Rainy/foggy/snowy
For the last few years, I have been fascinated by blurry images - what we see when we can't really see clearly. Still going strong with ideas to develop!
Queen West
Well, this one was not foggy or rainy, but it fits the series. This painting started by collecting packing tape used for street posters. If they stay on the poster long enough, they pick up the ink from underneath. That's the background collage and creates some of the texture, waviness and text surrounding the subjects. Next was a photo I took one summer night on Queen West of a couple walking away from me. They are just close enough to lend some ambiguity. Are they comfortable with each other, are they talking, are they happy or angry with each other. Who knows? You decide. After the collage, the painting came together quite quickly, and I also tried to scrape at some of the tape so that it would show a bit more. Packing tape from street posters collaged on canvas with acrylic paint. Size 12 by 12 inches - sold.
Well, this one was not foggy or rainy, but it fits the series. This painting started by collecting packing tape used for street posters. If they stay on the poster long enough, they pick up the ink from underneath. That's the background collage and creates some of the texture, waviness and text surrounding the subjects. Next was a photo I took one summer night on Queen West of a couple walking away from me. They are just close enough to lend some ambiguity. Are they comfortable with each other, are they talking, are they happy or angry with each other. Who knows? You decide. After the collage, the painting came together quite quickly, and I also tried to scrape at some of the tape so that it would show a bit more. Packing tape from street posters collaged on canvas with acrylic paint. Size 12 by 12 inches - sold.
New York City skyline
My brother and family made a trip to NYC and when I saw the photos, the two or three skyline shots from a boat immediately drew me. This is a rare occasion when I do not use one of my own photos as the source image, I feel connected to the that part of the process. This time, I knew that this was an image I wanted to develop. The muted colours and edges and how the sky and water merge at the sides. Just the sort of thing I love to paint. And this one kept me going and interested throughout the journey. Acrylic on canvas. Size: One foot by four feet. Not for sale.
My brother and family made a trip to NYC and when I saw the photos, the two or three skyline shots from a boat immediately drew me. This is a rare occasion when I do not use one of my own photos as the source image, I feel connected to the that part of the process. This time, I knew that this was an image I wanted to develop. The muted colours and edges and how the sky and water merge at the sides. Just the sort of thing I love to paint. And this one kept me going and interested throughout the journey. Acrylic on canvas. Size: One foot by four feet. Not for sale.
Oakville Sunset
Well, this painting does not really fit in this section, but since it will be part of my January 2015 show about Toronto weather, I will put it here for now. Those long summer sunsets on the water are a marvel of beauty and calmness as the sky slowly lights up, changes and then dies away. This moment of lovely pink red was mesmerizing and then having the boat and seagull come together gave it some subject matter to include to make it more interesting. I have never really painted a large expanse of water and I like the feeling of the water in this painting. I became very rhythmic as I painted it, going side to side and up and done - about as close as I ever get to dancing! Acrylic on canvas. Size: two feet by four feet. Not for sale.
Well, this painting does not really fit in this section, but since it will be part of my January 2015 show about Toronto weather, I will put it here for now. Those long summer sunsets on the water are a marvel of beauty and calmness as the sky slowly lights up, changes and then dies away. This moment of lovely pink red was mesmerizing and then having the boat and seagull come together gave it some subject matter to include to make it more interesting. I have never really painted a large expanse of water and I like the feeling of the water in this painting. I became very rhythmic as I painted it, going side to side and up and done - about as close as I ever get to dancing! Acrylic on canvas. Size: two feet by four feet. Not for sale.
Toronto Harbour, March
Looking out at the Toronto Islands in March is quite different than in summertime. First of all, nobody is around Harbourfront. The day I was there, the ice was melting, creating a creamy, blurry effect of ice and water under a layer of slush. The day was wet and rainy, so a lovely, dreary, early spring day. Nonetheless, I saw lots of energy I wanted to capture in the clouds and melting water. To do that, I built up the surface of the painting with lots of textures, which I hope you can see if you look closely. Acrylic on canvas. Size: 30 by 40 inches. Not for sale.
Looking out at the Toronto Islands in March is quite different than in summertime. First of all, nobody is around Harbourfront. The day I was there, the ice was melting, creating a creamy, blurry effect of ice and water under a layer of slush. The day was wet and rainy, so a lovely, dreary, early spring day. Nonetheless, I saw lots of energy I wanted to capture in the clouds and melting water. To do that, I built up the surface of the painting with lots of textures, which I hope you can see if you look closely. Acrylic on canvas. Size: 30 by 40 inches. Not for sale.
