Peonies for Moira Rose, an homage to Catherine O'Hara

 

12 x 12", acrylic on gessoed aluminum panel

painting #309, 2026, black wood frame with a 1" white linen liner

I had the TV on CBC, watching something or another, when an episode of Schitt’s Creek started playing. It usually takes a lot to make me laugh out loud, but I found myself having to pause and rewind scenes because of the sheer hilarity of Moira Rose, played by the brilliant Catherine O’Hara. This was back in 2017 during the sitcom's third season. Naturally, I proceeded to immediately binge-watch the first three seasons on Netflix.

The first five episodes of season one introduced a seemingly ordinary baseline: Moira Rose as a sarcastic, spoiled, eccentric, and melodramatic matriarch. She was a former daytime soap opera actress and wig-loving fashionista trying to settle into the dismal town of Schitt’s Creek after losing the fortune that had kept her in the lap of luxury. Then, in episode 6 ("Wine and Rose") and episode 9 ("Carl’s Funeral"), her vocabulary began its grandiose transformation as did her enunciation.

It was during that first season that Catherine O’Hara’s makeup artist, Lucky Bromhead, gave her a book: Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words. Because O’Hara was a master of improvisation—stretching back to her days with The Second City and her iconic sketch comedy on SCTV—she developed the character of Moira Rose in real-time. Moira’s language became progressively more cartoony, archaic, and heavily stylized with each passing season as she leaned further into the lexicon. Remarkably, O’Hara kept the book a secret from co-creator Dan Levy and the show’s writers until season five. During seasons one through four, she would quietly rewrite her assigned dialogue on her own to weave in these unusual words before filming.

By season two, she had already elevated the character to a new level. The brilliant writing simply gave her the perfect platform to showcase her generational comedic talent. She is the main reason I stayed hooked through all six seasons, though the entire ensemble cast made the magic happen together.

 Classic Moira Rose scenes by Catherine O'Hara

from the series.

The video below, where Johnny and Moira venture out to buy a used car, might just be my all-time favorite and funniest scene. Here, O’Hara really goes all out, trying to minimize their wealth by fabricating a tragic backstory. Instead, she accidentally taps right back into Vivian Blake, the dramatic character she played on her old daytime soap opera, Sunrise Bay. Of course, Eugene Levy’s panicked replies and masterful facial expressions elevate the entire sketch.

Catherine O’Hara would go on to win six consecutive Canadian Screen Awards for the role—one for each season. The show's historic run culminated in a record-breaking night at the 2020 Emmy Awards, where Schitt’s Creek became the first comedy series ever to sweep all four main acting categories in a single year. Alongside Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy, Catherine took home the Emmy for Lead Actress, cementing the show's legacy as a cultural phenomenon with nine wins in a single night.

This painting is an homage to a great actress whom we sadly lost earlier this year in January. These peonies are a fulfillment of her request to spruce up their environment—as Moira famously asks, "Would it kill someone to plant a few peonies?" (Season 2, Episode 6 - "Moira vs. Town Council").

The Rosebud Motel Room 3 key represents the time Moira is asked to tend the front desk while Stevie is away (Season 3, Episode 8 - "Motel Review"). The canning jar holding the flowers was a Dollarama find from right before I started the painting in July, acting as a symbol of the Rose family’s current financial situation. However, I customized it for this piece, changing the raised glass letters on the front from "Home Design" to "Rose Apothecary" and altering "Since 1984" to feature a raised rose in the center.

Finally, the vase rests on Foyle's Philavery, a treasury of unusual words collected by Christopher Foyle. Published in 2007, this book is now out of print. When the secret got out regarding this specific volume and its connection to the Moira Rose character, Schitt's Creek fans quickly bought up the remaining stock. Before long, third-party sellers were listing this rare book on eBay and Amazon for prices often surpassing $1,000. I ended up downloading an image from the internet and printing my own custom dust cover using my reliable Canon printer.

