Marathon, a self portrait

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 12''

2012, painting #212

The Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, CA invited me last summer to take part in an invitational group show entitled ''Face Yourself'' that will feature artist self portraits. The invite stated, ''This can be conceived from your own point of view, how you think people view you, etc...You can get as creative as you want, there are no rules. I think the possibilities are endless and the outcome of the show is going to be fabulously unexpected and fun''.

I really went outside the box for this one, and literally inside a jar. Although I have been painting for 25 years, my artistic professional career only began 10 years ago. Prior to 2002, I completed an average of only two paintings per year. For a full decade, my main focus during my spare time was pursuing my dream of being a marathon runner.

I started running in 1976 at age 14 while in junior High School. The Summer Olympics held in Montreal that same year would leave an indelible mark on me. When Canadian Olympian Jerome Drayton won the Boston Marathon the following spring in 1977, his victory would ignite the flame within me to become a long distance runner and to one day follow in his footsteps.

The journey getting there was long and arduous. After competing in athletics and cross country races in junior and high school, I made the transition to road races.  During my twenties, I had my share of running related injuries and was diagnosed at age 26 with heel strike hemolysis. A rather rare condition causing damage to red blood cells occurring during intensive training and repetitive foot strike when running resulting in anaemia. This was corrected with iron supplement and kept in-check afterwards while continuing the therapy. 

In September 1992,  at age 30, the stars finally aligned for me and I would run my first full marathon. I had waited so long for this day, and thought it might be my one and only, so I decided to go big and run the Toronto Marathon, the city where my hero Jerome Drayton lived. I was so overwhelmed by it all and remember being teary eyed several times during the race. Half way in, I was still on pace to qualify for the Boston Marathon. With about 5 miles to go, I would hit the wall. I would however get a second wind on the final mile and had enough left in the tank to sprint the last 200m as we were greeted inside Varsity Stadium where a massive jumbo screen was set up and spectators in the bleachers cheers us in. I finished in a time of 3h22:10. It was a defining moment in my life and from that point on, I was hooked.  

My next goal was to achieve the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon which was 3h10:59 for a male runner under 35. This would finally happen seven marathons and three years later on May 14, 1995 at the Johnny Miles Marathon in New Glascow, Nova Scotia. On this very difficult course, I would achieve a personal best of 3h11:30.  I would find out later that year that my clocking would stand and I received my ticket to the start line of the historical 100th running of the Boston Marathon that was held on April 15, 1996. Running my first Boston Marathon easily qualifies as the greatest moment of my whole athletic journey. The history behind this event is rich and is considered by many as the people's Olympics. It has always been held on the third Monday of April on Patriots Day. The inaugural running of the Boston Marathon took place in 1897. It was inspired by the marathon of the first Olympiads of modern era held in Athens, Greece the previous year.

In total, I completed 22 marathons and every one hold a special place in my heart. From the get-go, I decided to combine the races with travelling, and visiting art galleries and museums whenever possible. For the exception of three Boston Marathons (1996, 1999 and 2000) and two New York City Marathons (1994, 2002), all the others were in different towns and cities, twelve in the United States, nine in Canada plus the Bermuda Marathon. 

In the composition for this painting, the photograph of myself was taken during the last mile of the 1999 Boston Marathon.

The seven bid numbers used in the composition are among the marathons which hold the most importance on various levels.  From the top left -clockwise: 

1- New York City Marathon - 2002 

Bill Rodgers is a 4-time New York City and

4-time Boston Marathon Champion. 
One of the greatest ambassador the sport has ever known.

2- Maine Marathon - 1998 
3- The 100th running of the Boston Marathon - 1996. 

4- The Toronto Marathon - 1992
5- The Fredericton Marathon - 2001 
6- The Johnny Miles Marathon - New Glascow, NS.- 1995

7- The Chicago Marathon - 1993

By using a Mason jar, I am essentially preserving the memory of a self from a not so distance past, during a period where I physically felt the most alive and invincible.

UPDATE- January 5, 2013
This painting is currently on exhibit in ''Face Yourself'', an Invitational group show being held from January 3-31, 2013 at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.

Participating artists includes the talents of Lisa Alonzo, Teresa N. Fischer, Jeff Nebeker, Rogelio Manzo, Elizabeth Barlow, Jennifer Balkan, Ryoko Tajiri, Kenney Mencher, Micah Crandall-Bear, Bryan Mark Taylor, John Tarahteeff, Jelaine Faunce, Randy Brennan, Gale Hart, Terry Pappas, Maren Conrad, Gary Pruner, Patricia Wall and John Karl Claes. 

