Tony Batten and the Old Ursiline Convent of Three Rivers

This is a classic painting, both in traditional style, and in recording our history and culture as a country. Its earth tones, its subdued colouring, and Tony's careful attention to details make it the kind of work that should be shipped directly to the National Gallery of Canada.

Please click here to be taken to Tony's website.

The last Huzzah - Vancouver Olympiad, 2010 in retrospect

Stan Douglas’ Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 at the Woodward’s building in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside during the 2010 Olympics / photo Danielle Egan

To view the above picture, along with its accompanying article 'Vancouver Report: The Remains of the Olympiad' from the Canadianart.com, website, please click here.

Eric Keast an Eclectic Artist

Eric C. Keast is a self taught contemporary artist combining various media: Painting, papier-mache,beadwork, writing, etc.. He has been documenting his work -online- in photographs and video since returning to Canada, after ten years in Minneapolis, where he studied and worked with Anurag Art Bronze |Studio and Foundry, Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's MayDay parade and festival, Two Rivers Gallery at MPLS American Indian Centre and Ain Dah Yung Youth Shelter.

In the 1980's and 1990's, Eric studied the rock art forms of the Canadian Shield, pictographs and petroglyphs,and prehistoric material culture, while working for the Regional Archaeology unit and the Ontario Rock Art Conservation Association in Kenora, ON.

While not a strict follower of the Woodlands School / "X-ray" forms of representation, Eric's work is influenced by the source material and strong lines of Woodlands art.

Eric received an Ontario Arts Council "Northern Arts" grant this winter, which will be used to: a) create a mural wall / theatrical space infrastructure at SpiritFire Park in Devlin, ON

b) sculpt a large foam/clay sturgeon model, create and install a papier mache copy of the Sturgeon Mother at SpiritFire Park

c) Lead a mural design/installation workshop with the UMAYC program, from the Fort Frances UNFC

d) Hold a grand opening event in August 2010, presenting a theatrical performance in new space and host performance by T-Bay's Rodney Brown.

Eric is a member of the Ojibway nation. He is an eclectic artist whose works
includes: rawhide rattles, acrylic paintings, wood sculpture, papier mache masks, beadwork, leatherwork, 'First Nations', art, and 'Native Art'.

Please click here to visit Eric's website.

The Moona Lisa by Alex Fong

20x30 watercolour

This whimsical picture by Alex Fong, brings with it a satirical rendering of the works of different artists. How many can you recognize? Click here to see other works on Alex's website.

While on the Topic of Iconic Art

Gabor Szilasi: Snowstorm in Montreal,1971
National Gallery of Canada

"Gabor Szilasi is a documentary photographer renowned for his humanitarian vision. His fascination with daily life has led him to search for images that show the traces of man’s presence - be it photos of people, interiors, vernacular architecture and urban landscapes.
Largely self-taught, Gabor Szilasi started to photograph in Hungary in 1952 when he purchased his first camera- a Zorkij. In 1956 he documented the Hungarian Revolution in Budapest and shortly afterwards fled the country, eventually immigrating to Canada in 1957."

Excerpt from Cybermuse Gallery.Ca. Please click here.

COLLECTIONS

Air Canada
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Montréal, Québec
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Québec
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
McCord Museum, Montréal, Québec
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Musée du Québec, Québec, Québec
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Collection from Concordia U.Please click here.

Click here for the link to the National Gallery of Canada/Cybermuse site

Biography of the late Ben Wicks - Celebrity Comic Artist

"I was bloody hopeless at school," he recalled. "Left at 14 and they were as pleased to see me go as I was."

Ben Wicks was cockney born and he never lost his accent.
He had 43 books of his art published.
He received The Order of Canada.
His comic strip 'The Outcasts' appeared each day in 184 newspapers across Canada and the USA.

Ben's picture was extracted from The Regional Maple Leaf.com.
You can read his interesting biography by clicking here.

A Sculptured Monument to Hockey - Sure Why Not?

Sculptor Tim Schmaltz thinks its time we have a monument to hockey. At least he did back in 2008. I guess the largest hockey stick in the world (Canadian kitsch, right column) doesn't count.

