The Backyard Menagerie

I've been slightly hobbled by a kneecap injury and the studio is a long climb, so I've been staging my own Rear Window scenario and drawing the characters that appear in my view.  So many birds.  Such beautiful plumage.  Such antics.  No murders yet, but suspects abound.

Mourning Dove

Cardinals on the feeder

White-throated Sparrow and puffed-up Mourning Dove

White-throated Sparrow on clay pot

More soon.

In between time

Mercury glass ball with red ribbon, oil on card, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2"

We're in that lull, the in between time, the almost end, almost beginning.  Something new just around the corner...

detail

They dined on quince...

Two paintings of quinces and pears: 

Quinces and pears in glass bowl, oil and metallic leaf on panel, 9" x 12", 2011

Quinces and pears in ceramic bowl, oil and distressed metallic leaf on panel, 10" x 10"

I've written about my love of quinces before and so I include my little treatise on this mysterious, astringent, aromatic fruit below:

Smell and memory are linked so closely that I can’t be sure how much my initial experience of this particular aroma has coloured my current perception, but I’m sure I can’t be alone in thinking this must be one of the most delicious scents anywhere.

Our first experience of it was in France. It was a moody September day just outside of Moustiers-Sainte Marie in Provence. As we drove the narrow road up a mountainside to our destination for that evening, the rain began to pour down. Through a miracle of good luck, we found our chateau, which emerged all rosy stucco and pale blue shutters at the end of a winding lane through a chestnut wood. The rain had stopped and afternoon sun was slanting through tree branches, raising a slight mist and turning everything to gold. Like so many French chateaux now being rented out by ambitious new owners to tourists, this one had fallen from its former glory, but its air of grandeur remained intact. We were early and since no one came to greet us when we called, we walked through the heavy open doors onto a worn limestone floor and then into a high ceilinged dark paneled room with an imposing stone mantle and game trophies crowding the walls. At one end of the room was a doorway lit by the sun which we headed towards almost automatically. There in a rustic back kitchen, glowing in the gorgeous late day sunshine, was a bounty of golden fruits and the most pervasive and wonderful smell.

It was un coup de foudre. The fruits were quinces. I was in love. 
I didn’t think the name, which sounded like a description of a pained expression, did justice to this fruit of the heavenly aroma, but then I discovered the inevitable downside to the seemingly perfect fruit: quinces, which look and smell like an otherworldly combination of apple and pear with a little extra je ne sais quoi, are too astringent and grainy to eat raw.
I’ve since poached quinces and strained them into gorgeous clear red jelly—their ivory flesh turns russet when cooked—but I love them best in a bowl, looking like slightly lumpy golden orbs and sending their lovely scent into every corner of my house. Sometimes, in the grocery store, I find quince imported from the middle east or asia, but the variety seems different, the fragrance not so intense. These ones came from the farmer’s market where two young girls told me they had climbed the tall quince tree in their backyard to pick them by hand the day before. Has anyone else fallen for a quince?. 

Two and three quarter figs

The proper way to eat a fig, in society..., 9" x 12", oil on gessoed panel

Underwriting the painting is an excerpt of an ostensibly instructional poem by D.H. Lawrence called, simply, "Figs".  It begins: "The proper way to eat a fig, in society,"...

detail

Flannery

This painting is hommage to a lovely little cat named Flannery.  She was a longtime companion to a good friend of mine.  Unlike many pets whose unique relationships with their human companions remain private and sometimes incomprehensible to the outside world (I speak from experience) Flannery was beloved by everyone who knew her.  She will be missed.

Flannery, oil on panel 8" x 10",  2011

Hex, this painting is my birthday gift to you.  Surprise!

If it's dry, I'll put it in your hands on Sunday.

Good Dog!

Joey, oil on canvas 16" x 20", 2010

This was a stealth portrait commissioned as a surprise birthday present. The secret remained so until the big unveiling (best birthday gift ever, so I'm told and was thrilled to hear), and now I'm free to post the painting without giving anything away.

Joey, detail

Joey is a handsome dog and I really enjoyed catching his characteristic pose--big grin, bright eyes, ears cocked, ready to play--in this traditional portrait.  I believe that animals have personalities as distinct as people's and can make great portrait subjects.

