The Naked Silo

22" x 15", watercolour, 1998 Here'a Elaine once again, this time turning blue from the cold and with the water level rising like that, the tide better turn soon. Based on another photo from the extensive shoot for Squirm's "Cold" CD. The concept (and title) were inspired by "Waiting for the Tide" by Melanie Doane .

36" x 26", oil on canvas, 2007, private collection This was done as a commission a few years ago for a big hockey fan in Calgary. I like saturated red of the Red Wings uniforms, but I was actually more fascinated by the subtle colours of the ice and really enjoyed painting that part. The photo reference for this (as all my sports-related paintings) was stolen from the internet.

26" x 20", watercolour on Yupo, 2009

20" x 26", watercolour on Yupo, 2009 This is part of a series of watercolours I did showing off the dynamic, action-oriented style I developed for working on Yupo. Here are some other paintings in this group: Tackle , Wayne Gretzky , Albert Pujols , Michael Jordan , and Tiger Woods . I added the blood spatter to punch-up the impact of that punch.

22" x 15", watercolour, 1998 When I decided to make the sweater a flat black, I toyed with the idea of painting it with acrylics to get a consistent level of darkness, but I used watercolours instead because I don't like to mix too many media unless it's absolutely necessary (like using a bit of watercolour for contrast in my wine paintings , or using oil pastels for the word "mercy." in this painting). This is the same model in mad.  –which also features a word (but using charcoal in that painting) over watercolours.

30" x 36", oil on canvas Rummaging through my old photo reference, I've started developing a series that will take me to some subtly surreal places. New photos will be necessary, but I have literally hundreds of great shots I've taken over the years to choose from. This painting is the first of this new group –I have a few others standing by, eager to be painted– which will have a decidedly strong figurative element. Here's my friend and frequent model Ashley yet again,* this time superimposed against a statue of a lion I shot in Montreal many years ago. The addition of the lion tattoo (with crown!) during the early sketching/composition phase completes the painting and gives it a nice three-layer depth, visually and conceptually. Feel free to analyze/interpret it as you will; you'll get now answers from me. Tight pencils. I'm still not sure why I take this stage to such a developed level since it's not really necessary to fully ren...

40" x 30", oil on canvas, 2007 When looking for suitable backgrounds for the paintings around the Bay & King area in Toronto, I rode my bike behind the big black towers of the TD Centre and discovered a courtyard where cows were just laying around. Granted, they were bronze sculptures , but their presence was surreal and, naturally, I had to incorporate at least one of them. The CN Tower isn't visible from that vantage point, but I wanted to fill the negative space between the buildings and reinforce that this series is set in Toronto. Part of my  Meat Matters  series.