The Naked Silo

  Carmen Trio I don't even remember how or why the idea came into my head, but some time at the end of January or early February I got the notion to do some drawings in graphite and record the sound of pencil on paper so that I could make ASMR videos. Here is the Wikipedia entry on ASMR (take it with however many grains of salt you usually require for that source): Autonomous sensory meridian response  ( ASMR ), sometimes  auto sensory meridian response , is a tingling sensation that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia ,  it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia   and may overlap with frisson . ASMR signifies the subjective experience of "low-grade euphoria" characterized by "a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin". It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli, and less commonly by in...

The Windless Kite 30" x 30", oil on wood panel, 2020 After completing our complete bathroom renovation last spring I knew I wanted to create a custom painting for the wall above my towel bar and 30" x 30" was the ideal size for that space.   I wanted to compose something warm and colourful and, while I was still deciding what the subject would be I hung Toro over the toilet, sort of establishing a colour palette for the room. Abandoned state. I started this painting soon after completing  The Red Balloon  but it stayed in this frozen state (turtle and kite largely finished) for months. After I finished  The Seed Gatherers , I took advantage of that solid momentum to resume work on this and finished about 95% in the remaining days of 2020, so I'm counting it as belonging to that year. Turtle detail. Flowers detail. In situ. This is how it looks in it's intended place in our bathroom, directly across from Toro , together combining to give the room some needed...

  The Seed Gatherers 28" x 18", oil on canvas, 2020 This painting was a commission by a woman who'd bought one of my bird paintings years ago and wanted a "companion piece" of sorts for her husband's birthday in early January. We discussed something bird-themed but not necessarily similar, since it wouldn't be hanging in the same room as the other. She told me he was fascinated by a blue jay that comes by their house so I mentioned that I had been photographing and recording video of the blue jays that gather to feed on the sunflower seeds in our flower bed each fall and that I had some really good footage this year. She liked that idea and I started sifting through my images, finding a moment in a video when four blue jays were on the flowers at the same time. I took a screen grab and moved a couple of birds so they would fit a composition in this vertical orientation and canvas size (made to order!). The treatment of the sunflowers was heavily inspired...