Breathing the Forest

Breathing the Forest is up and ready to go! 

Opening Night is Friday, June 23, 2017 from 5 to 7pm

Exhibition continues until July 30, 2017

Lake Placid Centre for the Arts, 17 Algonquin Road, Lake Placid, NY

Breathing the Forest book available HERE

The Triumvirate of Queens

This is the story of how the Three Queens came to be. The thing about painting is that it takes me on fantastical journeys both within and without. I have learned over time that the process seems to understand me better than I understand myself. I learn what I need to know by painting.  I have also learned to trust this process completely, it's a bit like getting in a boat and letting yourself drift with the river flow, being mindful that you don't get caught up in the rapids but also not controlling the boat more then is necessary to not tip over or crash along the way.

Back to the Queens. It all begins when I suddenly see an image amongst the thousands of photos in my studio. This time it was an ancient old oak tree and it suddenly jumped out of the pile of photos, luminous and wanting to be painted. I begin by deciding what size, this tree was insisting on being at least as tall as me so I chose a 60" high canvas. The larger the canvas the more gesture and movement that goes into the painting.

People are always asking me how long it takes to do a painting.

Radiant Absence

Radiant Absence / 40" x 60" / acrylic on canvas / 2015

Upcoming Exhibition:  Radiant Absence

Galerie Espace
4844 Boul St Laurent
Montreal, QC

Vernissage: Thursday, March 31 / 5 to 7pm
Exhibition continues through to Sunday daily noon to 4pm
or by appointment.

The truth is I would rather not be exhibiting right now as I feel raw and vulnerable from the recent loss of my beloved Walt, however I am unable to cancel the show which was scheduled a year ago. That being said, a "radiant absence" fills my days and this show will be a reflection of this profound transition and transformation at work in my paintings and my heart.

Part of You Flows Out of Me

 Part of You Flows Out of Me 1 & 2 / 30" x 24" each / acrylic on canvas

These two companion paintings were the last two I was working on when Walt was still with me in the Montreal studio. He loved them when he saw them first taking shape, unfortunately he never saw them finished. 

I wake up every morning and listen to my own breathing as I look at the empty space beside me in the bed. I feel Walt's presence with me everywhere I go and I still expect him to show up somewhere. He does show up sometimes, in small ways and gestures that warm me from the inside out.

The first month after he died I mostly sat in his chair by the window and stared at the world going by outside. I was frozen with pain and sadness. Slowly I am beginning to unthaw though the sadness lingers with me throughout the day. I tried to go to the studio where Walt's energy is the strongest and at first I couldn't bare it there for more then a few minutes at a time. Slowly I was able to start pushing some paint around half heartedly on the canvas. I was terrified that painting as a way of knowing had left me completely. 

Then one day I realized that by NOT painting I felt I was staying loyal to Walt. If Walt could no longer paint then why should I be able to? This seemed terribly unfair to him. Finally a friend suggested to me that I ask Walt for help with this. I pulled out his jars of premixed colors, a palette I know well from painting beside him for many years. I started to paint with his paints and slowly the warm flow came back. I could feel Walt's gentle hands guiding mine. Now when I paint I am filled with the warmth of Walt and feel embraced by his Love. 

These are the two most recent ones that emerged and they are coming from a deep, quiet place of Love for all that was and is Walt. I look forward to seeing what else will emerge from my broken heart. For a broken heart is an open heart.

River Flow / 10" x 10" / acrylic on wood

Slow RIver / 10" x 10" / acrylic on wood

New Plein Air Paintings Available

Several new paintings fresh off the easel from the Adirondacks in August

River Running / 16" x 20" 

Clouds of Flowers / 18" x 24"

Stay Weird / 18" x 24" 

Glacial Erratic / 18" x 24"

St Regis Canoe Input / 16" x 20"

Talking Trees / 20" x 16"

Two Shows Running Concurrently

The first show is being held as a two day Pop Up Gallery in Lake Placid, NY

An exceptional venue with a view to die for! Hence the name Heaven Hill!

