New Large Paintings 2023


 
Most of these works fall between 
$5000.00 & 15000.00 cdn.
 
As many of you already know, paintings, and art works, 
on canvas or birch cradle, posted on other 
websites that include shipping in the price, 
are approximately 50percent of the stated price if 
you purchase, and pick up the work from my Toronto studio. 
Works on paper are considerably lower as well.
 
 
 December 30, 2023

I'm pleased, so far. It will be a good week.
"Atalanta and The Calydonian Boar"

                            I'll explain the rather bizarre story.

The Atalanta myth is a bit of a mystery. She has 2 “back stories”. The story I prefer involves her being left on the mountain, as a newborn, by an irritated king/father who wanted a son. A mother bear, mourning her recently lost twin cubs, found her, suckled her, and decided to care for her. (The word on the street is that Artemis/Diana took on the spirit of the bear, which is why Atalanta became a huntress dedicated to A/D.)

During her time in the forest 2 centaurs attempted to rape her, so she killed them. Some say her future love Meleager killed them…don’t know. (This is an episode that would be very difficult to paint. I’ll probably give it a miss.)

 

Atalanta was the only female to join the Argonauts. She was involved with Jason and the Golden Fleece, the golden apples, Jason, and the episode I’m starting with, The Hunt for The Calydonian Boar. 


The Calydonian Boar was set loose on Calydonia by A/D because the local king had forgotten to pay homage to her during the annual rites of spring. 

 

The Calydonian Boar was an enormous monster with spike like fur, and lightening breath – not a house pet! During the hunt Atalanta stopped it with her bow and arrow, whilst Meleager finished it off with his javelin. Meleager offered Atlanta the Boar’s hide or head (depends on the version). Many other hunters were jealous because a woman had been allowed to join the hunt and decided to killed Meleager, or Meleager was killed by the mother of the centaurs, who was also his mother, according to one story.

 

Atalanta later fell in love with another man, had carnal knowledge of him, and then was turned into a lion for breaking her vow of celibacy to A/D.

 


 
 
March 28, 2024
 
Dear Art Friends,
Soon.
It is taking a very long time.
 
 

 
 
 
 
September 14, 2023
 
Dear Art Friends,
 
This, the 2nd Leda and The Swan, 
will be done and dusted in a week. 
Maybe, by then, I'll be able to tell you 
what the heck is going on;-))
It is 48" X 40" X 2"
and, as always, is oil on canvas.
 
Enjoy the long weekend, my friends. 
It's going to be beautiful.  
 
 
 

 
 
 

August 26, 2023

 

Dear Art Friends,

Almost!!!!

Well, here is the 1st glimpse of my 3rd “Loves of The Gods” painting. I’m half thinking of calling it “Known gang of irritable Canada Geese heroically save Leda from an aggressive swan who claimed to be the god of thunder.”  

 More a newspaper headline, than painting title, I guess.

I thought I’d post this 1st image now because some amusing aspects in process are showing up that could entertain the layperson.

Normally I start with the main, or central image, which is how I compose the piece, as well as block it in. But as I started the preliminary colour field painting, the darned paint kept dripping. This means that eventually the main section, if I work on it 1st, will have to be repainted, and one could lose the painterly spontaneity that is so lovely in a work this size.

It's dripping because, a) the canvas is large, 48” X 48”, and I’m the only human in the mix, so I must reach across. (Dealing with gods is always a problem) and b) over the past several months I’ve developed a growing difficulty with my right bicep. According to YouTube doctors I have either bicep tendonitis (which I’m going with) or something called a ruptured bicep. Well, I can still move and use my arm, so it’s not really a problem except when doing housework (;-))) like none, okay?) or reaching across a 48” canvas with a brush full of loose paint.

(This is a shortened version of my LinkedIn post.)  

 

  

 
August 2, 2023
Dear Art Friends,
Well, I started the 2nd work in "The Loves of the Gods" 
series yesterday, and it is moving very fast. This will be called 
"Ganymedes in The Eagle's Nest - 
Throwing a Tantrum, and Screaming Blue Murder"
At the rate it's going I could be done by the weekend. 
I can't get over how it's almost painting itself. 
Soon, soon, soon. The weekend had its own agenda too;-)))
Ganymedes is a toddler in a hurry. 
I think he may have an agenda. He'd rather be at the beach. 
Oh, it's larger than Europa, it's 48" X 48" X 2", or 4 ft square.
I'll put the finishing touches on Europa over the next week or so, 
and then post it on my website, and Saatchi.
Starting a new series is always a risk, but I feel this one 
will go like wildfire. I'm very pleased so far.
Enjoy this wonderful weather. 
Remember, this is Canada, it will be snowing soon enough.
 
