Birches and Birds on Wires.

Birches, Birds, & Wires is a collection of my paintings hanging at Arts on Queen for the month of November. I worked right up until the last minute for this show and a few paintings were varnished and wired for hanging at the very last hour. It's so exciting to see them in the gallery, patiently waiting to be purchased and off to their new homes.

 Arts on Queen. 2198 Queen Street East. Toronto, On

416 699 6127

 In the window

 Pigeons and birds on wires in the gallery

 A selection of my abstracted birches.

 Canadian Beauty

30x40 acrylic on canvas

$2000.

 Urban Still Life

12x36 acrylic on canvas

$750.

 Standing Tall

36x60 acrylic on canvas

Sold. Thank you.

Upward Reaching

36x60 acrylic on canvas

$3000.

A Gorgeous Day

16" round acrylic on canvas

$350.

'A Gorgeous Day' is a 16 inch round, acrylic on canvas painting. It was inspired after I went to see the Alex Colville exhibit at the AGO. Shown here on my easel.

 Portrait No.1-6

6x6 acrylic on canvas/board

$175. each

Pigeons are about as urban a bird can get. You either love them or hate them. I've always been fascinated by them and thought they'd be fun to paint. Painted in acrylic on canvas and board. I custom framed them in black wood frames to keep with the urban feel. They can be purchased separately but would make a nice display with two or three grouped together.

 Urban Landscape No. 1

6x6 acrylic on board

$175. framed

Urban Landscape No. 2

6x6 acrylic on canvas/board

$175. framed

I also included a selection of  'birds on wires' that I've custom framed in distressed silver frames. I think the soft, silver distressed tones of the frames work well with the blues and grays in the painting.  

Art Interiors 21st Annual Festival of Smalls.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's time for Art Interiors Festival of Smalls. In it's 21st year, the festival opens Saturday November 8 and runs to December 24th. Get full details here.

I was so inspired by the Alex Colville exhibit at the AGO this year that I painted small round canvases. They are adorable little round views at 8 inches in diameter. Original acrylic on canvas, I've only painted six of them, exclusively for Art Interiors. I think they will go fast so if you can't get there when the doors open you can purchase online. Just click on the images.

 Birds on a Wire No. 1

$200.

available at Art Interiors

 Birds on a Wire No. 2

$200.

available at Art Interiors 

  Birds on a Wire No. 3

$200.

available at Art Interiors

  Birds on a Wire No. 4

SOLD. Thank you

available at Art Interiors

  Birds on a Wire No. 5

$200.

available at Art Interiors

 Birds on a Wire No. 6

$200.

available at Art Interiors

Fresh New Work at XC Art Restoration, Toronto.

After Hours  40x30 acrylic on canvas

$2000.

King West Crawl 40x30 acrylic on canvas

$2000.

On Approach 15x30 acrylic on canvas

$800.

Sunset Landing 15x30 acrylic on canvas

$800.

Eastbound 30x40 acrylic on canvas

$2000

Five new cityscapes were delivered to XC Art Restoration this morning. Along with my 'King West' themed paintings, I'm so excited to reveal what I've been working on for the past few weeks. Inspired by recent trips 'On Approach' Sunset Landing' and 'Eastbound'.

I get so inspired when traveling and on vacation. During our last few flights I've been enjoying the window seat. Even though it's a little cramped, I love to gaze out the window and get a bird's eye view. Flying at sunset and watching the sky get dark is so beautiful. I've taken many photos and have put my inspirations on to canvas.

XC Art Interiors is planning a move but just four doors south of their present location on Mt Pleasant Road in Toronto. You can always see them online here.

New Cityscapes Available at Art Interiors

Started this Saturday morning with a trip to Art Interiors. Three new cityscapes are now in the gallery. 

 Downtown Core

40x30 Acrylic on Canvas

SOLD

 Yellow Cabs

40x30 Acrylic on Canvas

SOLD

City Transit

36x12 Acrylic on Canvas

$750.
Available at Art Interiors

Art Interiors Blog.

'It Was Her Regular Stop" 30x40 acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Photo Credit: Art Interiors

As seen on Art Interiors blog. 

A Four Season'r Residence

I had a wonderful surprise a few weeks ago while reading Art Interiors blog. A tour of a fabulous Four Season's residence with the work of 13 Art Interiors artists throughout, mine included. When I drop new paintings at a gallery, that's usually the last I see of them, so it's always nice when I spot a photo of my work in it's new setting. It's a nice way to complete the cycle. Read the entire blog post here.

New Urban Landscapes at Canvas Gallery.

I've received quite a few inquiries about new citysapes lately. I'm working diligently on this series and I'm thankful that they are selling just about as fast as I can finish them. Major gratitude here. I did mange to drop three off to Canvas Gallery this past weekend and it's so nice to be featured on the Canvas Gallery blog today. 

 Grab a Taxi

$800.

15x30 acrylic on canvas

available at Canvas Gallery

 One Way

$750.

