Biography
Chilliwack Lake
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I have worked as a full-time artist, illustrator, and designer, for over 30 years. My art has always been inspired by the nature that surrounds me.
My art focus is the exploration of natural history and biophilia – an innate tendency to seek connections with nature. I will often go out to explore the many outlying regional parks for their lakes, ponds, streams, forests, meadows, and mountains, all within a 2-hour drive from my studio in Maple Ridge. There are many beautiful locations close to where I live waiting to be discovered that I can turn into paintings.
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My art and Expression
My artwork has always focused on detail. Enrolling in a full-time Fine Art program right out of high school, where I became known as the student who produced detailed artwork, did not make me popular with my art instructors who gravitated strongly toward the creation of abstract art. I could see their point, to get students to loosen up, to get them to try new forms of artistic expressions, and to explore design and colour. That is all good and I did comply with this while I was in their art school. You can learn a lot from abandoning your comfort zone creation process by embracing new forms of artistic expression. This is no different from traveling the world to learn how other cultures live, but I still wanted to render the beauty of nature in a way that was different from what I was seeing how other artists expressed. I have always felt the need to create art and always looked toward the natural beauty that surrounds me for inspiration. I have always tried to create art that reminds me of how nature influences me at an early age.
Recently, I joined the Garibaldi Art Club as a way to expand my artwork focus and to get into an art community.
Recently, I joined the Garibaldi Art Club as a way to expand my artwork focus and to get into an art community.
History OF MY WORK
I have worked full-time on many publishing projects over the years for a wide range of clientele, including the creation of full colour cover art, cartography, woodcut/linocut art, full colour interior art along with Pen & Ink illustrations, as well as design work for magazine, book, and brochure publishers. It is how I worked and improved my art skills over the years. Working in art makes you gain valuable experience rather than working whenever you feel you have the time to do so.
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• Completed 5-years of full-time art studies specializing in illustration, painting, and printmaking.
• Worked for 4-years in archaeology in British Columbia as an excavator, surveyor, field artist, and Illustrator. • Employed for 6-years, full-time, as an illustrator/graphic artist/art director with a Vancouver based publisher. • Worked full-time as an artist, illustrator, and designer for over 30 years for many book and print-game publishers. • Have been focusing almost exclusively on creating nature paintings for art gallery presentation since mid-2018. • Taught acrylic painting to groups of 25-60 people with over 170 sessions taught from March 2018 to present. • Teach painting classes at Langley Arts Council from February 2021 onward. |
Art show History
I have had several art shows in my life starting with student art shows while attending art school. My emphasis has always been on working in the industry and on commissions than showing my art but over the last 12-months have I shifted my focus toward showing my artwork in art galleries. Previously, when I have been involved in an art show it was because my work came to the notice of a gallery owner and I was asked to partake in an upcoming show. In May 2019 I submitted my artwork to the MAC gallery in Mission and was accepted to have a solo art show.
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Publication
• August 2021, LandEscape Art Review interview and art presentation, London, England Solo Art Shows • Apr 10 - May 16, 2021, A Study of Nature, Pitt Meadows Art Gallery, Pitt Meadows, BC • Feb 11-29, 2020, An Eye On Nature, MAC Art Gallery, Mission, BC Group Art Shows • Oct 24 - Dec 12, 2020, Garibaldi Art Club Exhibition, ACT Art Gallery, Maple Ridge, BC (I entered a single painting into this art show and won the "People's Choice Award") • Sep 5-Oct 19, 2020, 50 Year Anniversary Show, Deer Lake Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC • Jul 17-Aug 16, 2020, Fort Art Gallery, Langley, BC • Jun 2004, Maple Ridge Gallery/Gift Shop, Maple Ridge, BC • Nov-Dec 2003, Dreamscapes Gallery/Gift Shop, Maple Ridge, BC • Jun 1996, Maris Art Gallery, White Rock, BC |
PAINT COLOURS I USE
When I paint using acrylic paints, I almost exclusively only use 5 paint colours and these are: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Phthalo Blue, Titanium White, and Carbon Black. I will always mix the colours I use rather than rely on premixed paint tubes. This is how I was taught in art school and this became habit. I find mixing the colours I need on the fly faster and less disruptive to my thought process than having to stop to find a specific tube of paint hiding somewhere in my art box. Mixing my colours enables me to stay focused as I work.
RECENT CLIENT WORK
My current clients commissioned illustration projects (2020-21):
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• Client commission to create 150 full-colour icons for their mapping software: Jan 7th: Project expanded to include more pieces.
• Completed 26 illustrations for a medieval themed book, ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes: Completed Jan 20th. • Started part-time position as a painting instructor (watercolours/acrylics) at a local institute (Feb 24th - on going into Nov 2021). • Client commissioned 12 illustrations for a medieval themed book, ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes Completed May 10th. • Client commissioned to create a full page map for a book (Aug 1st). • Client notified me they are sending me an art assignment to create 75 icons for their new software (Sept 9th). • Client commissioned to create 3D scratch models building for a tabletop game (Sept 15th). |
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