Post-Modern Times

Back in June, I was contacted by Stephen Smith, the founding publisher of rather new art publication called Post-Modern Times. The magazine really caters to aspects of realism and aesthetics in art. I am very fortunate to have been invited to participate in volume 2, and was granted a six-page layout to showcase my artwork. I am in very select company, because several artists whom I have admired greatly in the past are either in this issue or the inaugural volume.

A digital and/or in print copy is available through this link by clicking HERE.  It is published by the Birmingham Free Press. 

Peanuts come to Life, an homage to Charles Schulz

Acrylic on gessobord, 11 x 14"

painting #215, 2013

Ever wondered how and why the comic strip received the name Peanuts? The origins goes back to the theatre, where the cheapest seats were those way at the bottom floor and where people purchased peanuts because they were the cheapest snack. If they disapproved of the performance, they would throw peanuts at the actors. If they would shout insults, the announcer would reply, "No more comments from the Peanut Gallery". The term Peanut Gallery was later adopted for the children audience featured in the Howdy Doody TV Show that originated in the late 1940's. 

In 1950, Charles Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best work from a comic strip named Li'l Folks. But since the name Li'l Folks was too close to the names of two other comics of the time: Li'l Abner and Little Folks, and in order avoid confusion, the syndicate settled on the name Peanuts, after the Peanut Gallery featured on the Howdy Doody show. Peanuts was a title Schulz always disliked. In a 1987 interview, Schulz said of the title Peanuts: "It's totally ridiculous, has no meaning, is simply confusing, and has no dignity—and I think my humour has dignity." 

Last year my wife bought a jar of Planters roasted peanuts which immediately ignited the whole concept. A few weeks later while strolling in a local antique shop, I found an issue of LIFE magazine dated March 17, 1967, featuring the protagonist and his dog with the headline reading: "The great Peanuts craze - CHARLIE BROWN and SNOOPY WINNERS AT LAST". This would become the perfect vehicle and element of contingency for my composition. 

The 1967 LIFE article reflected that despite the fact the 'Peanuts' characters who were born to be losers, in contrast, the popularity of the comic strip had attained new heights and had started a craze around the world. 

 "At scores of colleges, Peanuts characters are the biggest people on campus. In Vietnam, pilots fly into combat with Snoopy painted on their planes. Records based on Peanuts have sold millions of copies ("Snoopy and the Red Baron", "Return of the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen). And even before it opened last week, a new off-Broadway hit musical,You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, had sold tickets to admirers as far away as Nebraska. Dolls, cards, clothes and other Peanuts paraphernalia make up a more than $15 million-a-year business. Charles Schulz describes himself as "100% Charlie Brown." But unlike Charlie, who has lost a 123-0 baseball game, Schulz as a youngster pitched a no-hit, no-run game- and is today several times a millionaire". 

- LIFE Magazine - March 17, 1967.

In 1967, the comic strip had a following of 90 million readers a day. Before the passing of Charles Schulz in 2000, it had reached a milestone of 355 million readers in 75 counties.

Needless to say, the popularity of the Peanuts lives on in comic strips reruns. Snoopy is featured on the front of the Metlife blimp.   Most recently, a song entitled Charlie Brown was featured on the 2011 Coldplay album, Mylo Xyloto. The musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown has been a popular choice for amateur theatre productions because of its small cast and simple staging. It won several theatre awards during it's original 1967 run. During the 1999 Broadway revival, it would receive a Tony nomination for Best revival of a musical and won Tony awards for Kristin Chenoweth as Sally and Roger Bart as Snoopy in the best featured actress/actor categories. It is currently playing until the end of the month at the Woodland Opera House, in Woodland CA, near Sacramento. I am quite certain that the audience won't be throwing peanuts at the actors on stage this time around.

This painting will be included in the upcoming group exhibition, The Still Life at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, October 5-31, 2013.

-SOLD

Passing of a Great Artist

Meeting Alex Colville at the Owens Art Gallery,

Sackville, NB

It is with a sad heart that I learn Wednesday of the passing of one of Canada's greatest artist. Alex Colville, 92 died peaceful at his home in Wolfville, NS. Today, I read a CBC on-line interview where his daughter Ann mentioned that "If he would get letters from young artists, aspiring artists, he was tremendously kind and took a lot of time to respond to these". That statement rings very true for me as I have five reply letters with great advise to work hard in order to find my way as an artist. 

During my formative years as an aspiring artist, the surrounding milieu of Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B. kind of became a pilgrimage place for me. It was where he received his Fine Art degree and later thought art for almost 20 years.  It gave me great insight into his artwork that was so regional and yet he had attain great national and international recognition. That a local artist was revered as Canada's painter laureate was certainly a great source of inspiration for myself and countless other realist artists, as the images he created are forever etched in the consciousness of our nation. I had the privileged to view several of his retrospective exhibitions including Alex Colville: Paintings, Prints and Process, 1983-1994 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal (1994), Milestones at the National Gallery in Ottawa (2000), the Dow Gift in Wolfville (1997) and Return at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia among others. 

