March 2026 Last Month of VISA Term 2

 End of term 2 at VISA!!!  I'm now 11/14th of the way through the certificate program!

Here are a couple of oil paintings from the Painting in Colour course (I still have one painting WIP to post later).

Lily pads (and reflections!) from Monet's garden in Giverny France.

Fauvist version of a partially flooded field (and reflection!) in Brentwood Bay.

And a truckload of gouache paintings from my gouache course.

Labels!  (Beer and booze labels of course.)

View from a window (partially flooded field (and reflection!) near Brentwood Bay in the background).  (This is an assemblage of two separate gouache paintings.)

Cake day.

Zoe's fur babies.

In the Principles of Design class I started to play with freaky Op Art designs.

And finally, for Art History we had to design our own "conceptual exhibition", with a poster and gallery/exhibition layout.  I designed my poster on a T shirt.

It helps to be stoned but is not required :-P  If you're interested the exhibition features a snack bar!

"Neo-Post-Op Impressionism (with a Stoner Aesthetic)" is my invented term for my own desired style.  (I had to invent a term because everyone always asks "What is your style?") - it encompasses Impressionism, Colour Field and Op Art (among others) as sub-genres.  (So why not imagine an exhibition around this style?)  (Zoe feel free to pitch this to your own museum :-P)

February 2026 Second Month of VISA Term 2

Two months into term 2!

A couple more paintings in my "reflections" series (which is starting to consume me):

In my gouache class, a variety of exercises.  First, since I'm the only guy in the class, I did a couple with a "man" theme:

This is from "a walk in the park" exercise:

And two from the "people looking at art" exercise.  These are both from last year's New York art trip:

January 2026 First Month of VISA Term 2

I'm one month into my second term at VISA, taking only 4 courses this term rather than 7!

Another in my on-going "Reflections" series:

Same subject but the exercise was to do an "egalitarian painting" (no focal point):

My take on "Girl With a Pearl Earring":

Skull from the Paris catacombs:

I'm also doing a Gouache course this term (all of the above are oil paint), here are some of my first gouache paintings (all on watercolour paper):

This one is a kind of a take on a Matisse:

December 2025 VISA Program end of Term 1

Here are a few works from the second half of the term.

Tribute to the great province of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Tribute to Sonya the Master Gardener (exercise to re-use a couple of old paintings).

Sunflower Medley.

Number 6 Nova Scotia Lane (i.e. the sixth attempt at this composition).

"Baby Caravaggio".

... and a few more from my "Reflections" series.

October 2025 from the VISA Program

I'm officially halfway through the first term of my art certificate program at VISA!

Painting Light & Space:

Nova Scotia homestead:

Canadian Landscapes (charcoal and chalk pastels).

Laughlin Lake, Galiano Island:

Pacman Nebula (yes ths is a Canadian Landscape):

Painting Inspired by Photographs:

Golden Thistles (from Sonya's garden):

NYC Skyline:

Alpine Landscape:

And a bunch more from my Reflections series (from Series Painting):

 

September 2025 from the VISA Program

 I'm 3 weeks into my art certificate program at VISA and here is what I've produced so far:

Canadian Landscapes (charcoal drawings).

Two views of a prairie church (low horizon and high horizon):

The Canadian Rockies:

Painting inspired by photographs.

Reflections of White Rock:

Sonya waiting patiently for the train in Nine, Portugal (on the way to the Camino):

Two views of Chris kayaking just off Jedehiah Island:

One of my sunflowers:

Painting a series - Reflections.

Two views of a reflection taken in Nova Scotia this summer: