Biography
Chilliwack Lake (2021)
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I have been working full-time as an 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.
WORK HISTORY
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, printmaking, and design.
• 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 as a freelance artist, illustrator, and designer for over 30 years on book and print-game products. • Continue to teach acrylic painting to groups of 25-60 people; taught over 185 sessions since March 2018. • Focused exclusively on creating natural history paintings for art gallery presentation since mid-2018. • Continue to teach acrylic and watercolour painting with the Langley Arts Council (LAC) since February 2021. |
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 since February 2020 I shifted my focus toward showing 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 Interview
• August 2021, LandEscape Art Review interview and art presentation, London, England |
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Solo Art Shows
• Feb 2-Feb 27, 2022, Looking at Local Nature, The Gallery in Queen's Park, New Westminster, BC. • 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 |
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Group Art Shows
• Nov 7-Dec 18, 2021, Garibaldi Art Club Exhibition: Fall Show, ACT Art Gallery, Maple Ridge, BC • Oct 1-Oct 30, 2021, Garibaldi Art Club Exhibition, Maple Ridge Library, Maple Ridge, BC • Oct 24-Dec 12, 2020, Garibaldi Art Club Exhibition: Fall Show, ACT Art Gallery, Maple Ridge, BC (Won "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 |
PAINTING CLASSES
Painting Demonstration - 2021
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I teach Introduction to Watercolours and Acrylics painting classes through the LAC (Langley Arts Council) in Langley, BC. Classes are 3-hours long from 10 AM to 1 PM. This is the third set of painting classes I have run through the LAC starting in February 2022. Everyone is welcome to come out and paint!
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IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS
Painting Butterflies on Stones - 2022
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I teach several in-person workshops over the year which includes watercolours for XMas card designs and painting butterflies onto river stones. These are usually 5-hour workshops taught through the LAC (Langley Arts Council) and soon to be taught also through the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery. I will post ads for these workshops as they come up. I teach ages 15 or older. I provide much of the supplies although you are free to bring your own painting supplies.
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THE COLOURS OF PAINT 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.
Vector Art (Adobe Illustrator)
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I have been using Adobe Illustrator since the late 1980s starting with version 2. Today, I am using version 26. Hardly a day goes by where I am not working in either Illustrator or Photoshop or both. I created this artwork using Illustrator. I have created thousands of art pieces for publication or for electronic format presentations (websites) over the last 35 years.
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RECENT CLIENT WORK
My current clients commissioned illustration projects (2020-21):
• Commissioned to create 14 half-page illustrations for a book publisher: Feb 9th, 2022
• Commissioned to create 60 full-colour icons by a mapping software developer: Feb 7th, 2022
• Client commission to create 120 full-colour icons for their mapping software: Dec 7th - Completed Dec 30th, 2021
• Client commissioned to create a full page map for a book (Aug 1st)
• Client commissioned 12 illustrations for a medieval themed book, ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes Completed May 10th, 2021
• Started part-time position as a painting instructor (watercolours/acrylics) at a local institute (Feb 24th 2021 - on going 2022)
• Completed 26 Pen & Ink illustrations for a medieval themed book: 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes: Completed Jan 20th, 2021
• Commissioned to create 60 full-colour icons by a mapping software developer: Feb 7th, 2022
• Client commission to create 120 full-colour icons for their mapping software: Dec 7th - Completed Dec 30th, 2021
• Client commissioned to create a full page map for a book (Aug 1st)
• Client commissioned 12 illustrations for a medieval themed book, ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes Completed May 10th, 2021
• Started part-time position as a painting instructor (watercolours/acrylics) at a local institute (Feb 24th 2021 - on going 2022)
• Completed 26 Pen & Ink illustrations for a medieval themed book: 1/4 to 1/2 page illustration sizes: Completed Jan 20th, 2021
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