With most galleries closed and exhibitions cancelled this year, I took the opportunity to play -- mark making, texture and colour mostly. It has been fun and a real learning experience for me so something positive coming out of this. Wishing you all peace, prosperity and above all good health for 2021!
Growing up in the 50s in Central Alberta our entertainment was one local cinema and two local radio stations. Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and country music were our influences. Once a year we were off to the Stettler Stampede where we watched ‘real’ cowboys at work. This was as close to the Wild West that we would get, and we loved to emulate our heroes.
Summer was a time to gather with friends and family on the shores of nearby Buffalo Lake. Picnics and barbeques were a highlight as they were rare occurrences. I took my first swimming lessons at the lake, but it was so shallow it was impossible to tread water. However, it was still fun to splash in on a hot summer day and, though I may not look happy here, these were indeed, Halcyon Days.
30" x 40"
acrylic/oil on canvas
$2200
My grandfather emigrated from Norway in his early 20s and eventually settled on a small hardscrabble farm in the Great Bend district. The land was hilly and not great farmland but could support a cow or two and pigs. Most of the small farms were mixed – some grain, some animals, a large vegetable garden, etc. Money was always scarce so the food you had was what you raised or foraged. It was a hard life but rewarding in many ways.
30" x 24"
acrylic/oil on canvas
$1500
Dad was very proud of his Aberdeen Angus calves and passed that on to his children at a very early age. Every year his herd grew as did his reputation for quality beef and breeding stock. His calves were always in demand at auction and fetched good prices. However, it was still very difficult in the fall when they were loaded up in the truck to head for new homes or dinner plates.
30" x 40"
acrylic/oil on canvas
$2200
I grew up near Buffalo Lake and a thin stretch of water called, appropriately, The Narrows. This was prime fishing territory and I caught my first fish there at the age of seven or eight. I had a homemade fishing pole and when I caught something, I had to run up the bank to drag my catch out of the water. Fortunately, the fish I caught were never this size. These are suckers and bottom feeders and not that good to eat, even our dog was unimpressed.
24" x 20"
acrylic/oil on canvas
$950
