The Naked Silo

Ted Maczka 17" x 14", ink on Bristol board, 2019, private collection. This was a commission done as a house-warming gift and was based on my oil painting of Ted Maczka  (below), Prince Edward County's famous Fish Lake Garlic Man. The commissioner was aware that the recipient knew Ted well and missed him (Ted died in 2013), so I was more than happy to paint this one. Ted Maczka 36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011, collection of the County of Prince Edward Public Library and Archives

18" x 14", oil on canvas Here's a nice portrait of the beautiful chicken  on John Della Bosca's shoulder in my portrait  of him and his wife, Geri. When visiting a selection of farmers in Prince Edward County for my Field to Canvas series, I shot a lot of photo reference for use back in my studio. Along with the obvious shots of the people, I took a few pictures of their farms and some livestock in case I needed to incorporate them into their portraits, or, as above and with my recent cow paintings ( here , here , and here ), for use as reference for separate paintings altogether. Detail. There's another painting of winter chickens on the way, and you can see it in its early stage below. Early stage with orange acrylic ground: Top canvas is John Della Bosca's chicken. Bottom canvas is three of John Nyman 's chickens.

16" x 20", oil on canvas, private collection While shooting reference photos of the farmers for my Field to Canvas series, I also took a lot of pictures of their farms and, those that had any, their livestock, planning to paint some of them later. The cows in this painting belong to Blaine Way , a third-generation farmer in Prince Edward County , who also raises pork and ducks. Tight pencils. After tightening the pencils I decided to keep going and fill in some values in the cows (stay tuned for the other two). I left the big areas in this one clear, but had some fun rendering the faces, legs, and and some of the background. Not entirely necessary, but fun. Also a little different. Instead of starting with my usual olive green blocking-in of darks, I went with raw umber in this one because I wanted to browns to be as rich as possible and olive green would've given the cows an oddness.

28" x 22", oil on canvas, 2011 After spending a few months at the beginning of 2011 painting 12 portraits of 16 local Prince Edward County farmers for my Field to Canvas series, I thought it'd be fun to close out the year with a portrait of myself --also since I reached a milestone of sorts in October (that is, turning 40). I sketched a bunch of different ideas of how to portray myself at this stage in my life and in my artistic career, but I decided to dispense with all the cutesy symbolism and iconography and bullshit and went for the most honest, unadorned portrayal possible. I had Krista take a picture of me just a couple of weeks after my birthday, shirtless and without my glasses, using the available light of our dining room window (with a big, blank canvas for some bounce on my opposite side). I played with the levels a bit in Photoshop to provide some more contrast, but pretty much painted what was there in the photo: wrinkles, squinty light-sensitive ey...

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011,  private collection For more information about George, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

24" x 36", oil on canvas, 2011,  private collection For more information about Lukas, Back 40 Veg, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011, collection of the County of Prince Edward Public Library and Archives * For more information about Ted, as well as details of this painting,  click here . *Brief story here at CountyLive .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011,  private collection For more information about Lino, Bethel Organics, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011 For more information about Erika, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

24" x 36", oil on canvas, 2011, private collection For more information about Tim & Vicki, Vickis Veggies, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011 For more information about John and his farm, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011, private collection For more information about Cody, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011, private collection For more information about Blaine, as well as details of this painting,  click here .

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2011 Now that my Field to Canvas show at Angéline' s is over, I'll be posting full views of my farmer portraits –but this time in reverse alphabetical order. For more information about Bay and Gavin, Honey Pie Hives and Herbals, as well as details of this painting, click here .

Reception: June 2, 5-9pm Exhibition runs through 2011 at Angéline's Restaurant & Inn 433 Main St., Bloomfield, Prince Edward County, ON 613.393.3301 Top photo:  agent provocateur. Bottom photo: "I hope there's no math tonight!" Me and Krista in front of George Emlaw's portrait. (this photo by Pat Hyduk (the rest are by Krista). More of Pat's photos from the reception can be found on Facebook HERE ) George Emlaw and  George Emlaw and me.  I heard he was so pleased with his portrait that he hovered near it the whole time he was there, almost...protectively? Everyone was saying how significant the addition of his farm at the bottom is; the farm is going by the wayside, and George is kind of sad about that. There's still another month or so until we hear if this painting gets in the Kingston Prize for Canadian Portraiture exhibition. Small sampling of large crowd. The turnout Thursday evening was simply ...

Bay Woodyard Gavin North Bay and Gavin run  Honey Pie Hives and Herbals  and their products can be found in shops from Ottawa to Toronto and, of course, throughout Prince Edward County. For about ten years they've been making soap, teas, candles, lotions, etc., but they're probably most famous for their unpasteurized honey, and it was this aspect that I chose to feature in their portrait. The idea I came up with to tie in their honey production was to superimpose a hexagonal (i.e. honeycomb) pattern on the painting and then make subtle colour shifts to differentiate the cells (see below). This got tricky when it came time to paint the grass and trees because of all the complex details. I shot the couple in various locations (starting with inside their straw bale house, then moving outdoors), but this painting is based on a photo taken when we approached a group of bee boxes to see what the honey bees were up to. They're mostly dormant in the winter, but a ...

Blaine's happy smile here comes from having to steadily hold onto a piglet while I took pictures...and I'm very glad for it, as it really shows his good-natured character. We got lucky with some sunshine for a few minutes, but, as you can see from the close-up details below, it's mid-winter and Blaine is out there, tending to the animals (with his son, too). Again, what I initially was worried would become a sameness in my paintings (photographing the farmers in winter) actually underscores the fact that farm work has to be done all year round, regardless of what we would consider uncomfortable working conditions. Winter farming isn't something that comes to mind when we think of pastoral farming scenes, so I'm happy to have depicted this aspect in a number of these portraits. Blaine has a variety of animals on his farm (cows and calves for beef, horses, wild boars, and muscovy ducks), but I was quite taken with these red-haired cuties, and he wa...

I met Cody in Angéline's parking lot on a snowy morning which gave me perhaps too much diffused light, softening everything and not giving me strong, contrasty shadows. When looking at the photos afterwards, I determined Cody's portrait would reflect this softness around the highlights on his face, but I'd add my own contrast in the form of a very dark background and slightly rough texture on the coveralls. This was the first portrait I completed for Field to Canvas and, I believe, set a strong precedent that I was onto something here. Cody was "born and raised farming," and his large family has a grand, well-known, and respected presence in the County, farming vegetables, sheep , cash crops, and their famous maple syrup. Follow this link , scroll down to the bottom, to read about their syrup (you'll see John Nyman on that page too!). Thick, luxurious hair. (plus negative space) Amazingly-fun-to-paint coveralls. Cody showed up dressed f...

John Nyman's been farming all his life (over 31 years now), but six on his own (but that doesn't mean by himself). Visit John's website for tons of great information. I visited John's farm in the dead of winter, and there he was, clearing snow, feeding the sheep and cows, tirelessly (and impressively, to me) just doing what needed to be done --and without complaint, I must add. That's another thing I found all my subjects had in common: although a few explained some of the frustrations and challenges facing farmers (versus the big agricultural corporations like Monasnto), they never complained to me about the actual work they needed to do (I've seen it; it's not easy work). These great folks are examples to everyone. This portrait allowed me to incorporate elements of John's farm, giving me the chance to try out different techniques and subject matter. Like in my portrait of Lukas Lister-Stevens , I wanted to use a shallow depth-of-field...