Cafe paintings

Here is a sneak peek at one of several new paintings for my upcoming shows on the mainland in the fall. Its been nice to revisit this work and try to beef up the series a little. The initial inspiration may have changed, but the spirit remains the same.

Thoughts about canoes

I was thinking about Peter Doig's painting (below) today because I was looking for imagery of Canadian vacation destinations.

Peter Doig, No Foreign Lands

There is something ominous about this image. The isolation of the figure, the ambiguity of the space, the barren bit of island in the background. I love the stillness, the silence. The only sounds would be the water rippling against the side of the canoe, and maybe the wind. I always thought it funny that the boat was so long, but perhaps the lone figure is actually the last survivor of the journey. That might explain the androgenous quality: long hair, beardy, emaciated, woman's dress? There are no paddles visible. The water almost seems like cement. The title makes me think of early explorers conquering and naming everything theirs eyes fell upon. But it also a bygone era and as Canadians, our heritage. I wonder what the equivalent will be when we start to colonize our nearby planets and star systems?

Edits

I make art to feel a connection to the world. The act of painting helps me to process how I feel about my sphere of daily life. Painting forces me to engage with the present, to be actively aware of the now: my feelings, thoughts, events. I also make art because I feel like there's a gap in the culture that I can fill with my paintings. This gap is found somewhere between photo-realism and gestural painting.
I am inspired by painters who paint the figure in a gestural and abstract fashion. I believe these kinds of paintings have the right kind of life and energy that I'm after in my own work, but I feel like there needs to be more of this kind of painting. I am unsatisfied with the state of the current visual landscape. In my opinion, it has become homogenized and devoid of genuine emotion. I am inspired to try and be a part of the remedy to this situation through painting.
My art signifies a response to the current monoply of the digital image on the visual landscape, a desire to break through the surface to a deeper understanding of what it is to see. My art prompts the viewer to do the same.
My art is specific to the current dialogue of contemporary painting because it combines the supposed binaries of representation and abstraction simultaneously. My art is distinctive because it uses traditional tools to create contemporary images and uses contemporary images to create traditional art objects.
The meaning in my art lies in inviting the viewer to participate in looking and deciphering the painting. My art is a challenge, puzzle, or visual riddle. My art extends the discussion of the relevance of painting started by Modernism, questioned by post-modernism, and its constant reevaluation in contemporary art dialogue.

Running Now

Running Now, 60" by 60", oil on canvas, 2016

Orbital

Artist statement in progress.
This latest series of paintings I'm working is very exciting for me, but I'm having trouble verbalizing what I'm doing with these. I hope to flesh it out.

why i make my art?
-I make art to feel a connection to the world. The act of painting or drawing helps me to process how I feel about my sphere of daily life.
-I make art because I feel like there's a gap in the culture that I can fill with my painting. This gap is found somewhere between photographs of people and gestural painting.
-I make art to test the limits of my perception of art. I often ask myself "Is this a painting?"
what inspires me to make it?
-I am inspired by painters who paint the figure in a gestural and abstract fashion. I believe these kinds of paintings have the right kind of life and energy that I'm after in my own work.
-I am unsatisfied with the state of the current visual landscape. I feel it is homogenized and devoid of feeling. I am inspired to try and remedy this situation with my paintings.
-I am inspired by the way colours and light interact.
what does my art signify or represent?
-My art signifies a response to the current monoply of the digital image on the visual landscape.
-My art represents what I think about the way that other people look like.
-My art represents my thoughts about contemporary painting.
what is unique or special about how I make my art?
-My art is unique because I combines representation and abstract simultaneously.
-My art is special because it uses traditional tools to create contemporary images.
-My art is special because it uses contemporary images to create a traditional art object.
what my art means to me?
-My art means a challenge to try and decipher it.
-My art means a trail  that I'm leaving myself to look back on. Each painting leads to another.
-My art means a break from the mundane. I feel in dialogue with all of history's past and future painters and makers of culture.

I guess this is more of a general statement. When I make a exhibition proposal, I could be  more specific? I'm still not quite sure how these things work or function.

Thinking about the tradition of portrait painting

A very brief sampling of paintings of people (western art tradition): portraits and self portraits

Raphael

Frank Aeurbach

Francis Bacon

Chuck Close

Gustave Courbet

Jacques Louis David

Edgar Degas

Kim Dorland

Edouard Manet

Lucian Freud

Thomas Gainsborough

Alberto Giacometti

Frida Kahlo

Gustav Klimt

Amedeo Modigliani

Leonardo Da Vinci

Pablo Picasso

Rembrandt

Andrew Salgado

John Singer Sargent

Jenny Saville

Elly Smallwood

Titian

Vincent Van Gogh

Andy Warhol

Kehinde Wiley