For me painting is an extension of the drawing process. The artists from whom I have learned the most have generally been painters, John Singer Sargent foremost among them. The ability to create three dimensional forms in a two dimensional medium, to draw the viewer into a living world of depth and substance with only the use of light and colour, is the hallmark of a great painter. Oils, more than any other paint medium, have an sensuous, almost tactile ability to project form and light. Painting is the ability to place what you value most into the mind of a viewer. It is as close to invoking magic as we can come.

Private Address
8" by 10", oil on board.
This small painting depicts a spot in Algonquin Park, in Ontario's mid-northern bush. The bole of this beech created a small cavern, over which some inconsiderate hiker had inscribed his mark. It looked for all the world like a tiny apartment. The Eastern chipmunks are abundant there, and one vocal resident appeared to vociferously defend his small abode. SOLD

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Rock and a Hard Place
8" by 10", oil on board.
Autumn in Algonquin Park is magical. It is almost impossible to convincingly depict the glow that permiates the bush at this time of year, without the scene appearing artificial. These great boulders, the detritus of the ice age scattered like marbles along Lookout Trail, required something to provide perspective, and the antics of delicate red fox seemed an ideal counter to the massive rocks SOLD

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Mossfall
8" by 10", oil on board.
Also located along Lookout Trail, Algonquin Park, this painting shows the dry course of a small spring waterfall. The stream's mossy bed has been groomed to the water's direction, like crushed velvet. Deer mice are active in the soft underbrush, which provides them protection from predators such as the pine marten. SOLD

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Grey Ghosts
8" by 10", oil on board.
Algonquin Park is home to a population of wolves that may be an endangered remnant of a separate subspecies of the red wolf. I've heard them often; they're nightly songfests have become a feature of the park. However, I've seen them only once. They
appeared so quietly, and vanished so quickly, I almost wasn't sure they had actually been there at all. SOLD

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The Blue Rock
8" by 10", oil on board.
When I spotted this boulder, not that far from the Algonquin Park Visitor's Center, it was it's cerulean blue colour that caught my attention. A closer look showed that it was actually a fine, blue-green lichen over the rock's entire surface, contrasting with a
cap of red-green moss. A pair of properly stone grey juncos enlived the scene. SOLD

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Peck Lake, Algonquin Park
12" by 9", oil on board.
This tiny, pretty lake is barely a twenty minute walk from Highway 60, which cuts through the southern handle of the park. Too small to canoe, its circumference is easily walked. Fall and early spring are the best times to see it, when Toronto tourists have vacated the area. I've shown a north-easterly view, with the late afternoon sun lighting up a single firebush on the rocky shore. SOLD

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Kortwright Conservation
9" by 12", oil on board.
The Kortwright Conservation area is a gorgeous preserve of hardwood forest and marshland barely a stone's throw north of Toronto. It's mable syrup festival and pancake breakfast in the spring are well known, but it's extensive walking paths, birdlife and nature museum make it well worth visiting at any time of year. SOLD

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Nicky
27" by 16", oil on masonite.
Shepherd dogs are boundary patrollers, constantly running the borders of unfenced grazes. This German bred stockdog in New York state tends his flock of 300 head of purebred Texel sheep without direction, keeping the flock together, preventing strays from trespassing into neighbouring properties, and escorting
them across roadways and bridges.
SOLD

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Rose Breasted Grosbeak & Magnolia
4” by 5”, oil on panel.
I’ve always been fascinated by miniature
painting, and decided to give it a try. It is
no less demanding than conventional
painting, but the results are quite intriguing.
The finished paintings are the size they
appear here.