Drilling for the Big Payday

Early oil field workers in the 1940s working the famous Leduc oil field in Alberta.

This piece "Drilling for the Big Payday" is a Pen and Ink composition using a technique called Stippling or Pointillism. It measures 10 inches by 10 inches.

Solitude

A few miles east of Edmonton this old farm building and wooden grain bins has been painted by many artists including myself. Based on a picture I took a few years ago the building looks pretty good, however in reality it is beginning to collapse and will probably not survive another winter.

High Flyers #1

High Wide and Handsome

Flying high wide and handsome, these five are heading for some farmers field to feed on grain.
They have to prepare themselves for the thousands of miles they will travel into the southern states of the U.S.

The Promise of Warm Days

Even when it's 40 or 50 below there is always the promise of a warmer season when the sun arrives.

In the high Arctic North during the long winter months the sun does not appear, only darkness 24 hours a day. But when the sun does rise above the horizon, everyone knows that warm days are close at hand.

Even Inukshuks wait for the summer sun.

The Mysterious Arctic

You never know how a picture will look until it's finished. My advice when painting a difficult painting is to finish it. It may end up better than you thought. You can always do it again.

Eskimo Stroll at 50 Below

This particular painting was painted from a photo that was taken near Pele Bay which is near Hudson's Bay in the eastern Arctic. You can tell that this day is very cold because of the way the parkas are pulled tight around their faces. It was probably in the neighbourhood of 50 to 60 degrees below zero and that is without windchill added to the temperature.

This painting won first prize at the Allied Arts Council Open Art Competition in the Advanced Category 2008

Sundogs and Inukshuks

These huge rock piles are found in the arctic and are called Inukshuks. The original Inukshuks were put together by people who inhabited the northern Canadian arctic before the Inuit or Eskimo arrived. From what I have been told, for some unknown reason the original people suddenly left the Canadian north heading east toward Greenland. That said the Inuit have continued the tradition of building Inukshuks. One thing is certain, when your are alone on the land and hundreds of miles from the nearest community, seeing these stone people on a hill or on the horizon, makes the land seem less lonely.

Snow on the Battle River 11x 15

This particular barn overlooks the
Battle River. The car came from the private collection of Stanley G. Reynolds. The Reynolds Museum , a large collection of restored old cars/trucks/tractors and heavy equipment is in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

This picture, an 11"x 15" watercolour won the People's Choice Award at the 2008 Allied Art Council show in Alberta.

Night Flight

In the beginning there was water, then I added paint and thought to myself, "that's messy but fun, now 20 years later, with a lot of support from my wife, and some frustrating years, I have managed to produce quite a number of paintings , some good some not so good. Here are a few examples. If you have the time please check out my websiteto see more of my work go to
splashandpaint.com The web site is still under construction but will be open to the public soon

The painting of geese in flight was given as a wedding gift to some friends. As soon as I can I plan to do other Canadian geese paintings. Here in Alberta we seem to be overrun by these big birds but they do make a great painting.


The Pioneer grain elevator at Calmar Alberta. The elevator is now gone. The pheasant was flushed out by my Beagle who completely ignored it.