Dear Friends,

I love to begin a painting with bold gestural marks and random pieces of collage papers. So much so that I can hardly wait to get started! This week I really messed up though! I blasted out of the gate eager to begin my painting and I found myself  getting frustrated because I had to slow down to search for tools and paint sticks. Oh my …those oil pigment sticks are so buttery and soft but the skin they form is a real pain to peel back!! Next time I’ll set out all of my various tools, peel back my oil sticks and be ready to paint really really fast! Good idea. Right?

Here’s my work in progress. Channeling my inner child. “Child’s Play”

So much has happened in my life and art since I last posted a blog in 2015 that I'm not sure where to start, so ill begin with where I am at right now. At this moment, I sit here in my comfy swivel chair at my seaside home and I'm thinking about how happy I am creating and teaching painting from my studio at Hope Bay Pender Island, BC. 

Ptarmigan Arts at Hope Bay has graciously hosted my first online zoom workshop, and it has been a heartwarming and inspiring experience. I am grateful for the opportunity to connect and share painting techniques and an artistic mindset with others in this island community. I'm also acting as the Curator for an upcoming show at Ptarmigan Gallery, The Artists Voice, scheduled for March 9-28, 2021, featuring Stan Ogliv, Nancy Silo, Colin Hamilton and myself. 

Living in the foreshadow of the Rocky Mountains in Calgary, Alberta Canada offers up a myriad of magical visual moments. One of my favourite things to do is to take pictures from the window of the airplane as I fly over the Great Divide on my way to the Pacific Coast. I prefer to fly late in the afternoon when the setting sun and rising of the moon play their magical notes of light upon the land and amongst the clouds. Every so often I'll get a glimpse of the mountain terrain through the clouds and suddenly something calls to me "Look Here!!" 

Studio 4 Art Show & Sale at the Fish Creek Public Library opens on March 30, 2015 and runs until May 2, 2015.

Artists Liz Sullivan, Shirley Adams & Kathleen Theriault present a fresh breath of Spring with an abundance of colour. 

Kathleen Theriault will be showing her digital paintings for the first time in Calgary,  Liz Sullivan presents her impression of our colourful landscape and Shirley Adams paintings depict figures within our colourful landscape.

I photographed this start phase for an acrylic landscape painting I'm working on. I think I prefer the start! My Marks at this stage and the overall composition reflect my impression of the subject perfectly. I don't think I needed to say anything more so I'll remember this going forward and call it finished sooner than later!