Downtown Toronto January Snowstorm
For the first time in early 2014, I worked in a true downtown tower. The views are spectacular some days. The view during a snowstorm fascinated me. All of a sudden, everything turned gray and flat. So I built up a painting in thin coats of paint to try to capture the subtle tone differences and then splattered some more paint on top to get the effect of the snow actually falling. It is quite a Zen painting, but I was sure frustrated working on this as the layers were not building up quickly enough. But after many, many layers I felt that I had reached the point where everything was sitting just right. Acrylic on canvas. Size: 30 by 40 inches. Not for sale.
For the first time in early 2014, I worked in a true downtown tower. The views are spectacular some days. The view during a snowstorm fascinated me. All of a sudden, everything turned gray and flat. So I built up a painting in thin coats of paint to try to capture the subtle tone differences and then splattered some more paint on top to get the effect of the snow actually falling. It is quite a Zen painting, but I was sure frustrated working on this as the layers were not building up quickly enough. But after many, many layers I felt that I had reached the point where everything was sitting just right. Acrylic on canvas. Size: 30 by 40 inches. Not for sale.
Umbrellas
Three friends chatting on a rainy night at a corner. The journey was long to get to this painting! I took a photo and bought a canvas about two years ago. Then I waited about a year and began the drawing, taking quite a while on that too. Next was the base collage of street posters, which I used to outline the drawing - you can see text in the figures and umbrellas - although the posters show through in other places as well and the whole surface is uneven and crinkly - I did not use scissors on any of the pieces. And then a large number of layers of thin paint to build up the colours. I do feel I caught a moment of connection between the three women. In wanted to emphasize their faces even if you can't see two of them. There's only one blurry face but the other two are nonetheless lit. We know they are looking at the figure on the left and I feel their attention and interest. So quite involved and slow but it leaves me looking and thinking for a long time. Acrylic on street posters mounted on canvas. Size: three feet by three feet.
Three friends chatting on a rainy night at a corner. The journey was long to get to this painting! I took a photo and bought a canvas about two years ago. Then I waited about a year and began the drawing, taking quite a while on that too. Next was the base collage of street posters, which I used to outline the drawing - you can see text in the figures and umbrellas - although the posters show through in other places as well and the whole surface is uneven and crinkly - I did not use scissors on any of the pieces. And then a large number of layers of thin paint to build up the colours. I do feel I caught a moment of connection between the three women. In wanted to emphasize their faces even if you can't see two of them. There's only one blurry face but the other two are nonetheless lit. We know they are looking at the figure on the left and I feel their attention and interest. So quite involved and slow but it leaves me looking and thinking for a long time. Acrylic on street posters mounted on canvas. Size: three feet by three feet.
Night arrival to Toronto Island Airport
I have been painting city images for some time, but this is the first from above - way above. Flying into Toronto one night, I knew I had to capture an image that I could turn into a painting and this one, without any distinguishable buildings. It is fabric mounted on canvas and then painted. It was hard to black it out at top and bottom but worth it as the two black banks create a wonderful contrast that calls out the colours in the middle. The fabric's copper coloured reflective threads create amazing reflections depending on the angle of the light and whether you are moving your position as you look at it. I hope it evokes that feeling of awe at a night time sky view that is quite a different feeling from the daytime sky. Acrylic on fabric mounted on canvas. Size: two feet by three feet - sold.
Coteau-du-Lac sous la neige
A suburb between Christmas and New Year's. Mid-afternoon and already barely any sunlight left in the snowfall. Everything gray, which made it perfect for me to paint on my favourite gray fabric. I feel I still need to learn a lot about subtle tone differences, so this was a chance for me to stretch to try to capture that mood of winter gray with its visual monotony. At the same time, car headlights. Bright points of light that do not fill the darkness but draw your attention. This was a fascinating painting experience for me as my paints were very thin, the fabric was frequently soaked through and led to crinkling and the creation of fascinating patterns. Acrylic on fabric mounted on canvas. Size: 12 inches by 48 inches. Not for sale
Car lights, Christmas in Yorkville
By evening on any Christmas day, I have had enough. I have to get out of the house and walk around. It is now a personal tradition to wander around and see what other people are doing on Christmas evening. In 2011, I wandered over to Yorkville. Of course it was dark and Christmas lights were festooned everywhere. Unfortunately, my photos of those lights did not inspire me. So I took some photos of car lights while moving the camera. Much more interesting and inspiring. Here is what became of one of those images and my impression of it - incredibly bright lights on a very dark and dreary background. I used glazing techniques to build up the bright colours as much as I could. And while the colours seem to be floating in space, there seems to be enough visual information for people to figure out they are car lights. It was only after I completed the painting that I realized that given the day I took the photo, they also are Christmas lights, although of a different kind than we normally associate with Christmas. Acrylic on canvas. Size: 12 by 36 inches.
