Well, the winter of 2013-14 approaches. For me, it has been a memorable year and I look forward to a bit more creativity this winter. We will be moving back to B.C. next year; to the Vernon area; and I am confident that more inspirational subject matter will be available then. Meanwhile, I am pleased to say that two new commissions from people I went to high school with will keep me occupied. Do what you do well; that which makes you happy; and don't worry about the financial motivation...there is no point in doing something you hate for a hundred grand a year if you hate very moment of the process earning that hundred grand.
Whether it is painting in "plein air" on the shore of Lambert Channel next to the Isbister cabin
on Denman Island...or remembering back almost sixty years to when "a Cadillac was a Cadillac"!
Every September we would put our noses up to the window of Brett's GM Dealership in Chilliwack and see what new models were coming out for next year...every year was new and different and exciting!
"Orangeville Memories"
Many years of riding in the slipstreams of my friends on
their Harleys never cured me of "my Honda habit"...18
Honda motorcycles and counting...as Loretta Lynn sang
back in the 70's..."one's on the way" (1967 Honda 90)
Many years of riding in the slipstreams of my friends on
their Harleys never cured me of "my Honda habit"...18
Honda motorcycles and counting...as Loretta Lynn sang
back in the 70's..."one's on the way" (1967 Honda 90)
Sune Magnusson, one of my many treasured relatives in Sweden. This beautiful little girl is called Ellen and this a special moment in September of 2010. Being able to capture a moment like this in oil is a blessing I am very appreciative of. A portrait in watercolour or oil is an enduring gift that a photograph can't match. This was in Laholm, Sweden at the home of Sune's daughter Petronella. Two years later, we went back and Ellen had changed completely...glad I captured the moment with her and Morfar Sune.
Portraits in oil and watercolours are only possible when the source photograph is of a high resolution and clearly displays eye colour; dimples; and any other distinctive features that make that person the special person that they are. Portraits are very satisfying when they "work". All it takes is an asymmetrical eye or a "flaring nostrel" that should not be there, to completely change the way a person looks...people are a lot less critical when you are painting their old pickup truck or the old gas station down the street! I prefer old rusty trucks to old rusty people...both have "character" but the truck isn't as sensitive as to how it is portrayed in a painting.
My good friend Paolo Berardinetti, back in 2000, with his cousin Paul Monaco. We rode bikes together. Both of the old Hondas are my bikes. Sadly, Paul was killed in June of 2007 when a "learner driver" made an illegal left turn in front of his Ninja motorcycle at an intersection in Scarborough. This was my tribute to Paul Monaco...a wonderful young guy who left behind a legacy of respect and fond memories of long motorcycle rides under summer skies.
Bertil Gerhardt (1942-2010) was a Swedish demonstration pilot. He died when health issues caused him to crash in a vintage Spitfire at an airshow in Tynset, Norway in August of 2010. He was a good friend of my cousin Sune Magnusson (earlier image with his granddaughter). This was my tribute to an amazing Swedish pilot and gentleman who died doing that which he loved best, soaring above the clouds in the machine he loved the most.
Amazing to think about, but this painting resulted from two free tickets that Harold Snepsts provided to Rob Isbister and myself thirty years ago-one of the classiest athletes I have met over the years...I still think that these uniforms were the best.
Chilliwack Canadian National Railway Station (1915-1985)
Designed by architect John Schofield (who also designed
stations in Hope, B.C., and Estevan, Saskatchewan, this was
an iconic building that evokes memories for all who lived in Chilliwack, and ever travelled anywhere. You either drove or took the train. Looking through an 80-200 lens in 1983 on a winter's day, this is how the distant mountain range looked behind the old station.
Designed by architect John Schofield (who also designed
stations in Hope, B.C., and Estevan, Saskatchewan, this was
an iconic building that evokes memories for all who lived in Chilliwack, and ever travelled anywhere. You either drove or took the train. Looking through an 80-200 lens in 1983 on a winter's day, this is how the distant mountain range looked behind the old station.
Roy's Drugs In Tonopah, Washington, July 1984
Tonopah is about twenty miles south of Osoyoos in Washington State...it was a hot day in July of 1984 when I drove down the main street and spotted this old sign. It is still a drug store and Roy Curtis still lives nearby, but sadly, the sign is hidden away.
Tonopah is about twenty miles south of Osoyoos in Washington State...it was a hot day in July of 1984 when I drove down the main street and spotted this old sign. It is still a drug store and Roy Curtis still lives nearby, but sadly, the sign is hidden away.