As new works leave the easel, I will keep posting them here. I’m currently focusing on pastel studies and large scale canvases of places sacred to me. This page is very much a work-in-progress, so please check back to see what’s happening.
oil on canvas, 36” x 60”
Ragged Falls, Algonquin Park
gouache and pastel on paper, 10” x 15.75”
gouache and pastel on paper, 11.75” x 15.75”
near Sooke, Vancouver Island
gouache and pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
Ragged Falls, Algonquin Park
gouache and pastel on paper, 12” x 18”
Killarney Provincial Park
gouache and pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
Lake Superior Provincial Park
gouache and pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
Victoria, BC
gouache & pastel on paper, 9” x 12”
Clover Point, Victoria BC
oil on board, 8” x 10”
gouache & pastel on paper, 9” x 12”
Lake Superior Provincial Park
gouache & pastel on paper, 18” x 24”
Lake Superior Provincial Park
gouache & pastel on paper, 12” x 12”
Victoria, BC
gouache & pastel on paper, 18” x 24”
Pinguisibi River, Lake Superior Provincial Park
oil on canvas, 60” x 40”
Victoria, BC
My visual language has evolved with recent explorations of water-based media like sumi ink and acrylic underpainting. I am now looking into the rearview mirror and returning to my first love - drawing in soft pastels, but with gouache underpainting infiltrating my mark-making. To begin, I lay down compositional elements in washes of gouache on sanded pastel paper. Then I build up layers of pastel pigments on top of the gouache to achieve depth, texture, and vibrancy. Sometimes the gouache underpainting is left alone to shine through. The cumulative layers are dynamic and expressive in effect. In these works on paper, the word “strata” also applies to the compositional layers within the landscapes - reflections of trees on water, the different textures of vegetation and foliage along the riverbank, and the atmospheric layers of sky reflected in the river.
gouache & pastel on paper, 12” x 12”
gouache & pastel on paper, 12” x 18”
gouache & pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
gouache & pastel on paper, 12” x 18”
gouache & pastel on paper, 12” x 18”
gouache & pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
gouache & pastel on paper, 18” x 12”
The Humber River is my local riparian zone and it has held my fascination for many moons. Each day brings new visual excitement, for nature conceals as much as it reveals. While looking at the summer's low water, I'd see water striders on its surface and watch little fish catching the measly current just below. My eyes negotiated the detritus of collected leaves and rocks covered in sediment on the murky bottom. I would also see reflections of the surrounding trees or often just their crowns on quiescent water. Sometimes a water whorl created a pattern that radiated outward, stirring the surface and dizzying the eyes. In all this earthly reality, a cloud in the sky would suddenly materialize; its reflection floating on the water so that the river bottom and all life in the water disappeared under the cloud.
The idea of ‘as above, so below’ ties into the concept of correspondence - there is a relationship or reflection between the macrocosm and the microcosm. Laws and patterns in the higher realms are mirrored here on earth. Painting the sky reflected on earth is a way of looking for connection and meaning across different scales of existence. These paintings juxtapose heaven and earth, connect the intangible with the material, and weave imagination into reality.
oil & acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil & acrylic on canvas, 40” x 30”
oil & acrylic on canvas, 30” x 48”
oil on canvas, 36” x 36”
Surfacing is the act of becoming apparent, visible, or known. It is a transformative journey of emergence and revelation. As these recent paintings left the easel one by one, it became apparent that what was emerging was a new series inspired by our planet’s diverse and ever-changing surfaces. By focusing on the intricacies of surfaces - textures, patterns, geological formations - I convey a sense of awe and reverence for the beauty and complexity of nature. With gestural lines and freer application of paint executed with the help of unconventional tools, these new paintings inch closer to abstracted landscapes. I bring viewers closer to the sensory aspects of the natural world through this tactile experience.
