The Lookout

"What do I ask of a painting? I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince." ~Lucian Freud

"The Lookout, oil on canvas, 48"x36", is another painting of my friend Carly. One day I saw her at work and she had on the most beautiful white, flowing dress...I had to paint it. I asked her if she might wear it on a photoshoot. She obliged and it is in the painting you see now.

We were out at LaSalle Park here in Burlington and we had finished up our shots. I really wanted to do another painting with a lot of sky and minimal ground in it. The first place that came to mind was Sioux Lookout, a little spot next to Lake Ontario here in town. We zipped across town and I got the shots I was after. I wondered about landscape or portrait orientation for the canvas but portrait won out in the end. I love painting atmospheric perspective and I knew I would have more fun with the different variations of blue with a portrait format.

Years ago I painted another painting of Sioux Lookout. I suppose it reoccurs in my work simply because I grew up very close to it and know how it might work into a painting.

I wanted Carly to simply be looking...it can be taken literally or metaphorically, like almost all of my work. I try not to wax melodramatic in my paintings but the idea of painting a white flowing dress with lots of sky was just too appealing to pass up.

Soon I am off to the Alaskan Interior to see what sort of paintings might come from its northern climes. I have absolutely no idea how it will figure into my work, whether it will be an easy transition or a struggle. People are integral for my paintings and I will rely upon capturing self-portraits and new friends who are amenable to being painted. Fortunately no one has declined my offer yet so I hope that trend continues! The trick is to fight against wanting to paint landscape-heavy works in a place so very topographically unique. I have to find that bridge between the two and hopefully find a successful melding of subject matter on the canvas.

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”
~Henry Ward Beecher quotes

Carly, Resting

"Carly, Resting" is oil on canvas, 24"x24" is a painting that treats the negative space with as much compositional consideration as the figure. I do love painting people in repose, yet with something else affecting them. Rarely do I paint people strictly sleeping. There is always an undercurrent, a thrum of some other influence going on in their lives. I do not know what Carly was thinking while I shot the reference of her. It is unimportant. It is known only to her, yet it is important in it's own right.

I enjoyed painting the balance of black and white in this piece. It can be seen simply for what it is, the subject in black with a dark floor and a white desk, or, it can be viewed symbolically as well...in whatever permutation the viewer applies to their individual interpretation.

Carly and I met at the local library here in Burlington. It is a building quite close to me...having walked its halls from childhood to the present day, there is a strong feeling of nostalgia for the place. However, the majority of the building has been given a gigantic face-lift in the past few years. I cannot say I like the changes; the building's countenance from the street resembles that of some foreboding bunker, a building that looks modern for the sake of being modern. I know that there has been some divided opinion about the new design and I can understand why. I will take pictures of it the next time I pass by and post them. Regardless, it is a place with good lighting and the freedom to move about and seek unique compositions. As soon as I spied the desk I thought it might be interesting to paint Carly from my familiar "satellite" viewpoint.

I speak about black a lot and I must mention one quick anecdote here. I remember studying painting with Katharine MacDonald at Sheridan as well as at Dundas Valley School Of Art. When she informed us that we were not permitted to use black in her class I felt my stomach sink. How was I going to make black? Of course colour theory tells us how, but the doing of it, the mixing of it successfully, seemed unattainable and some sort of creative pipe dream. However, with time and practice, we learned different balances of hues to accomplish this initially formidable task. I would never dream of using black out of the tube now...I still have that tube of black from first year college...gathering dust in the back of my paintbox.

“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.”
~Frank Lloyd Wright