King Street after the storm
This is my heavy metal project - first time I have painted on steel. A very different experience that has a different feeling from canvas. I think steel makes sense as a 'canvas' for a downtown scene with all the steel and glass towers. The scene is familiar but because it is on steel, which can be scene without paint in the space at the top between the two buildings, it invites the viewer to think about the image differently than before. The band three quarters of the way up is actually a buckle in the steel, so there is unevenness that adds to the experience as well.
I find it also quite ironic that using steel as a substrate for the painting makes it more durable than any of my other paintings, yet getting paint to adhere to steel is tricky at best, it scratches and comes off very easily. This becomes my most durable and fragile painting at the same time.
Acrylic on steel. Size: two feet by six feet.
I find it also quite ironic that using steel as a substrate for the painting makes it more durable than any of my other paintings, yet getting paint to adhere to steel is tricky at best, it scratches and comes off very easily. This becomes my most durable and fragile painting at the same time.
Acrylic on steel. Size: two feet by six feet.
Woman in thunderstorm
The gesture of this woman walking in front of me, fighting the wind and rain during a thunderstorm, caught my eye from the first moment. Face hidden, trying to control her umbrella, focused on getting somewhere else quickly. We all know the feeling. Acrylic on canvas. Size: two feet by four feet - sold.
Don Valley Parkway in the rain
Everyone in Toronto has been stuck in traffic on the Don Valley Parkway. There I was, in the pouring rain. This source photo with a long curve is the image that resonated with me. I think I have taken those moments of frustration, anxiety, even anger at being stuck in traffic and losing so much time, and transformed it into something haunting, reflective, even lovely. Acrylic on canvas mounted on canvas. Size: one foot by four feet. Not for sale.
Queen's Park snowy
Queen's Park is empty on a snowy Saturday night. With help from my teacher Tina Poplawski, I took an extended journey to create layers using different techniques. I crackled the snow, then glazed it with orange tinted paint, then extended the trees with drips, then added the mass at the bottom and finally dripped on white dots. The journey was a lot of fun and the final product holds my attention. It moves beyond straight representation into something more interesting for each viewer to interpret as they want. Acrylic on canvas. Size 24 by 30 inches. Not for sale.
Bloor cold
It was a bitter, snowy, dark winter morning. Real extremes of light and dark. I believe this painting captures the flatness of what we see in winter in the dark as well the inherent fuzziness of looking through a snowstorm. I use a technique of building up layers with patience (which I don't always have...). Acrylic on canvas. Size 12 by 24 inches - sold.
Bloor/St. George in the snow
It's amazing what you can see outside your door! During a winter storm one evening, I went out to catch the action and what caught my eye was how the snow was reflected by the street lamps. The big flakes caught the light, and so many of them were swirling. I painted this using a fabric of woven black and copper threads mounted on canvas Acrylic on fabric mounted on canvas. Size 18 by 24 inches - sold.
Winter night traffic
It's a snowy January night. Nothing quite so dark. In the distance, a little bundle of intense light around the traffic. This is one of the few paintings that I have liked throughout its whole development process and which I stopped early (for me) for fear of overworking. It is painted on a translucent paper with all those swirls worked into it mounted on canvas. Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas. Size: 12 X 14 inches.
Spadina walkers
This series has taught me to appreciate the daytime grayness of rainy or snowy weather. This painting is on gray fabric which actually shimmers where it shows through. So I tried to leave some exposed and it does catch your eye as you walk by. It's the same fabric as the Don Valley Parkway painting above, which I am obviously enjoying. Acrylic on fabric mounted on canvas. Size: 10 X 20 inches - sold.
Early morning traffic
6:30 a.m. in February, it's snowing and very dark. In the distance, you can see lights but without any other reference to the objects they come from. This is my closest to abstraction in this series, painted on a wood panel. I left some of the wood grain showing. The background is painted thin and the lights use every product I know about to make them thicker. Acrylic on wood panel. Size: 18 X 18 inches.
College car in the rain
Using a buildup of glazes on a monochrome background, here is the best one of my personal favourites. Deep in the corner of a photo was a distorted image of a car. Starting from that, I built up thin layers to get to an image. It does capture a sense of depth, movement, moving lights. And the obvious blur of movement in the distance. Acrylic on canvas. Size 12 by 12 inches - sold.