.

Come out this summer and learn how to apply sound oil painting techniques while enjoying the natural splendor of one of Vancouver’s hidden secrets, Iona Beach Regional Park. From a selection of marshland to ocean views to paint, sign up for these two day, intensive small group workshops.

All skill levels will be catered to and rates are very affordable. Please contact me to secure your spot.

Summer Plein-air Workshop Shedule

Summer Plein-air Workshop Shedule

Posted in Plein-air Posts, Summer Workshops, Tuition Posts.

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Facebook Plugin Installed

Just installed the Wordbook plugin for Facebook. My posts should show up in my Facebook feed (fingers crossed).

Posted in Uncategorized.


Shadbolt Prints for sale

For further information on these prints by renowned Canadian artist Jack Shadbolt please contact me.

Jack Shadbolt Litho

Jack Shadbolt Litho


Jack Shadbolt Litho

Jack Shadbolt Litho


Jack Shadbolt Litho

Jack Shadbolt Litho

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The Tropics. Work In Progress Video

The Tropics Progress Movie

The Tropics Progress Movie


The Tropics. Work in Progress
Click on the image or above link to watch this short demonstration video and learn how “The Tropics” was painted.

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New Release. The Tropics

Oil on Linen. 65 inches x 82 inches

Oil on Linen. 65 inches x 82 inches


Based on a recent trip to Hawaii, this painting, “The Tropics” hopes to bring some colour and light into the grand design. This is the first in a series of paintings of the tropics. Here are some artist I mentally checked in with while painting: Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, John Singer Sargent’s watercolours of Florida, Mark Rothko as a reminder for future work, Josef Albers ideas around “Interaction of Color” and my attempt in trying to disprove Aldous Huxley theory of “On the absence of Painters in the Tropics”

Posted in Studio Posts.

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Cows Grazing in Yellow Fields

Oil on Linen. 4.50 inches x 6.50 inches

Oil on Linen. 4.50 inches x 6.50 inches


in the field

In the field

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Luckily for me the cows started to graze in the buttercup fields just as I started to squeeze my paint out to paint the vibrant yellows againts the blue grays of an old barn. I decided to use stronger colours and a thicker paint application in this painting to capture the stark contrast of the dark brown cows against the bright cadmium yellows.

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Buttercup Fields

Oil on Linen. 6.50 inches x 8.50 inches

Oil on Linen. 6.50 inches x 8.50 inches


“Late Spring Orchard”
A week before at this location the trees were in bloom and now these buttercup flowers appeared almost overnight. My paint application and approach was soft when painting the blinding vibrancy of the cadmium yellow buttercups in the orchard. Too strong of an approach would have taken away form the overall poetry of this perfect scene.

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Season Selection

Spring Orchard.
Spring is a mix of patience and speed. Patience, to wait for the first blossoms, and speed, for quick execution, as these colors last only a few days.

Spring Orchard, is one of those rare scenes that are becoming harder for the urban painter to access, as natural occurring open fields become harder to find. Most trees in bloom, are residential in nature and placement. The choice of rural areas to paint in are more appealing.

Leaving the city for a few hours is always a good thing.

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