The Haystack Story

The Haystacks are a series mixed media paintings that are part of my upcoming exhibition A SIMPLE LIFE at the Winchester Gallery in Oak bay. Show opens Dec 5th 6 PM - 8 PM and runs Dec 3rd - 18th.

Making Hay
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

How did a series of very classical looking paintings pop out during the creation of a very different body of work? I've been wondering this myself. It is most interesting to me how I process my experiences in the studio. Creating and exhibiting such a wide range of styles in a single exhibition is generally frowned upon in the art world. I try not to worry about the why and the what. My part of the equation is to create it. Let each person decide for themselves what a piece means.

Golden Stack
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

I am blessed to have such a variety of skills in the studio. I have so many people to thank for that. There is no doubt that being in Amsterdam twice this year and spending so much time in the Rijksmuseum has had an influence. There is a classical, almost biblical look to the work but the creation was far from traditional.  I set out to describe haystacks through texture, beyond that I had no objective. I did whatever I had to do to resolve each piece, painting backward and forward through the entire series. Oddly the first painting, Making Hay, was the last piece completed. All paintings are executed on wool blankets glued to plywood substrates. The under painting was done in acrylic. The haystacks were created using encaustic and the skies were over painted in oil. They don't get more mixed media that that!

The Hay Wagon
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

Three Stacks
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

Two Stacks
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

Wagon Wheel
Mixed Media/Encaustic on Blanket
48"W x 40"H

 Sixty kilometres outside of Phnom Penh on route from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville this past April we passed many farms with old fashioned haystacks in their yards. I knew the minute I saw them that they would fit thematically with the work I was in the midst of creating back on Gabriola. When we arrived back in Phnom Penh two weeks later I set about finding a driver that could speak a little english and knew the countryside. I arranged to be picked up at the hotel shortly before 5 AM by a Cambodian guide in a Tuk Tuk. The driver quickly realized that we would be better off on a motorcycle on the rough roads of the Cambodian countryside so we headed to his place to change vehicles. It was on route that we witnessed a man being swarmed and beaten to death by around twenty hoods. Cambodia is a hard place, backwards in many ways and very dangerous. Not that long ago the Kumar Rouge were rounding up and killing people by the thousands. There was nothing we could do but keep moving or fall victim to this gang.

After we switched to a motorcycle we headed for the country, I wanted to be in the haystacks when the sun came up. It was quite a contrast smelling the hay and watching the sunrise while the memory of the horrendous beating we witnessed on the way settled in. Over the next twelve hours we tootled around the countryside photographing over three hundred haystacks and hay wagons. Even though I was physically in Cambodia, in my mind it was 1890 and I was standing on the Canadian prairies. Often when I look at something I will be formulating in my mind an artistic approach to rendering it physically and capturing its spirit. Back in the studio nothing ever goes entirely the way you expected it to. I had to make a lot of changes to the images and my approach to get the desired effect. I stripped away everything that didn't contribute to staging a peaceful place for the haystack. Every element and technique in the work has to do with creating the right environment for the hay. I also wanted to draw a subconscious connection between hay and gold. When it comes down to it we can't eat gold and in the context of A Simple Life the hay is more valuable than gold. I truly believe that there is a growing trend to get back to basics. Get connected again to our food, water and the earth. This work is timely, I think it will resonate with many folks that feel the same way about the state of things. Stop the merry go round,  I just want to get off.  Like many people I yearn for a simple life where I can focus on the things that matter most.

Detail of Wagon Wheel