Standing along the original Rosebud Motel sign from the Schitt's Creek set (2015-2020). Current home at the CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Center, Toronto - photo from a recent visit, May 2026.

I was crushed and shocked when I learned of Catherine O’Hara’s passing, especially since the public was entirely unaware she had been ill. It felt like losing a family member or a lifelong friend. From her brilliant days at The Second City and SCTV to her unforgettable roles in Home Alone, Beetlejuice, Best in Show, and so many other masterful performances, Mrs. O’Hara will forever be remembered as an institution, a Canadian icon, and a deeply funny lady.

This painting will be featured in my upcoming two-person show with Jon Wilkinson at the Fog Forest Gallery, entitled:

"Still Lives, Silent Places"

October 16 – November 6, 2026 

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 23, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
• Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

-SOLD
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
fogforestgallery.ca

Held over Austen

10 x 8", acrylic on cradle aluminium panel

painting #308, 2026

black floater frame with antique bronze front

Roma moulding, made in Italy

A great film has to start with a solid screenplay. Without it, it quickly starts to unravel. Then, the magic begins when the direction, casting, cinematography, editing, score, art direction, costumes, hair, and make-up all work in unison to support the story.

One of those films is the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, based on Jane Austen's novel published in 1813. Over 20 million copies of this classic work of English literature have been sold since it was first published. The film was directed by Joe Wright with the screenplay written by Deborah Moggach. The piano playing in the background during the opening scene immediately starts to paint a portrait of what's to come. The stellar cast, sweeping score, and visuals are arrestingly beautiful, instantly pulling you into the Georgian Era. The Director of Photography uses breathtaking camera movements to build this world—such as following a housekeeper through a room where all the Bennet girls are assembled, framing shots through windows or capturing two men lifting a white tablecloth that forms a parachute-like shape to dress a table. These minute details are seamlessly edited into the film, creating an art form unto itself. I've watched this film several times over the years and it never gets old.

I've been longing to do a painting featuring Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the longest time. However, I had to find the right book. HomeSense always has a curated selection of classic literature, where Jane Austen is a regular staple, but until last year, this specific title was a rarity. The year 2025 marked Jane Austen's 250th birthday; because of that milestone, last fall I had no less than five different editions of the book to choose from at once. 

 

       

Top photo - Jean-Luc at 25 Gay Street, Bath, where Jane Austen lived for a year following her father's death. Bottom photo - 40 Gay Street, Bath - Jane Austen Centre - May 3, 2010.

My choice landed on an edition published by the Cranford Collection, printed in England, featuring a peacock on the cover with embossed feathers detailed in gold foil. I immediately made a connection to a Robert Held vase I had acquired about a decade ago, which featured a pulled peacock feather design done in iridescent glass. It was only once I started the painting and did a bit of research that I found the backstory about its cover and realized I had hit the jackpot with this book.

Jane Austen never mentions peacocks anywhere in the original 1813 book. In fact, the famous connection between Pride & Prejudice and peacocks didn't start until 1894, when illustrator Hugh Thomson designed the highly collectible and iconic "Peacock Edition" book cover. The 2005 screenplay nods to that famous piece of Austen history by giving a line to Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) during the Meryton ball scene: "Which of the painted peacocks is Mr. Bingley?"

The original 1894 peacock edition by Thomson also included a staggering 160 pen-and-ink illustrations that were fully integrated into the story. At a time when books only contained a few images, this allowed readers to see every major encounter, adding a whimsical, humorous layer to Austen's satire and comedy of manners. This edition kicked off a style known in the publishing trade as "Cranfordization" (named after a Gaskell novel Thomson also illustrated). It set the blueprint for the modern wave of "pretty books" and decorative cloth-bound editions we see in bookstores today.

