A Jewish man with a yellow ball and a green stick 
Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Comments: This is the first in the series to explore memory and painting. I saw this properly dressed man standing at the corner on St.George St. He had a green stick in one hand and a yellow ball(lemon?) in the other. This combination grabbed my interest. A sketch was made later and this painting was developed from it. UPDATE Two people have educated me about this tradition. It's actually the holiday of Succoth(Sukot), and the "stick" is actually a plant called the "lulav", and the lemon like fruit is the "etrog". These items are symbols of the harvest. Thank you Joel Zelikovitz and Johanne |
Portrait of Joe Taylor OIL #94 
Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 24" x 30" Comments: Joe Taylor is the first model that I painted from life. Joe is an actor as well as a musician. He recently played a role in the movie the Gospel of John. Joe has a lot of characters on his face, which makes him an easy prey of an artist. sold |
Tanya and Isis(Both) 
Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 30" x 24" Comments: This is my second painting of Tanya, I already knew her a little from my first time painting her. Before I laid down my first stroke I spent some quality time talking with her about her relationship with her old dog Isis. I painted Isis with her belly showing, shows the full submission and trust to Tanya. And while Isis is diabetic, old and has cataract(blind now), this is a sad yet honest portray of both. sold |
Portrait of Dad OIL #99 
Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 30" x 20" Comments: This is painted from life. My father volunteered to sit for me. I am happy to have a free model now. |
Sunnybrook Park OIL # 
Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 24" x 30" Comments: I was out hiking like usual, and the descending light created many colours and patterns in the field. I just had to capture them. sold |
Jessie OIL#74 
Medium: Oil on masonite. Dimensions: 11" x 14" Comments: This was a fun piece to make. I painted from a black and white photo I took, and according to the value I applied the colors. |
Tracey OIL#71 
Medium: Oil on wood. Dimensions: Comments: This is a piece of delicate wood mom found. I think it's plywood but not sure. The sand was actually not painted, I allowed the colour of the ground to show through. And it matched the colour of the sand wonderfully. |
Face with green lines OIL #73 
Medium: Oil on masonite. Dimensions: 14" x 11" Comments: I am experimenting with the use of lines in paintings. I really like the effect to "crosshatch" to suggest shading like using a pencil or charcoal. I am incorporating this into my newer paintings. |
Bazaar in Kyrgyzstan OIL#64 
Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 24" x 24" Comments: I have always been interested in the interaction between people in their everyday life. It's always the simplest thing that touches me. sold |
Jessie reading OIL#68 
Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 24" x 24" Comments: Jessie sits on her chair and concentrates on the book. I was interested in capturing how she was soaked in the light. sold |
Mom's Sofa OIL#62 
Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 24" x 24" Comments: This is not finished. But I am quite satisfied at this stage. It's my mom's favorite sofa. She likes to sit in it and pray and read. I use the white background to suggest the light source and convey this peaceful feeling. I only used 3 hues plus white for this painting. Most of my paintings I use no more than 5 hues. |
TRIBUTE TO TOM THOMSON 
Click to go to a separate page. |
Me in my hat OIL#50 
Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 16" x 16" Comments: I bought this hat a year ago at Zellers, but I'd only worn it once because I don't think it looks good on me. Since I don't wear it I thought I should make some use of it. So there we go. As usual it's my painting look. I am really satisfied with the hat in the painting. |
Violin OIL#49 
Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 24" x 24" Comments: I have always loved to observe all the colours around us, and what I also like to do a lot is to paint the ordinaries. People would go: you are going to paint this? But you know, paint can really do wonders. |
Washroom OIL#38 
Medium: Oil on masonite. Dimensions: 24" x 18" Comments: One day I was sitting on the toilet(actually everyday). I saw my reflection in the wall and I was interested in its relationship with the surrounding elements. So I made it a painting. It's not easy to work in a small washroom, and being so close to the scene the painting looks like a picture taken by a wide-angle camera lens. |
Stream in Moccasin Park OIL#30 
Medium: Oil on Masonite board. Dimensions: 17"x11" Comments: En plein air(painted at scene). Urg, honestly, I didn't try to make it look like a Van Gogh, but at the end it became like one. Some people say the use of colour resembles Cezanne's work. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to be like Van Gogh (I like his work a lot). It's my first time painting outside. I was excited. But I found it difficult to work outside, mosquitoes; uncomfortable ground to sit on; heavy materials to carry and the big sun etc. etc.. I painted 2 paintings that afternoon and after I was done I realized I couldn't just walk home with a big bag full of art supplies and 2 wet oil paintings.(I didn't drive there) |
Chinese Canadian 2 OIL#18 
Medium: encaustic on canvas. Dimensions: 48" x 24" Comments: Same technique used as "Chinese Canadian". |
Chinese Canadian OIL#19 
Medium: Encaustic on Masonite board. Dimensions: 24"x30" Comments: My attempt to do Chinese landscape with western medium. Interesting enough, this is in a western perspective. The objects in the painting were encaustic so this way they "stay" on the support since it was painted vertically. The mountains and the reflections were painted with oil + a lot of linseed oil and turps and I allowed the fluid to drip. It was fun experimenting with encaustic because it had to be applied while hot and where I work was not so close from the oven so I was like Jackson Pollock the dripper, it was a mess in my room, but fun. |