THISBE RETURNS!

30 x 40
Currently doing one of my favorite pieces, Thisbe. The original piece I did, as seen above in my header, was only 18 x 24. The current version is much larger. Pyramis may yet come as well.

The interesting note is when I walked into my living room this morning, the light from the sunrise was casting light and shadows through the window and plant behind the easel. See below.
I really like the effect and may try to some how incorporate into the piece. Not sure just yet.

On the Easel

2 feet by 4 feet
oil on canvas

I have been working on a few pieces lately that are going to take some time to complete. I needed to take some time out from them and get something out of my system, hence this piece.

A new Dragon Fly

20 x 30 SOLD
First painting done in my new place.

Often life comes to this

Pedastal 12 x 36, oil on textured canvas.


Life can be very cyclical. Within those cycles you can choose to spiral inward or spiral outward. I'm choosing outward at the moment, even though this piece depicts inward. I painted it at a turning point. The funny thing is, I have worked on this image before. Originally it was a pen and ink sketch, then pen and pencil crayon on hardboard, transposed to a raw, un-stretched canvas and even painted on wood.
The latest installment of the piece is on textured canvas, done on a solo evening on Mayne Island. I like it very much. Its actually got me thinking it should be done as a large sculpture one day.
This is an image I tend to come back too and work on after some hard choices in my life. As the work grows from previous renderings, so do my reactions to what has happened in life. My sorrow, anger and despair goes into the work so I can move past it. This is healing. I doubt that my cycles are even close to being done with this imagery, but for now I can move outward.

Old Business

2' x 4', oil on canvas
'upon leaving'
This piece was done on the last evening in my old Fernwood apartment. It needed a few finishing touches before I could deem it completed, which it now is.

ah that drippy effect

20x30, oil on canvas
I'm hoping to get back to a painting a week. This is the latest addition to the corkscrew series. I think I'll be focusing on building up this particular series for a bit, but you just never know.

Hot off the easel

SOLD
No sense building a nice deck if one can't paint out on it, so that's how I spent my day Sunday, out in the sun, listening to the water gently fall into the pond and painting.

Its not all painting

I love to build things as well. Recently Donna and I built a deck in the backyard, complete with a pond and waterfall with fish. The deck is 80% recycled materials and extra wood cut-offs from my various jobs. We call it our "Soul Renovation Station". So far its living up to the name. ADDENDUM: it was good well it lasted. I have since moved out, as a life with Donna is no more. She has a great deck now though.

Spring Comes Back!

NUBILE SPRING GRASP I and II
24 x 48
oil on canvas

Too paint a tree I need to find one with character. This year during blossom time, I went out and took alot of pictures of trees. Funny enough, this one grows right across the street from my front window. I love the appearance it has of a hand reaching out of the ground, while its bark seems to be made up of nubile bodies all thrown together.

ANATOMY AND ANIMATION SERIES

Walk Cycles after Preston Blaire SOLD
I taught 3D animation for 5 years. A job I can really look back on with some pleasure as I believe I learned more from my students than I think they did from me. They may beg to differ on that.
I did try to keep my art and animation separate for some time, but the two were so linked that they soon became entwined. Here are some samples of that period:

Ode Davinci Human Nature SOLD
Hand Rig Sold
Human Mechanics SOLD

Foot and Leg SOLD Rigging SOLD Armature and Rig

Human Mechanics in RedSpine

Running The Red

8' x 5'
oil on canvas
1998
Running the Red is the largest work I have ever done. This piece took me 9 months to create and has rarely been seen outside my studio as it does not fit into my vehicle. I would love to find a nice home for it. If you have a large amount of wall space this could be the piece for you. Due to its size I am unable to ship this one.

VCON 2010

VCON: Vancouver's Convention of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Space has been made for me at the 35th VCON in Vancouver.
I will have a panel of original Steam Punk goggles at the exhibit and another panel of paintings. I'll get some pics of the fun and post them when its all done. For now, I have goggles to make before I sleep...

