This is a street shot I took in Venice California.  I loved that I got mix of people all doing their thing with not a one looking at me.  The mix of suitcase handles, cowboy hats and hanging bags really added to the mix of textures and lines.

Aperture f/2.8

Focal Length 70mm

Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 100

The Cove at la Jolla north of San Diego.  I’ve no idea how to take good landscapes nor how to post process them so this would be a first time for me.  Any critiques would be appreciated.

This is another mixed media piece created from varied different materials.  The background is very textured and the flower was somewhat sculpted before I began painting it.  This allowed me to use techniques such as rubbing and washing layers of paint off to achieve a very tactile and ‘real’ feeling when you look at it.  I’m not so happy with the pearl I used  and may mute that at some point.  It is a 30”x24” canvas and painted using acrylic glazes, paints and washes.

I will be adding it to the paintings I will likely take to the Stouffville Strawberry Festival (once I sign up for it) unless it is purchased beforehand.

I was busy working on the background for my next painting and while it was drying I spied these three canvases in the corner. I decided to give some freehand flowers a shot. I had watched a tutorial by Isabelle Zacher-Finet who is one of my favourite artists and decided to give her method a try. SO.. there is no doubt it is a ripoff of her painting but it is my attempt. I didn’t do it exactly as she taught but it seems to look ok. However.. not sure anyone has the decor to put a bright red painting in.

It is on 3 *” x 24” panels making a 2’ x 2’ square. It is done in acrylics. Red, Yellow, Black and white only.

‘Winter Dreams’

This is a 30”x24” Acrylic mixed media painting on canvas.
It was painted using sand and shells collected from the south end of Myrtle Beach. The beach portion is covered in a layer of pearl gel and the waves are made using tissue and acrylic gel. The ocean is painted in layers using multiple blues, greens and golds. In the right light, you will see some iridescent blues and greens in the waves.

I was feeling a little glum about the weather, and thought how nice it would be to be at the beach.

Might be a nice piece for someone’s cottage or summer room. Let me know as it is available for purchase.

Nikki Sixx. This is an acrylic painting on a 11 x 14 canvas of Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue and Sixx AM. I’ve been working on this off and on for quite some time but the crunch was on as I had intended to give it to my boss as a Christmas gift and I suddenly realized on the weekend..Christmas was a week away! So I sat down tonight and pumped another three hours in and decided it is as finished as it is ever going to be. It is a combination pop-art and portrait. I used some different techniques to develop the background. I used 3 colours only - ebony black, titanium white and crimson.

This is a 4’ x 3’ canvas painted with acrylic.  I titled it Turbulence because of the state of mind I was in and painting process I went through.  The original idea when I first picked up a brush was no where near what it turned out to be. The painting shows the conflict and confusion that gripped me while I was creating it.

This is a ‘re-purposed’ canvas. My wife had a painting she bought a while ago at a print store and got tired of it. So she suggested I paint over it. This is the third attempt. I struggled with the odd size of it..3’ x 1’ as I couldn’t seem to get any idea I had to look right. I started by adding texture using a number of different techniques and then layering paint. I would have preferred a smoother transition in the colours but she likes it and the kids think it is cool so who am I to argue.  The title is something I came up with while I was painting it and imagining I was tumbling around under a wave.

Decided to try a slightly different colour palette before embarking on my painting for our kitchen area.  I had just finished watching RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage and while I always liked Rush, I never called myself a Rush Fan.  Watching this film made me remember things from my teenage and young adult days that were inextricably linked to Rush songs.  One of these was ‘Limelight’.  There were a number of memories that I have that when I think of them, this song is playing, either on the radio in the actual memory or as a mental soundtrack.

I tried to capture that song and the feeling I get when I listen to it, and when I think of those times long ago that are linked to this song.  I’m not sure I really like this painting but then again, not all my memories were ones I can enjoy having.  Maybe that means I nailed this one perfectly.

“Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme

Living in a fish eye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can’t pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend

All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage”

-RUSH, ‘Limelight’ from Moving Pictures 1981

This is a photo of my kids and a friend enjoying a summer evening on the Springmaid Pier in Myrtle Beach.  It was a great evening for light and the pier has these wonderful sodium style and coloured lights.  I used some topaz filters in photoshop to pull out the details and take advantage of that unique lighting.

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
F-stop: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/13sec
ISO: 1600