I listened to the audiobook on YouTube while I was painting. It is brilliantly read by Karen Savage, who wonderfully changes her voice while reading the lines of Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins. Click HERE to listen. The popularity of Austen's work is far-reaching; this 10+ hour audio track has 7.7 million views and counting. The 2005 film remains faithful to the storyline but cuts long passages focusing on the courtship between Elizabeth's sister Lydia and George Wickham, which was fine with me. Jane Austen's writings have so much staying power that a new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility opens in theaters today, October 16, 2026, while a new 6-part miniseries of Pride and Prejudice is slated to release on Netflix on December 3 of this year. Period dramas remain alive and well for the Austenites.

I do have a soft spot for Jane Austen for another reason. Since my mother's name is Emma, I did a painting entitled, "Tea with Emma" back in 2010 to honor the author and my mom. (Acrylic on hardboard, 12 x 12'', 2010, #186) -Private collection

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 Robert Held (b. 1943) is a pioneering American-born Canadian glass artist celebrated for his masterfully crafted blown glass and iridescent finishes inspired by classic masters. Born in Santa Ana, California, Held studied ceramics at the University of Southern California before moving to Canada. Upon graduating, Robert was offered a position as Head of Ceramics at a college being built in Ontario. He accepted the position, becoming the youngest department head at the Sheridan College School of Design. In 1968, he established the country's first college-level hot glass program, also at Sheridan College. Over a legendary career spanning more than 50 years—operating prominent studios in Calgary, later in Vancouver, and finally in Parksville, British Columbia—his art glass has found a home in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Smithsonian Institution

Robert Held in his studio, Parkville, BC - 2015

Shaw TV, Nanaimo, BC

 This is the third time that I have painted one of his stunning vases, with previous pieces completed in 2010 and 2011.

Held over Klimt

12 x 9", acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2011, #199

Private collection

Held over Monet

12 x 9", acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 2010, #183

Private collection

In 2013, he decided to retire and close his studio located in Vancouver. Upon learning this, that same summer while on PEI, we visited the Dunes Studio & Gallery Café in Brackley Beach, where I acquired two more pieces, including the vase featured in this painting. I later learned that being idle was impossible for him, so he went on to set up a new studio in Parksville, BC. During the pandemic, I acquired a fifth vase adorned with lily pads from his online shop. I treasure them all. In 2024, it was announced that due to health issues, he officially retired from glass blowing at the age of 81. However, he continues to produce art in with vibrant alcohol ink paintings.

The vase in this painting features the "pulled feather" art glass technique, which was popularized and heavily developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his team at Tiffany Studios during the late 19th century as part of their signature Favrile glass line. While Tiffany and early 20th-century American glasshouses invented the style, Held adopted and mastered these classical Art Nouveau techniques to create his own highly successful modern interpretations. Since the term "Favrile glass" is a proprietary trademark coined by Louis Comfort Tiffany for his own company, other makers use "iridescent art glass" to describe this stunning style.

By superimposing the pulled-feather glass design over the iconic peacock cover, the painting brings these two masterworks into a single frame—a visual harmony fittingly captured in the piece's title: "Held over Austen."

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled:
"Still Lives, Silent Places"
held at the Fog Forest Gallery from October 16 - November 6, 2026.

Opening reception: October 23, 2026, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM.
Gallery hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery:
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
Website: https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery. 
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
website- https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/

Canadian Maple Syrup Flask

14 x 11", acrylic on cradle aluminium panel

painting #307, 2026, black floater frame

In May of 2023, Suzanne and I spent a weekend in Thunder Bay, Ontario. We flew there specifically so I could take part in the Fire Fighters 10-Mile Road Race, which was founded in 1910. Along with the Around the Bay 30 km Road Race in Hamilton, ON (1894) and the Tely 10-Mile Road Race in St. John's, NL (1922), it stands as one of the three oldest annual road races in Canada. I’ve now had the pleasure of running all three.

While in Thunder Bay, we visited the Terry Fox Monument. The memorial statue marks the place where Fox was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope on August 31, 1980. It is located approximately four kilometers west of the exact spot where he ended his run, which is marked by a road sign. 