I had the enormous pleasure of meeting him during the opening reception of his gift of preparatory drawings to the Owens Art Gallery during the spring of 2002. When I introduced myself, he quickly asked me, "Are you the runner?". I was so touched that he instantly recalled me writing to him. We had a very pleasant and animated conversation. To me that spoke volume of the man and artist he was. Confident in his role as a respected and celebrated artist and even better as a great human being. He remained active well into his late eighties. He will be missed. His essence and artwork will live in my heart forever. Condolences to the family and all of those who's lives he has touch.

Kool-Aid Days

Acrylic on gessobord, 12 x 16"

2013, painting #214

This is a gallery commission piece. The client is a collector of both Crown and Ball Mason jars, so this was the main requirement. I was pretty given much given carte blanche as far as the composition goes. As a still-life painter, objects often present themselves in daily life. If I have a visceral response to them, I will just buy them on impulse because one day these will serve as my muses to inspire an imagery worth considering. I have been holding on to these Kool-Aid packs since 2007. The teal tinted Ball Mason jar on the left and the hand- made paper drinking straws were both purchased on Etsy in 2011 from different vendors from Florida, the sunshine state. Last fall, I was lucky enough to acquire these Crown Mason jars from a local seller on Kijiji. These are in mint condition, so I was truly surprise to see the year 1948 on the bottom.

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack.To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953. Hasting, Nebraska, the town where the fruity thirst quencher was invented still celebrates a yearly summer festival called "Kool-Aid Days" on the second weekend in August. The title is in homage of it's inventor.

I remember as a child that we use to buy individual packages like these at 6¢ each from a nearby corner store. On hot summer days, we'd go swimming at the beach and upon returning a pitcher was soon empty with three kids going for refills. Check out this classic 1970's commercial - HERE.

-Gallery commission 

  

Our past, present and future according to Suess

Acrylic on gessobord, 12 x 12"

Painting# 213, 2012-13

This is my third painting paying homage to Dr. Suess. The first two featured our pet goldfish Maurice who is still alive and well and will mark his 3rd anniversary with us next week. I was contacted by one of the galleries that represent me in early fall of 2012, after a patron happen to see "One fish, two fish....gold fish" on their website. Since it had already sold to another collector, I agreed to do a commission piece for them. During the past decade, this patron had acquired several of my paintings, so I submitted several images for their approval which included this more personalized composition. Putting my own spin on the image, I continued along the lines of the postage stamp series and fabricated a First-Day cover. I used a fish in the Suessville postmark to indirectly add Maurice in the mix. The postage stamp I used was issued by the US Postal Service in 2004, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Theodore Suess Geisel, (b. March 2, 1904). I decided to omit USA in order to create a more fictional territory for the narrative. The remaining of the objects were suggested by the clients for possible inclusion.

My previous two posting on Dr. Suess does include a few biography notes. Instead of being redundant , I came across this very appropriate video on YouTube that appeared in Rocketboom News. Then anchorwoman, Molly Templeton does an astonishing and clever delivery of a rhyming prose as an homage for author/illustrator's birthday.

Molly Templeton (aka- Mememolly) of Rocketboom News

-Gallery commission

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. 

THE STILL LIFE INVITATIONAL / AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR - OCT. 2012

 I am very privileged to have been invited to take part in The Still Life, an Invitational Group Show opening at the Elliott Fouts Gallery tomorrow, October 6. This is also my third participation in as many editions. As in previous years, I have an image of one of my paintings currently featured on page 150 of a promotional article in the Oct. 2012 issue of American Art Collector Magazine. I have the pleasure to hang my work alongside 10 amazing artists:  Elizabeth Barlow, Leigh-Anne Eagerton, Teresa N. Fischer, Thane Gorek, Michael E. Hockenbury, Sangita Phadke, Christopher Stott, Joanne Tepper, Kari Tirrell and Kathrine Lemke Waste. Opening reception will be held on October 13 and the show runs until November 1.

My two submitted pieces are-

Tangerines in a Hurricane Vase, an homage to Edgar Degas

15 x 11, acrylic on hardboard 2009/2012
l

___________

Famous for more than Fifteen Minutes

16 x 11' acrylic in hardboard, 2012

l

Elliott Fouts Gallery

1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811 

Car Jam

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 12''

painting # 211, 2012

This painting has been on the back burner for more than three years. I had purchased these Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars at the time and already had a concept in mind, but there was one illusive item to complete the composition and play with words that I have yet to find to satisfy me visually. In the past year, I came across this magnificent mason jar and book which in turn created a different narrative from my original concept.

