Lake Effects, 2017 – present

As a visual artist, I draw, print-make and paint in oils and watercolour but the main style in which I’ve worked my entire arts career is Assemblage which is an artistic process that consists of making three-dimensional or two-dimensional artistic compositions by putting together found objects or what I call in my case when I paint in harmony with found materials, “Constructions”.

The visual impact of moving to Port Colborne from Dundas, Ontario in 2007, a block from the Welland Canal’s Lock 8 and it’s constant parade of ‘boats’ travelling up and down between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  And the close proximity to Gravelly Bay with it’s marina and the grain elevators and flour mill provides one with a kaleidoscope of visual impressions and creative ideas. Overhead at times there is lots of air traffic, both American fighter jets patrolling the border, air traffic in and out of Buffalo, local Air Rescue as needed and tourist flights over the Niagara Region. As I got to know Port Colborne and surrounding environs I realised that what was stimulation for me as a visual artist (the Welland Canal, the lake and the boats) for many decades has been and continues to be a major stimulus for creativity for many in the local visual arts community using traditional techniques: paintings done with oils, watercolours or acrylics, relief prints and drawings. I decided instead of working in those popular techniques to interpret what I was ‘seeing’ through “Constructions” of found materials, beach debris and paint.

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