In 2018 I embarked on a series of paintings of Canadian wildlife, composed over stark off-white backgrounds. The simple background helps evoke a sense of the animals being captured on the page of a sketchbook, and puts all of the viewer’s attention on the animals themselves.

I love to paint in a realistic fashion, in a traditional way (a monochromatic underpainting followed by layers of built up color on top), that gives a lot of depth and richness to the surface. I also paint in the Alla Prima method.

I chose to do this series of paintings on old barnwood, sourced from barns that have been around for hundreds of years. The panels are pressure washed, treated, sealed and then gessoed. The result is a surface that displays tons of character, and highlights the unique history of each piece of wood.

A tree gave up it’s life a few hundred years ago to serve as a shelter for livestock, and I like the idea that these pieces of trees will live on in people’s homes and be appreciated for years to come. It is also fitting that trees provide food and safe haven in some form or other to most of our Canadian wildlife , and now these individual boards are home to my renditions of these animals.

This wildlife series is ongoing; I have tons of ideas for more…keep checking back in!