Portraiture Exhibition Opens Saturday

I have a couple of pieces in a new group portrait exhibition opening this Saturday at the Harbinger gallery in Waterloo. Both are from my ongoing series At the Feet of the Master(ed). One, What's Mine is Yours, is featured on the invitation, above. Three of the four artists in the show--Allan Harding MacKay, Isabella Stefanescu, and I--were featured in the first season of Star Portraits. Karen Fletcher, a figurative sculptor, adds another dimension to the show.

My new painting, If you remind me of my dog... I'm publishing here for the first time.

If you remind me of my dog... oil on panel, 30" x 40", 2010

As I was composing the painting, I kept humming the refrain from Jane Siberry's song, Everything reminds me of my dog: "If you remind me of my dog, we'll probably git along, little doggie, git along git along little doggie..." Do you know it? Anyway, I couldn't shake it, so I wrote to Jane Siberry requesting permission to use her lyrics in the painting, and, gracious woman that she is, she wrote back within the hour granting permission. I worked with Jane's ethereal voice in my head for the duration of the painting. Jane Siberry is on a salon world tour performing intimate concerts in the homes of her fans. How lovely it would be to share a small space with Jane's bright, funny, whimsical personality and uniquely haunting voice. To read more about her tour, visit her website: janesiberry.com

For more information about the exhibition, please visit the Harbinger Gallery website.

Drawing at the Museum

Stork (detail), gouache and graphite in Moleskine

I spent an entire day at the ROM this week. The only problem was my compulsive (and futile) attempt to see everything before I settled into drawing. The result is far fewer sketches than I'd hoped to produce. In the end, I drew mainly in the dinosaur and natural history areas. The ROM has a truly wonderful exhibition of birds in flight. I could spend a whole day in that room alone. I'm already hatching plans to do just that.

Magpies, graphite in Moleskine

Ostrich, graphite in Moleskine

Tern and Stork, graphite and gouache in Moleskine

Triceratops horridus, graphite in Moleskine

Mosasaur, graphite in Moleskine

Whitefish

Whitefish, gutted and scaled, oil on canvas board, 8" x 8"

This whitefish, from Lake Huron, was the "rich fish" for our own version of bouillabaisse. It always feels a little different to buy the whole fish and have to confront the elegance of the complete animal --before cleaning, scaling, and chopping it up for the pot.

Happy New(ish) Year

Persimmons and Rambutans, oil on linen stretched over panel, 11" x 14"

This painting appeared, slightly cropped, on my Christmas card this year. Like last year, (that entry here), I was tempted to document the almost outrageous abundance and variety of food at this time of year. Here, in a medium sized city, in the dark and cold midwinter, I can walk downtown and return home with almost any fruit or vegetable I can name. So much for the seasonal and local mantra I find so easy to adopt in the summer. I'm not complaining--five months of root vegetables and increasingly soft apples is not a past I want to return to, but I wonder how long it can all last. I wish us all continued abundance (you choose the form) in the New Year.

Whodunit?, part 2

A couple of days ago the person who purchased one of my paintings at OCAD's mystery art fundraiser was kind enough to send me an email. I'm informed that the painting has already been framed to good effect in a floating frame, and that its new owner lined up at 5:00am, securing the 25th spot in line, to get it. I'm delighted to know it's gone to such a good home. I've been meaning to post the image for a while now, so here it is:

White-throated Sparrow--still life, oil on gessoed board, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2"

This unfortunate sparrow flew into a window. I'm fairly sure I heard it happen and found the little bird, still, but unmarred, on my porch just moments later. A small heartbreak. If I'd been a nineteenth century leisure class naturalist, I'd have made more detailed studies. I'm half sorry I didn't. It's not often that such an exquisite model just falls into one's hands.

White-throated Sparrow--still life, detail

White-throated sparrows have a distinctive, evocative call. If you live in North America, you may already know it. If you'd like to hear it, visit this wikipedia page and click on the audio file under Song and Calls.

