Salvation is one of the latest paintings in my Western Series, which you can see here. Salvation is based on a Sifton era (1896-1905) Canadian immigration poster. The image depicts an angelic harvest figure which appears as though in a dream, showing the plenty and prosperity that could be had for the immigrant who braved the ocean voyage, the cold, isolation, and the breaking of the land, to uproot families and make a one way journey to Canada. Many of these immigrants would have spent generations never straying farther than 50 miles from home. I had to wonder what the conditions were like where they were coming from in order to make that sort of leap of faith.

Finding A Dance Partner is one of the newest paintings in my Western Series, which you can see here. This painting references an immigration poster advertising the charms of Canada to potential immigrants during the early years of the 20th century. Particularly, in this case, potential single female immigrants. During this time in Britain their was a great deal of discussion about the problem of the extra female population, for whom world conflicts had reduced the number of eligible mates. At the same time there was an imbalance (in the other direction) in the ratio of male to female immigrants to Canada. The idea of immigrating for better marital prospects, which the image seems to suggest is the idea, seems like a huge step. She put her eggs all in one basket and took the White Star Line across the ocean, but look at all the eggs she has to choose from now! This is a fascinating idea to think about coming from the first half of the 21st century, where love is still a huge part of life, but hardly the defining element of a woman’s life. Far from life and death, it is in some circles a  game, even being played in front of television audiences.

Cowboy Coffee is a painting from my Western series. You can see more here.

Painted on a bandana background, it refers to Cowboy culture prior to the invention of barb wire fencing, which led to the fencing off of range land and permanently changed ranching culture in North America.

Previously ranching operations ranged freely across much on north america, with herds intermingling. The job of Cowboy was crucial and harsh. Rounding up and herding, sorting and branding cattle on the open range; cowboys lived with the cattle for the season, eating, sleeping and working on the range in makeshift and improvised settings.

The text of this painting, Free Range Coffee, playfully alludes to both this reality, and to the current desirability of free range ranching practices as part of the ethical treatment of livestock, though it can’t hope to approach the scope of that earlier free range.

While branding is seen as a questionable practice for some, it was also an indispensable practice for free range ranching of that era, without which it would have been difficult to maintain an open borders practice while tracking livestock ownership. The painting includes three brands (in the flames in front of the coffee pot), belonging to three of the big four founders of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.

Wallflowers is part of my Landscape series. Completed in 2015, it serves a very special role:

It is an idyllic image of a perfect day at Fish Creek Provincial Park in Calgary Alberta Canada. What’s more, it is an encyclopedic painting depicting a range of attractive wildflowers which have been declared invasive species, because their hardiness and vigorous growth habits endanger bio diversity in natural areas by pushing out native plant species. This is a problem because animals and insects who rely on those native plant species as food sources may be adversely affected by their displacement.

I created this piece in cooperation with the Friends of Fish Creek Park, as an aesthetic intervention and educational tool. The idea is to educate viewers about invasive species, recognition and control strategies. Educated viewers can get a print of the painting as a resource to keep. The idea is to enjoy the beauty of these invasive species of wildflowers by displaying them on our walls, rather than in our gardens, where they could inadvertently be spread to our parks and natural areas through storm or surface water run off, animal transfer or human disposal. Hence the title of the painting: Wallflowers.

If you would like a print of this work, I would recommend contacting the Friends of Fish Creek Park to find out about the next educational event where the painting will be presented. Either that or watch my newsfeed for announcements of upcoming viewing for this painting.

Pancake Breakfast, from my western series, is a fairly straight forward piece. Growing up in Calgary Alberta, one of my favourite traditions of our annual (July) city wide Stampede celebrations are the free pancake breakfasts. For ten days, rich or poor, young or old, if you can line up on a sunny summer morning you can have a great breakfast, and entertainment, and possibly swag, all free of charge.  Breakfasts happen all across the city every day during Stampede. Put on by community groups, churches, corporations, politicians, dentists, you name it, they are a great expression of community inclusion and caring. Even if you can’t afford to go to the Stampede grounds more than once, or at all, there is still a plate of pancakes and some country music waiting somewhere for you in this city.

The Dime Novel Paintings are part of my Western Series, which you can see here.

They are still life paintings referencing the covers of early 20th century Western themed weekly fiction publications.

The West lives as much in the imagination, in hyperbolic stories of legendary skill and courage, as it does in historical fact. We are much nearer to the source of the legends than earlier stories of medieval knights or Greek heroes. We even have photography, which can show us the real faces of some of our legendary figures, should they actually have any base in reality. Yet this vision of the west does not always line up well with historical accounts. Jesse James, for instance, was not a hero or a Robin Hood figure. Rather today many of his actions might be war crimes.

I find theses covers interesting to observe in the way painting something forces you to observe and think about it. I appreciate them not only for their aesthetic qualities, but for their perspective on a west that was already skewed toward legend and myth despite being nearer to the events pictured than we are now.

I also find them interesting from a socio-historical perspective. Like watching movies about the future that were made a generation before the current time, it often tells us more about the writer’s concerns and worldview as a member of his or her time than it does of the time being written about.