36x12 acrylic on canvas

available at Canvas Gallery

King West Early Eve

$2500.

36x48 acrylic on canvas

available at Canvas Gallery

A Little Studio Update.

The Gathering  36x48  acrylic on canvas

Finished 'The Gathering' yesterday. The newest painting in the pigeon series. It's off to XC Art Restoration along with 4 others this weekend.

I've started using 'gallery wrap canvas' for my urban landscapes. The wide sides (1.25" or approx 4cms) take me a lot longer to paint and finish. 

I have 18 large canvases in different stages of completeness on the go at the moment. I'm aiming to get 12 of them completed and off to 2 separate galleries by the end of the month. Really enjoying the long work days.

This (hopefully brief) spell of cooler, cloudy weather is helping me stay focused on painting and all things that need to be done in the studio. While anticipating an up coming beach day.

Hotel Costes is my music of choice while I paint right now.

Serendipity - Following an interior designer on Instagram because you like her style and then getting a comment from her on one of your photos saying she just used your work in a project she's working on.

Original Landscapes Available in Studio.

I've updated my 'Available in Studio' page with four paintings. Scroll down a bit to see them on the page as I've added them to the landscapes. As always, all my original art is available for purchase. Just drop me an email and I'd be happy to answer all your questions. 

 Spring Marsh  36x36

$2100.

 Field and Sky 2  36x48

$2500.

 North Country  36x48

$2500.

Summer Landscape  24x30

$1250.

My Cityline Dream Comes True.

I was down at City TV studios yesterday to see a taping of Cityline. It's kind of the icing on the cake that they taped this home day show (which airs my segement) on the 30th anniversary of Cityline. I've watched this show from the beginning and it's become a part of my life. If you'd like to catch up on my Cityline adventure you can read this post. The show has aired. You can see the episodes here.

This process began a year ago when I connected with Sharon Grech through Twitter. She was doing a color talk for Benjamin Moore that I wanted to attend. I mentioned that I'd be at her presentation and would like to introduce myself afterwards. And so I did. We had a nice chat and I boldly told her my idea for a Cityline segment.

My paintings had been used as props on Cityline before, and I even got a very special mention (see this post).  I was especially excited to see them included in two house tours with Sharon, as well as in the Benjamin Moore Colour Trends brochure, twice. As far as coincidences go this was a BIG coincidence.

Sharon liked my idea and thought it would work nicely. An artist that lives and works in the same space and would like to have clients in to view/purchase the art, but the space is in a constant chaotic mess. The art not displayed (in fact not on even hung on the walls). Walls painted with a harsh cold white paint that made the whole area too stark and cold.

She helped me choose paint colors for the wall and got me excited about hanging my art. It was alot of work but well worth the effort. Now I won't be embarrassed any more when clients come in to consult for commissioned work or to purchase my art.

So here we are almost a full year later and (my) design segment is finished. This has been a dream (goal) of mine for years. As a loyal viewer of  Cityline  I just knew that one day my art (and in this case myself) would be included. I am so thankful and grateful that this dream is now complete. Special thanks to Sharon, Fiona, Diane, and all the behind the scenes crew involved. I'm popping the champagne and celebrating for a bit and then I'll be back to work at my easel.

Living and Working in a Live Work Space.

We moved into our loft/condo in June of 2010. It was a fairly quick process in that we started looking in April and ended up closing the deal and moving in June. Because I have my studio space in my home, it was important that I 'set up house' and my studio rather quickly. As it happened it was about 2 weeks of organizing, packing, moving, unpacking and not painting.

I wanted to get back to work as quickly as possible so I organized the space as best I could in a hurry. Unpacked boxes and put things in their new place. I even made use of the few screws that were left in the wall to hang artwork thinking I could get to it in time. 

So here we are three years later and not too much is different from when we moved in. I'm still not really happy with the 'flow' of the layout. Thanks to the builders vision there was certainly not much choice as to how I arranged the living area, working area, pet area etc. We Have beautifully large windows (which I love) but very limited wall space for hanging artwork. This is a bit of a problem as on occasion I have clients visiting to purchase my paintings. I want my space to be a reflection of the beautiful spaces in my fave decorating magazines where my artwork has appeared.

Living and working in the same space can be crazy and chaotic but it provides a lot of freedom as well. Much time is spent preparing to paint, searching for supplies and cleaning up afterwards. After all my work table also doubles as our dining table. 

So I've set a goal for myself to tackle this design dilemma once and for all. I know there is much I could do with my live/work space to make it more conducive to creativity and visually stunning. I've made myself a binder to keep all my tear sheets of design inspiration, ideas, and paint chips. I'll be updating some shelving in the studio and I'm finally getting work together and framing some pieces for an art wall that I've been dreaming of for years now.

This will be a big job but one that I'm finally ready to take on. Although I have no problem making decisions about paint colors in my art, and I think I've done a fairly good job of making use of the space we have, I think it's time I called on a professional for help. Stay tuned.