Urban Masks at The Linda Street Gallery--Dovercourt Community Ctr.

At the Linda Street Gallery, in the lobby of Dovercourt Community Centre, 411 Dovercourt Ave., until Oct. 23, 2011.

Artist's Statement

Alright, I collect junk. Let's just get that out of the way For over 20 years I have been making art from "found objects", not to reduce my carbon footprint ( a happy byproduct), but because these are the things that inspire me. Rusty nails, bicycle parts, things that fall off cars and all manner of unidentified corroded objects make their way into my carefully selected inventory of art supplies. I'm never sure how I'll use these items when I find them, but each one has a sense of history an purpose that I can't pass up. This series of masks is a continuation of a series that was selected for the Lumiere Festival this past summer. I see them as tribal masks of our urban culture.

Rin Tin Tin

Goalie

Longhorn

Bad Idea

Babar


Erik The Red

Artist's Statement

Alright, I collect junk. Let's just get that out of the way For over 20 years I have been making art from "found objects", not to reduce my carbon footprint ( a happy byproduct), but because these are the things that inspire me. Rusty nails, bicycle parts, things that fall off cars and all manner of unidentified corroded objects make their way into my carefully selected inventory of art supplies. I'm never sure how I'll use these items when I find them, but each one has a sense of history an purpose that I can't pass up. This series of masks is a continuation of a series that was selected for the Lumiere Festival this past summer. I see them as tribal masks of our urban culture.

Lumiere Ottawa, 2011

I set up for the Festival early Saturday, and was finished installing my six masks in the beautiful sunshine by 1 pm. Shortly thereafter the skies opened up and we had a heavy downpour. Fortunately, by late afternoon things cleared up and the Festival got underway on schedule. Here are some images of the masks I made for the festival as they appeared in the daylight and then at night.






The crowd that walked through Stanley Park was estimated at about 8000. This Festival holds it's charm with handmade lanterns, candlelight, local visual and performing artists, acoustic musicians and actors. Many come to the Festival in costumes and carrying lanterns.

The grand finale was the spectacular firedancers, whose performance coincided coincidentally with the Lac Leamy fireworks, which could be seen and heard in the background.
I was pleased to meet photographer, Louise Imbeault who took some lovely photo's at the festival and posted them to her website.

Lumiere Festival this Saturday

I've been working away at my series of masks for the Lumiere Festival that takes place this Saturday in Ottawa . I've moved twice in the last five years and have purged a great many items, but was not able to part with a bin full of assorted heat shields. If you've lost part of your exhaust system, or maybe a hub cap in the last 10 years, you might find it has become part of my work for this year's festival. I knew there was a reason I couldn't part with this stuff!

My six masks are nearly complete and I will be working on lighting and mounting them in time for Saturday evening. I'll be posting a few sneak peaks in the next few days.

Lumiere 2011, August 20th at Stanley Park

Lumiere 2011 will be held August 20th at Stanley Park. This will be my third year among a selection of artists that will be creating sculptures for this festival of lights along the Rideau River. This is a photo of my work from last year (courtesy of Andrew Argyle). This year's work is taking shape and needless to say, for those of you who have seen my previous work, it is constructed entirely from found objects (sounds so much classier than junk). Hope to see you there!

Lumiere Festival 2010, Saturday, September 4!!!

September, already? Time for the Lumiere Festival 2010. Here is a sneak preview of what I've been working on for this year's Festival. As you can imagine, this will look quite different by candlelight. Helpful hint: consider how you will transport an art installation across the city BEFORE you start building. Fortunately, I have friends who were willing to lend me their truck (thanks!!!). I will also be installing my bike wheel chandeliers in the park again this year. If you've never been to this festival, you must check out the lanterns and performers that will populate Stanley Park along the Rideau River this Saturday!!!

Bicycle Chandeliers at the 2009 Lumiere Festival

I hung the chandeliers in the trees early in the day. Earlier in the week they had forcasted rain for the weekend, but it never transpired. It was a beautiful day and a fantastic evening. It was my first time at this festival, both as an artist and spectator. The beautiful handmade lanterns that lit up the pathway along the Rideau River, combined with stilt walkers, magicians, musicians, fortune tellers and fire jugglers made for a truly magical event.

Here are my three chandeliers, first in the daylight, then lit up at night.

Hours later, when the lanterns were lit, they took on a very different appearance.

Illustration Friday: Modify

Here is a sneak preview of one of the three chandeliers I will be exhibiting as part of the Lumiere Festival this Saturday Night at Stanley Park in Ottawa. It will be the first time I get to see all three lit up with candles, hanging in trees and displayed within about 30 metres of each other.

The chandeliers are made up of bike wheels and all manner of items that I have been collecting the past few months (some I've had for years). I've also had items donated from friends and neighbours. The candles are placed in jars of various sizes that hang from the spokes of the bike wheels. When lit, my hope is to illuminate the beauty in these everyday objects.

What's he doing out there?

What's all that tinkering going on in the garage? I've been working on an installation to be included in this year's Lumiere Festival. Stay tuned!