 


 
August 2, 2023
The 1st work of my new series is coming along.
I've added some of my long time familiars.
I may keep them or let them fly away.
We shall see.
A few more weeks should do it.
It's called The Rape of Europa, and 
yes, those are fighter planes in the background.

The subject of the series is The Loves of The Gods.
 
 
The Rape of Europa
36" X 48" X 2"
oil on canvas

 
 
 
May 17, 2023
 
A NEW PAINTING!!! HURRAH!
 
 
"Tell Me Then"
oil on canvas, 40" X 30" X 2"


 
May 23, 2022

Dear Art Friends

Well, here we are at last. The eighth, and final work in the “Topics of Cancer” series will be called “Agatha c. 2022”

Agatha, like most modern women, has given up the idea of virgin martyrdom, and has chosen a more inclusive life for herself. Looking an awful lot like me during my recent medical procession, Agatha appears to have been set afloat on an arctic ice floe, but fear not, this is merely a painterly illusion. She has, however, drawn an amusing line between the massively intimidating Linear Accelerator, found in the radiation treatment unit, and the Ancient Egyptian sun god, Ra. This idea will amuse her for a few days whilst she ponders the planning CTs used to programme the same machine for her radiation treatments.

The image just under her hand is of my own chest, taken about 4cm below my nipple, facing from my waist up towards my head. The area around my incision is circled in red, and the track of the machine is in yellow. A second image is the last image in the pile. It shows my right breast. Again, the incision is circled in red, and the track of the accelerator is in yellow. I only actually saw the 1st image, but it seems pretty basic, so I made up the 2nd. In the 1st the orbit of the machine was a half circle left to right around my torso, and in the 2nd it was from my head to my waist, my body having been moved in between needless to say.

When it stops at the waist and stares you in the face, the tendency is to close your eyes, but what good would that do against radiation? If one meets the machine eye to eye, you can observe the digital pattern of the radiation that has been programmed. This changes shape, as well as colour, until it disappears. Very interesting.

 


 

 

 

 

August 29, 2022
 
Dear Art Friends
 
The 1st of 2 Agatha paintings 
that will bring the "Topics of Cancer" series close to its close. 
 
"Agatha c.251" 

St Agatha is the patron saint of breast cancer patients.
Traditionally her martyrdom involves the removal of her breasts.
I don't think it's necessary to be so gruesome, though 
burning isn't a very pleasant option. 
According to legend, her breasts, after having been removed, 
healed themselves, so she was burnt. 
I've always found the traditional images extremely  disturbing. 
I hope this one isn't too upsetting.
 
 


 

May 8, 2022

 

Dear Art Friends,

Well, my radiation therapy is over, and now I await the burning. My breast started letting me know it was not happy with this radiation business on the 1st day of the schedule. There was burning, and throbbing, though entirely bareable. That’s what comes of my DNA having lived in the fog, and mist, of the west coast of Ireland, and France, for several hundred, if not thousand years. Thankfully the doses were limited, so I fear not, neither do I weep….yet. After all it’s my own damned fault, being so fair, and well, just being, I guess. Always the optomist, I anticipate only good things; still, I don’t want to be without a supply of extra strength Ibuprofen for the next few weeks. Apparently the radiation pain starts about now, and will grow for 2 weeks, and then diminish. Everyone tells you this, having first turned their backs to you, or diverting their eyes. As the new arrival to Hell once said, “How bad can it get?” I’ll let you know, but do know that I am as prepared as I can be – Celtic skin and all.

In this painting, the 6th of the surgery group, to be called “My Aurora Borealis”, I am relating the wondrous Northern Lights to the lights, lasers and radiation beam of this treatment. I have my favourite 4 legged wild one, the Canadian moose, by my side. We are ready to float through a starry Ontario night. The lights on my chest are used to arrange my body to suite the static/rotating position of the radiation beam. So, no, I’m not a new member of some weird cult. The red light is a ruler, and the green lights come from static fixtures in the walls of the room. I am the only thing that is moved about. It takes 2 people to work the regulators that allow the movement, because they are several feet away from each other. Quite cool really.

