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

Made With Real Maple Syrup

Jules and I had so much fun creating this 3 minute piece, Made With Real Maple Syrup. It started out as a kind of efolio for a submission but in the end wasn't used. The best part of the project was working artistically with my son, who has become quite a creative force in his own right....wonderful to witness. Some of the work isn't funny but how we choose to stage the piece had us giggling like school kids. The piece is actually three parodies, Gerhard Richter Painting, Andy Warhol - Man Ray Video and Banksy (Exit Through the Giftshop). Hope you enjoy it.

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

Walrus Gala - TD Bank Purchase

The Chocolate Moose

The Chocolate Moose was purchased by Ann Lawson and Paul Brehl at the Walrus Gala in Toronto

The Weekend Warrior was purchased by Toronto Dominion for their art collection.

I met so many great people last night at the Walrus Gala. I sat with dear friend Chris Straw and the wonderful folks from Adventure Canada. The night was great success for everyone involved. I had a great connection with Murray McLauchlan and saw many very familiar faces in the crowd.

Toronto Bound

I'm off to Toronto in the morning. I'll be attending the Walrus Gala, meeting with my Toronto Gallery and paying a visit to a couple of friends and my uncle in Ottawa. Here's an image of the piece that I donated to the Walrus Foundation. I hope the bidding is brisk and substantial and it goes to a good home. I'm dedicating it to Neil Young.

Weekend Warrior
Acrylic on blanket
44W x 82H inches

Neil Young and Honour the Treaties

Whether the driver is Neil Young or the passenger is nobody knows for sure. It matters not. Pocahontas rolls across the prairies bringing Neil's truth train to Calgary. Neil posted my comments as "A letter from a friend" on his facebook page.

I'm wishing Neil Young and his crew all the best as they shine a light on what Canada has become. Consumed with profit at any cost. Are we willing to sell our integrity for money?

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 Voyager

I'll have a number of mixed media assemblage in the Dec show. "The Voyager" seen below is one of them.

This is a mixed media assemblage built around a found canoe paddle. This particular paddle was a gift from brother Chris Straw. I hauled it back from Toronto last summer. The Voyager toque is constructed from old sweaters and finished off with a healthy dose of encaustic to give it that honey smell.

Journey to an Exhibition

A lot can happen in ones life during the creation of an exhibition. Much of our daily experiences show up in the studio and in our work. I could never have guessed that a conversation with the descendant of a homesteader family in southern Saskatchewan was the beginning of a thread that would lead me through India, Cambodia and back to my studio on Gabriola... all during the creation of  "A SIMPLE LIFE".  To see all of this work together in the gallery, with all of its differences and idiosyncrasies will literally be a dream come true. Every piece conjures up associations and memories experienced during the creation of the work.  Rummaged from the depths of my mind regurgitated as cheesecloth screens that are so dreamlike and delicate to haystacks that could have been painted a hundred years ago. Add altars, toques, pitch forks and paddles and...well you get the picture. There seems to be no limits to the diversity of the creative mind? Some of the associations between the work and the experience are obvious. But its not as obvious with others.

"Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do and die", by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

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

Upcoming exhibition - A SIMPLE LIFE - opens Dec 5th

Dec 3rd - 18th, Winchester Gallery 2260 Oak Bay Ave, Victoria, BC

Reception Dec 5th, 6 - 8 PM

"We have wandered so far from the land. In a couple of generations we have gone from a relatively simple existence to a life of consumption and disconnection".

Making Hay

Mixed Media on Blanket

48"w x 40"h

Crazy Horse 44"w x 86"h

The Homesteader - The Red Ensign - The Voyager

The Good Book
Mixed Media Assemblage
52"w x 40"h (open)

Don't Fence Me In
Mixed Media Assemblage
66"w x 44"h

The Homesteaders
Mixed Media Assemblage
44"w x 60"h

The Hay Wagon
Mixed Media on Blanket
48"w x 40"h

Golden Stack
Mixed Media on Blanket
48"w x 40"h

Wagon Wheel
Mixed Media on Blanket
48"w x 40"h

Two Stacks
Mixed Media on Blanket
48"w x 40"h

Three Stacks
Mixed Media on Blanket
48"w x 40"h

The Toques and Chocolate Moose

The Treaty Medals

3 - Altars (size of a shoe box)

This latest series honours our heritage while raising questions about our future. 

In May 2012, while driving to Toronto, I explored a Saskatchewan homestead with a descendant of its early settler family. This once wild prairie, just 30 kilometres outside Val Marie, abuts Grasslands National Park. It is where heaven meets earth. A Simple Life was conceived as I wandered the homestead, now a bone yard of old wagons and sleighs laden with rusting hardware, weathered and rotting into the rich soil. I utilizes this hardware in many of the pieces contained in this body of work.

In the midst of making A Simple Life, I travelled to Cambodia where I photographed more than 300 haystacks.  Spending time in the Cambodian countryside was like going back in time...in my mind I was on the Canadian prairies a hundred years ago .

Both the prairie-based assemblages and the encaustic/mixed media haystacks pay homage to a much simpler time. I'd like to think that this work offers viewers a little peace and quiet...a chance to reflect on a less complicated time. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply

“Jeff's works are sly love letters to Canada - quirky, capricious, frank, and thought provoking.
His dream-like images probe this country’s soul. ”

Charles Pachter

Detail of Wagon Wheel