Collection of the artist. 

Lost a marble over a Girl (aka - Crazy for this Girl)

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 12''

2011, # 192

This past January, I received an invitation to participate in a Realism Juried Show organized and held at the Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta Georgia. The show will run from April 8 to May 12, 2011.  It's a kind of opportunity that only until recently, I could only have dreamed of. 

I came across this die cast 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible while Christmas shopping for my son during the late fall of 2007. It featured a miniature Coca-Cola tin tray as a bonus item. I actually bought it for the tray and did a photo session not long after. With the Coca-Cola's headquarters located in Atlanta, the timing seemed perfect to finally bring this image to light, since Coca-Cola has often contributed in my choice of subject matter while documenting popular culture.


I did some research in order to give credit to the illustrator of the lovely bathing beauty depicted on the tray and suspect that it might be attributed to painter illustrator Gil Elvgren.


The most intimidating factor in the imagery was to get the facial features correct and for the marble to even have more impact as the main object competing for the viewer's attention. In both cases, I am happy with the outcome. Even if the painting is only 12 x 12'', the subject depicted here is enlarged by 500%. The photographic image was a bit grainy when enlarged. I worked from several photographs in order to eliminate the depth of field to give the impression as if it was painted from life rather than from a photo. Without the help of my new ipad, I'm not certain that I could have pulled it off. My inclusion of a marble in a painting may appear decorative, but more often than not it refers to an altered state of mind. In this case, it is both.


I borrowed the title from an Evan and Jaron song of the same name. Twin brothers, Evan and Jaron Lowernstein grew up in Tucker, Georgia.....located 15 miles from Atlanta. Click HERE to listen.

Exhibited- September 16 - late October, 2011
Painting selected to be part of the Coca-Cola 125th Anniversary Invitational Group Exhibition held at Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta.  
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Exhibited - September 7 - October 27, 2012
Crazy for this Girl (Losing a marble over a Girl) in part of a group exhibition entitled: 
ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
Saint John, NB CANADA

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Exhibited in a two-person show with Yvon Gallant entitled, "HARVEST" at the Fog Forest Gallery, Sackville, NB

October 12 - Nov. 8, 2017.

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

-SOLD

Solo exhibtion - Near & Far

I am starting to post artwork that will be included in my solo show at Handworks Gallery in Saint John, NB. With a bit less that three weeks before the opening, I am currently working on painting number 17. I have started a series of smaller paintings in order to fill the space. With the exception of the two paintings above, the rest of the collection will consist of new works.

''Are we there yet?''- 14 x 20''

Acrylic on hardboard, # 142, 2008

-SOLD

I usually paint from photographic material that I find in my own surroundings. For this show, I have including imagery also found during my travels that still retains the same familiar attributes. I've decided to study the theme quite broadly, with acrylic paintings that makes references to consumerism and popular culture, while trying to create a narrative by linking some of the imagery together, either with subject matter, elements found within the artwork or cross references from my own life.

Handworks Gallery is located at 12 King Street, Saint John, NB.
To purchase artwork posted for this show, please contact the gallery.

Gallery hours: 10:00am to 6:00pm (AST) from Monday to Saturday

Telephone - (506) 652-9787, e-mail - info@handworks.ca
Artwork must remain in the gallery until closure of the show.

Near & Far runs from October 16-30, 2009

The Deep End

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard

33,5 cm diameter round, 2004, #65

Private collection - Halifax, NS

After getting out the WD-40 a few times, I have finally started to paint again after my long vacation, my return back to normal life and my 9 to 5 job. I felt very rusty to say the least. I've made some progress on my current painting, and hope that I'll be able to complete it by weeks end.

The above image is of my son Jean-Luc at the age of 8, at the salt water pool in Fundy National Park, NB. At the time, he was taking swimming lessons and had just passed level 1. He was actually jumping from the 3 to 4 feet deep level when I took the photo study. For the painting, since he was between the age of 8 and 9, I took out my magic wand to change the numbers at pool side, to reflect his age at the time. It is a piece about conquering one own fears.

Reflecting on being Acadian

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 12''Created Dec. 6-14, 2008, #153

Continuing my author/book series, this one is especially sweet. One of my favorite non-fiction books with the bonus of having one of my favorite artist on the cover.