Whodunit? Gala Preview at OCAD

Lemon, cut and squeezed, oil on gessoed card, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" private collection

Last night I attended the Whodunit? Gala Preview and Auction at the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). For me, a flâneur at heart, it was a perfect opportunity to infiltrate the well-dressed crowd and to watch, entirely incognito, as people braved the crush to scrawl down their bids for the small works--my still life lemon painting (above)--was one of them. None of the artists' names was revealed, so unless people were already familiar with a particular artist's style, it was a completely blind bidding process. I was extremely gratified to see that my painting was an early favourite, and at my last check, 5 minutes before bidding closed, had secured a price more than double the cost of my complimentary gala ticket. I don't know in whose hands the painting left, but I would love to. If you are the new owner of "Lemon, cut and squeezed", please do let me know.

The auctioneer for the live auction of larger works was very entertaining, but I left before all the works had been presented to take a quick survey of the downstairs gallery of small works which will be sold at the public mystery art sale for the low price of $75 apiece beginning on Saturday. One of the OCAD attendants at the auction told me that public demand for the small works is usually so high that people begin to line up hours before the doors open. To see the online preview of the works on offer, click here. One of my paintings is still available in the public sale. But I can't reveal anything...yet. I'll post a picture once the sale is over.

Lemon, cut and squeezed (detail)

All proceeds from the Whodunit? art auctions and public sale go to support programs at OCAD. It's not too late to buy an original artwork and support a worthy cause.

Star Portraits

A day I’ve been anticipating with mixed feelings is almost here; the episode of STAR PORTRAITS in which I appear will air on Bravo! television tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8:00 pm EST.

If you can’t watch on Saturday, you’ll have a chance to see the episode again on Wednesday night at 9:30, and anytime thereafter (along with the rest of the series) on the Bravo! website

The portrait I painted for the series will be posted to my completely redesigned website: parlour.ca shortly after the episode airs.

I'd love to read your comments about the series or my revamped website.

Royal Winter Fair

I attended the Royal Winter Fair yesterday. It was my first solo visit to the fair, and my first with sketchbook in hand. I had a fantastic day drawing and was surprized to see so many fellow sketchers. I spent a while talking to two of them: a young woman studying fine art at U of T, and a young man studying animation at Sheridan. The fair is a fantastic place for drawing. I'd love to try to make it back for one more day of sketching before it closes. I'm posting a selection of drawings from my visit (mostly domestic fowl it turns out, and one g.p.).

Modena gazzi pigeon--a very proud looking bird

Old German Owl pigeon--a pretty little bird with an alert eye,

Elegant but slightly absurd Jacobin pigeons, like stylish ladies hiding behind high fur collars.


A white fantail pigeon who kept peeking at me from behind its extravagant tail while I drew

Leghorn cockerel and tiny, pretty Call ducks--pure white with small orange bills.

A classic Leghorn cockerel, white with a magnificent red comb and lethal looking stare, not to mention a very impressive crowing voice

A glossy black Australorp, with beautiful fluid lines and iridescent green sheen. The prize-winning hen had laid a pale brown egg in her cage.

And, an Abyssinian Guinea Pig, (drawn for someone who knows who she is)

Sketching at the Zoo

Last week I went sketching at the Toronto Zoo.

Peacocks roam freely around the zoo

Malayan tigers--postures and attitudes so much like my own cat

declared a distinct subspecies only in 2004

The lions are distant in their outdoor habitat, but utterly magnificent
(the hippo didn't stay around long enough for me to draw)

African elephants

Last year when I agreed to participate in an episode of Star Portraits (currently airing on Bravo! in Canada--click here for details), I was forced to confront something that I knew, but hadn't really acknowledged: I am utterly uncomfortable drawing or painting in front of an audience. I love to draw from life and I participate in weekly life drawing sessions, but in that setting most artists are too intent on their own work to take much notice of their peers. I realize that it's very seldom that any eyes but my own see my work in progress. I've moved from the very public work environment of art school, to the semi-privacy of a shared studio, to the complete solitude of my own studio space. I've become used to working unobserved. I'm certainly more productive and less distracted in my own studio, but the luxury of my own space has made me a little more insular in my work habits than I ever intended. I'll never abandon my studio practice--I love my time alone at the easel--but I miss that feeling of tense engagement I get when I work in public. In the studio, I can let my attention wander. Out in the world, I need to concentrate differently. So I've resolved to draw, and eventually paint, more often in public spaces.

