The Studio

Some of the things I'm working on.

Using cheesecloth to create shadows

A series of mixed media hockey cards

Peep Boxes

Painted shoes, I think of them as portraits

Totems, this one is bound to be a big seller.

Altars - Workin' Stiff

Globe and Mail

I'm stoked that I made it into the Globe and Mail. The coverage of the Walrus Gala included a short description of the Weekend Warrior and included an image of me with Adventure Canada Vice President Cedar Bradley-Swan.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/fashion/party-photos-of-the-week-the-walrus-foundation-gala/article16490354/

“There are two great events: this one and the Gillers - and this one's a little more loose,” said Ira Gluskin, co-chair of the Walrus Foundation gala. The sixth annual soirée went down Wednesday night at the Fermenting Cellar and brought out the city's literary elite, from Linden MacIntyre and Vincent Lam to notable supporters like Pamela Wallin. After Antonella Cavallaro sang O Canada, the packed house enjoyed a three-course meal after bidding on a selection of almost 40 silent auction goodies, which included an eye-catching acrylic painting of a lumberjack shirt by celebrated Canadian artist Jeff Molloy. For an evening dedicated to the art of storytelling, top honours go to filmmaker Andrew Gregg for being the ultimate dinner table friend. parties@globeandmail.com

Photo by Tom Sandler

A SIMPLE LIFE - WINCHESTER GALLERY, Victoria, BC - DEC 3 - 18 - Opening DEC 5th 6 - 8 PM

...looks like the farmhands went for lunch...

List of Works

1) Pink Cowboy – Mixed Media Assemblage – 44 x 72 inches 

2) Crazy Horse– Mixed Media Assemblage – 44 x 72 inches 

3) Don't Fence Me In– Mixed Media Assemblage – 66 x 48 inches 

4) The Homesteaders– Mixed Media Assemblage – 40 x 58 inches 

5) Red Ensign - Encaustic/Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 33 x 82 inches 

6) My Coat I – Acrylic on Blanket/Panel  - 24 x 48 inches 

7) My Coat II – Acrylic on Blanket/Panel  - 24 x 48 inches

8) My Coat III – Acrylic on Blanket/Panel  - 24 x 48 inches 

9) The Homsteader - Mixed Media Assemblage – 20 x 58 inches 

10) Jacks Toque  – Mixed Media Assemblage – 20 x 12 inches

11) Voyager Toque - Mixed Media Assemblage – 20 x 12 inches 

12) The Voyager - Mixed Media Assemblage – 10 x 64 inches 

13) Treaty Medals 1-7 – Mixed Media Assemblage – 22 x 14 x 6 inches

14)Treaty Medal 8 – Mixed Media Assemblage – 8 x 18 x 5 inches

15) Treaty Medal 9 – Mixed Media Assemblage – 9 x 13 x 5 inches

16) The Good Book– Mixed Media Assemblage – 72 x 26 x 8 inches

17) Golden Stack– Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 48 x 40 inches

18) Making Hay– Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 48 x 40 inches

19) The Hay Wagon– Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 48 x 40 inches

20) Two Stacks– Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 48 x 40 inches

21) Wagon Wheel– Mixed Media on Blanket/Panel  - 48 x 40 inches 

22) The Future– Mixed Media Assemblage – 6 x 14 x 5 inches

23) Take No Prisoners – Mixed Media Assemblage – 6 x 14 x 5 inches 

24) We Are The Magic– Mixed Media Assemblage – 6 x 14 x 5 inches

25) Chocolate Moose– Mixed Media Assemblage – 6 x 14 x 6 inches

PINK COWBOY

CRAZY HORSE

DON'T FENCE ME IN

THE HOMESTEADERS

THE RED ENSIGN

MY COAT - I

MY COAT - II

MY COAT - III

THE HOMESTEADER

JACK'S TOQUE

THE VOYAGER TOQUE

THE VOYAGER

TREATY MEDALS 1-7

TREATY MEDAL - 8

TREATY MEDAL - 9

THE GOOD BOOK

GOLDEN STACK

THE HAY WAGON

MAKING HAY

TWO STACKS

WAGON WHEEL

THE FUTURE

TAKE NO PRISONERS

WE ARE THE MAGIC

CHOCOLATE MOOSE

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

More of the Adventures of JACK PINE

JACK IS A MAN ON THE MOVE

Piloting a dugout in the treacherous backwaters of Kerala India. 

JACK with the traditional Kerala dancers. JACK performed the Log Drivers Waltz to the Red River Reel.

Showing off to the tourists.

Staking a claim.......because that's what we do.

Part of being a Lumberjack is looking cool...even when it's 32 C outside. Please ignore the sandals, photoshop will take care of them later,

After a long day chopping a little R&R is well deserved...just look at that Lumberjack, as cool as blizzard back home.

Still having fun spotting JACK around India. I had no idea that Lumberjacks were such chick magnets?

Cheeky JACK

PINE Living the Life of Riley. 

A rough and ready lumberjack is a chick magnet in India....who knew? JACK seems to have a small fan club already. Apparently if JACK were Muslim he could have up to seven wives...... 

Pine in Amsterdam.

JACK Spotted at the Rembrandt Plien 

JACK PINE looking smug in Amsterdam..

I should have posted these two images ahead of the Taj....but I didn't. Amsterdam was great, I love that city. I think I have a dutch spirit or something. I had some fun getting comfortable with Jack before hitting India. Truth be told, you could dress like a monkey in Amsterdam and nobody would bat an eye, so it's the perfect place to go in drag. I went to the original Bulldog Coffeehouse on the edge of the red light district. I was there back in 1980 when the crazy dude in the Mickey Mouse hat and the painted teeth created the mural that still greets you as you walk up to the front door. I saw pictures of him in his hat on the wall just inside the front door. He's dead now. To bad I would have loved to reconnected with him.

JACK wrestling for a rifle with a Dutch soldier. JACK kicked his ass.

PINE acting cool in a Dutch alley.

The best way to see Amsterdam is by foot, grab a map and go out and get lost. The trams are awesome as well, a daily pass is cheap and very handy if you want to make a few miles in a day. 

I hope to back in Amsterdam this summer for a friends 50th Birthday. He has rented a barge on one of the canals and plans on blowing the roof off end of July...hope to be there to help out. Axes come in real handy when shit is being blown up. 

With love

JACK