Where will it all end?

When I was a kid, we used to gather around the family crocinole board at night. How about a monument to crocinole...the sport that kept Canadian families together? Or, can you imagine a statue celebrating rugby in Canada with a pile of bodies and a ball sitting on top? Maybe Molsons might even throw in a statue to their iconic beverage?

Imagination can take us wherever we want to go on this one. Anyway, after having seen Canada defeat the USA in Olympic hockey for a gold last night, I'm in the mood for celebration. If Tim appeared at my door today asking for a donation, I might consider taking out a mortgage on my house.

Thanks again to the CBC for keeping up posted with another good blog entry and for the picture which I lifted. Please click here to be taken to the story.

And, while you are at it - why not check Tim's website out by clicking here.

Disclaimer: The Frederick Artwork Blog doesn't recommend mortgaging your house to support Tim's monument. (Well..I had to add this, the world is big and there is always somebody out there who is easily influenced)

Welcome to the World of Barry Atkinson

There is a special place in my heart for the animation artists who work behind the scenes to create films such as The Lion King. These artists are for the most part are unknown but yet their works thrill the imaginations of both children and adults alike.

Barry Atkinson, is one such artist. He has worked for The Walt Disney Studios, Dreamworks, and Don Bluth as an animating artist.

Barry grew up in an artistic environment.He was born in Ottawa and is the son of artist Vic Atkinson, whose work also appears on this blog. (check the list of artists in the right column).

Barry launched out into an art career at the age of 20 and his journey has taken him from being a background designer to being an artistic director.

His brush was engaged in the production of The Lion King, Prince of Egypt, an American Tail, and Fantasia.

Take a look at the picture at the top of this posting. It is so typical of Barry's work. Barry is noted for his ability to effectively manage soft light, vibrant colours and powerful designs. He works in acrylics, gouache and oils. And his Japanese Garden paintigs works are mysterious, spiritual, and sublimely peaceful.


You are invited to check out Barry's blog by clicking here.

We Want Turner Back! Legal fight goes to Court

Beaverbrook heir wants Freud and Turner back!

Are you ready for this? When is a gift bequeathment not a gift bequeathment?
Not when it is a Turner Painting given to New Brunswick's Beaverbrook Gallery, by the late Lord, himself.

Its reported that Max Aitken, moved to the UK where he gained his peerage - and bought himself a mansion, and he acquired along the way, grandchildren who today want the two most valuable paintings back. The old family mansion is said to cost a fortune to repair, and times are tough nowadays, and the gallery has about $200 million dollars hanging on their walls out there in one of the colonies. Get the story?

The fun begins today, with an open court session in which both sides will trot out their paperwork to determine who gets to keep the collection. The Beaverbrooks have already gone down this road before and the courts settled on the collection staying where it is - in the gallery. But, times have changed and $200 million is a lot of change.

I know of one man who went to court, with his wife pushing him in a wheelchair, and him hoping for a softening of a judicial heart. I wonder if the descendents will appear with runs in stockings, and their elbows poking out of their Harris Tweet jackets?

They've got their eyes set on the two big ones, Fountain of Indolence, by JW Turner, and Hotel Bedroom, by Lucien Freud.

Beaverbrook's descendents have had a habit of taking the Lord's paintings out of the gallery, on loan, then selling them off.

The gallery's documents showing their legal entitlement to the paintings were earned for them a decision in court the first time around. Story has it that over the years, Beaverbrook's descendents have bullied the gallery management into signing documents which claim that the paintings were lenders and not keepers.

Please click here to be taken to the source of this content,Canada.com.

Another source. The brunswickian. Click here.

Ghost Artist Tony Batten of Toronto, paints for Avril Lavigne.

Please click here to be taken to Tony's site.

Olympic Gold Match Today - Canada vs USA.

Canadian hockey fans prepare for the olympics, by Bob Kreiger

Well today's the big game, and this work was too good to resist. Thanks to Bob Krieger who posted it on Arizans.com.

There is something so archetypally Canadian about this. We Canadians love turning our sacred national symbols into objects of humour. One of the most popular Canadian television shows, makes weekly sport of cutting our politicians off at the knees.