I read Notes from Exile on being Acadian by Clive Doucet during the summer of 2002, in the wake of painting a piece entitled ''Fort Beauséjour'' that would become part of the permanent collection of Le musée acadien du Québec à Bonventure, Qc. (the Acadian Museum of Quebec) where I was fortunate enough to have a solo exhibition during that fall.

Notes from Exile recalls the journey of the author who was acting as a journalist for CBC radio during ''Les Retrouvailles'', the first World Acadian Congress and reunion that was held in south-eastern region of New Brunswick in 1994. It is an incisive, charming, touching and sometime witty account while he wrestles with the question of his own identity of being a Canadian with an Acadian father and a British mother. It left me with an enlightened sense of pride of my own personal identity and hertiage of being an Acadian. Notes from Exile is listed in the top 100 titles of it's publisher, McClelland and Stewart Inc.

The Acadians were the first French settlers to arrive to the New World back in 1604. The first settlement was established at Saint-Croix Island in the Bay of Fundy located on the New Brunswick / Maine border. A year later they would move to the mainland at Port Royal in Nova Scotia. The Acadians later established themselves in parts of what is now New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, parts of eastern Quebec and the New England seaboard. British colonists captured Acadia in the course of Queen Anne's War (1702–1713), and its conquest was confirmed in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). The French residents of Acadia were given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave N.S. In the meantime, the French signalled their preparedness for future hostilities by beginning the construction of Fortress Louisbourg on Isle Royale, now Cape Breton Island. The British grew increasingly alarmed by the prospect of disloyalty in wartime of the Acadians now under their rule. In the summer of 1755, the British attacked Fort Beauséjour and burned Acadian homes at the outbreak of the French and Indian War between Britain and France, accusing Acadians of disloyalty (for not having taken the oath) and guerrilla action. Those who still refused to swear loyalty to the British crown then suffered what is referred to as the Great Upheaval (la déportation) when, over the next three years, some 6,000–7,000 Acadians were expelled from N.S.and N.B. to Europe or the lower British American colonies. Others fled deeper into Nova Scotia or into French-controlled Canada.

After 1764, many exiled Acadians finally settled in Louisiana and became known as Cajun, which was first used as a pejorative term until its later mainstream acceptance. Britain allowed some Acadians to return to Nova Scotia, but these were forced to settle in small groups and were permitted to reside in their former settlements such as Grand-Pré, Port Royal, and Beaubassin.

Other literary offerings on the plight of the Great Upheaval such as Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, was published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the aftermath of the deportation. We had the opportunity to visit the house where Lonfellow grew up in Portland Maine, this past October during a weekend getaway. I also did a book report during my senior year in High School of Pélagie-la-Charette (1979), by Antonine Maillet (who happens to be the aunt of one of a longtime family friend). Narrating the epic journey of the widow Pélagie LeBlanc, who in the late 1770s leads her people back to Grand Pré from the American South. The novel was the first foreign work to receive France's Prix Goncourt . The English translated "Pélagie-the-Cart"  appeared in print in 1982.

The image on the cover is a from one of the most documented paintings by Alex Colville. The French Cross was painted in 1988. The National film board of Canada produced a documentary on the artist, The Splendour of Order back in 1984. During one sequence we follow Mr. Colville walking on a train track leading to the cross. Here, he takes precise measurements and does sketches of the monument. He revisits the cross in another documentary produced in 2002 by CBC, The Life and Times of Alex Colville. It also appears in several of his art books and I've had the opportunity to view it twice during retrospectives of his art held at le musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (1994) and the National Gallery in Ottawa (2002). The cross was erected in 1924 in Grand-Pré, N.S., only a few kilometers from the artist's residence in Wolfville. It is a memorial monument to the Acadian people who were expropriated from their land. The model is of Chinese descent on her father's side (a professor at Acadia University in Wolfville) and a descendant of the Acadians on her Caucasian mother's side. The unconcerned horse is following the path in front of him. The girl, also moving forward looks back towards the cross and creates a link between the present and the past. Please refer to my posting of August 31 for bio notes on Mr. Colville.

