The Thomson Brothers

acrylic on muslin laid on cradled birch panel

40 x 30"

Commission

A Self-Portrait

The Four of Us

Graphite and Conservator's Wax on Claybord

20 x 16"

Reliquary: Five Members of the International Midnight Painters' Society

Reliquary: 
Five Members of the International Midnight Painters' Society
Mixed Media: egg tempera on five panels, 11" high each;
donated objects;
gilded frame made of wood, lace, gesso and clear acrylic
17.6 x 28.5 x 3.6"

More than a year ago, my friend and fellow portrait artist, Teri Anne Scoble, and I decided to form a society for artists who paint late into the night. Through Twitter, we soon gathered together a band of fellow all-hours painters, called ourselves the International Midnight Painters' Society (IMPS), and began the delightful and affirming habit of discussing our work, our technical issues, and anything at all that made us laugh. Suddenly I wasn't alone in my studio. I was surrounded by other artists, many of whom live in places I've never visited.

But the relationship is not merely digital.  Many of us have met in person, and when I was in the UK last fall, I was inspired to create a portrait of five of them. This is the result. It is a reliquary, based on the kind of gilded box that, half a millennium ago, would have held the finger bone of a saint or a piece of a sacred shroud. This reliquary, however, contains the relics of the process of art making.

From left to right, the subjects are Kate Brinkworth, whose relics are pencil shavings, drawing tacks, her grandmother's paint brush, and a fragment of paper from a blending stump; Helen O'Sullivan Tyrrell, whose relic is a piece of her painting apron; Teri Anne Scoble, whose relics are a glitter-smeared brush, a bit of swan's down, a ballet slipper charm, and a tube of watercolour; Gabby Roberts-Dalton, whose relic is a jam jar full of paint medium; and Isobel Peachey, whose relics are a scrap of canvas with colour test marks and a plait of cotton canvas thread.

These are all artists who have made a huge difference in how I see my own work and, perhaps more importantly, where I see myself in the world of artists. I will be forever grateful for their presence in my life.

Reliquary (detail of individual panels)

Kingston Prize: The Canadian Portrait Award

Stefan, 23

egg tempera on Claybord, 20 x 16"

I am very pleased that my portrait, Stefan, 23, has been selected for inclusion in this year's Kingston Prize exhibition.  

The show will open on October 9 at the Firehall Theatre in Gananoque, where it will run until October 25.  From there it will travel to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick (November 14, 2015 to February 14, 2016) and Galerie d'Art Desjardins in Drummondville, Québec (from March, 2016),

UPDATE (November 15, 2015): Happy news: Stefan, 23 has received an Honourable Mention in The Kingston Prize.

500 Portraits

I am happy to report that my portrait, Pamela Newel Sellers, has been included in the revised edition of 500 Portraits: 25 Years of the BP Portrait Award.  

From the National Portrait Gallery website: 

The BP Portrait Award is the world’s leading showcase for painters working in portraiture. This revised and updated edition of 500 Portraits brings together more than 500 portraits from twenty-five years of the Award. Featuring works by the world’s leading figurative artists, this book celebrates our enduring fascination with the human face.

You can purchase the book by clicking here.

"Charlotte and Emily" on Making a Mark

I was delighted to spend some time speaking with Katherine Tyrrell last week at the National Portrait Gallery in London.  Katherine writes about art on her blog for artists and art lovers, Making a Mark.  She was kind enough to include a picture of me in her recent post, "BP Portrait 2015 - Artists with their paintings."  Here is the link.

BP Portrait Award 2015

I am delighted that my diptych, Charlotte and Emily, has been selected for this year's BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London, UK.

Find out more about the exhibition here.

Charlotte and Emily

Egg Tempera on Claybord

2 Panels, 20 x 16" each

 Charlotte (detail)

Emily (detail)