Typefaces used:
Broadway, from 1927, designed by Morris Fuller Benton, now commonly used to evoke the 1920s-30s.
Futura, from 1927, designed by Paul Renner.

Verner Panton was a furniture and textiles designer to put it very briefly. His lifetime of great works include the Tulip Chair, the S Chair (A breakthrough in plastics) and Visiona II (a cave-like hybrid between room and furniture). In addition to furniture, Panton produced some stunning textile designs. I investigated some of the circular patterns and came up with the following design:

The original inspiring work is quite stunning: Many of Panton’s designs preceeded the op-art trends of the mid-late 1960s by over a decade.

Panton’s use of colour and form in his textile work is a pinnacle of design in my opinion.  Not quite fully psychedelic, just enough ‘op’ art, and containing sufficient visual stimulation to delight the mind.

Revisiting a project created in 2003…

Etching circuit boards as a form of creative expression? I made a series of images by combining 19th century botanical illustrations scanned from antique hardcovers with circuit-like shapes created in digitally.  The images were used as light resists in the creation of a photoresist, which was in turn used as an etching resist.  The first part of the process is similar to traditional photography, performed in a dark room with developer and stop bath chemicals.

The series, titled ‘Circuitree’ was displayed at the Nickle Gallery in Calgary, Canada.

The relationships between the dualities of nature and technology; science and art; creative processes and analytical processes were investigated.

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Digital Drawings etched on circuit board.

Average size 6” x 6”, series of 8

2003

I would like to once again use this technique as a creative process, with a more technological final work in mind.  I would like to see the circuits actually able to perform a task beyond a being a decorative and contemplative form.

An ongoing project using waste cardboard from boxes and packaging as a painting surface to renew the refuse materials’ perceived value, and to raise awareness to the amount of waste which is created by western lifestyles.  The pieces shown are two collared shirt packing boards and a piece of the packaging for a home storage  unit, all of which would normally be disposed of and promptly forgotten.  Not shown are cereal boxes, a cookie box and the stiffening board at the bottom of a paper pad.

The process of creation also plays a key role in the final rendering of the pieces. As gestural and random layers of paint are built up on top of each other, a composition emerges.  Only after the first few painting sessions do I know the outcome of the painting.    The decorative pseudo-ornamentals are references to Mucha’s illustration style.

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Mixed media on card stock paper and cardboard.

Varying Sizes – mostly small

2007- Present

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It’s the end of term one at Vancouver Film School, and a short video project has been completed, titled Dream Sequences.

The subject matter is dreams and reality.

Here’s a little background story:

I was traveling in China a few years ago seeing some of the sights off the main tourist routes.  My path merged with a wonderful lady from Australia, and we journeyed together for several days.  We had interesting discussions about the sites we visited, and had non-stop laughter and emotional connection throughout our time together…  and then I woke up.  The entire experience was a dream.  Does the fact that this chance encounter in Asia was not ‘real’ in this world make the experience any less valid?  The lessons learned from the dream are the same as they would be if it were real.  I wonder if one day, I’ll meet the lady, perhaps somewhere else in the world, and she’ll have a shared memory of the dream?  Would we recognize each other?

The subject matter of the film asks questions about the relative meaning of being awake versus the meaning of being in a dream state. At what point are we fully awake? What are the intermediary states? Wikipedia might have factual answers, but at this moment, I prefer the questions.

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Returning to study for one year is turning out to be a positive experience, not only for technical skill development, but also for the open opportunities to produce more theoretically and conceptually based design and art work.

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I developed an oil monster character illustration over the past week.  The initial concept came from what has been happening recently in the Gulf of Mexico.  Initially, the intent was to create a dark and evil menace which was killing everything in its path, except the process of drawing, digitization and coloring left the character decidedly ‘beautiful’.  Years of being inspired by Mucha must have left a mark on my style.  Instead of changing the drawing, I decided to amend the concept to suggest that our unquenchable addiction to oil turns the oil monster into a thing of beauty.  It is an Oil Siren.  We need her, we love her, we cannot stop burning her or forming her into plastics.  We are powerless to her siren calls.  The Oil Siren is so entrenched in our society that we cannot break our addiction and will destroy ourselves in the process.  She could be a contemporary version of the legendary siren myths from antiquity.

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“Hanami, or ‘cherry blossom viewing’ is my favourite time of year in Japan. It reminds me of the impermanence of life and that nothing lasts, which although somewhat melancholy, also teaches me to value every moment. Each year the blossoms come and go, reminding me that another year has passed, I am a year older and there are a finite number of hanami opportunities in life.

This video is intended as a relaxation piece. There is no story, only a theme. Enjoy the music and the images with a spare 7 minutes; don’t rush it.”

Hanami (Flower Viewing) has become my favourite time of year in Japan. The few days of blossoms remind me of life, renewal, and the ephemeral nature of living things.
Music by Boards of Canada, the song is Zoetrope.