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
(Kolapore Uplands, near Collingwood ON)
oil on canvas, 30” x 48”
(Kolapore Uplands, near Collingwood ON)
oil on canvas, 36” x 36”
(Humber River, Toronto)
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
(Woodland Beach, Tiny ON)
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 9”
oil on canvas, 30” x 24”
(Woodland Beach, Tiny ON)
This collection represents the interface between land and river, known as the riparian zone. The relevance of the word ‘transition’ is many-fold. First there is the seasonal transition with the fallen autumn leaves. Then there is the reference to the riparian zone as an important and significant biome, in which plants and animals help to filter the water as it passes, increasing its quality as it transitions downstream. Finally, from a painter’s viewpoint, there is the complexity of negotiating the various natural elements that transition from one to another. A tapestry of fallen leaves, wet-and-dry rocks, and dark reflections of denuded trees on moving water - all became integral elements in these dreamy riverine vistas.
Transitions No.3
oil on canvas, 18” x 24”
Transitions No.6
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
Transitions No.1
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
Transitions No. 2
oil on aluminum panel, 11” x 14”
Transitions No.4
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
Transitions No.5
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
Transitions No.7
oil on canvas, 36” x 36”
This series of works is devoted to the diverse shorelines and forest surroundings of our Great Lakes watershed. It has been an adventure to cover ground and celebrate, in paint, our precious freshwater lakes. The paintings from this collection tell stories of local geologies and vegetative communities – from the glacial age erratic boulders of Awenda Provincial Park and the granite outcrops of Georgian Bay to the quiet lake vistas of the Algonquin and Muskoka regions.
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
oil on panel, 14” x 11”
oil on panel, 30” x 36”
pastel on board, 18” x 24”
pastel on paper, 27” x 18”
pastel on paper, 27” x 18”
pastel on paper, 27” x 18”
oil on aluminum panel, 11” x 14”
oil on aluminum panel, 11” x 14”
oil on canvas, 14” x 11”
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
oil pastel on board, 18” x 24”
oil pastel on board, 18” x 24”
oil on canvas, 12” x 12”
oil on canvas, 40” x 60”
oil on canvas, 40” x 60”
oil on aluminum panel, 6” x 6”
oil on aluminum panel, 11” x 14”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 16”
Lake Superior shines like burnished silver in the hard November sun. The day becomes nothing more but a shoreline freckled by rocks and a stretch of open water, depthless and pure. Every square foot of Superior’s rocky shoreline is a galaxy unto itself. The endlessly varied stones that collect along the water’s edge are objects of beauty, sentiment, and contemplation. Smooth or rough, monochrome or multihued, plain or patterned, each stone tells a different story of how it came to be. Its history is written in its shape, texture, and composition. The designs that emerge are a language of sorts, hieroglyphs of pure form.
oil on canvas, 20” x 20”
oil on canvas, 48” x 36”
oil on canvas, 20” x 20”
oil on aluminum panel, 9” x 12”
oil on canvas, 24” x 18”
oil on panel, 11” x 14”
oil on canvas, 20” x 24”
oil on canvas, 12” x 12”
oil on canvas, 12” x 12”
oil on canvas, 18” x 18”
oil on canvas, 48” x 48”
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil on canvas, 36” x 48”
oil on canvas, 11” x 14”
oil on aluminum panel, 8” x 10”
In the winter of 2021, an artist friend sent me a USB stick of photographs of his home region around Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. The Maritime imagery triggered in me dormant emotions, smells, the familiarity of yesterday, and the loss of things never experienced. These Atlantic vistas helped me draw buried memories of my childhood on the Adriatic Sea coast of northern Croatia where my parents and I spent an intense and beautiful two-year period between 1994 and 1996 - just after leaving the siege of Sarajevo and before immigrating to Toronto. That snippet of time on the Adriatic coast freed me from the chaos of war, far away from grenades and gnawing scarcity, and rooted me to coastal life. Water became my refuge and my soul’s language. Out of the intersection of memory and the familiar unknown, I developed this series of east coast inspired paintings.
oil on canvas, 36” x 60”
oil on canvas, 36” x 60”
oil on canvas, 18” x 48”
oil on panel, 6” x 36”
oil on panel, 11.5” x 24”
oil on panel, 11.5” x 24”
oil on canvas, 46.5” x 46.5”
oil on canvas, 40” x 48”
oil on canvas, 42” x 48”
The intertidal zone buzzes with a collective, living energy. It’s a space of beauty, adaptation, and resilience. Yet, it’s a fragile ecosystem. This narrow strip of coastal ground is alternately immersed in seawater and exposed to air. At low tide, the curtain is pulled back and we become privy to life under the surface to which we are connected. A kaleidoscope of fantastical creatures is exposed for a moment. Everything is part of a single, living whole - a fabric of interdependence, movement, and renewal.
