Seduction vs. Comfort

30x40inches

Oil and paint scrapings on canvas

March 2011

My latest body of work merges my interest in line and paint scrapings onto a single canvas. I began to look at artists such as Egon Schiele and contemporary artist Hope Gangloff as inspiration for using line and drawing aesthetics in figure painting. I also began to look at Renaissance paintings for their themes, use of symbols and expertise. This specific painting references seduction and how this theme was presented in a Renaissance painting using symbols such as wine, textiles and musical instruments, all of which are found in this painting.  

Profiles

Paint Scrapings, Acrylic Paint and Glossy Spray on Masonite and Canvas Board

February 2011

Working in a collective can be a very useful tool during experimentation. I gather dried paint scrapings from others' palettes and make works that cannot exist without other artists' painting practice.  The paint scrapings have the physicality of skin and allow me to dramatize the undertones of skin pigments. 

Communication, 2011

Acrylic on canvas

January 2011

This painting symbolizes the relationships of today. First with the invention of the telephone, to texting, MSN Messenger and Facebook, face-to-face communication no longer exists as it once was. We seem to believe that relationships over a screen are viable and true. Yet what is missing is the emotion and expression of speaking to someone in person. This painting dramatizes the lack of face-to-face communication as a call for help. 

"How To Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass" by Dr. Christopher DiCarlo

This past Christmas holiday I was commissioned to illustrate the latest work of non-fiction by Dr. Christopher W. DiCarlo, entitled "How to Become a Really Big Pain in the Ass: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Asking the Right Questions".  DiCarlo is a Philosopher of Science and Ethics who currently resides in Guelph, Ontario. The book focuses on human reason, brings together aspects of philosophy, biology, the neurosciences, chemistry, physics and the social sciences, and attempts to explain why Homo sapiens value the actions and behaviours that they do. It is being published by Promotheus Books, New York, going on a world tour throughout Canada, the USA and Europe this year and begins sales July 1, 2011. The following are pen and ink illustrations that I have created for use in this novel:

The Ten Commandments

Arachnophobia

Aristotle

Bill Clinton

Carl Sagan

Charles Darwin

Chimpanzee Coitus

Cottingly Fairies

Drop the Gloves

Dualism

Epigenetics

Ethnicity

Family

George W. Bush

God's Plan

Gods and Prophets

Human Origins

Interpretation

Jean Chretien

Lady Gaga

Oracle of Delphi

Plato

Pyrrho of Elis

Sherlock Holmes

Socrates

Tornado

William Kingdon Clifford

Religion #1

Religion #2

Reality Measuring Stick

Human vs. Animal Outlooks

Eruption

6 x 7 feet 

ink, acrylic paint and glaze on canvas

Hellenistic Transparency

Ink and acrylic paint on canvas

December 2010

A new direction taken in Painting III, an exploration of Hellenistic sculpture, the human body in space and the push and pull of the body in space, but also through the use of painting techniques.  As the artist i can control which bodily parts come forward or are pushed back into the distance through the use of highlighting and shading. 

Sketch for Maureen

Graphite on paper
3 x 4 inches
- - - A present for a friend in memorial of her uncle.