Grandpa Peterson's 1948 Chrysler Windsor, or at least the view I had of it as a little kid in 1954 ($400 Unframed and Shipped Domestically)
Driving down from Kelowna on Highway 97, Casey and I decided to drive down to Omak, Washington and then head west on the North Cascades Highway towards Sedro Wooley. Just before the country started to change as we drove up towards Winthrop, I spotted this 1949 International K6 truck on the side of Highway 20. The combination of desolation and the Idaho plate (long expired) were too much for me to resist. (July, 1996)...$400 framed and shipped in Canada.
199 MacDonald Road, Chilliwack, B.C. April 1961
I had my first camera-a Brownie Starflash. Albert Walde had a high tree so I climbed up the tree and looked northwest towards Harrison Knob and the Fraser River. The tree, the knob, the house, and the river are all still there. What isn't there, and what hasn't been there since December of 1961 is my mom, Audrey Anderson. She had gone to Safeway for groceries on this sunny April morning. I remember the sound of the tractor as my dad was out spreading manure on the newly hardened fields. That was what farm life was like then. Albert was having lunch with his parents and we were going to play catch after that. My mom would die in December of that year in that house...memories. (Private Collection)
I had my first camera-a Brownie Starflash. Albert Walde had a high tree so I climbed up the tree and looked northwest towards Harrison Knob and the Fraser River. The tree, the knob, the house, and the river are all still there. What isn't there, and what hasn't been there since December of 1961 is my mom, Audrey Anderson. She had gone to Safeway for groceries on this sunny April morning. I remember the sound of the tractor as my dad was out spreading manure on the newly hardened fields. That was what farm life was like then. Albert was having lunch with his parents and we were going to play catch after that. My mom would die in December of that year in that house...memories. (Private Collection)
CFB St Hubert, St Hubert, Quebec 1967-1970
As Leading Aircraftsman Anderson, I worked in the air terminal next to the hangar line. One of the bonuses was that I got to ride in Lieutenant General William Anderson's private DC-3 (Dakota). I went to Washington, D.C. with a number of high-ranking officers in June of 1968 to attend Robert Kennedy's funeral (I didn't get to go to the funeral-I got to ride in the empty seat that was left over). It was a good time be young and in the Royal Canadian Air Force. (Public Museum)
As Leading Aircraftsman Anderson, I worked in the air terminal next to the hangar line. One of the bonuses was that I got to ride in Lieutenant General William Anderson's private DC-3 (Dakota). I went to Washington, D.C. with a number of high-ranking officers in June of 1968 to attend Robert Kennedy's funeral (I didn't get to go to the funeral-I got to ride in the empty seat that was left over). It was a good time be young and in the Royal Canadian Air Force. (Public Museum)
Pilot Officers Cy Yarnell and Don Wilton, BCATP Station Aylmer, Ontario, 1942. Both went on to Spitfire pilots. Don Wilton was later a pilot for Air Canada and died in 1986. A very active 92 year old Cy Yarnell is still involved with the daily activities of the Royal Canadian Air Force Museum in Trenton, Ontario. That is where this painting now is being housed. The plane is a Harvard trainer, a version of the Texan, a United States trainer of that era.(Public Museum)
Laryssa Black, a very exceptional young woman, who also is very good at repairing motorcycles. My only complaint is that she had a tendency to change her hair colour, which of course, changed her looks...despite that, she was very happy with this painting. I wish her well in life. (Private Collection)
This old 1954 Cadillac was on sale at the corner of Carlaw Avenue and Eastern Avenue in the early 1990's. It was going for around $6,000 as I recall...which was a good price. It sold after about six months. That gave me plenty of time to take a few pictures and do this painting. (Private Collection)
The Canary Restaurant, situated at the corner of Front and Cherry Streets in Toronto; or at least it used to be. The last time I drove by, it looked like it's days were numbered. I used to stop for a coffee on my way from Commissioner Street to the area I delivered Priority Courier items (north Toronto). You can see my old 1992 Dodge Ram van on the north side of the restaurant. This was from around 1994 when the restaurant was still doing well; and was featured in movies like "Palais Royale". (Private Collection)
August, 2012...a very pleasant ride with Cousin Donald Reid from Kamloops to Merritt...along the way, this one ton truck was "crying out" to be immortalized. That truck had been sitting there for years and I never take it for granted that it will be there the next time I get to ride motorcycles with Cousin Donald-after all, it had been almost fifty years since the last time Don and I rode motorcycles together...$300 framed and shipped in Canada.