I’ll be doing 2 more for this series, I think. St Agatha, or Ste Agathe, is the patron saint of breast cancer patients. We see a lot of St Agathas in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art. There’s also a Sainte Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentians, in Quebec, where my grandmother used to spend the odd summer in her youth. The current plan is to do a martyrdom of Ste Agathe c. 251 (the year she died, apparently), and one more modern image c. 2022. Perhaps. We shall see. Hmmmm… When the paintings are done the finished product will be posted on my website as well as Saatchi. Though, if you arrange the pick up yourself, my studio prices are about half.

 


 

 
May 15, 2022

 

Dear Art Friends,

This is the 5th painting in my surgery series. It may be called 

“Connecting The Dots: Bear With Me”. 

Just adding a total eclipse of May's Blood Moon, as well as the alignment of the 4 planets from last week: Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn.

I have been given 4 small tattoos, in preparation for my radiation therapy. My 1st tattoos ever. My dermatologist always advised me never to tattoo my skin, as it was too sensitive. But now I have four, or one, depending on one’s viewpoint. 

They’re tiny, and I assume the ink didn’t contain any heavy metals.

I suppose, with this painting, I’m trying to see the bigger picture. I’m filled with misgivings at the moment. The post-operative regime seems more frightening than the operation itself.   

I won’t go into my concerns; they were summarily dismissed.  

Have a lovely day. Spring will come.

 


 
April 22, 2022
 
Dear Art Friends,
#4 
"Does My Head Look Big?"
The melanoma painting.
Not done yet, but well on its way. 

My trip to the plastic surgeon’s office to have my melanoma excised was the 1st step on what has become a more than 6mos journey. But, as I have said before, it’s nothing compared to what so many people endure. I’m not just lucky, I’m creative, productive, and feeling terrific. A little over a month after this event I received my breast cancer diagnosis. The 1st 3 paintings are about that.

My childhood memories of living in a home where cancer was king dwelt heavily upon me that day, but my doctor was calm and considerate. The melanoma was very tiny, but quite near my eye. A local anaesthetic was used, I didn’t feel a thing. My main concern was keeping still, so I grabbed my arms in a pseudo hug, and didn’t let go. It wasn’t long – less than half an hour.

I think about my father a lot these days.

 
 

 
 
 
April 13, 2022
 
"Channeling Faustina, and pondering the harpoon action in 
my breast, I contemplate the Milky Way" 
 
The 3rd surgery painting.

I’ll explain a few things if you like. 

The painting shows the ultra sound lead needle biopsy used to 

confirm that my little tumour was cancerous. 

Faustina is the name of Tintoretto’s wife, and possible model for 

Venus in his wonderful painting, “The Origin of The Milky Way”, 

a reproduction of which is perched behind the smaller ultra sound screen. I’m channeling her….get it??? My breast, via the ultra sound screen, is therefore reproducing a digital Milky Way circa 2022, and cardinals are a favourite winter song bird in my house. Hope you can all get your proverbial heads around that. 

Thank you, and have a nice day;-)))

 

 
 
July 4, 2022
 
Well, here is the 2nd surgery painting. 
Not done yet, but I'm very pleased thus far.
It's my visit to the Nuclear Medicine Department 
to have 2 injections of vaguely radioactive liquid 
in my nipple (MY NIPPLE!!!!) 
so that the exact position of my sentinel lymph node 
will be revealed, and then a biopsy will show 
whether or not it  is cancerous. 
It wasn't. 
It's called "Merci, Madame Curie".
 


 
April 16, 2022 

"I Become The Canvas"
Not done yet.
oil on canvas
36" X 18" X 2"

The 1st painting of my new series
"The Topics of Cancer" 
 
 


 
March 28, 2022
 
"Finding Ophelia #2"
oil on canvas
30" X 40" X 2"
Not done yet...soon
 

 
February 13, 2022
 
Finding Ophelia #1
Oil on canvas
30" X 40" X 2"
 




 January 9, 2022

Rabbit Hole

From my new series "Superficial Concerns"

Oil on canvas. 36" X 36"

 


December 20, 2021

Brand New Work!!! 

"Waiting"

From my new series "Superficial Concerns"

Oil on canvas, 30" X 40"



  

February 1, 2021

"Great Bear Sky"

from my 

"Messengers During A Time of Pestilence", 

Very close to done. I'm very pleased. This one was hard work.

It is 6ft X 5ft, oil on canvas.

 


 

February 1, 2021

Notre Dame Burning: Pythia & The Great Red Dragon

6ft X 4ft

I am so close. Stand by

I'll keep you posted.

 


                                         September 6, 2020 

This baby is done!!!

