Right from the start, using a theme of opposites attract can bring strong contrasts together in a painting. From there, I work until I can achieve an overall unity between the two. I hope the result is attractive, but more importantly, it should be expressive enough to have something to say to the viewer.
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Long Way From Home #1, #2 and #3 are part of a series which explore how man-made changes alter a ‘natural' environment.
Both #1 and #2 represent East Africa, inspired by a Royal Geographical Society watercolour map of an 1823 expedition to find the source of the Nile.
The rivers, the valleys and ancient tribal settlements of the area, are sliced in two by a new road built by the economic, military and political needs that originally funded the expedition.
In #3, the context shifted to the Middle East. I applied rough, low-grade sand to the surface of the painting to form the desert. This was an interesting technical contrast in itself, and the sand turned out to be surprisingly sensitive to delicately applied acrylic paint.
Perceptually, I used the opposition of strong value contrasts and a limited palette of analogous colours as the dominant elements. Conceptually, the painting explores how a new subdivision road has pushed its way through a hillside of the old village of Actinolite, Ontario. Two small figures share a private conversation on the open road, bringing a sense of private intimacy in a public place.
The theme and concept of A Hard Day’s Night led to looking at urban developments on lands in the western suburbs of Toronto, which were family farms in the 1940s and 50s. The resulting series of paintings particularly focused on the area around Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke.
Painting #4 depicts the industrial landscape of Hamilton Harbour. I initially composed an abstract ink drawing of positive and negative area divisions. Later, I filled these delineated spaces with a contrast of free-flowing clouds, steam and smoke, painted in complementary colours.
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