The zoo was a perfect place to begin. The animals don't object to being closely observed; their forms and attitudes are unfamiliar enough that I can't make any assumptions while I draw; and I get an innoculation against my spectator anxiety with every new surge of school children swarming around me to see the zoo exhibits. Plus, the flâneur in me loves to be solo in a crowd--lingering wherever I want, observing everything, and being at no one's whim but my own. I'm planning another zoo visit in November.

Life Drawing

from last night's life drawing session | vine charcoal on Stonehenge paper

Oh the shame--Canada loses its Portrait Gallery

from Tuesday night's life drawing session

*Warning* rant follows:

Why does this federal government have such a narrow view of nationhood? It plans to spend a fortune on patrol ships to assert our physical dominion over our arctic territories (which may contain vast reservoirs of oil) while removing the possibility of a physical portrait gallery to tap the vast reservoir of our cultural heritage. Most Canadians will never visit the arctic, but it looms large in our collective consciousness and forms a critical part of our identity here and abroad. A nation's cultural heritage can do the same. The national archives should have a physical presence in the form of a publicly accessible portrait gallery in our nation's capital. The knowledge that the gallery exists will inform our sense of identity and serve as the tangible backbone--the actual destination that Canadians and others can think of and aspire to visit when they view the virtual gallery online. I've heard so many times that there is no substitute for visiting the arctic in person. As any art lover knows, there is no substitute for standing in the presence of a work of art rather than viewing it in print or online reproductions. The vast archive of portraits of Canadian citizens--the very people who have made this country--should not be reduced to digitized ephemera. There is a wealth to be mined, and not just in the arctic. From their beginnings great nations have propped up their identities with their art and artists' depictions of their history. Let's get some recognition for our culture--for what we've cultivated--not just for our natural assets. Canadians need to know that should we choose, we can experience in the flesh the portraits that appear only as images on our computers. The arctic exerts a pull on our consciousness. A Portrait Gallery of Canada could do the same. In Britain, the National Portrait Gallery is a monument to British culture past and present, a huge pull for foreign and British visitors, and a beacon for artists everywhere. Canadians too should have a place to come face to face with portraits of the people who have shaped and continue to shape our history.

p.s. To those who think they know what portraiture is, and that it is a stodgy, old-fashioned art, I would say that portraiture dictates only the subject, but neither the medium nor the method, and can be as radical and thought provoking as any other art form. Portraiture will endure because nothing comes closer to a shared common experience than one person encountering another through the eyes, mind, and hands of another. Portraiture is vitally alive and always relevant.

Click here to read a CBC article about senator Jerry Grafstein's attempts to champion the Portrait Gallery of Canada.

Face Time: the Portrait Under Investigation

Suspect Profile #5 (detail), oil on birch panel, 24" x 36"

I'm pleased to announce that several paintings from my Suspect Profiles series will be included in a new exhibition entitled Face Time: The Portrait Under Investigation--a selection of contemporary portraiture by Sadko Hadzihasanovic, Timothy Laurin, Louise Noguchi, and Shannon Reynolds.

The exhibition coincides with the opening of another fascinating exhibition called Arresting Images: Mugshots from the OPP Museum. This show features mugshots photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries was organized in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the OPP. The two exhibitions should resonate very well together.

Both shows open this Sunday, May 31, 2009 at the Art Gallery of Peel, in the Peel Heritage Complex in Brampton's historic downtown. Opening reception 1-4 pm. The invitation recommends people RSVP by May 22, so I guess I've made my announcement slightly late, but you could still try. Please contact me if you'd like more information.

Twin Planes

Twin Carter Mitre Planes, brass with ebony infill, oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

This painting of my twin mitre planes--planes given to me by the very generous Bill Carter, planemaker, and his wife Sarah--should be on a plane en route to Bill and Sarah right about now. To read the whole long story, click here. I thought I had completed the painting a couple of months ago, but several things about it continued to bother me. So, just when I was on the verge of sending it off to Bill and Sarah, I unpacked it and put it back on the easel.

the painting before...

and after my changes

I made some minor changes and then painted a dark glaze over much of the background, obscuring but not omitting the Carter name in the background. Normally, I'm not a fan of oily paint and prefer a fairly matte surface on my finished paintings--especially my portraits, but something about this still life seemed to lend itself to a little more gloss. Although it won't be apparent on screen, my changes affected the sheen of the painting and gave it a richness the original lacked. I'm much happier with this new version and hope it will find a good home with Bill and Sarah.