I am pleased to be offering Part Two of Beginning Abstraction through Visual Voice Gallery. This series of classes will take place over 5 Wednesdays from 10am-noon beginning March 16th. Cost is $175.00 plus tax and registration is as indicated below.
​I am hoping that students will finish with new knowledge and an excitement about continuing their exploration of abstraction. I also hope that they will leave with the warm feeling that comes from having fun.

 The small, gestural painting, FOR THE FUN OF IT, and the larger DRAW/PAINT/DRAW 6 are now installed in the lovely home of Kim and Mike Byrne in Chance Harbour near New Glasgow and from Mike's photos (below) I'd say they they belong there!

This morning, Dec. 12, I finished the painting partially shown in the previous
​"wall" post: December Day.
The title of this one is: SMALL BEGINNINGS, a reference to how the smallest, most insignificant looking bits of growth (the green bits) confirm that life is irrepressible. 
The media on this work is a combination of coffee and acrylic, well sealed with a spray fixative. There is something about the richness of instant coffee on a canvas that I love, and coffee is essential in this painting.

Dark, rainy, cold days have brought me back to the studio on a more consistent basis. My work wall this morning: November 29, 2021. On the go: two little black and white pieces which I expect I will title "BLACK AND WHITE DAYS" plus another small piece (far from finished), exploring mark-making, and to the right, a portion of larger piece just begun.
​It's good to be happy to be back to work.

LIMINAL SPACES, triptych, acrylic,  tea, coffee and ink, 60" x 144". Now in Shannex head office, Toronto. My biggest painting yet and an exciting sale for me.
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In Covid times I found my energy and enthusiasm for painting all but disappear; however, now that things are better I've  returned to music. The painting to the left, unfinished as it is, I think is going well. ALL THAT JAZZ. . . will be finished soon and I hope will lead to more pieces in this musical theme.

 Once again I have returned to the "table cloth paintings" begun March 8, 2019. This time I am including photos of the get together that was the genesis of two of the works. In the photos are my artist friends Bruce Campbell, his wife Nansea, Anke Holm, Susan Hudson; my daughter Jeannie McLean and my Homestay student, Abadia da Silva,- lots of imprints of wine bottles, glasses and mark-making  with wine, pencils, and paint. Fun and laughter.

The smaller of the two tablecloths is now finished. Table Cloth Three: "Quiet Conversations". Jeannie and Bruce made many of the marks that are still visible on this piece. I did a minimal amount of work on this piece because I really liked what was plaid down early by my guests.  Media include tea, wine, pencils and paint.

 The bigger one is taking much longer. Two stages are shown below, the last one being the result of today's work, June 22, 2020. The piece has been inverted and lightened a lot but preserves the sense of "vibration"- "laughter".  Not quite there but closer. It will be called:        
​Table Cloth Two: "Laughter Around the Table" 
​Table Cloth One, begun at an earlier date, is still in the works.

Sometimes starting to paint on these dark, wet days is the hardest part of the work. However, once at it, time usually disappears. So  this is my studio wall today. The two warm coloured pieces  are tablecloths, literally. They  are canvases that I cut to size and placed on tables when I had friends over to eat and enjoy some wine, Together we spilled, drew, splashed and in general created a ground from which I could work. The intent of the finished pieces is to celebrate the value of friendship and family. And this  is only the beginning.

Far from finished, this small tablecloth is entitled: "QUIET CONVERSATION".

It was on this piece that I spent most of my time today, "TABLECLOTH: LAUGHTER".  I've enjoyed lightening the whole and using strokes that "vibrate" with the intent of conveying the fun and laughter that were so much a part of that evening. Some of the drawings and glass imprints made at the dinner will remain as parts of the finished piece as, I think, will the hand tracing. So this is a collaborative piece, a shared canvas. However, the most important sharing is that of the support and friendship that I so value and that motivate this body of work.

A wonderful weekend at Paint The Town
Paint the Town, Annapolis Royal, ​is an on-site painting weekend that is held mid-August each year. For over 20 years it has attracted  80 or so participants and hundreds of art lovers looking for good art at good prices. Proceeds from the silent auction are split 50/50 with the artist and ARCAC, a wonderful artists' organization and gallery in town.

Saturday was hot, hot, hot but cooler in the shade of the Historic Gardens overlooking the marsh.

At another spot I was joined by two furry friends. The chipmunk beside me seemed so interested that I wished that I could have given him a bidding number!

Sunday was another story!
Fog and rain but I worked from just outside my billet at Jan and Cam Albright's incredible home in Granville Ferry. The coffee, wash pencil and acrylics that I was working with were pretty unpredictable in the humidity - fun.