The featured book, THE CAR, A HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE was written by British-born Jonathan Glancey, whom until this past February was an architecture and design editor for The Guardian. He previously held the same position at The Independent and is currently a freelance editor. He has recently written several reviews for The Telegraph, including one about the recent opening to The ArcelorMitta Orbit at London's Olympic Park by artist Anish Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond. He has also written several books surveying the history of architecture, planes, trains and automobiles. This edition was published in 2010 by Seven Oaks. The cover features a 1945 ZIS 110 Limousine, while the bottom is a Ferrari Enzo. I slightly played with the depth of field and keep the back imagery just slightly out of focus thus eliminating the very fine details so that the main details would focus on the jar and it's content. 

The jar includes the following models from Matchbox- a 1957 GMC Pick-up truck, a 2008 Chevy Corvette ZR1, and a 2005 Dodge Magnum. To complete the quintet, two Hot Wheels muscle cars: a 1970 Chevelle SS and a 1971 Dodge Charger. 

This painting is very much as the bold letter on the mason jar suggests, about the preservation and restoration of automobiles. There is great interest in vintage and classic cars. Here in Moncton, the city hosts the Atlantic Nationals,  a car show held over 3 days in July where the public comes out in droves. It's an eye-candy love fest for car lovers of all ages. I recently spoke to the wife of the chap to whom I had sold my first car, a 1971 Chevy Malibu. I sold it for $200, the same price I paid for it back in 1981. My father had helped me acquire the vehicle for a summer job when I was 19 years old and only kept if for 6 month. It was on its last miles when I sold it.....until he completely restored and transformed it into a veritable muscle car. She told me that it had been parked in their backyard in recent years, but it was still his baby and that he fully intended to refurbish it before long.

This painting was exhibited in: 

ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
City of Saint John Gallery
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, NB CANADA
(506) 633-4870

September 7 - October 27, 2012

-SOLD

A Closer Look at the Titanic

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 9 x 12''

Painting #210, 2012

I had never considered doing a painting of the Titanic until this past late March. On the same day, I received a copy of National Geographic and Canada Post's Details catalogue in our mailbox, both had the Titanic on their covers. Canada Post was issuing a stamp not necessarily to commemorate the centennial of the it's sinking, but to remember the humane aspect surrounding the tragedy. Of lives saved and lost and to ''How the people of Halifax, NS rose to meet the grim duty placed on them.'' On the recovery of more than 150 of the victims, many of the unnamed, were laid to rest in three of the city's cemeteries as Halifax became the focus of the world's press. This tragic sinking of the Titanic after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912, has become an event in time that has touched so many lives and continues to intrigue and fascinate millions with the passing of time. Click HERE to view related story.

While browsing on eBay, I quickly realized that material was limited. So, I took the approach of exploring the postal service as the ship's full name was RMS Titanic which stood for Royal Mail Steam Ship Titanic. The liner had a extensive compartment for carrying mail overseas. During the crossing, 1700 bags of letters plus parcels had to be sorted out by five clerks which comprised of three American and two British citizens. A total of 6 million mail items were lost at sea, none were ever recovered. Click HERE for a view inside of the Mail Room.

On eBay, I found a green replica of the Titanic's launch ticket that took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on May 31, 1911. It is reported that 100,000 people attended the launch at sea. For the next year, the ship was docked and a massive crew completed the interior.  I also wanted something authentic from the period, and found it in the form of an original 1912 postcard that had an Art Nouveau flair with lotus flowers. The interior décor of the luxury liner was very much influenced by this style which was in vogue during this period. The postcard had a two cents stamp of George Washington, two post marks, San Francisco and Brussels, and a cancellation ink stamp of the ''World's Pan-Pacific Exhibition 1915''.

For the painting I would manipulate some details to link it in the narrative. Initially I had conjured up the idea that a passenger would have sent a post card to America a month prior to announce that they were boarding the steam ship on it's maiden voyage and were excited at the prospect of seeing each other upon their arrival in New York City.

National Geographic Society, Washington, DC

Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Washington, DC

In the meanwhile, our long weekend getaway spent in Washington, D.C. during Easter provided me with much more insight. The National Geographic Society was hosting the exhibit, Titanic: 100 Year Obsession, while the Smithsonian National Postal Museum had just opened a new exhibit entitled ''Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic'',where I picked up the idyllic post card of the ship combining vintage photography and modern graphics.

Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Washington, DC.

I did the photo study in June and started the preparatory drawing in late July. Upon drawing the Launch ticket, I noticed that the lettering had been meticulously done by hand. So, I did an Internet search to see if another variation of the ticket existed and it is at this time when all of the elements came together to create the full narrative. On the 100th Anniversary date of the sinking, April 15, Bonhams Auction House in New York held an auction of Titanic artefacts which included a similar ticket in white, numbered 193, that still had it's perforated admission stub. It fetched a whopping $56,250 USD. A postcard sent on April 6, 1912 by Titanic wireless telegrapher Jack Phillips to his sister Elsie went to a lucky bidder for $20,000 USD. It was inscribed as follows:

 ''Thank you very much for your letter. 

