Par goes to work… I was one of the many fools that thought the whole Trump election was just a bad joke. We knew it was bad. It turned into 18 holes a day with a bunch of salesmen. More lies than holes. My worry is it could happen again… There is almost nothing that a potter in a tiny village in …
I have been working for over a year on a project called “The Find”. The job is now done and is parked on my website home page. Free. Enjoy. Share. As you read this, Maureen and I are recalling that some of the work in “The Find” was being packed 50 years ago to this day. We bought our rural Ontario home in the …
Maureen’s family had this in their home over 70 years ago. We keep up the tradition of hanging it each Christmas season. I looked for it in a storage room at the studio in mid-December. Found it, amid five other boxes. Had to peek. I found my very first Iris vase, and a couple of other Iris vases as well. …
Almost 40 years ago I started to use junk food as subject matter for oil paintings. Even the enlightened in the ‘art community’ raised their eyebrows and generally took a pass. I was, and still am, amazed at what people will eat: industrial food-like substances that our grandmothers would never recognize, let alone feed to friends. I have noticed that …
I had a high summer. 17 years ago, I shingled the south side of Paddy Doyle’s Hotel and added to the windowsills and trim. They got a couple coats of paint, and I moved back into the studio to work on exhibitions. 17 years later, the windows needed a lot of love. They are just over 180 years old. This …
Hello again! I hope this finds you well. It has been a while since you heard from me, so I am reporting. Maureen and I are just fine. Being in lockdown in Lonsdale is almost normal. I stopped making ceramics a couple of years ago but have been extremely busy on other projects. More later. We have been a couple …
Hi Kids, I wish you could hold this axe handle. It is perfect! OK, it is old and broken, but it is perfect. For most of my life I have railed against the concept of ‘good enough’ or ‘OK’; our watered-down version of ‘perfect’. The old guys who worked in my 1860’s blacksmith and carpenter’s shop would not settle for …
We all know that a painting is Art, really Art. So, I did paintings of my Art and included me in the mix. Art. Really.
Happy Valentine’s Day, A beautiful thing develops in a working artist’s daily life. It is the ability to know when to stop working. Stop. Done. Leave. As you know, My Work, My Way— the book, is on my website. It was done. I left. In it, I quote American baker Claudia Fleming. “You can always do it better. And until you’ve …