We also visited Fort William Historical Park, which, starting in 1815, served as the inland headquarters of the North West Company—the largest fur-trading enterprise of its time, with posts stretching across North America. While peeking inside their gift shop, I spotted a row of pure maple syrup in flask bottles, produced by a local enterprise from Northern Ontario maples. I was instantly smitten by the graphics of the red label and fascinated that the syrup came in a bottle shape most often associated with hard liquor. I knew right away that I wanted to paint it. However, because we were traveling light with only carry-on luggage, airline restrictions prevented us from bringing fluids over 100ml on the plane. Instead, we had our fill of maple syrup the next morning at our hotel, which featured a waffle maker at the complimentary breakfast.

This past winter, while not the best for accumulation, still allowed me to cross-country ski some 500 km before the snow melted. I did the photo study for this painting on a footbridge along the Porc-Épic trail at Centennial Park in Moncton. I waited for an overnight snowfall so the trees would have a fresh dusting of snow. Many of those trees are slanted and being uprooted, victims of severe bank erosion along Jonathan Creek.

When I started the painting in late March, I decided to send an email to the maple syrup producer to ask for permission to reproduce their label. Perhaps they thought the request was some kind of hoax, because I never heard back. By June, the entire painting was finished except for the label. Against my better judgment, I decided to try ChatGPT to act as a studio assistant for the very first time. I uploaded my original reference photograph and asked it to design a brand-new label based on specific instructions: "Pure Canadian Maple Syrup, 200ml, featuring a rustic sugar shack, a maple tree with a sap pail, and a large red maple leaf—all rendered in sepia tones with retro red lettering." To be completely honest, I was blown away by the two options it generated. I felt the AI design was actually superior to the original commercial label I had initially intended to paint. However, I did make a few changes to simplify it a bit.

I know that using AI in fine art can spark debate, and some might view it as a shortcut. However, I see it as a modern evolution of an age-old tradition. For centuries, master artists—from the Renaissance workshops to modern icons like Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Dale Chihuly—have employed studio assistants to help bring their visions to life. In this instance, my assistant just happened to be digital.

Furthermore, as a hyperrealist painter, I am no stranger to the misconception that my work is merely "copying." But if capturing this level of depth were that easy, everyone would be doing it. The AI gave me a flat blueprint for a label, but a computer cannot paint. It cannot layer acrylics on an aluminum panel, it cannot replicate the human eye's understanding of winter light, and it cannot feel the texture of the New Brunswick snow. Translating that digital concept into paint required thousands of deliberate, skilled brushstrokes. The concept may have had a digital assistant, but the artistry is entirely human.

With the political turmoil and rhetoric making headlines south of the border—ranging from proposed tariffs to casual threats of Canada becoming the "51st state"—this imagery stands proud as a defiant symbol of Canadian identity. After all, Canada produces approximately 75% of the world's maple syrup.

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery. 
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
website- https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/

A Crush on Marilyn, an homage to Andy Warhol

 

24 x 12", acrylic on cradle aluminium panel

painting#306, 2026, black floater frame

My daughter-in-law Jessica has a fondness for vintage items and loves to visit curated retro and antique shops. During the fall of 2021, while browsing at Recollections in Salisbury, Jean-Luc sent me a photo from his phone of a vintage, amber-brown Orange Crush bottle with the message: "Would this interest you?" I immediately replied, "Yes!"

Variations of this 7-ounce Orange Crush bottle were produced by Dominion Glass (Domglas) in Canada from 1937 to 1955. The amber-brown glass was designed to protect the soda from light, preserving its delicate fruit flavour and fresh taste. The bottle has some weight to it; it is semi-opaque with a ribbed, beehive-shaped body. The sheer attention to detail and craftsmanship turns what was a mass-produced commercial object into a work of art. It sat patiently in my studio until this year.

