Palette Paintings

"Palette", "Palette 2006" and "Palette 2007".

A couple of years ago I decided to paint my palette...one a year, every year, for my entire career. I wanted to do this for a few reasons. I think that one's palette is intensely personal an unequivocally unique. It is like a little creative ecosystem with paint mingling, linseed oil spilling, and dried paint being scraped away to make room for a new layer of colour.

I also genuinely look forward to paying attention to that friend of mine, my palette...a friend who never complains and is always there for me...a friend who sees my failures and successes, never judges and always accepts. I'm a very sentimental person and I also like to think that each palette painting has been from a slightly different epoch in my creative life; each one has seen a different group of paintings result from its usage. My palette has moved with me to different homes with me as well....its peregrinations have echoed mine.

I use a glass palette, the glass usually being kindly provided by my dear friend Gayle who is a framer by trade. I line the sharp edges in grey duct tape to prevent getting cut and place white paper underneath so that I can see the colours properly. A small paint scraper for $4.00 at Canadian Tire allows me to scrape away used paint in between painting sessions. This is a practical system as it reduces the waste created by disposable paper palettes.

I look forward to seeing what my 2008 palette will look like. It's like a small smile at knowing that something special is on the horizon.

"I want a red to be sonorous, to sound like a bell. If it doesn't turn out that way, I add more reds and other colors until I get it." ~Pierre-Auguste Renoir