✂️✂️✂️ cutting up months of work. Oil on linen. • People always ask how they are cut. Answer: a razor knife and a straight edge. Constantly replacing the blades after 1-3 strips. One painting goes through way too many blades. I have a bucket of snapped dull blades I’ll have to one day do something fun with 🤔.

🎨 oil on linen.

Though currently without a title, this has to be my favourite piece I’ve created to date. Seldom do I even like my own work, so this is a bit of milestone. I was focused less on technical proficiency and more on the emotive nature of the piece. I had a very specific feeling and notion I was trying to convey (why it’s proving difficult to find a suitable title). I worked with a very limited palette of only Vandyke brown, Raw Umber, and Warm white (and the tiniest drop of Payne’s grey for the very slight veining in the chest, thigh, arms and neck). No black was used and yet the result has a richness and depth due to the lighting and contrast of the piece. I alternated painting techniques of alla prima and dry brush with the three colours to alter how the tone resonates, which gives a convincing illusion of flesh tone while still maintaining a neutral desaturated palette. A fashioned a custom support to wrap the canvas around and had to preplan my extra draped canvas. The pull of the canvas mirrors the pull of the torso- as if the external force is shaping the subject. This is where the narrative lies- but before I divulge the intention of the work, I know there’s a bit of a rend as to whether an artist should explain their art or not. So two questions- 1- would you like me to explain the intention of this painting? Or do you prefer to imbue your own meaning? And 2- looking at it, what is the narrative you take away from it? (Curious if it aligns with the intended meaning). • Oil on canvas. Suspended from iron and wire. True to scale/life size subject. *Available* dm or email for acquisition inquiries.

‘Roma’ oil and acrylic on clear gessoed linen. Heading out to @laartshow with @abendgallery Feb 15th.

Oil on custom sliding wood slat support. Portrait of the talented musician Dallas Green, created for the album art of his latest @cityandcolour_official album #thelovestillheldmenear • It was an absolute honour to be able to work alongside my favourite contemporary musician to create the artwork for this album. Those who know me, know I have been listening to Dal’s music since I was a teen. I play his music EVERY SINGLE TIME I paint. I own every album. And know every song, line by line. So you can imagine it was the most surreal experience to be painting a portrait of the musician I listen to while painting, while listening to the album I was painting the artwork for. Dal’s music has been there through the worst and best times of my life. I’ve loved every song on every album, and his latest TLSHMN is no exception! If you don’t know of this Canadian treasure, do yourself a favour and go creep his tunes. And if you like what you hear there’s a link in the @cityandcolour_official bio that brings you to a presave of this new album coming out.

this is 35 🖤

Finished this piece. A somewhat sculptural painting in stone of a stone statue fragment. One of the more technically difficult pieces I’ve created- I had a tremendous amount of fun with this one. I’ve been experimenting with the materiality of various hard materials- traditionally used for building, and seeing how they can be utilized in conjunction w/ “softer” fine art mediums. Combining media you would not traditionally see together- bridging the divide between the severe and the soft… traditional fine art materials and construction materials…. The organic and the synthetic… Using these material where their polarity is harmonized in a way that looks as though it’s always been. ‘Les Pieds’ Mortar, limestone, select aggregates and pigments, oils and acrylic, on synthetic polymer.

A piece between pieces. Mortar, limestone, select aggregates, pigment, on synthetic polymer. 🔴

A bajillion hairs later- and she’s finally done! PanPastel on paper with leather reins. It will be mounted in a custom frame that will allow the reins to still attach and blend into the paper. • I’ve received a number of inquiries regarding this piece- it was a commission and so it is already spoken for/not available to purchase, and will not be available to view in person at exhibition, I’m afraid.

Self portrait with bedhead. Photographed in the St. Isidore studio, Halloween 2022. #mopdocumentation • • • Shot with #sonya7ii w/ remote app

Rubbish photo of this commission in progress. (Can’t reach the ears and keep forgetting to bring a stool in, so a bit odd of a progress snap)

I’ve been staring at this piece for a week wondering if I’m finished. I thought I was…but when I look at it, there’s this bellowing voice that says “obscure it”. It seems to… perfect(ly imperfect)? Too clear? Too crispy? Too contrasted? Too dynamic? Too intense? I don’t quite know. The lighting is dramatic, and it certainly creates a specific mood and pulls your attention… and normally I’m all for that drama and intense value range… but I’m really wanting to do some dirty glaze layers over it and push it back some. Make it look…. Older? Less precious? More… modest? Like a whisper, less a shout. A dusty forgotten relic, less beloved art piece. Does this make sense? If you follow, please share your thoughts… it helps to have a sound board. I’ve been staring at this piece for too many days with this hovering uncertainty that it’s become this echoey feedback loop. Haaalp!