"Blossoms and Blue Vase" 16x20 Acrylic on canvas

This painting is the second in my Floral Vase Series. Here again I set up a Floral Still Life on a table, using a white table cloth. I found a Cobalt Blue vase that I had tucked away in a cupboard, added a Blossom branch and a couple of Lemons and here you have it. I really like the color of the vase, cobalt blue is quite vibrant and in this painting it is the main focus. I hope you enjoy this painting.

"Neon Ribbons Unfold" 24x24 Acrylic on canvas

I had this image in my mind that came to me unexpectedly one evening. I was pictureing ribbons unfolding out of their spools, with a light held above them as they were slowly decending through the night air. I thought of how that would look and this painting is how I interpreted it.

"No Name Road" 20x30 Acrylic on canvas

This is my newest painting. I've been working on this for the last two weeks. Its very detailed and at this point, I'm not sure if adding more details to it would help it any further, but here it is. I took a photo of this old dirt road a few weeks ago, while out on a drive in the Foothills of the Rockies, just west of the city. I came upon this area by chance and noticed how beautiful this little tree lined road looked with its small crooked fence and grassy area on one side and large trees on the other, it looked perfect for a camera picture. It was a clear sunny autumn day and the foothills in the distance looked almost a bright blue with patches of trees with their leaves turning yellow. I really like this painting, as I hope you do as well. 

"Poppy Triptych" 12x16 each Acrylic on canvas

This is my newest work. My inspiration to paint these textured poppies came from seeing the art of a well known Artist from the Daily Painters website. I have been following her work in recent months and I admire her talent and creativity. Her willingness to share some of her techniques prompted me to try it myself. I decided on keeping it simple by not adding any leaves at the bottom and instead keeping the focus on the textured flowers. The flowers are quite large on the canvases and they appear a little top heavy but I think it adds to it's abstract quality. I painted a soft light blue background to cool the orange reds of the flowers and did a wash over them using Iridescent copper mixed with Burnt Umber. I like how they turned out in the end. 



"In The Middle of Nowhere" 20x28 Acrylic on canvas

I finally finished this painting that I had on my easel in my studio. The area that took the longest to complete was the grass. The inspiration for this painting came from a photo I took around April of this year, while driving out to the Town of Okotoks, just south of Calgary. I drove by a farmers field and in the distance was this small house, just out in the middle of nowhere. With the mountains in the background and the sun shining on the house, it made for a nice picture. I later found out that the house is actually a storage shed used by the farmers to store small farm equipment or bales of hay or anything else needed to work the fields. There are many of these dotting the Alberta Landscape. I hope you find this painting interesting as I do. 

"Pink Rose" 20x24 Colored Pencil on Canson Mi-Tients paper

Roses are beautiful flowers, but they are a challenge to paint or draw because of all the petals. To color a rose involves layering the colors one on top of the other until the surface is completely covered, a process called layering and burnishing. With lots of patience and hard work, simple basic techniques can produce a realistic rose or any flower for that matter.

"Canola Field" 8x10 Acrylic on canvas

I took several long drives outside the city last month, to have a look at the Canola Fields. In some fields, the canola appear very yellow, while in others they appear a yellowish green as in this painting. No matter how one sees them, the contrast between the colors and the blue sky are stunning. I took some pictures from the side of the road on my trips and combined elements from them to create this painting. I took into account small details such as the gully with some standing water in it (probably from recent rains), broken fencing and a row of hay bales wrapped in white plastic. I'm happy with the end result.

"Native Indian Princess" 20x24 Colored Pencils on Canson Mi-Tients paper

When I first moved to Alberta, more than 30 years ago, a few things about this province really impressed me. One was the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the other was the vastness of the Prairie landscape. The third would have to be the Aboriginal People of Alberta. Being originally from a large metropolitan city in eastern Canada, I had never seen an aboriginal person before. Only from books, television or movies, is how we really saw them when I was growing up. The year I moved to Calgary, I went to The Calgary Stampede for the first time and saw in the parade the various aboriginal tribes of southern Alberta in their full native outfits. It was an awesome sight to see and it inspired me to draw this picture in my art class.