Today, its the big hockey game of the Winter Olympics...so significant event that it is staged as the finale on the last day. This time its a broadcaster's dream, Canada vs the USA.

Then, along comes Bob Krieger and delightfully presents this work of satirical comic art to celebrate the occasion. Bob has been drawing satirical cartoons for the Vancouver Province since 1981.

Please click here to find his work on the Canadian Cartoonists website.

Please click here to be taken to Bob's work on Arizans.com.

Olympic Badminton Competitor: Helen Nicholl by artist Deborah Pearce

2004 Olympic competitor Helen Nicholl
Artist: Deborah Pearce
Acrylics: 28"x28"

About the Artist
"Deborah Pearce earned her BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. She studied art under Robert Bateman at Nelson HS, and received a Canada Council Grant to paint the people of Africa. She studied portraiture at the American Portrait Institute in New York under John Howard Sanden and is an award winning member of the Portrait Society of Canada. Deborah has spent her life painting commissioned portraits, across Canada. She has also painted large scale commercial murals in Ontario and the US. Deborah has taught art from Cape Breton to Vancouver. Presently, she teaches painting and portraiture at the Burlington Art Centre.

With appreciation to the Portrait Society of Canada. Please click here to visit their website.

Stephen Weir presents: Group of Seven Drawings at the McMichael

The McMichael Gallery is located in Kleinburg, Ontario along the Oak Ridge and is one of Canada's foremost art galleries. The Gallery is richly endowed with the works of many of Canada's most respected artists - included in which is Emily Carr, The Group of Seven and many foremost native artists. The gallery is over 85,000 sq, feet in size.

Please click here to visit Stephen Weir's website.

The Jolifou Inn, a film about the art of Cornelius Kreighoff

This short film depicts Canada as it was a hundred years ago, as seen through the paintings of artist and adventurer Cornelius Krieghoff. The changing seasons, the Quebec countryside, village life — all were an unending inspiration to Kreighoff.

Viewing time: 10 minutes
Please click here to view this National Film Board film.

Is Alex Colville's Horse and Train Growing Dark and Cracking with Time???

Oh no...is a Canadian iconic work of art deteriorating before our eyes and cracking?

The following excerpt has been extracted from 'The Canadian Heritage', a newsletter from the Canadian Conservation Institute.

"Horse and Train, by Alex Colville, is an icon in Canadian art. The unsettling image of a horse running towards an oncoming train, combined with the precision of the artist’s technique, is captured in the memory of all who have seen the painting or one of the many reproductions of the image. Upon viewing the painting, art gallery visitors often comment that it is darker than they recall, questioning whether it is changing in tone over time. It had also been noticed that there is a cracquelure over the painting’s surface, a condition rarely seen in Colville’s work..........
A technical examination was done to determine the nature and cause of the craquelure and to determine if the painting’s appearance had changed significantly due to darkening. Such an assessment requires familiarity with the artist’s materials and techniques. Colleagues in several institutions — the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the New Brunswick Museum, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) — allowed the author to examine other works by Colville, and to study associated documentation in the gallery files. They also provided insightful comments on the condition and treatment of various Colville works. This investigation culminated in discussions with the artist himself."

Upon seeing the painting, Mr. Colville was relieved to observe its condition and felt its appearance had not changed in a major way. There was nothing in the technical examination to suggest the painting had become darker. It is dark because it was painted that way. The tone was created by a deliberate choice of colour and pigmented glazes. The artist completed his vision by designing and constructing a frame that accentuates the somber, dark impact of the work. Mr. Colville noted: “Right from the beginning, I thought of this painting as dark; dark in the visual sense and in the metaphysical sense.”1

Colville’s technical process is thorough, meticulous and deliberate. He makes every effort to impart a high degree of permanence to his works. “I really want the paintings to last. Right from the beginning, I’ve always felt this way. The idea that some painters have, that they actually like the paintings to age and transform ... there’s nothing I’d like more to avoid.” Since the late 1950s, he has often written detailed notes on the reverse of his paintings, describing the materials used: “I thought the more information I give for possible use by conservators and so on, the better.”

