Fortunately, these days I paint with oils – impasto paint built up over time in layers. I say fortunately because I stopped painting for my upcoming exhibition early in the year to allow for plenty of drying time – meaning my exhibition was ready to go well before I messed up my ankle! I’m also very fortunate to have some great friends who have taken care of putting on the hanging hardware and delivering the paintings to the gallery – Stan and Scott, thanks so much for your help!

Once again I’m showing at Yumart, which is located at 101 Spadina, just below Adelaide, east side, second floor (here in Toronto for readers from elsewhere). The opening reception is Saturday afternoon, April 11, 2:00 to 5:00. I’ll be there, keeping my broken ankle safely out of harm’s way. If you have a chance, stop by and say hi.

Whiskey Before Breakfast

The exhibition is called Ways of the World. Since my last show in May of 2014, I created a new series of 16 smallish paintings. I painted these while listening to a steady diet of fiddle and banjo tunes, and in fact the title of the exhibition and the titles of several of the paintings come directly from the Old Time music tradition (as some of you know, I’ve been immersing myself in this music in an effort to learn to play clawhammer banjo). It shouldn’t be surprising then, that some of these paintings are light-hearted, rollicking and joyful, while others are darker and melancholy.

Throughout, I worked on several paintings at once in my little basement studio. At different times I removed some and added others to the mix allowing the ideas in various paintings to inform one another in all kinds of ways. All these works were painted in sessions several days to a week apart. As usual, they’re all improvisational. I don’t make any drawings or plans for these things – drawing is painting is thinking.