This huge triptych no longer exists. I don’t remember the title. This would have been in the late 90s. I recall I hung it on the wall behind the 89-109 complex to take advantage of outdoor light on an overcast day for photos. The building formed a U-shape with a parking lot out back. In this photo, the rail tracks are directly behind the wall, followed by Fort York, then the Gardener Expressway, and behind that, the old Molson plant, which, like this painting, no longer exists.

I used to carry storage space for my paintings, but after many years I found there was no market my old paintings and they had become an albatross to me. I destroyed this painting (and many others) in an effort to reduce my painting storage cost, because to not put too fine a point on it, I had to live,and I created far more paintings than I was able to sell. I just couldn’t stop myself from making more. I guess that’s the nature of a vocation like painting.

I remember that after the painting purge during which I destroyed this painting, I talked to someone at my day job about it. She was angry with me. “You can’t just destroy your paintings.” “Yes I can. I made them. I can destroy them.” “No, you have a responsibility to protect these creations.” And so I asked, “when was the last time you bought a work of art from a living Canadian artist?” Crickets. End of discussion.

We had managed to reduce our painting storage considerably, but we were still holding on to a storage space, when the storage people decided it was time to double our rent. We found homes for a good number of the paintings then left the storage space, determined to never again give one penny to those robber barons.

For now at least, I’ve brought enough paintings into the world. The last group of paintings I made was during the midst of the pandemic. I’ve been making mosaics with Sheila on a commission-only basis. As well, I’ve been making occasional books of collages, focusing on playing fiddle and recently, making videos for my YouTube channel, Rediscovering my Toronto. Along the way, I also wrote a graphic novel, which was beautifully illustrated by my friend Jacob Yerex. There are many ways to live a creative life.