blog

This year’s Artist Project was quite the show. This was my 3rd year attending and it was, by far, the busiest. Where they said that in the past the usual attendance was 15,000 visitors, I have no doubt that it exceeded 20,000 this year.

While I did not do as well as last year, there was still a lot of interest in my work. My paintings are a real contrast to most of what is exhibited in this hugely modernist show. There is always a segment of the audience that appreciates the “romantic” view of our rural southern Ontario that form the backbone of my collection.

Over the years, as life became more and more “gadgetized” and , therefore, more complicated, I have come to admire those who have withdrawn to places of rather severe isolation.

There have always those who have lived in rural settings as our urban population has grown and grown but occasionally one sees a setting that looks particularly remote. It seems an idyllic setting until, of course, one needs a quart of milk or a hospital. Still there seems to be something very special about this kind of existence.

The last half of the 19th century saw many small towns and cities in Southern Ontario come of age and with it came an explosion of domestic architecture that found its inspiration in the historic styles of Europe. It was the Victorian era and, as long as it was reminiscent of these styles from the past, anything was possible.

This was the last of the paintings to be sold this weekend and it capped what was a very successful show for me. With 250 artists there, working in every medium and very style imaginable, there was a lot of competition. It's a real compliment that I did so well.