About the Artist
I was raised in some poverty by a single mom in the small town of Lethbridge, Alberta. It was a prairie town near the Old Man River which you reached by walking through the coulees, past the wolf willows and cottonwood trees. My brothers and I would hike and fish by the river and test our mortality by climbing about on the High Level Bridge. We met some of the squatters who lived in shacks amongst the trees and occasionally some of the people from the nearby Blood Reserve. There was no money for organized sports or entertainment so we were free to make our own explorations and wander about with a small pack of dogs. I guess our imaginations were equally free to develop in unstructured ways.
Some of my earliest memories are pencil drawing on brown wrapping paper or painting with a cheap water colour set. My unofficial major in public school was doodling on every surface that would hold still. After high school I explored the 60’s culture while doing a series of menial jobs so I could eventually go to art school in Calgary followed by a Bed at U of C. I spent the next 32 years teaching mainly art in public school. I had been keenly aware while a student myself of the strata of student groups and I could see this hadn’t changed in the ensuing years as a teacher. We all remember the different cliques that existed. India isn’t the only culture with a rigid caste system. I didn’t resent this as much as I found it fascinating. After retirement my wife and I moved to Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. I became a resident artist at TOSH, the local art centre.
As an artist, my main subjects have been people of perceived lower status. Other cultures in developing countries with their colourful clothes and fascinating customs are a recurring focus. As a real mama’s boy, I particularly like painting women who are always the most oppressed and the most nurturing of their children and each other. At one point in life I thought of becoming a sociologist because I loved observing patterns of behaviour in different cultures, belief systems and economic groups.
I’ve thought a lot about these patterns of behaviours and that led me to consider patterns of material make up. The idea that we are made up of atoms and sub-atomic particles in constant motion. Using bright colours in patterns is my way of trying to express the energy of existence. Even a rock is made up of minuscule, vibrating matter with spaces between each tiny mote. I paint the visible world but while trying to express the patterns of belief, behaviour and the very structure of reality. I’ve only just begun.
