Like most people, I hate admitting when I’m wrong. So, I’m chagrined to find myself listening to a podcast called Heavyweight that was recommended in a “best of 2023” list. The host, Jonathan Goldstein, had a show on CBC Radio called Wiretap, which i found self-indulgent and ridiculous. I vowed never to listen to anything else he did. Still, since Heavyweight is about solving the small mysteries and regrets in the lives of ordinary people, I was intrigued. I started with a few recent episodes and got hooked. They feature low key stories with emotional payoffs. Sorry for all the bad things I s ..read more

Recently I got a weird email congratulating me on having one of the top 30 art blogs in Vancouver. Really? Because I haven’t posted in 18 months, so the competition can’t be that stiff. Since then, I’ve had several nagging emails asking me to mention this “award’ on my blog, apparently it’s all a way to drive traffic to their site. I hate being nagged so I’m not even posting a link. Take it from me, I’m Number 27. Woohoo! Still, the email motivated me to do another blog post, which may be a good thing. Appropriately enough, I’d like to talk about artistic procrastination. Any artist knows ho ..read more

Yesterday I journeyed to Gibsons for a “meet the artist” session at my art show at the Kube. This event was done in lieu of an opening because the recent mask mandate meant a traditional wine and cheese event would be impossible. While I was sad to miss out on the cheese, I agreed that this would be a better option. Naturally, I was a little nervous because any art event is like hosting a party—will anyone show up? Luckily, the Kube is a lifestyle store as well as a gallery space, so a lot of people come in to shop. And then they also got to chat with me—usually willingly. For almost two year ..read more

In the spring, my Instagram feed was full of artists saying that their art shows had been cancelled. The notices were apologetic—because in the midst of real tragedy, art is not a priority—yet regretful. Artists work for months to prepare for shows and each exhibition holds possibilities for their art career. But now art galleries and museums are open again. Since I’m in higher risk health category, I make my excursion decisions with a fatalistic question: Am I willing to risk my health for this? New clothes: nope. Bookstores: no. Restaurants: take-out or patio, please. Haircut: um, yes, vani ..read more

I just returned from a government-approved pandemic vacation in British Columbia. We stayed on Gabriola Island where the sandstone beaches are lovely and there’s lots of wildlife. It was the kind of low key holiday where the responsibilities are few and wifi is spotty, so I read all the books I never seem to get around to finishing at home. I read two art books which both offered practical advice to artists but were otherwise quite different. The first book I read was Finding Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. This book has taken me an embarrassingly long time to finish. I generally read 2 ..read more

For my second memory show, I’m going back about a decade. I don’t even have photos of this show, but it remains indelibly in my consciousness. On a family trip to New York City, we happened into the American Folk Art Museum. They featured a show called Approaching Abstraction. Most folk art is representational, so these were unique artworks. The artist I can’t forget had no name, no provenance, and no story. His art was discovered in garbage bags by a passerby—hundreds of pieces presumably discarded after his death. The sculptures are made up of packaging, hardware bits, plastics, and many ki ..read more

I’m a messy artist. I say that with pride since art is one of the few arenas where an absolute trash heap of a workplace isn’t a bad thing. My process involves many layers of tissue and I’m a fast and sloppy painter, all of which leads to a lot of crap on the floor when I’m on a roll. When I’m working really hard, a thin layer of discarded tissue bits litter the floor. And the floor itself isn’t that clean—drips of resin and paint spot nearly every surface. Don’t look too closely at the walls either because spray paint and accidental drips appear like confetti. Fortunately, Morley, who manage ..read more

Although every filmmaker has a point of view, my favourite documentaries present facts in a neutral way and let me make up my own mind. The Price of Everything, a 2018 documentary directed by Nathaniel Kahn, excels at this neutral approach. He interviews art auctioneers, art dealers, art collectors, art critics, art historians, and artists. The questions are neutral, but each subject is allowed to answer long enough to show his or her true character. The film is explores the secondary art market—paintings that are purchased and then re-sold. It answers questions like: Who is buying these pain ..read more

One of the bright spots of the pandemic has been online art instruction. I’ve been following an Instagram account called Isolation Art School. It’s made up of mainly British artists who are creating art lessons while trapped at home. There’s ingenious use of household materials (for those times when you’re locked down!) and ordinary tools (like using your car tire as a printing press.) The lessons range from children’s projects to advanced figure drawing. Although they’ve made no new posts in the past two weeks, probably since the artists are out of lockdown and back in the studio, their back ..read more

There are many movies about artists, but few convey the actual process of making art. Understandably, watching someone stand in front of a canvas waiting for inspiration to strike is not exactly the stuff of box office success. But Never Look Away perfectly melds creativity, personality, and history into a gorgeous and gripping movie. This German film by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck is about the artist, Gerhardt Richter—-although he is named Kurt Barnert here. Richter is an artist I admire for his fearless experimentation and his technical virtuosity. I can’t say how closely the film matc ..read more