The Naked Silo

above: private collection above: private collection above: private collection above: private collection each: 14" x 17", ink on paper, 2006 Check out the first and last paintings in this series for my thoughts on these lovely TTC gems.

above: private collection above: private collection above: private collection each 14" x 17" ink on paper, 2006 The last two paintings in this group are exactly what they look like, i.e. three images on one page. I did this mainly to highlight the stark flat landscape, and felt it would be best to include two closeup views to maximize space.

above: private collection each 14" x 17" ink on paper, 2006 These are Albertan grain elevators based on my photos taken while on a road trip years ago with Krista and her sister, Caitlin. I don't think I'd seen these in real life before –and if I did, it was in Ontario when I was a young child. I love the way they stand proudly amid the flat landscape, and I tried to capture some of that contrast in a few paintings, while focusing on their fascinating and functional architectural design in others. The fact that they're very rare now, being replaced by less attractive structures, makes them all the more alluring to me.

16" x 20", oil on canvas, 2007, private collection Here's some more colour experimentation, playing around with lots of red, trying for a sort of hot Albertan sunset look. Or something. It's interesting, anyway. The buffalo in the picture are actually from a display at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump  museum just west of Lethbridge, AB. The museum was built on the site of an actual buffalo jump and is beautiful architecturally, being built into the ground, minimizing its visual impact. I shot the trio from directly underneath as that was most interesting and dramatic angle. *    *    * The   buffalo jump   was used for 5,500 years by the   indigenous peoples of the plains   to kill   buffalo   by driving them off the 11m high cliff. Before the late introduction of horses, the   Blackfoot   drove the buffalo from a grazing area in the   Porcupine Hills   about 3 km west of the site to the "drive lanes", li...

14" x 17", ink and acrylic on paper, 2008, private collection As in the portraits of my uncles in military uniforms, I thought it'd be appropriate to use a dash of colour by using red acrylic in this painting of cardinals in winter.

17" x 14", ink on paper, 2004 Following in line of fictional jabot-themed pin-up models, Pearl is actually the first only one to have her namesake (i.e. pearls) on her jabot (she's also the first only one that's nude). As mentioned in my previous post, I had actually planned to create a lerger series of paintings based on a trio of jabot pin-up models: Lacy , the brunette; Pearl, the blonde; and Scarlett, of course, a redhead...but that hasn't yet come to pass.

17" x 14", ink on paper, 2004, private collection As in my other pin-up of Lacy , her jabot here is not lacy. I had planned to do a larger series of these jabot-themed pin-ups where I would eventually feature actual lacy jabots on Lacy. Once again, that's Betty Page as Lacy. Preliminary sketch featuring flag motif.