During the summer of 2025, I spotted an Andy Warhol 2-in-1 double-sided puzzle of Marilyn Monroe made by Galison—at Dollarama, of all places. While Galison produces a whole line of puzzles, the company was originally founded in 1979 specifically to work with museums, making fine art imagery accessible on well-designed paper and gift products. Art museum shops heavily stock their boutiques with Galison products because the brand holds official licensing partnerships with major art institutions and historic estates—such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. They also maintain an expansive licensing partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation, which has created a vast array of products based on his artwork that I have collected throughout the years.

Over the New Year, while piecing the puzzle together, the narrative for this painting came to me as a play on words for the title. I think the trigger was the lone Marilyn against the orange background, since it matches the exact colour of the diamond shape on the Crush bottle. Flipped over, the other side of the puzzle features twenty-five Marilyns against a blue background, creating a perfect complementary colour match. But would it work as a painting? Was it a substantial enough concept to paint?

While working on the photo study, I experimented with several grounding surfaces. I took a photo using a cheap, light-blue chopping board from Dollarama, which comes in an array of colours in a multi-pack. The instant I saw that blue reflected in the lower ribs of the bottle, I knew I had a winner.

The image used for this puzzle is entitled Twenty-Five Marilyns (1962, acrylic, silkscreen, ink, and pencil, 82 x 66") and is housed at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas. 

Other variations of this work exist, including the one above

in the collection of the Tate Modern, London - photo taken May 1997.

For the aesthetics and symmetry of this composition, I tried to paint the Marilyns as close as possible of being identical. In Warhol's works, since the silkscreens for each colours did not always align or get completely wiped clean between impressions, no two of his Marilyns are exactly alike.

At its core, for A Crush on Marilyn, the true conceptual anchor of the piece lies in the title's double meaning. The physical vintage bottle also represents "Crush" as a commercial brand—a beautiful, heavy, Art Deco style vessel designed to be used, recycled or discarded. Marilyn Monroe was also a beautiful vessel, manufactured by the Hollywood machine and ultimately crushed by the weight of the public's obsessive, one-sided infatuation. Placing this historical bottle against her image bridges two distinct eras of design, turning ordinary commercial artifacts into a deeper commentary on nostalgia, tragedy, and the fleeting nature of fame.

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery. 
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
website- https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/

Root Beer Bottle Caps

 

12 x 12", acrylic on cradled aluminum panel

Painting #305, 2026, black wooden float frame

About 10 years ago, I acquired a lot of 25 unused root beer bottle caps on eBay. Several are vintage, and most feature the old-school cork liners that were phased out during the 1960s. While a few brands are familiar, most are completely new to me. They represent classic, all-American root beer brands, though several are or were available here in Canada as well.

According to my iPad, I completed the original photo study for this painting on December 3, 2016. It has been sitting on the backburner for a decade. Executing a painting like this is an intense exercise in precision and exactitude. It requires meticulous attention to lettering and colors, exploring sheen and shine, and creating the illusion of different types of metal without ever touching silver or metallic paint. For me, this is the purest form of photorealism and hyperrealism—an exploration of both technical challenge, pop culture, and nostalgia.

For the composition, I stacked the bottle caps directly on top of the cover of the Taschen Pop Art book. The book features Roy Lichtenstein's iconic artwork M-Maybe (A Girl's Picture). Because of their placement, his signature Ben Day dots (the tiny red dots) appear discreetly in four distinct areas between the caps. 

The Ben Day dots printing process was commonly used

in vintage color comic books and became a visual hallmark

of Lichtenstein's celebrated style.

There is a deliberate, conceptual layer to this arrangement: by stacking vintage, mass-produced bottle caps onto a book celebrating Pop Art, I wanted to create a direct dialogue between mid-century commercial design and high art. The caps aren't just sitting on a background; they are interacting with the very artistic movement that elevated everyday consumer objects into gallery spaces.

This painting is signed on the bottom right edge of the Frostie bottle cap.

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery. 
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
website- https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/

Hergé Explore NB

 12 x 12", acrylic on cradle aluminum panel
painting #302, 2025, black floater frame

Growing up, I read all of the graphic novels of the Adventures of Tintin. I've always had a kind of adventurous spirit and a desire to travel. I suspect that globe trotting with Tintin through those pages awoke something inside me during those formative years.  

