Banksy

I am creating this blog entry (or phlog as I prefer to call it) simply as en excuse to provide a link to a youtube entry that features the work of Banksy, a British graffiti artist. It is the opening to "The Simpsons" that they allowed him to design. It is wonderful in so many ways.

Bamboo 2

I didn't take any Christmas pictures this year. But I spent Boxing Day scanning old negatives. I don't have a hard and fast artistic philosophy when I work with images and I rely on a less cerebral and more instinctive part of my being. Many of the artists I like are more traditional in their approach to image making and I admire that aspect of their work. I like the fact that I can experiment digitally but I envy the more organic, tactile methods of the master etchers and printers. It might be like writing music but not feeling the smooth neck of a guitar or the weight of a piano's keys against your fingers while you are doing it.

Charles Van Sandwyck

This photo was taken on the same day as the earlier post under the heading, 'Nick Bantock'. Another favorite artist of mine is Charles Van Sandwyck. His is an interesting story, and his work is beautiful. I first saw one of his prints in a shop across from my workplace on the corner of Homer and Pender. The shop no longer exists. Mr. Van Sandwyck is worth investigating.

Looking Down

I think this is from the Burrard Bridge.

VanDusen Trees

While everyone else took in the mushrooms (not what you're thinking) I stood in the rain and took pictures of the garden.

Seurat & Coleville

Two of my favorite artists are George Seurat and Alex Colville. This image, which I have played with in Photoshop, felt like a melding of the two artists styles. The pencil sketches, especially, by Seurat, always astound me. And there should be a horse galloping around the bend of the seawall, in honor of Colville. I usually try to take pictures that don't need too much help as far as 'special effects' but I also try not to be bound by anyone else's idea of what I should or should not do to a picture in Photoshop. Sometimes an image asks for a different approach, or a special effect.