Monday, October 7, 2024
Platform 9 ¾, the Portal to Hogwarts
Friday, August 30, 2024
Anne with an E, an homage to Lucy Maud Montgomery on her 150th Birthday
14 x 11 inches, acrylic on gessoed mounted aluminium panelpainting #297, 2024 - black floater frame
This painting is an homage to Lucy Maud Montgomery on her sesquicentennial. This is my fourth painting inspired by the Anne of Green Gables novel. Other paintings can be view on this link or by clicking Lucy Maud Montgomery found in the right column under Labels.
I've visited the house several times, but not in recent years. Two years ago, just before Prince Edward Island was hit by hurricane Fiona, my wife and I spent three days in Cavendish to cycle on the bike paths of the National Park. We then visited the house that now boasted a beautiful interpretive center (2019). I had brought a bottle of Raspberry Cordial with me, and did a few photos on site. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took were major enough to paint from. Not long after, I found this book published by Paper Mill Press at Homesense, which seemed perfect to anchor a composition.
Anne of Green Gables, the Musical was performed annually from its opening in 1965 until 2019. The musical had to be cancelled for the first time in 54 years during the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2014, it was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest running annual musical theatre production in the world.
Anne returned to the Charlottetown Festival stage for the 2022 season. However, organizers announced that the show would be produced only in alternating years from then on and would return in 2024, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Montgomery's birth. My wife and I took in the second presentation of the summer season on June 20. We had seen the theatrical production twice, the last time was when our son was quite young. We absolutely loved it. We laughed and even shed a few tears. Kelsey Verzotti as the mellow-dramatic protagonist was a revelation to us. The cast, set decoration and orchestra were equally amazing.
Earlier that day, we visited the Green Gables House again, specifically to do a photo study session for this painting. It was quite possibly the warmest day of the whole summer, with the mercury pushing 34°C and the humidex climbing up pass 40°C. We left Moncton under a blue sky that morning. A heavy downpour came out of nowhere just before arriving to Cavendish. Afterwards, the sky remained partially overcast and grey, so the lighting was not great. When I opened the soda pop bottle of Raspberry Cordial, with the beverage being cool and the weather being so muggy, the inside of the bottle instantly fogged up. Nonetheless, I did my best to set up a composition under these conditions.
After I got home, I proceeded to do dozens of photos for the sky, bottle, book and apple tree under sunnier conditions. I ended up working from nine photos, using bits and bites of each in order to achieve the imagery for this painting. The book is resting on a bench made from a stone slab that is located across the front lawn of Green Gables House.
In late June, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled commemorative coins of $1 (loonie) and a silver $20 to celebrate the 150th birthday of L.M. Montgomery. This would also mark the first time an author has appeared on a Canadian coin.
The artist responsible for the iconic artwork on the Raspberry Cordial bottle is Ben Stahl. The Chicago born artist / illustrator moved to Prince Edward Island in 1984. He did a series of Anne paintings during the late eighties and early nineties that would make him famous. These were also reproduced on book covers, Canadian postage stamps (2008), posters, decorative plates and coffee mugs. Sadly, Mr. Stahl passed away on June 15, 2024 at the age of 91. Unknowingly doing the photo study in Cavendish five days after his death, this painting is also an homage to him, since it's the imagery on the bottle that inspired the whole painting. Anne's face on my painting is only the size of a dime. It was intricate to paint. My rendition, although not exactly identical, might make her appear more youthful.
This painting will be on view at the Fog Forest Gallery in a group exhibition entitled, 40 years in the Forest, celebrating the gallery's 40th anniversary - September 6 until October 11. Check gallery website for hours of operation.
14 Bridge Street, Sackville,New Brunswick, Canada, E4L 3N5Phone (506) 536-9000e-mail: janet@fogforstgallery.ca
-SOLD
Friday, July 12, 2024
The Crown
The year 2022 marked a milestone and a memoriam for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She ascended the throne on February 6, 1952 at the age of 25 following the death of her father King George VI. On February 6, 2022, she would celebrate her platinum jubilee, marking 70 years as the longest reigning monarch of England and Head of the Commonwealth. She died later that same year on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96.
As one of the most famous person in the world, Queen Elizabeth II was known for her unwavering sense of duty, responsibility, steadfastness and grace. She always put the needs of her country and her people first. Although she faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism, most often directed towards members of her family and during certain tragic events; the support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high throughout her lifetime, as did her popularity.
During her reign, she visited and toured my province of New Brunswick a total of five times. Click HERE for a highlight of her visits. I got to see here briefly in a passing car while visiting Moncton on September 24, 1984.
In 2013, Morgan wrote the play, The Audience with Mirren reprising the role of Queen Elizabeth II. The play revolves around weekly meetings between the Queen and her prime ministers. I had a chance to attend a production of that play as it was broadcast live to cinema on June 13, 2013. The broadcast broke the record for most people viewing a live production with nearly 80,000 people watching in the UK and 30,000 people in North America. I remember waiting two hours in the movie theatre on Trinity Drive before the broadcast started as there were technical issues in London that cause a major delay. Still, Helen Mirren gave a tour de force performance. The conversations with the prime ministers are not held in chronological order so with a magical quick changes of costume and wigs, she could be switching from Winston Churchill to John Cameron within a few minutes.
''For more than seventy years, I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world's great leaders. And I have perhaps come to understand a little about what made them special.
It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics. But what they do for the people of tomorrow - that is statesmanship.
I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship''.
-Her Majesty, the Queen. Address to the COP26, urging world leaders to find solution to the climate challenges facing our planet. Nov. 1, 2021.
This painting is currently on view at the Fog Forest Gallery in a group exhibition entitled, "Summer Views" - July 11 to August 30, 2024. (will be removed from exhibition if sold). Check website for gallery hours.
14 Bridge Street, Sackville,New Brunswick, Canada, E4L 3N5Phone (506) 536-9000e-mail: janet@fogforstgallery.ca-SOLD
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Confiture de Fraises
Sunday, June 2, 2024
2024 OPEN INTERNATIONAL ONLINE JURIED EXHIBITION
Title- Pinned up 7-Up14 x 14", acrylic on gessoed aluminium panelpainting #291, 2021
-SOLD
I'm a bit late in posting this, but better late than never. Earlier this year, I had submitted three images of my paintings for the 2024 OPEN INTERNATIONAL ONLINE JURIED EXHIBITION hosted by the Society of Canadian Artists based in Toronto. From 767 submissions from across Canada and around the globe, a jury of five selected 122 works for the show based on the criteria of technical excellence, artistic expression and creative innovation. I'm among a dozen artists to have three pieces in this collective. Grateful to add this show to my résumé. The on-line exhibition runs from April 1st to June 15th, 2024. You can view the exhibition at this LINK.
Friday, February 23, 2024
Lunar Codex - Artwork archived on the Moon!