It has been a very busy beginning to the summer with four outdoor art festivals in five weeks, but what great shows, and definitely worth attending if you have the chance next summer…starting with “The New Art Festival” in Ottawa June 11 & 12, where the weather was tricky but the crowds were great, Central Park in The Glebe is leafy and beautiful, the organizers kept everything running smoothly, and the quality of the artwork on exhibit was phenomenal!

The next weekend was Art Among the Ruins, a smaller outdoor exhibit in the most amazing location imaginable.  The ruins of an old stone mill and the waterfall and rapids of the Napanee River that once powered it serve as the centrepiece in eight acres of beautiful grounds.  Over 60 artists and artisans from this Eastern Ontario region were set up throughout the grounds, and around 3000 visitors strolled through in a single day.  Special “Thanks” to the Andersons for making this magical location available, and for being the most amazing hosts.

Two weeks later we were off to Montreal, to take part in the 17th Annual “Montreal en Arts” (formerly FIMA) where two hundred artists from across Canada exhibited their work in tents set up along St. Catherine Street from St. Hubert to Papineau.  What a crazy three days!  It was the start of the Montreal Jazz Festival, the long weekend and beginning of “tourist” season, and of course Montreal’s annual “Moving Day”.  We hiked a lot – from the art show to where our truck was parked, to the hotel, back to the truck, to the art show…and so on and so on…but as far as “urban” hiking goes, you can’t ask for a better spot to be – great pubs and restaurants, free nightly “Jazz Festival” concerts at Place Des Armes, and our daughter Laura, who lives there now, our guide for good eats and entertainment.

Here’s my exhibit of paintings on old slate roof tiles with partner and “roadie” Bryan in Montreal:

Less than a week later we were in Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall in downtown Toronto for the 55th annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition – the largest outdoor art exhibition in Canada.  Over 300 contemporary artists fill the square with a famous “white tent city”.  This is such a premier art event, and the organization and army of volunteers are superb!

So now my inventory is very low, and after a few days to rest up at the cottage, I will be heading back into the studio to start to work on material for a few events coming up in the fall.  I will have pieces on display at Frameworks in Kingston throughout the remainder of the summer, and will be taking part in “Art After Dark” at Frameworks in September (dates to be announced).  I will also be having an open studio weekend in October (again, watch for dates), and following that will be preparing for a four month solo exhibition at the Chamber Gallery in Almonte to commence in December.  In the meantime, I will be posting new works on my website as they are completed, and if you are in the Kingston area and curious about what I am working on, or just want to drop in for a visit, please drop me a line.

Thanks for all your interest and support.

I have always been fascinated by trees in the visual landscape, and they play a very important role in my compositions as secondary framing and massing elements that crown and enclose an architectural apex, or soften the solidity of architectural structures, and reinforce a determination of “setting”.  All of this aside, I just love trees.  I love the profile of a spreading white oak against a summer sky, the Romantic shape of a black locust that looks like it belongs in a Caspar David Friedrich painting, the gnarled bole of an old sugar maple, and the intriguing twisted limbs of old apple trees.

We live in a heavily wooded area that was once an old farm site, and the remnants of an orchard still dot the property.  The old chap that served as my model for this painting isn’t far from my studio.