This is my third view of Third Beach, this time looking North across the crowded beach towards the shore and mountains of West Vancouver. I always like to include some local humanity in my paintings and this composition was very much an ode to Georges Seurat’s, ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande… Read more »
Artworks
My second take of my favourite Vancouver Beach, Third Beach, from the sunbather’s point of view. This early evening scene looks out over Burrard Inlet into the Straight of Georgia, the passage that runs between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
Third Beach, my favourite Vancouver beach, tucked away on the west side of Stanley Park. This view shows the stairs which lead down and across the seawall path to the beach from the parking, change rooms, and concessions area above. Beyond the beach is Burrard Inlet extending into the Straight of Georgia with the mountains… Read more »
Kitsilano (Kits) Pool is one of five outdoor swimming pools in Vancouver. It first opened in 1931, having been constructed at a cost of $50,000. At 137 meters (450 feet), it was, and may still be, the longest salt water pool in North America; almost three times the length of an Olympic pool. Originally, the… Read more »
I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting animals and like the idea of developing caricatures of them, exaggerating some of their features. Loud Crow is one image from a series of small animal gouache paintings from 2020.
The 500 block of Beatty Street, Vancouver, BC. I liked the stripped pattern made by the buildings and the trees and the feeling of being in a canyon. The buildings are (from left to right) the 1911 Duncan Building on Pender Street, the 1912 Sun Tower (originally named the World Building), the gold brick 1911… Read more »
Another scene from my 1990 East Hastings reference collection, this view looks east from West Hastings and prominently features the Save on Meats, four-storey building at 43 West Hastings. I’m not sure who originally owned the building, but it was built in 1891 and used to house Jones Tent and Awning. In the mid 1950’s,… Read more »
This is the third time I’ve painted this scene, each time is different. This time smaller, faster and starting from a black-primed canvas. Also it depicts a blustery spring day with a slight chop on the water, which I really enjoyed rendering.
San Francisco Pawnbrokers opened in 1908 and was a family owned and run fixture of West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC, for 99 years. The family sold the property to developers (Concord Pacific) in 2007. It was a good time to finally sell because the real estate market in the area had heated up in… Read more »
Pierre Paris was a new immigrant from the Basque region of France when he opened his first small shop on Main Street at 7th. He called it, The World Shoe Hospital. Business was good and he then bought and moved into the the building at 51 West Hastings in 1911. It had a bar in… Read more »
A Fall evening in Gastown, Vancouver, BC and a scene of life near the corner of Carall St and Powell St., looking south along Carall. From this viewpoint, if you turn your head to the left, you’d be looking at Gastown’s iconic Hotel Europe. It’s strange to find two convenience store side by side like… Read more »
After painting Vancouver scenes for over 30 years, I finally wanted to paint something that features our North Shore Mountains as a backdrop. This scene from the Granville Street Bridge, overlooks Granville Island with its bright yellow Bridges Restaurant building and includes the marina, the Burrard Street Bridge, the highrise apartment buildings of Vancouver’s West… Read more »
Located on Burrard Street, Facing West Hastings Street in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, The Marine Building was opened in 1930. With 22 floors, it was the tallest skyscraper in the city until 1939.
Flyby – 2016. Oil on canvas 12″ x 18″ Something a bit bizzare and sci-fi makes a great piece to try out oil paints once again. Hard to get used to after so many years working with acrylics, but I like oils and may do more portrait or even urbanscape work with them in the… Read more »
Ganville Street forms the heart of the entertainment district in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 1950’s it was world famous as a neon ‘Great White Way.’ Much of the old neon is now gone, but some of the original signs can still be seen. A recent renovation of the street for the 2010 Winter Olymics, installed… Read more »
East Hastings was the gateway to the Vancouver city core for those of us who grew up in the suburbs to the east (North Burnaby, in my case). This view is actually of the first two blocks of West Hastings. The dividing line between east and west is Carrall St, yet despite the misnomer, many… Read more »
The Mather House is a very familiar sight to all those who routinely drive south to South Burnaby—you can’t miss it nestled into Deer Lake Park as you’re coming off the south Kensington Ave freeway exits. This Romanesque Revival styled mansion, originally known as ‘Altnadene,’ was designed by architect Frank Macy and built for William… Read more »
A portraiture exploration with loose application, glazing, and exagerated colour temperatures with acrylics on canvas
“It’s not a rip-off, it’s a homage.” Painted for a local fundraising event. If you take a look you’ll see that it’s not a direct copy of Mona Lisa. It’s not her face, but I did loosely follow DaVinci’s composition, colouring, and hands. Nowhere, however, do I even come close to the amount of work… Read more »
St Marinella is a small sea side town located about 20 minutes by train north of Rome, Italy. This beautiful red villa faces the sea.
A view of life at Café Le Saint Severin in 2000. This café can still be found in the Latin Quarter of Paris at 2 Rue des Prêtres Saint-Séverin. It has since been renamed, 5 Saint Severin.