The genesis for this painting was planted back in 2016. My wife, Suzanne, and I visited the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels. Amidst the displays of artefacts, one specific object grabbed my attention: a replica of the Crabe Extra tin from Hergé’s classic Tintin adventure, The Crab with the Golden Claws (Le crabe aux pinces d'or).

Crabe Extra from The Adventures of Tintin, The Crab with the Golden Claws

Belgium Comic Strip Center, Brussels - 2016

Fast forward to two Christmases ago. My son, Jean-Luc, surprised me with a figurine of Hergé himself. The artistic wheels soon began to turn. I started wondering: What if Hergé was to cross the Atlantic again? What if I plunged Tintin's creator directly into a brand-new adventure right here in New Brunswick? To ground this Franco-Belgian comic icon in my home province so he could conceive his next book. 

When I was a teenager in the late 1970s, I spent my summers working at the United Maritime Fishermen (U-M-F) fish processing plant in Cap-Lumière, NB. Instead of painting Hergé’s fictional crab tin, I went searching online for some memorabilia from my youth. I found an image of the exact vintage U-M-F "Fresh Lobster Meat" can that was used to pack and freeze lobster during the time I was there. After downloading the pic, I cropped the Lobster image with Photoshop, found the same fonts for the lettering and proceeded to create my own label. Bought a $1 can of water chestnut which corresponded to the exact size I needed and voila!

 

Top- original UMF Fresh Lobster Meat Can, circa pre 1980

Bottom- facsimile can that I created 

Using that label as my anchor, I meticulously hand-painted the background using a liner brush, tracing the lobster anatomy in a precise, greyscale pattern. The background is an homage to two masters. While the clean, unvarying lines mimic legendary ligne claire (clear line) comic style, the decision to invert the image as a negative—painting them light against a dark field in a rhythmic, repeating grid—is a direct nod to Andy Warhol's pop-art silkscreen prints. It is a full-circle moment: Warhol famously met and painted a portrait of Hergé in the late 1970s, citing the comic artist as a massive influence.

The "Hergé à Québec" exhibition, which ran 

from June 21 to October 22, 2017

Musée de la Civilisation, Québec City

Beside the U-M-F tin stands Hergé himself, sketchpad in hand, seemingly plotting his next mystery while standing atop the 2019 New Brunswick Tourist Guide Booklet featuring the iconic Miscou Lighthouse. This booklet represents a piece of local history in its own right—it was the very last physical guide the province ever printed before going entirely digital.

During the depth of the pandemic, when our province was part of the Atlantic bubble, we took the opportunity to explore our province and vacationed twice in the Acadian Peninsula. Among the attractions is the Véloroute - a 300 km cycling path. I had the opportunity to cycle across the picturesque Miscou Island. 

This is the narrative that I came up with to create this painting. But, after the painting was completed, a bizarre, intriguing twist occurred that this work could easily be reinterpreted with much darker undertones. 

In November 2025, Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquête revealed that between 10% to 30% of the lobster catch in Atlantic Canada is diverted to the illegal black market worth up to $681 million annually. The exposé utilized undercover operations to document how catches bypass mandatory weighing and regulations before being laundered through commercial supply chains and distributed internationally by organized crime.  

During one of the opening scenes of this investigative report is an aerial view of the Miscou Lighthouse (at 2min:26 sec). Click HERE to watch the episode. 

When I introduce a marble in a painting, it often reveals that I am playing a mind game with the viewer. OK, now let's do a reinterpretation of this imagery using this new information-  Hergé plays the role of a Radio-Canada reporter doing the investigation on the illegal lobster catch, using a black background to represent lobsters being sold on the black market with each lobster worth 100 million dollars... 

This painting will part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

To acquire this painting, please contact the gallery. 
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street
Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
website- https://www.fogforestgallery.ca/