Half the battle in making it as an artist is getting the world to know who you are and pay attention to your artistic efforts.  
Recently, I was the benefactor of some fantastic coverage in the local media.  'On the Bay' magazine is a large format glossy magazine published quarterly that highlights the many diversified and exciting things and people in the southern Georgian Bay region.
Every issue has an 'Artist Spotlight' that dedicates three full pages to showcasing the artwork of a local artist and for this month, it was me!
Timing is everything, as they say, and this feature couldn't have come at a better time, being that I have just launched my very own gallery/studio in artsy Clarksburg.  Just a day ago, we concluded the thanksgiving long weekend, complete with glorious weather and photo worthy fall colours!  There was plenty of visitors, many of whom had seen my work in the magazine, and were delighted to see some of them up close and personal as well as the many other artworks on display.
There are still a few details to finish up at the gallery, including my outdoor sign, on a beautiful piece of cherrywood, curtesy of Bob and Orlene Anderson of Bob Anderson Cabinetry.  I am also getting settled into working in the new space, and will have an assortment of projects; paintings  big and small, commissions, and even as commercial book illustration job underway.  Please drop in a to say hi and see whats on the walls and easel!

 http://onthebaymagazine.com/every-picture-tells-a-story/

www.onthebaymagazine.com

Along with the whirlwind that comes with opening ones' own gallery, just a few days ago, I also have finally got a few new paintings to put up here, as well as on the walls of the 'Kilby Gallery' in Clarksburg!

​and here they are:

Sometimes it takes me a very long time to get around to doing a painting I have long intended to.  That would be the case here, I have been contemplating a painting based on the old brdge and stream, as seen here for a long, long time.  Initally, I stumbled upon it travelling down an underused backroad, and when I decided to return to the scene for more study, I couldn't find it!  I did eventually locate it again, but even now, I'm not completely sure I could find it again if I wanted to.  Kind of adds to the mystic for me, and that ties into the moody, misty kind of day I wanted to show it in.  (size 50" x 36")



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This scene is also one that I studied for a long time before decided how I wanted to painti it, although it is very close to my home, and I do reliably know how to find it!
Rusted remains of a farm that is no longer farmed, is strong tonic for me, and I really liked the way the natural world came back to reclaim its' domain here.  The painting didn't seem complete until I added the crows passing through in the background.  Sometimes I think the most critical elements to resolving a painting can be very minor but completely transformational, as with the crows here.



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Around here there are almost too many options when it comes to 'what to paint next.'  Increasingly, I find myself drawn to the shore of the magnificent Georgian Bay, to ponder the great body of water before me.  Sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent, sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear, sky there are an infinte number of variations of the water/horizon scene.  For this piece I utilized a big sky format to suggest the vastness of the water, with a tiny, single sail on the horizon, adding to the feeling of largeness.  Finally, the painting itself is 62" across, which is a handful for me to paint, but really sells the big water idea I had in mind for this one.  Watch for more bay paintings to come!



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This piece saw me channelling my inner 'Robert Bateman' a bit.  He is a terrific and prolific painter with the uncanny ability to really communicate a setting, as well as a subject in his paintings.  I had this intriguing image of a raven and I 'made up' the rest to put it into a setting I hoped would seem appropriate.  Ravens are one of the more interesting creatures we are ever likely to come across, and I often pause to study them, as I am sure they are nonchalantly studying me at the same time!