Rooflines in Oaklands

"Rooflines in Oaklands" 18 X 24"
I might rename this one, since "Oaklands" is a somewhat arbitrary designation, basically the strip of neighbourhood between Hillside and Bay, Cook and Shelbourne Streets. Upper Fernwood, if you like. The houses are smaller, less ornate, and 30-40 years newer in some spots--small, interwar houses, unpretentious, homey, contented.

I've lived in this neighbourhood since I moved here 4 years ago, and walked and cycled these streets many times. I guess I feel at home here--it's where I live. The sky has an almost prairie-wide feel to it, tucking right into the trees and snugging down behind the houses. The chimney styles are incredibly diverse and interesting--it's the little details which have slowly taken ahold of my imagination. Friend (and fellow artist) Paul sez I should do a coffee table book on local chimney styles! Hmm. (Scratches stubble.) Maybe I could get some sorta grant to document chimneys in paint....?

I'm fascinated by the interface of earth and sky, the way the light of the sky bleeds around objects, bending contours. the way the blue of the sky pours itself into the shadows. I believe one of the functions of art is to make people stop and look at things they might not notice otherwise.

My gesso,
My last call,
My life is yours, in your gifted hands.
Confetti rainfall and the quite streets,
The beauty is in what you make it,
So get up on your feet,
Because tonight the world turned in me,
Because tonight I don't dare breath.
Oh babe I know, it's alive, and somewhere for us to find tonight,
Chase this light with me.
--Jimmy Eat World.
(Burrowing itself into my head every time I walk or ride through Fernwood, and no-one to sing it to, even though I can hit most of the notes.)

I'm desparately trying to finish a painting of a big Italianate heritage house in Fernwood proper, but it is slow going. I'm a little out of my depth on it and it is a bit out of character for me generally. I know by now not to throw paintings such as that one away so quickly. I'll give it some more time and post it here if it turns out at all.

I'm on a cityscape kick, and will probably be sticking with it for a bit.

Increase the Peace,
Nicholas

"Fernwood & Around" by Al Williams

Y'all come out to Uncle Al's show, y'hear?

I've really come to appreciate Al's art over the few months I've known him. I would describe his work as clean, fresh, hard-edged and linear. His sense of composition, structure and balance is impeccable, which I deeply admire. He's a contemporary West Coast Artist, and a cool guy to hang out with, too.

Opening this Friday, 7:00 pm at Collective Works, 1311 Gladstone.

You can check his website here.

Iconography!

I just can't resist posting this, it being Sunday and all:


"We are the Knights of the Lost Queen, Companions to the Beloved: She of red egg and alabaster jar. The Alchemists and Kabalists, the Witches and Magicians are of us. We are the keepers of a Flame far older than the world and we seek it out where we may find it, and breathe it to life with our wit, our humility, our art, and our joy."
- Anthem of the Exiled Princes

"Yet among the mature we do speak of Sophia, though it is not the Sophia of this Aeon or of the Archons, who are doomed to perish. But we speak of the Holy Sophia, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the Aeons for our glory. None of the Archons understood this."
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

I wish the above image better reflected the gravity of those words. But that is the way it came out. Was cleaning up the studio/ office/ flat the other day and came across this old project, started many months ago. A cute girl I used to know modelled for it. It came out kinda Japanese-looking face, and as solid as a matryoshka doll. Not very Byzantine, anyway ;) It's all good. So, gonna get me a big old gnarly gilt frame for this one and hang it in the hall.