Fancy Puffin finale

This little fellow is finished (though I’m debating adding some colour to his tie). I originally planned to have a lot less colour (like in the Grand Puffins piece) but I’m happy with the way he turned out: he still has the flavour of an antique photo which was the goal. Much more detail in this one as well. I’ll repost the underpainting below so you can see his humble beginnings.

Fancy Puffin
Oil on canvas
18" x 24"

12

Fancy prints of fancy puffins

I picked up a few canvas reproductions of the Grand Puffins today from Newfoundland Canvas and they look fantastic (if I do say so myself). I’ll be donating one to a silent auction fundraiser for Memorial University Athletics and the other I’ll be bringing to Some Good Market in Makinsons on Saturday. Also joining the puffins will be some new copper embossed pieces which got their final coat of varnish today (see below). Not joining me at market is Willow (bottom pic). She was doing some serious lounging by the patio door today.

Market wares

As a part of my application to the St. John’s Farmers Market, I had to submit photos of my products as they have a juried process. So I thought I’d pop them up here as well. I didn’t have any good display shots from other markets this year so did a little market re-enactment in the dining room this morning.

And speaking of which, I’ll be at Some Good Market in Makinsons, Newfoundland, this Saturday, 10am-4pm. Drop out for a visit and pick up your last minute Mother’s Day gift!

Fancy puffin

Started a new puffin painting on the weekend. He’s still at the underpainting stage but he’s got potential.

Copper pipes

My much anticipated shipment of metal arrived this week and I’ve been manically tooling copper for the last few days. Along with the metal was a container of Liver of Sulphur, a disgusting sounding but effective substance for adding patina to copper which I’m testing out today.

Above is one of the pieces I’ve been working on this week.

Rolling Waves, poured acrylic triptych

Finished off "Rolling Waves" this week with a nice satin varnish. Pleased with the outcome and very happy that I have a substantial piece for the big empty wall in our TV room (see top pic). Posting this in my Etsy shop shortly if you’re interested in making it your own.

Rolling Waves

Poured acrylic on gallery canvas

(3) 24"x24" 

Spanish Rooster embossed aluminum

I had a request for a rooster embossed can and this is what I came up with. Love the colour. Had to add a little dark alcohol ink to the background to give him some contrast.

Rolling waves abstract

Working on this tonight. Taking a pregnant pause during the process to see if I’m done, if I’ve made something good and interesting or if I just wasted a lot of paint. The one thing I know for sure is that I’ve made a big mess in the basement and the cats are quite determined to get on that plastic.

Rolling waves triptych
3 (24”x24”) gallery canvases
poured acrylic

Can’t fire the pollsters

My cartoon for the April Northeast Avalon Times... pick one up if you’re in the area!

Arthur the Stout Cod

New design I’m working on for this weekend’s Some Good Market (Canon Wood Hall) this coming Saturday (10am-4pm). I’ll have embossed bits and bobs, Arthur, linocuts and prints. 60+ vendors... should be quite a market... can’t wait! After this week I’ll add Arthur and a few more things to my Etsy shop.

Guinness can tree

As I mentioned, I ran out of pewter. Until the new shipment arrives, I’ve been fiddling with aluminum like this Guinness can. Might try doing one in the other direction with some of the original label showing in the background of the subject.

Rockstar tree

So I’m out of pewter and it'll be at least a week before I get more so I’ll be chewing through the recycling this week for my embossing projects. The tall cans, like the caffeine drink above, work best simply because they have a larger workable area than the smaller cans. (Makes sense, eh?)

The shape is different than the squares I’ve been doing which is fine... I need some variety. The aluminum is more difficult to work with than the pewter for these knocked-out trees. Tougher to emboss, cut, and bend. So tougher all round. The end result is a little less refined than the pewter (sharper angles for example) but I think they are still appealing and I think people will like the idea of the up-cycled drink can.

Just booked three more craft fairs (Some Good Market in Makinsons) with the possibility of one in St. John’s on the 13th. Looking forward to those!

The Grand Puffins of Newfoundland

So this is what I’ve been feverishly working on for the last few weeks. It’s my largest painting to date (excluding theatre flats).

It probably requires a little explanation.

The very successful advertising campaign for Newfoundland Tourism inspired it. The ads made me wonder (playfully) about how we got to this point in time where tourism on our North Atlantic rock is a booming business.

I imagined the early days of the campaign... way back to the 1890s where a group of well-dressed gents (Victorian Mad Men?), in a building somewhere off the Thames in London, sat around a large table covered in tumblers and snifters of scotch mulling over the possibilities (but mostly mulling over the scotch) of creating an allure for this cold and foggy rock.

“It’s nothing but fish and fog,” says one.

“Right, right,” others say in agreement.

The snifters get passed around again, glasses clink, cigars are lit and a luncheon order is placed.

Little progress is made.

Amid a feverish conversation of yesterday’s cricket match, a loud crack silences the room.

At the end of the long table, an exasperated Scotsman leans in.

“WHAT OF THE WEE PUFFINS THEN?!”

After an awkward silence, a staffer is called to the room.

“Jenkins, telegraph the muralist. We’ve got a job for him.”

And thus was the origin of the “The Grand Puffins of Newfoundland” campaign.

So that’s where my brain’s been for the last few weeks.

The Grand Puffins will be one of the pieces showing at Hava Java throughout the month of April in a group show with Nick Kokis and Bill Ryan. If you’re in downtown St. John’s, drop by and check it out!

The Grand Puffins of Newfoundland
Oil on canvas
36" x 48"

Yin Yang Fish linocut

Had a great late-night printing session last night! Finally had a chance to use the variety of printmaking papers I received for Christmas. Yum! Now inspired to cut some new plates. I’m happy with my little Yin Yang Fish but I’d like to see a larger version of it with more fish detail.

Painted Bruin

So our friend, who has a yen for sneakers, had a birthday recently. I painted this Nike Bruin for him. I was about half-way through when I realized I better get the subject exactly right... this guy is not only a huge sneaker fan but a designer as well... any deviation from the original would stand up and shout at him every time he looked at it. So I obsessed over the sneaker’s form as much as possible but couldn’t resist having a bit of fun with the background.

Bruin
Oil on canvas
24"x18"