Having glorious weather, went to Cowes yesterday. 

Will write later before we sail.

 Love All Jack''

Using this information and another image of a postcard that was sent to his sister Ethel the previous year, I followed up with an imaginary last postcard for the painting that would have been sent to Elsie as promised by Jack, postmarked on April 11 in Southampton, the day after the departure, which would also have been Jack's 25th birthday.

Jack Phillips was a pivotal figure prior to Titanic hitting the iceberg and the aftermath of rescuing the passengers. He was the senior wireless operator of the Marconi equipment aboard the Titanic. Joined by Harold Bride, they both worked separately alternating 6-hour shifts.  Among their tasks of communicating with other ships sailing the Atlantic, they were also assigned to send telegrams from passengers to the mainland. On the evening of 14 April, in the wireless room on the boat deck, it is suggested that as Titanic had come within range of Cape Race coast station situated in Newfoundland. Jack Phillips was attempting to clear a huge backlog of telegrams for the United States that had accumulated when the wireless had broken down the day before. Vital warning from ships Mesaba and SS California of icebergs ahead were overlooked by the overworked Phillips as the messages received from both had been sent without the MSG prefix, indicating a personal message for Titanic's Captain - which was required by regulations then in force to be personally acknowledge. This is a deleted scene from James Cameron's Titanic for which Phillips would have said to Cyril Evans of the SS Californian ''Keep out, shut up, you're jamming my signal. I'm working Cape Race''. 

photo taken at Titanic Belfast, May 28, 2018

After hitting the iceberg, Phillips and Bride vigilantly worked at their stations sending distress signals of their location up until water started pouring in the Marconi room and power was lost. The message "CQD" means a general call to all vessels, which indicates the vessel sending is in distress and requires immediate assistance. At the time of the "Titanic" sinking, the Marconi company's "CQD" was still in common use, although it had been officially replaced by the well known "SOS". One hour forty minutes after the sinking, RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene in response to Titanic's earlier distress calls. 710 people survived the disaster and were conveyed by Carpathia to New York, while 1,514 people lost their lives. Phillips and Bride were washed off the ship as the boat deck flooded, but managed to scramble onto the upturned lifeboat Collapsible 'B'.  Bride was rescued by the Carpathia the following morning. Despite being injured, he helped the Carpathia's wireless operator transmit survivor lists and personal messages from the ship. Sadly, Jack Phillips died of hypothermia on or near the same lifeboat, his body was never recovered.

Much can be said about the Titanic and it's place in history and in popular culture. Much of the resurgence can be attributed to James Cameron. The film maker has led three expeditions to the bottom of the Atlantic to the site of the sunken vessel. He developed and piloted a new class of nimble, fibre-spooling robots that brought back never before seen images of the ship's interior and was able to shoot actual footage of the ship underwater, which he inserted into the final film.The movie went on the become a phenomenal box office blockbuster and received much deserved critical praise.

photos taken at Titanic Belfast, May 28, 2018

The Canadian stamp in the painting was designed by illustrators Mark Little. I did choose to alter the top section of the chimneys since all source photography I found informed me otherwise. The reference to Cape Race on the stamp was also the instigating factor that lead me to explore the Jack Phillips trail. 

I have affixed both stamps used in the painting along with a postcard of the Titanic on the back panel of the frame. The other Stamp is an English half-penny that features King George V with a killer moustache.   

Noteworthy- On July 12, 1986, American Robert Ballard leads an expedition aboard Atlantis II and dives to the wreck of the Titanic in the submersible Alvin (no, we are not related!).

Update - Oct, 2012 - On Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Halifax and took the opportunity to stroll in the Fairview Cemetery where many of the Titanic's victims where laid to rest. Since the release of the James Cameron's film, it has become somewhat a tourist attraction. One tomb in particular does attract of fair amount of attention, that of J. Dawson. It was revealed that the grave site is attributed Joseph Dawson, an Irishman who worked in Titanic's boiler room as a coal trimmer and not the film's fictional lead character Jack Dawson.

Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, NS

My wife Suzanne with J.Dawson tombstone 

Update - On May 28, 2018, I had the privilege to visit the TITANIC BELFAST in Northern Ireland. A tourist attraction with galleries and monument that opened in 2012 on the location of the former shipyard where the Titanic was built. It became a full-circle moment to just be there and visit the exhibits.  

This painting was exhibited in: 

ASPECTS OF REALISM
Saint John Arts Centre
City of Saint John Gallery
20 Hazen Avenue
Saint John, NB CANADA
(506) 633-4870

September 7 - October 27, 2012

-SOLD