I hope to see you there!

The second show is in the border town of Standstead, QC on the border of Vermont, USA in a converted Blacksmith Studio. This old building is full of charm and perched above the Tomifobia River.  Le Vieux Forgeron is open from 11am to 6pm and is a lovely place to visit. I am honored to have my paintings hanging here until August 16th.

Open Studio

Come and visit the studio!

Wednesday, May 27th

3pm to 9pm

This will be the kick off to my Cross Canada & Beyond Trek

Follow #trip_the_light on social media and this blog to

travel along with me and my paintbox!

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Five New Paintings

The Roaring Inside 2 / 28" x 22" / acrylic on canvas 

This one was done on a road trip across Canada. I stopped at "Shannon Falls" near Squamish, BC in the midst of a rain storm and those falls were roaring! A powerful and daunting sight to behold. Something about waterfalls that triggers a visceral response and echoes something from an ancient realm for me.

River Along my Path / 28" x 22" / acrylic on canvas

This piece is from the same road trip across Canada. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of this river in British Columbia but it was majestically flowing through a deeply carved canon and took my breath away.

Green Balm

We arrived by boat, at night, under a waxing moon. The boat sliced through the ink blank silence and deposited us on an island. The darkness was complete and enveloping. The brightest light was the moon above. I was home.

I could feel tension leaving my muscles as my limbs softened in recognition of the tree limbs. The wilderness reached its arms up to meet my soul which in turn seemed to leap up in recognition.

 

Progress of a Deep Forest Painting

The Ways of Water

An impromptu exhibition of some larger landscape pieces is now showing at the E.K. Voland Art Gallery in my St Henri studio building.

One Wild & Precious Moment / 72" x 48" / acrylic on canvas

The Red Line / 48" x 72" / acrylic on canvas

Undercurrents / 72" x 54" / oil on canvas

Stone Carvers / 60" x 40" / oil on canvas

Painting on the Floor

 The other day I needed to find a spot to work out the composition of a painting I want to do. I noticed the cardboard on the floor was beckoning me so I sat down and started working out the shapes and colors.

Preview of Tremblant Exhibition

This is the launching of my new store as well as the online preview for the upcoming exhibition at Galerie 806 in Mont-Tremblant, QC which opens December 19th and runs until January 15th, 2014.
This exhibition is a celebration of an amazing year; meeting new people, traveling to new places and discovering the endless potential of this planet to reveal her beauty in new and invigorating ways. I am humbled and awed by the process of painting and the magical, mystery tour it continually takes me on. I feel it to be a great privilege to live this world as a painter. The paints not only guide my heart & hands but opens my eyes to marvels I would never have even noticed were I not stopping and taking the time to look as is necessary when making a painting.

This is the Right Place

 

 There are certain geographical places on this spinning globe that resonate more strongly with each individual being than others. The Ausable River is one of those places for me.
The twisted roots embracing the rocks, the ancient rock cliffs, the deep dark pools and the roaring waterfalls all make me ecstatically happy when I am around them.

Abundance in the Adirondacks

It has been a while since I have posted anything. I have been off on many new adventures and it has been hard to keep up with my online communication. A tremendously full and prosperous summer has flown by. There has been much hard work, lugging paintings to and from exhibitions, working at starting up "ArtBomb Montreal" and continuing to paint in spite of all this activity.

Ferocious Beauty

This spring after a yoga class I went and searched out the Lachine Rapids which I had never seen before. I had to walk through a bird sanctuary that was erupting with spring birdsong. There were photographers everywhere capturing the many different species singing their hearts out in the marshes leading up to the river. I heard and felt the river before I saw it. As it was early spring there were a few tender green buds on the trees but no leaves yet and the water was roaring! I sat on a rock by the rapids and felt a wellspring of gratitude bubble up from inside. Sitting in that spot of sunshine listening to the roar of the rapids, I felt thrilled to be alive in the moment. I love when life takes you by surprise and knocks the breath out of you with one of its endless forms of beauty!