Messengers During A Time of Pestilence: MooseMan Spirit 

6ft X 5ft


 
March 28, 2020
Working hard and trying to stay healthy. 
Please do the same.
It would seem that Pythia has decided 
to arrive on Innaarsuit Island, Greenland 
 as the skateboard queen. 
Just sayin'
  I'll keep you posted.... 
 



The second painting "Pythia & The Iceberg" has Pythia arriving, via hot air balloon, on Innaarsuit Island, Greenland, as a giant iceberg, taller than Big Ben, threatens to overwhelm all living there during the summer of 2018.

This painting is 60” X 60” (5ft X 5ft), and is oil on canvas.


"The Tempest: Pythia, Katrina & The Furies"
oil on canvas
6ft X 4ft.

Working on the storm, and Pythia, who presents herself to us as "the woman clothed in the sun". I'm having a wonderful New Year's Day! Played a few little Chopin ditties, a prelude and a waltz, this morning. Getting my musical mojo back into shape....I'll attack the nocturnes later this week, and move on to Rachmaninoff once my fingers get back into shape. Don't you just love the feeling of rejuvination that the New Year brings.




Just started my new and probably last work in my current series “The Adventures of Pythia, the courageous Canadian girl, as she tries to save the world.” "Pythia & The Iceberg" has Pythia arriving, via hot air balloon, on Innaarsuit Island, Greenland, as a giant iceberg, taller than Big Ben, threatens to overwhelm all living there during the summer of 2018.



This painting is 60” X 60” (5ft X 5ft), and is oil on canvas. Not sure when it will be done, but I made enormous headway over the last few days. Christmas is always a very creative time for me.

 




"Pythia and The Christmas Eve Baby"
oil on canvas
48" X 60" X 2" 

This painting is inspired by the Christmas Eve, 2017, birth of baby white rhino, Theodore, at the Toronto zoo, and the adventures of Clara the rhino, born in 1738 in India and painted by Pietro Longhi. Miss Pythia meets the mother rhino and baby Theodore at a Venetian Ball.



Theodore is now one year old!!! 







Well, I'm back to work on "The Christmas Eve Baby".
It is inspired by the Christmas Eve, 2017, birth of baby white rhino, Theodore, at the Toronto zoo, and the adventures of Clara the rhino, born in 1738 in India and painted by Pietro Longhi. Miss Pythia meets the mother rhino and baby Theodore at a Venetian Ball.
It is 48" X 60" X 2" oil on canvas..



"Miss Pythia in Paris as The Seine Breaches Its Banks" (work in progress, very close to done)
oil on canvas 
5ft X 5ft

Working on the text engraved on the bridge, which BTW, 
is from a Pablo Neruda poem. 
Figuring out Pandora and her "chaos in a box" difficulties.
Added some scarlet tanagers leading the rowboat. 
My mother's favorite birds, also BTW.



"Miss Pythia at her Annointing"
48" X 36" X 2"
oil on canvas 






In The Works:

After a short hiatus painting drowning maidens, exotic flowers and deadly frogs, I'm back to my "Canada 150 Series", with this almost done painting of a herd of musk ox. Did you know that musk ox wool is the finest, warmest and most expensive wool in the world? Probably the most rare as well. 

"A Musk Ox Dilemma: What Time is it Mister Wolf?"
oil on birch cradle, 37" X 48"
Not the best photograph-sorry











Taking a short break from the animal kingdom.
My new painting, which will be done shortly, may be called Ophelia Passing The Children, or perhaps
Ophelia's Lament as it has a certain operatic feel to it, in my opinion.
It is oil on canvas, 48" X 72" (4ft X 6ft).
It's very hard to photograph - either the bottom half is clear or the top half is clear.
The little dots and dashes are fireflies. 
Did you know Ontario has had particularly splendid firefly colonies this summer? 



July 16
Well, "The Bears Picnic: Be Sure of A Big Surprise" 
(oil on birch cradle, 104" X 64" X 2") Is about half way done. 
At this point you can get an idea of where it is headed. This is the second large work about the lose of the natural/traditional habitation of Canadian bears
It'll be done in a couple of weeks.

July 19
I've added a blue jay and some racoons to  the picnic because they are urbanites, 
just as the bears are becoming. 






"The Polar Bear's Farewell: If You're Skating on Thin Ice You might as Well Dance"

triptych, 10ft X 5ft,  oil on birch cradle

I imagine I will finish this in about 10 days. 

July 21 - Been busy with the Bears Picnic, but today I worked on Polar Bear. I wanted to have some stars glimmering in the distance, plus a bit of drama, so after some research I was able to add a favorite meteorological event, a bolt of lightning. Did you know that thunder and lightning 
are symptoms of global warming? Normally they would not occur in the Arctic. 