The only thing that has really changed about the eastern end of Queen Street are the vintages of the streetcars that turn around on the Neville Loop and head back towards the other end of Queen Street in Port Credit...this was in 1966. Incidentally, this is an example of the water colours that I do which can be purchased for under $200; framed and approximately 8" X 10"...$180 framed and shipped in Canada.
"The Mullanator" -Lisa Mullan (daughter of Sandra Steinson Mullan and grandaughter of Doug Steinson) racing down the ice at game in Syracuse, New York on October 30, 2011. This is an example of a watercolour that would run in the $200 range (framed and shipped). (Private Collection)
Walter Moore's 1948 International Pick-up's...up until the late 1980's, these two trucks sat in the field just east of Vedder Canal on the Trans-Canada Highway. You could see them off there on the side under the weeping willows trees. Sadly, the trucks and Walter Moore are no more. He was a great guy who gave me permission to wander through his fields in 1983 to take the photos I needed. These are the kinds of memories I have when I look at my paintings...this is why I paint. If it was just for the money, I would have quit years ago. (Private Collection)
October, 2005...we are driving from Savannah to Plains, Georgia...along the way, we find many cotton fields and cotton storage sheds...between the site of the old Andersonville Confederate Prison and Americus, Georgia, I see this 1940 Ford One Ton pick-up in a lean-to next to one of those sheds...$200 framed and shipped in Canada.
Winter, 1974...Chilliwack...Fairfield Island...Bell Road...Mike Balakshin had a couple of old Pontiacs "in reserve"...needless to say, his mom, Era, wished they were someplace else. (Private Collection)
1967? Honda 175 at the corner of Warden Avenue and Kingston Road in Scarborough...for years, it sat in an abandoned Honda shop on Kingston Road...$200, framed and shipped in Canada.
"Dave's Barber Shop"...Hollywood and Vine...
Hollywood, California, February, 1984 (Private Collection, California)
Hollywood, California, February, 1984 (Private Collection, California)
"Sam" (Private Collection)
Canada Aviation Museum, Rockcliffe, Ontario (just outside of Ottawa)...Lockheed L10 passenger aircraft...very similar to the plane flown by Amelia Earhart (distant relative of mine) in 1937 on her last flight...also the plane flown by Howard Hughes when he broke the record for an around-the-world flight in the 1930's. Trans Canada Airlines used these as their first commercial passenger planes. (Private Collection)
I spotted this at the corner of Bloor and Spadina in the mid-nineties...it took me five years to get it right...I believe it is a 1969 Triumph Bonneville 650...I think this is one of purest examples of what a bike should look like. (Private Collection)
Mt. Cheam, 1978 (Private Collection)
Crystal Restaurant, Watertown, New York, 1992 (Private Collection, Kingston, Ontario)
One of two "finalists" for the Chilliwack Senior High "old building demolition" party in March of 2013. I am going to attempt a larger format version in oil because I have three women that I believe would strongly add to the evocativeness of the image. However, if I cannot do justice to the painting, or to them, "it won't happen"! (Raffle Prize Chilliwack, B.C., March 2013)
One of many Toronto Transit Commission streetcar images...this is in front of Maple Leaf Gardens when Warner Brothers used to have their office on the opposite corner. ($350 Framed and Shipped Domestically)
Twenty years ago on Queen Street East at the corner of Willow Avenue...PCC Streetcar (only two left in town now). (Private Collection)
Dan Mirva's 1957 Chevrolet (Private Collection)
1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (Private Collection)
"White Rose Gravity Pump...Newtonville, Ontario" watercolour 9" X 12"; framed and shipped in Canada $225
1970...Broadview and Queen Street East, Toronto ($250 Framed and Shipped Domestically)
It was a privilege and an honour to spend almost five years getting this the way we wanted it...the smile on the face of the brother of Canada's greatest air ace of World War 2 "says it all".
I had always wanted to see the famous Perce Rock on the Gaspe Peninsula, and Casey and I were lucky enough to visit it during the week after Labour Day in 2008. We had been in Quebec City for the 400th anniversary celebrations, and I always remembered Ken Cruise mentioning that he had once driven an extra five hundred miles to Perce, and it had been worth it-he was right! (Private Collection)
Triumph Bonneville in California, 2006 (Private Collection)
Chilliwack Dog N Suds circa 1965 (Russ Bailie Collection)
Merlin Bunt took a photo when he was cruising through the Five Corners in Chilliwack in 1974 in his Izuzu Bellett sports car...this painting, 39 years later, is an attempt to take you back to that moment. I can see a few things about it that need "tweaking"...e.g. a good framing job and a bit more detail, but this is pretty close to what I hoped to achieve...if you find this interesting, and feel that you would like to discuss purchasing it, email me at [email protected]; or you can leave a message on the contact board on this website.