Aerial Paintings

My paintings have always been based upon lighting, particularly the patterns made by shadows and how they define and reveal shape. Much of my work has been architectural because of buildings' beautiful articulation of light and shadow. Rural subjects have sometimes been rarer because field and tree shadows can be more elusive, more difficult to see from the ground. During the 1990's I was pursuing many courses in archaeology and found that I was greatly inspired by the aerial archaeological photography that I was seeing. To help reveal ancient sites these photographs are taken from low flying planes in the evening to maximize the shadow length. I knew immediately that this was the angle from which I could capture my shadow compositions.

As well as the shadows, I am interested in the abstract patterns of colour created by the fields and the linear design of the ploughing furrows. This work is bonded to the past and present work by the shared theme of lighting, but diverges in the unique aspect of point of view: Aerial.

The Artist would like to thank the Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton for their support with this project.This grant enabled me to make several hot air balloon rides over the Ottawa area to gain the images that I needed to work from. I have included three examples here on the web site to give the current viewers a glimpse of some of the past projects. If you would like to see more of these works displayed please feel free to email the artist.