Horse and Train is in good condition; however, there is a fine cracquelure over the surface. This type of cracking, often referred to as drying cracquelure, could have been caused by the materials he used. It is also likely that an ill-advised cleaning attempt, early in the life of the painting, could have contributed to the problem. A light surface cleaning has recently been completed. Inpainting of minor abrasions to the painting and the original frame will be done soon."

To read the unedited copy, please click here:

Canada's Most Diverse Fashion Show

Several years ago my daughter Kristi went to a party wearing a dress she made.
"No big deal you would say," for lots of women make dresses and clothing. But, Kristi doesn't sew or know how to use a sewing machine. She made her dress from duct tape and for years she walked around with a duct tape wallet. No wonder Port Moody's Annual Wearable Art Award caught my attention.

Click here to discover Canada's most diverse annual fashion event.

Documentary Looks Beyond The Tragic Tom Thompson

Tom Thompson - second from left. Picture from family collection.

Its interesting, that for most Canadians the most significant thing we know about him was that he was found dead on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. Little is known about how he lived, and the story of his life. Peter Goddard devotes a column in the Arts section of the Star on Thompson. A film about the life of Tom Thompson is about to go into production. Its a good read.

Source of blog article and picture:
The Toronto Star.
Sat Feb 20 2010
Click here to be taken to the Toronto Star article.

Any Road North, by Johannus Boots

"Any Road North" was commissioned by Cheryl Casselman for her debut Country Music CD release by the same name. There were many synchronicities surrounding this painting from my own move back to the country at the time, as well as seeing my first wild wolf days after Cheryl informed me that it was her husband's totem animal. It is my belief that synchronicities are there to guide us on our path."

Do you want to have some fun? Take a few minutes to look carefully through Johannus's 'Any Road North', to see how many animals you can find.

From Johannus's Website:
Please click here.

Gary Kennedy - Painting from the Rock

Light and shadow are very important elements of my paintings. I love the unique challenge that light and shadow offers me as a painter. I like to paint different sizes of paintings but my favorite are large ones. I like to paint large paintings so I can give the viewer appreciation of depth and composition. When I complete a large painting I feel it is a great achievement when I exhibit. I love how people are literally drawn to the canvas.

Gary Kennedy: A Cod is a Cod is a Cod

Gary Kennedy has a good story to tell. He entered art as a child, under the infuence of a George Noseworthy, a visiting artist from New York. Gary was born and raised in Port de Grave, Newfoundland. George moved to Port Au Graves and during his life there, influenced and encouraged many local youth in their development of art. Gary was his most promising student protege.

I have extracted this information from Gary's website. Rather then repeat it for you, I encourage you to check it out and to read his story.

Gary's art career has been illuminated by his first formal art exhibition being held along with a group of fellow Newfoundland artists in the Parliament Buildings.

I picked this work by Gary to present him to the F-A, blog readers for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is an archetypal Newfoundland scene. Not just that but the title Gary chose is a definite winner. "A Cod is a Cod is a Cod," suggests that if you see one codfish you see them all.......and for a fisherman, it means that there is a lifetime of cod to be seen.

Although Gary is a Newfoundlander, his repertoire isn't restricted to boats, icebergs, fishermen and fish. Far from it. When you check out his site you will find a richly, diverse portfolio.

Look for more of his works in the future.

Please check his personal bio over by clicking here.. and his works on his website by clicking here.

Dr John Kennedy of the University of Toronto Studies Esref Armagan - A Blind Man Who Paints!

This has to be seen to be believed. A blind man who can paint? And..paint better then many people with sight.

Esref lives in Turkey...but this Discovery Channel video brings us his story through professor John Kennedy of the University of Toronto. The video allows you to see the stunning results of an MRI on Esref's brain- and a test given to him, drawing the artistically significant Baptistry, of Florence, Italy.

All of which leads me to speculate. If a blind artist can see - then what about a sighted artist? Does a sighted artist sees more then people who are not artists?

The video prompts so many questions and gives so few answers.

But one thing for certain - this video is stunning.

A special thanks to the anonymous artist and reader who sent this video my way.

Please click here to view this amazing video.