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
oil on canvas, 20” x 20”
oil pastel on panel, 30” x 60”
oil on canvas, 30” x 20”
oil on canvas, 18” x 24”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on panel, 30” x 30”
oil pastel on board, 28 “ x 80”
oil pastel on panel, 36” x 36”
pastel on board, 18” x 24”
oil pastel on panel, 48” tondo
oil on aluminum, 18” x 24” each panel
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on aluminum panel, 12” x 12”
oil on canvas, 30” x 30”
oil pastel on panel, 48” x 36”
oil on panel, 11” x 8”
oil on canvas, 11” x 14”
pastel on board, 24” x 36”
oil on canvas, 11” x 14”
oil on canvas, 18.5” x 54”
pastel on board, 24” x 36”
pastel on board, 11” x 14”
pastel on board, 11” x 14”
pastel on board, 12” x 16”
oil on canvas, 36” x 60”
I forged a connection to the Canadian west coast in 2016 with a kayaking trip to Haida Gwaii - a place where people, story, and land are inseparable. In seeking the counsel of nature and advice from the wise souls I got to know along the way, my personal journey in Haida Gwaii (re)connected me with a deep place of origin. I discovered that the greatest hope lies in rethinking how we perceive our relationship with the natural world and the myriad creatures, including us humans, dependent on it for survival. Since then, I travelled repeatedly to the wild Pacific west coast of Vancouver Island. These western inspired paintings transpose the beauty of ecological diversity found in the old growth forests and along the intertidal zone. They are landscapes of adaptation and resilience – geophysical spaces on the knife’s edge.
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
oil on panel, 30” x 36”
oil on aluminum panel, 18” x 24”
oil on canvas, 36” x 36”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
oil on canvas, 40” x 30”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
oil on canvas, 16” x 20”
oil pastel on board, 11” x 14”
graphite on board, 24” x 18”
oil on board, 80” x 28”
oil on canvas, triptych, 54” x 18”
oil on board, 11.75” x 11.75”
oil on canvas, 14” x 18”
pastel on panel, 36” x 36”
pastel on board, 12” x 18”
oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
pastel on paper, 18” x 27”
pastel on panel, 12” x 12”
acrylic on panel, 11” x 14”
pastel on panel, 16” x 20”
pastel on board, 12” x 16”
pastel on board, 18” x 24”
pastel on board, 12” x 16”
pastel on board, 12” x 16”
pastel on board, 20” x 16”
pastel on board, 12” x 12”
pastel on paper, 10” x 24”
Beauty and proportion, a sense of stillness and lasting presence can be found in the most ordinary things. Whether painting vegetables, florals, or seashells, I look for the innate character of nature’s roots, structures, and relics. I breathe intimacy with the past without being overtly symbolic. My paintings are studies of balance, rhythm, and light. They are honest and quiet; a far cry from the passions and uncertainties of daily life. Still they are a part of life, or they point to how life could be: simple and undistracted.
pastel on board, 24” x 36” 🔴
pastel on paper, 16” x 20” 🔴
pastel on board, 24” x 18” 🔴
pastel on board, 11” x 14” 🔴
pastel on board, 12” x 16” 🔴
pastel on board, 16” x 17” 🔴
pastel on board, 11” x 14” 🔴
pastel on paper, 19” x 24” 🔴
pastel on board, 18” x 24” 🔴
pastel on board, 20” x 16” 🔴
pastel on board, 16” x 20” 🔴
pastel on board, 24” x 18” 🔴
pastel on board, 12” x 16” 🔴
pastel on board, 12” x 16” 🔴
pastel on board, 11” x 14” 🔴
pastel on board, 11” x 14” 🔴
pastel on board, 9” x 12” 🔴
pastel on board, 12” x 9” 🔴
pastel on board, 16” x 12” 🔴