For this composition, I chose to use a Chinese Ball as a prop to a link to the Chinese girl. Also known as Baoding balls, they are used to improve manual dexterity, strenght and for meditation. A particular aspect with these reflective spheres, the closer you bring them to a bright light source, the darker that immediate surface becomes. Using my camera flash not only removed me physically from the image, it created the contrast I needed for the image to work. The ball kind of became a small planet, with a night and a day side. Also forming a type of balance found in a Ying-Yang, a circle of opposing forces. The night side is representative of my studio, where I paint mostly after 10 pm. Pot lights appears as stars around a full moon and there is even a comet-like formation. The bottom side is day and is a flipped-reverse reflection of the cover. The image also becomes a narrative of what the Acadians went through when there own reality was turned upside down as they were being boarded on to ships, families were broken up, husbands from wives, parents from children, deported and dispersed to the Southern United States, England, back to there origins in France and as far as the Falkland Islands. A linear line of lights starts from the top of the ball and continues downwards on the cover of the book. How appropriate that a shimmering light spot appears at the level of the girl's heart, noting a moment of inner enlightenment and creating a blinding spot for the horse as his face disappears underneath. It is one of the very few paintings that I have done that red is not utilized as a feature colour, it does however hides in the darker shades of brown.

I usually don't go deeply on my blog to try to explain what imagery means to me. In this case I chose to do an exception in a very thorough manner of what I felt when I painted it. A moment of introspection of my own experience on being an Acadian, but more importantly to have the insight to move forward and view the larger picture of how fortunate I am to still be living in Acadia, a land without borders.

-SOLD

Are we there yet?

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard, 14 x 20"

Created January 15 - February 24, 2008, #142.

This is my first figure painting in four years. I have to admit that it was somewhat of a struggle. I usually paint hard surfaces and inanimate objects. Here, I'm dealing with fabrics and flesh tones. The faces became tedious to the extreme. I'd thought that I might never get them right. It turned out to be a grand exercise of patience. At 5 weeks, it's time to call it a wrap.

Featured in this slice of life with my son Jean-Luc are his two other cousins on my wife side of the family. Isabelle lives in the province of Québec while Céline lives in northern New Brunswick. Gabrielle, the model in "La Balançoire" is Isabelle's sister. The photo study for this painting was taken 3 summers ago, when they were 12, 10 & 7. They have grown so much since then. They always get to spend a week together during the summer vacations.

The graphic novel that Jean-Luc is holding is from the serial The Adventures of Tintin. Tintin is a globe-trotting, crime solving Belgium journalist/reporter. He was created by Georges Rémi under the pen name Hergé. It first appear as a comic strip in a Belgium newspaper in 1929. The series of graphic novels have been translated in 50 languages and 200 millions copies have been sold. The series is very popular especially in Europe and French speaking Canada. I am not certain about its popularity in the rest of the North American continent. This volume is entitled "Tintin au Tibet".

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-This painting was selected in the juried FCA show at the Kamloops Historical Courthouse Centre for the Arts, 7 Seymour St. Kamloops, BC, April 18-27, 2008

- Included in my solo show at Handworks Gallery - Oct 16-30, 2009

-SOLD

La Balançoire

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard, 11 x 15"
Created- August 8-15, 2004, #75.

Private collection- Toronto, Ontario.

I've always found it difficult to paint during the month of January, and this year is no exception. I'm a bit slow getting out of the starters block. Each New Year is like a renewal for life itself; I'm wiping the slate clean and getting another shot at it. I'm not the all-consuming painter and wouldn't pretend to be. Life itself is a window of opportunity, and as much as I like to paint, I also want to expand my horizons in the grander scheme of things. I took a month off from my brushes to spend more time my family, to see a lot of the critically acclaim films that always comes out pre-Oscar time, to do some skiing, to renew my passport, to start planning our family trip to California this spring and to tie loose ends. It's not the easiest thing to juggle a full-time job and a painting career on the side.... your always chasing deadlines.

I've just started my first painting of the new year, and it will be a while before I post it. It's my first figure study since 2004, and a complex one at that. When it takes a few days just to do the drawing, it usually translate in many more days than usual to paint.

I won't be having a solo show in 2008, but I do have several projects planned. I'll be submitting works in juried exhibitions, I have several commissions lined up and will do my best to provide new paintings to the galleries that represents me.

In the meanwhile, I'm posting an older piece of my last figure painting. The model is our niece Gabrielle. I took the photo study on her backyard swing in Québec, and transported her to this farming field on Prince Edward Island. The image was used on the cover of a CD released last year by the Montréal musical duo Christel. We have two other nieces on my wife side of the family who will be featured with our son Jean-Luc in my upcoming painting.