Old School

Hand Auger 12 x 24
I do not paint everyday, nor do I look too my survival to do so. I actually punish my hands daily in the construction world, come home dirty and perhaps a little bloody from an errant old rusty nail. I'm calloused all over, have deep brown arms and legs as white as the driven snow.
I love to work with my hands and have that sense of accomplishment of making something concretely tangible at the end of the day. Just being out in the elements with some tools and wood, you know, building stuff.
When I look at many of the antique tools I have from my grandfather and other sources, I gain a whole new respect for how things used to be done. And things were done Old School, by hand, with tools crafted for the purpose. These tools are a work of art themselves. After recently re-fabricating a heritage fence and having to do mortise and tenon joints through a 4x4 post by hand, I could only imagine how half the stuff we view as beautiful today was made by the master craftsmen of yesterday.
I want to celebrate that, so look for more works along these lines in the near future. Just my way of giving back to the school I feel I belong too, the Old School.

Picking up the brush again!!! Finally!

Seems like it has been forever since I really picked up a paint brush. After a 5 month stint working in Vancouver and living on leaky boats through all kinds of weather, coming back to Victoria to go straight into rennovations, well it was damn well time!

Fernwood UN-artstroll 2010

WOW! What a weekend, I believe I must have met about 300 new people by just opening my door again this year. Thank you all for coming by, sharing a bit of yourselves and seeing a bit of me. Truely another wonderful experience for myself, I hope it was for you as well. We all had a laugh and shared some of what precious time we have because you had the courage to walk through a door you had not been through, so huzzah for you! I look forward to our next meeting. My life is richer for our first.

Lifting a Heavy Heart

Lifting A Heavy Heart
Private Collection

I did this piece a few years back after my father had yet another heart attack.
He is doing fine these days. The painting sold to raise funds for the Victoria Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Cherub with Bow

Cherub with Bow
Private Collection.

Apple Corer

Apple Corer, peeler,slicer.
30 x 40 SOLD
oil on canvas
I collect antique tools and implements. I especially enjoy devices with clamps and cranks. This piece is one of many from my collection and came down to me from my grandparents (for those who have read my "Few Words", yes, from old George). The actual piece is still 100% functional and a pleasure to use. Such history and ingenuity in what once was an everyday, mundane device.
The creation of this work has spurned me into starting a series of the crank handle pieces I own, look for more too come soon.

Sea Dragon

Sea Dragon (sold)
I actually never knew these lovely little creatures existed until a friend suggested I paint one.
They truely are amazing, I may have to do a few more as their variety is truly stunning.

Tools Of Baccus: the Solomon Series con't

This set of 4 paintings has been much fun to create and may have involved some wine for inspiration. Each piece measures 4 feet by 3.5 feet and is based on antique corscrews.
from left to right: Spring Screw,Levered Screw, Double Lever Screw, Double Helix Screw.

!!!UPDATE ON THE JAZZ SERIES!!!

Too let everyone know: The original collector of the Jazz Series has informed me that due to these troubled times and with deepest regret at their possible loss, he wishes the series to be posted for sale.
If you are interested in this series for pricing and availiabilty please contact me at:
ivesart@hotmail.com
to view the series: http://ivesart.blogspot.com/2009/05/jazz-series.html

works for the Solomon Series

Currently I'm working on a series of pieces for Solomons cocktail lounge restaurant. Here are a few samples:

SISYPHUS RESPITE

24 x 48, oil on canvas, SOLD
I worked on this piece off and on for over a year.

GOD (after Michelangelo)

sold

Mortality and My Tooth

SOLD18 x 24 oil over acrylic on canvas, 2008.
This piece stems from a re-occurring nightmare I had as a child where-in I discovered ones mortality through the lose of a tooth, the degeneration of the body. I painted this after a dental visit where I needed a tooth pulled.

MASKS

30 x 40, oil on canvas, 2008, (SOLD)
Everyone wears a different mask at times. I had spent 16 years in theatre with great friends, this is dedicated to them.

MAN AND MECHANICS

SOLD
30 x 40
oil on canvas, 2008
available

THE RED SERIES

I did this series back in 2001 through to 2005, it turned out to be quite popular. Only 4 pieces remain in my collection. Erapture, 24 x 36, oil (the genesis of the series)available
GREEKS, TROJAN WOMEN, ROMANS, 18 x 36 available
MORGAN, CLEO - fire dancing friends of mine-sold
WOMAN, HOLE, ENTWINED-sold