In 2000, Café Isle Saint Louis was one of the highly visible cafés on Ile St-Louis, which is generally considered to be the oldest part of Paris. It has since been renamed, Café Isle Saint Regis. People sitting here can still look across the Seine River to the second, larger island, Ile de la Cité… Read more »
Bridges restaurant and pub can be found on Granville Island in Vancouver. In my second year at Emily Carr College of Art and Design, the school moved to Granville Island and myself and other students would occasionally gather at the Bridges Pub.
Arranmore is an island off the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.
Arranmore is an island off the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.
I painted this piece in 1992 after a suggestion by a local art publisher. They never took the image on, but it did win an award at a local juried show. But there’s an ongoing mystery with this one—where is it? Around 2003, I loaned it out to the owner of a business that leased… Read more »
My second painting of the Point Atkinson lighthouse at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This one more atmospheric than others and I experimented with the colouring, especially the clouds. Still one of my favourite places to visit, every time is different.
The historic tugboat, S.S. Naramata, launched in 1914 and served Okanagan Lake, towing barges filled with fruit, produce, and other goods from the region’s orchards and farms to market, contributing significantly to the local economy. After 53 years of service, it was decommissioned in 1967. Its original owner sold the vessel and it passed through… Read more »
This 20′ high, stainless steel fountain sculpture was created by George Norris and installed in front of the Vancouver Museum/Planetarium in 1968. According to the artist, it represents the First Nations legend of the crab as the guardian of the harbour and was also the zodiac sign at the time of the Canadian Centennial. I’ve… Read more »
This piece was commisioned by the family that grew up in this house. I thought it was fascinating to detail the changes and additions that have occured over the years.
This is a quite a famous view of Vancouver City, looking across Coal Harbour from Stanley Park. My version of this scene is an early winter morning with a bit of fog still hanging around. The Island to the right is Deadman’s Island and the building is the HMS Discovery Navy Reserve.
Vancouver is famously known for its greenery and explosion of blossoms every spring. Especially the pink and white cherry blossoms. I referenced these from across the street from my 70’s home in Burnaby, BC.
Perhaps the piece I’m most widely known for … well, with tourists anyway. This image was published as an art card in 1991 and has been sold in Vancouver’s Gastown shops ever since. I used to own the beige Pontiac sedan seen on the street.
This Vancouver Gastown scene was also published as an art card in 1991, however my publisher took it out of print in 1995. I guess the tourists didn’t like this one as much as the Steam Clock image. Too bad, this was my favorite out of the two. In my first year at Emily Carr… Read more »
Queensbourgh is a small neighborhood found at the eastern tip of Lulu Island (Richmond), between the north and south arms of the Fraser River, 25 minutes south-east of Vancouver City.
Canada geese wandering through a late snow fall in Burnaby Lake Regional Park, Burnaby, British Columbia.
I spotted this country style house with porch in historic Rossland, British Columbia. Once famous for its Le Roi Mine gold mine, Rossland is now a ski town, famous for its Red Mountain Ski Resort.
Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver.
1116 Bute St, Vancouver. In 1990, when I painted this piece, I changed the address number on the house in this painting to anonymize it’s location out of respect for it’s owners, but it turns out I didn’t have to. It’s now a very well known Vancouver heritage site. According to Vancouver Heritage Foundation, as… Read more »
Souvlaki Place was the little greek place that overlooked Vancouver’s English Bay. Long since closed, my view is near sunset on a warm summer evening in 1989. The building is still there and is now part of Papi’s Seafood at Morton Ave and Denman St.
This old fishing warf is located on the south arm of the Fraser River in Steveston and is part of a series of Richmond/Steveston landscapes I painted in the late 80’s. While living in mountainous Vancouver, my fascination was with the flatness of the Richmond river delta. The striated clouds are a common feature of… Read more »
The Cannery is a set of buildings that can be found on the banks of the South Arm of the Fraser River in Steveston, BC, which is about 40 minutes south of Vancouver, Canada.
I named this piece before I knew anything about it. Back in the ’80’s, we didn’t have internet, and I just spotted and photographed this scene while exploring the districts along South Arm of Fraser River, starting in Steveston and driving east on Dyke Road. The area is roughly 40 minutes south of Downtown Vancouver,… Read more »
I’m a big movie fan and like seeing new films downtown Vancouver, often on Granville Street. The Cineplex Odeon, also know as the Granville 7, was the 2nd cineplex (multi-theater) to be built in the same block on Granville Street. It opened in the mid ’80’s and finally closed on November 4, 2012. I always… Read more »
This chateau can be found south-east of Paris, near the town of Amboise, although it may not look quite the same. I painted this years before travelling to France from library photos and took a lot of license with the scene.
A scene from Paris, France painted long before finally making it there. Pont Neuf translates to ‘new bridge’ and the portion above connects the Left Bank of the Seine River to the Ile de la Cité in Paris.
This piece was an art class project in my final year of highschool in 1979. It was based on a set of back and white photos I took that same year while in a CBC studio, watching a televised ‘Reach for the Top’ academic game show.