Work in progress.
The first painting from my "Canada 150 Series" is called  "Blue Flipping Whale".  
It's 47" X 37" X 2".  It's certainly not done, but it is starting to take shape.   




Work in Progress 
"Origin of the Northern Lights: White Buffalo Calf"
45" X 65" on very heavy handmade (in a field) irregularly shaped paper.


Yesterday & today I worked on the winds faces.

The 3 text sections are: Verses from Mon Pays, by Gilles Vigneault (the best & most accurate description of the Canada I know & love), references to the Aurora Borealis from Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden & Homer, and an excerpt from Dr John Rae's letter describing his search for the bodies of Franklin's crew.





 


"Moose #6: The Christmas Painting" is starting to take shape. It's oil on birch cradle, 2 panels, which together measure 5ft wide X 4ft. Still a while to go yet, but should be done in a month or so.

Started the White Buffalo Calf yesterday. A New Year's Eve painting-very auspicious wouldn't you say? Now the buffalo painting is going to be a lot of work...there are 2 of them... mom & baby. Madonna & child. AND they will be beautiful. It's on that giant hand made paper I bought in Paris - like my last moose. The featured map that I will be using was created in 1618 by Domingos Sanchez.

Life is good don't you think? Back to my painting. Busy....busy...busy... oh BTW... Happy New Year everyone !!!!!




"Moose #6: The Christmas Painting" (work in progress)









"I have called you by your name: You are mine" 45" X 65", mixed media, 2016




"Moose" aka "I have called you by your name: You are mine" will be going to the framer's first thing tomorrow & then to his new home. He's big, my Moose - 48" X 68" in the shadow box frame, which is an architectural delight.


August 22, 2016. Things are going swimmingly. Close to being done. Sometimes I have to work flat so I put it on the bed-I don't have 6 x 5 feet of clear unencombered floor. I had this paper - the largest handmade paper in the world, I am told - sent to me from Paris. It's over 5ft wide and 4ft high. So far it's dry pastel, acrylic wash and  charcoal. The map in the background is a loose rendition of a 1722 map of Nouvelle France. The moose is piebald, part sacred sprit moose and part run of the mill, hanging around the garden moose. A bit like most Canadians I know, don't you think? I love this moose.




Moose By Moonlight
48" X 62"
pastel, ink & acrylic wash, on vintage map of
First Nations, & Early European settlements, on Fabriano paper.

June 10, 2016 - This work is currently featured in The Guardian. There's a link on my Home Page.
 
Moose By Moonlight, 2016





Spirit Moose: Ghost Forest
36" X 48" X 2"
oil on birch cradle

and Dremel tool engraving






April  24
Still almost done...
Soon....

Blue Moose: I Saw You Standing There
36" X 36" X 2"







White Moose: Snow Storm
36" X 36" X 2"
oil on birch cradle










Yellow Road Series VI "Listen. Snow Flakes Falling",  2015, 3ft X 3ft (N/A)




"Yellow Road: Faraway"  2014, 4ft X 5ft  (N/A)






"O the mind, mind has mountains"  2014,  4ft X 5ft
 O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap       
May who ne’er hung there. 
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1918


                                               




The top one is "Heat Waves: Sun Spirals", 12" X 48" X 2"
The bottom one is "Blue Remembered Hills:Sun Spirals", 12" X 48" X 2" 

They're both the same size.  Oh, but you can see that for yourselves....;-)) 









"Cremation of SM: Northern Lights"  2013  12" X 48" X 2"


"Blue Remembered Hills:Sun Spirals" 2013, 12" X 48" X 2"


"Heat Waves: Sun Spirals" 2013, 12" X 48" X 2"

Sun Bolts: Chalk Cliffs
2011
12" X 48"
oil on birch cradle

Storm Over Blood River
2011
12" X 48" X 2"
oil on birch cradle



After The Fire: Burning Bush: Smoke Serpents
2011
16" X 64"X 2"
oil on birch cradle



Where Amber Mornings Break: Fire Fight
2011
16" X 64"X2"
oil on birch cradle













Meteorite, February 15, 2013, Chelyabinsk, Russia   (35.5" X 76" X 2")













"The Eye of The Sahara",  37" X 47" X 2", oil on board,  2013













Spiral Jetty: On The Eigth Day", 37" X 47" X 2", oil on board,  2013



"Spiral Jetty: There are no clouds to speak of"

48” X 24”

oil on board

2013