Introduction
About the Artist
In His Own Words
I was born legally blind in London, Ontario, Canada, having only ten percent of normal vision. I was enthusiastic about art, writing and music at an early age. My blindness was cured by cataract surgery as a teenager. As a result of the surgeries I contracted glaucoma in 1989 and have had three retinal detachments.


My vision is still impaired. I take eye drops twice a day and have frequent checkups with my ophthalmologist.
 

On the British Columbia coast, at Sechelt.

  

Much of my art portrays the beauty of west coast, where I live, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


My art captures the beautiful and vivid aspects of nature, emphasizing harmonious colours, patterns and dramatic compositions.

Taking a break during an art excursion on the coast of British Columbia.

My art is in private collections in at least 16 countries, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, England, Scotland, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Chile, Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Australia.

My art has been sold in over 100 Canadian art galleries and benn represented by five print distrubution companies.

 
 

I'm demonstrating a painting technique here while holding a paint brush.

  

I studied fine art for one year at Fanshawe College in my home city of London, Ontario.
Realizing that I would be unfulfilled and unable to make a living by doing the kind of modern art that was encouraged there, I dropped out of the art program at the college after the first year.
 

In 1977, soon before I became an art student.

  
 
"To make ugly art is easy. To make art that is beautiful – so beautiful that people will buy it with their hard-earned money, exhibit it proudly and cherish it – now that is a challenge."


I applied to the journalism programs at several colleges and universities in Ontario, and was accepted at all of them.


I moved to Toronto and enrolled in the journalism program at Ryerson University, which – along with Carleton – vied for the position of top journalism school in Canada.


Only a small percentage of the applicants were accepted into the journalism program at Ryerson. I believe that my applications were accepted by Ryerson University and the colleges I applied to because I had an excellent portfolio to show to the interviewer at the university. The portfolio was based on the clippings I had gathered of the articles and photographs I had made for the student newspaper during some of my spare time when I was a fine art student at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.


During some of my spare time as a journalism student, I began painting and silkscreening some of my fine art images. This intertwining of pursuits demonstrates my strong interestes in both art and the written word.

Also when I was still a journalism student, I had my first group show (in 1980) at the now defunct Del Bello Gallery in Toronto, and (in 1981) my first solo show, also at the Del Bello Gallery.


I earned a bachelor of applied arts degree in journalism from Ryerson in 1981.


I became the managing editor and sole reporter and photographer at a chain of monthly, community newspapers in Toronto, was a writer and photographer for the employee magazines of two insurance companies, an editor for the provincial government and had other, similar jobs.
 

Among my career jobs, I've worked as a journalist, editor, corporate communications officer, proofreader, photographer, computer typesetter, desktop publisher, illustrator, Web site creator, graphic artist, graphic designer and fine artist in Toronto and Vancouver.

 

In front of an oil painting in progress.

  

For many years I was interested in so many fields of endeavour I wrestled with the decision about which one or ones to devote myself to, and I frequently vacillated among them.


In 1998 I founded a company that helps businesses to communicate clearly and effectively, through writing, editing, graphic design, photography and illustration. In 2002, buoyed by the increasing popularity of my fine art, I quit the company and passed control of it to my former common-law wife.


Since my university years, I painted in some of my spare time and have taken part-time courses at a variety of schools, including such diverse courses as advertising layout at the Ontario College of Art and photography at the Banff School of Fine Arts.


But I consider myself to be mostly self-taught, having learned by experimenting on my own, reading books and magazines, investigating products at art supply stores, and more recently, researching on the Internet.
 

On a hike at Dolomite Pass, near the Banff-Jasper Highway, Alberta.

  

For several years my preferred medium was heavy-body acrylics. I've also printed several serigraph (silkscreen) editions by hand. Additionally, I've tried traditional oils, watercolours, gouache, pastels, pencils, pencil crayons, markers, stone lithography, etching, mezzotint, woodcut, airbrushing and fluid acrylics.


I now paint exclusively with water-mixable oil, because I find that it's the least difficult medium of those I've tried, it gives the most pleasing results, its longevity is long, its toxicity is low, the colours can be vibrant, mistakes can be painted over and the paint can be reworked longer than acrylics.


I'm a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.


In 1994, as a pedestrian in North Vancouver, I was struck by a car driven by a careless driver. I've suffered constant pain and sympotms including permanent spinal damage since then, despite a variety of treatment modalities, exercise regimens and approximately 150 medical visits to try to ameliorate the symptoms.


In 2000 my fifteen-year relationship with a graphic designer/production artist ended.


Like many other artists who appreciate beauty and recognize the importance of a healthy world, I am an environmentalist. I enjoy walking and hiking in natural areas, of which there are many in and around Vancouver


I'm also a consumer health advocate and supporter of natural medicines and healing -- an attribute acquired as a result of my visual problems.

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Introduction