"Prairie Log Home" 15x20 Pen and Ink on Illustration Board

This house was probably one of the first prairie log homes built by early settlers to Southern Alberta. I was told that the house was situated in the Foothills of the Rockies, somewhere between Morley and Exshaw, along the Trans Canada highway. My art instructor had the actual B&W photo of the house that he had taken with his camera some years earlier and he let me use the photo in class. As far as I know, the house no longer exists anywhere along this stretch of the highway today. I am glad that I chose to draw this image in class because for
all I know, this may be the only pictorial record of this house.

"The Wave" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas board

Ocean waves like this always fascinates people, urging us to stand closer to watch andhear them speak. They send out messages of warnings, telling us to be careful not to venture in too far, still, they're hypnotic movements captivates us to want to touch them regardless.

"Blue Iris's" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas

I took pictures of Blue Iris's on my last trip to Vancouver Island in May 2010. The Iris's there were already in full height and in full bloom by May and even earlier in the year in some places. These two, were in a garden at Comox Harbour.

"Oranges and Lemons" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas board

I was experimenting using cobalt blue, cad orange, cad yellow and a few other colors in my palette. I had the oranges and lemons in my kitchen and placed them on the table. They rolled a bit, stopped and this is what they looked like when I painted them. I like the relationship of these colors together and how vibrant the whole painting looks.

"Magnolias and Green Vase" 16x20 Acrylic on canvas

This is a painting I did in the Spring of 2010. I used silk magnolias(no real ones that I could find),and found the green vase that I purchased at a local craft store.The shape and color of the vase looked interesting and I knew that I had to use it for a still life painting. Both flowers and the vase went very well together visually and since I am a fan of the famous artist Salvador Dali,I decided to give the fallen leaves and petals on the table, an abstract look in the Dali style. I hope you like this painting as much as I do.

"Garden Bouquet" 8x10 Acrylic on canvas

This is a cute little jem. I painted this for a special lady in my family for a Christmas present. I found a small easel in a department store and painted it black. The easel and finished piece fit perfectly together.

"Abstract Lillies" 9x12 Acrylic on canvas board

I threw caution to the wind on this one. I painted it in less than 2hrs, working quickly. I wasn't sure how it would turn out,but in the end it looked nice. Certainly not my best work, but its one of my most colorful.

"Pansy Faces" 8x10 Acrylic on canvas

Have you ever looked at Pansies and see little faces looking back at you,each with their own expressions on their faces? After I finished this painting,I realized I had achieved that.

"Cathedral Group Mountains, Wyoming" 8x10 Acrylic on canvas

 I read a book at my public library about Canada's "Group of Seven" artists. Inside,there were pictures of beautiful paintings done by all seven members. One particular artist in the group that had an affect on me was Lawren Harris. I read that he once visited the Cathedral Mountains in Wyoming and he found them so beautiful that he was inspired to paint them. In keeping with his abstract style, this small painting is my tribute to Lawren Harris.

"Little Pond on the Prairie" 24x24 Acrylic on canvas

Another early painting I did.The inspiration for this one came as a result of taking long car rides out to the prairie countryside. Once there, you notice things like little bodies of water,an oasis by the roadsides or out in the fields,often inhabited by songbirds,ducks and geese.

"Vintage Pears" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas

This is one of my earliest paintings. I wanted to give the pears an old world look by using a more monochromatic palette. I love pears, this is one of my favorite paintings.

"Cardinals" (male and female) 16x18 on Canson Mi-Tients paper

This is one of the first colored pencil drawing I did when I was taking art classes. Students were asked to select an image from a book or magazines and try to draw it.

I was new to using colored pencils,but with the help of my instructor,I managed to create this drawing successfully.