Chile Impressions Series Completed

The last canvas is drying, and I am thrilled that I have completed the project of 20 large paintings inspired by Chile - a project I set myself in April of last year.

Now it is time to get them in a gallery setting.

I have put some of the latest images on my website

Here is one - The Broken Wave (inspired by a trip to Cachagua)

New Website

I am pleased to announce my new website "Gallery Marinus"!

We @ you me

The we@you me 2011 exhibition opened at the You Me Gallery in Hamilton on April 8.  It was the Friday Night Art Crawl in Hamilton, and the gallery was hopping all evening.  It made for an great opening.  It is always good to see friends and family at these events.  It is also great to see complete strangers - especially young people - enjoying the art.

A New Show

On Friday, April 8, 2011, I will be one of a group of eight artists opening a new exhibition at the You Me Gallery in Hamilton (330 James Street North).  The show is called "we@you me".

This group, which was mentored by Vjane Gordon over the past few months, has been exploring new directions in art both from a more theoretical perspective inspired by the 2012 Documenta 13 process, and through group discussion around the works that each of us created in our own studios.

My work is an extension of my Chilean series, and explores the volcano Lanin, which is on the Chile-Argentina border, from a satellite perspective.  Originally planned to be a single canvas (shown as Caldera Variation #2 above) it has turned out to be a tetraptych (wonderful word),  more than 3 metres high in total.



Here is the work - CALDERA VARIATIONS - LANIN
                              Mixed Media on Canvas (tetraptych)
                              305 x 92 (total dimension)

The full catalog for the show is available for viewing and/or purchase on Blurb.com, and can be accessed by visiting the site, going to the bookstore and searching for we@you me.   It can be purchased - essentially you pay for printing and shipping only.

Catching up

It has been a while since we returned from Chile. (We were very lucky, in fact, returning only days before the terrible earthquake).

Since then I have been busy painting in my Alton studio, and have completed a number of new works. The Dyers, shown below, shows a North African outdoor textile dying business - the image is inspired by a postcard that some friends had - I couldn't resist an interpretation....

The Dyers - oil on canvas - 36 x 36"

I also returned to the badlands for inspiration for another large oil

Badlands Tapestry - Last Snow - oil on canvas - 36 x 36"

I was also fortunate to get two paintings into the 3rd annual Beaux-Arts Brampton Open Juried Show this year. I had hoped for one, so having two was wonderful

The works are a pastel, "Evening Glow" and a mixed media figure painting, "Reflective Moment".

Evening Glow - pastel on paper

Reflective Moment - mixed media

The Journey continues

We really enjoyed our trip through Argentina - from San Martin de Los Andes to Bariloche, and from there went back into Chile to Puerto Montt.

In Bariloche, we made a number of excursions including a boat trip on Lake Nahuel Huapi, and a trip to see El Tronador - a huge glacier-covered mountain with three peaks - one in Chile, one on the border and one in Argentina. Spectacular

Our trip from Bariloche to Puerto Montt will forever be known as the Saga of Tas Choapa - instead of a 6 hour bus ride - it took twice that, with 4 buses and being stranded twice - once at the Chilean border and later along the highway in the rain! All because of the bus company's inability to provide proper service. But we got to Puerto Montt eventually, and soon forgot out woes.

From there we ventured further south into Chiloe - a wonderful island, and we gorged on seafood, went penguin-viewing and even ate chocolate cake made with seaweed.

I include a few pictures.... Enjoy

We go to Villarica and then to Argentina

After spending some time on the coast, we decided to explore Santiago a bit - especially some of the craft markets at Cerro Santa Lucia and at Los Dominicos. The subway here (new since we were last here) is fabulous - clean and efficient, and gets us across Santiago easily. There is no comparison to the traffic jams and dangerously crowded buses we suffered 35 years ago.

We travelled by bus to Villarica to meet our friends Alfonso and Carmen Grau - where we were hosted by Joaquin Grau ("Caco") (Alfonso's brother) and his very charming señora, Babi (also a very talented artist). While there we toured craft markets, visited Pucón, saw the wonderful volcano Villarica and went to the Menetue Hot springs.

From Villarica, we travelled to San Martin de los Andes - Argentina. A long and fascinating bus ride. Enjoy some of the images of our days in Santiago, Villarica and San Martin de Los Andes -

Stay tuned for our next chapter - San Carlos de Bariloche - and the saga of Tas Choapa.