Mark's Blog

AWOL: I have 3 pieces hanging at AWOL Gallery’s 8th Annual Square Foot show. The number of pieces the gallery has put on display means that the show is now held at 2 different locations -  the original AWOL Gallery at 76/78 Ossington, and a large space at 100A Ossington on the 2nd floor. The [...]

Well I’ve signed up for their online art competition. I am putting myself out there again in a “vote for me” way with http://markjohnson.3rdward.com/ I am always very aware of how my art doesn’t translate well – my cheap old digital camera is not a very good window through which the world sees my work. The work itself is in a [...]

This acrylic piece has been sitting on the easel for far too long. I’m including it as part of a juried submission that accepts works in progress, which means it can make it into the Blog as well. I’m betting the end result will not look too different from what I have here, but it [...]

I’m happy to be taking part in the Don Valley Art Club’s Annual Spring Show. There will be quite a range of work by the members, including my new piece Reflections II. Place Todmorden Mills, Pottery Road, Toronto Ontario Show Dates April 30, May 1, 2, 8 & 9, 2010 Opening Reception Friday, April 30, [...]

I decided I wanted to do a variation of Reflections, going with the energy and ideas that were still strong from the original. So, working on a larger scale (36″ x 24″) in acrylic, I will be trying extra-hard to make this piece a fully functional painting when hung in any orientation. I’m interested in [...]

14″ x 11″ pencil The universe resides in what is referred to as deep time. Billions of years layer the foundation of our understanding. We evolve connections within ourselves. We consider possible patterns in the universe that we exist with. Knowledge forms within and without us in a context woven whole from itself. We are [...]

11″ x 14″ pencil People have a reliance on and a relationship with the animals that share our world. Our bodies, our natures and the very roots of our existence are conjoined. There is a natural correspondence between this ancient interrelationship and the iconic gestalt that we consider when we think “bear”, “bird” or “fish”. [...]

The Song – 12″ x 16″ finished size in micron pens and colour pencils. This is the first stage complete before I colour it in. The show is coming up and I feel the crunch time, so I will see how quickly I get The Song complete. Hopefully there will be a final version hitting [...]

I am participating in the upcoming Toronto Art Expo. I’ll be in Booth D073 – a corner location on the perimeter a few rows away from the centre stage. Very exciting, very nerve-wracking for this neophyte, and a little rich for my blood. But it will be an amazing experience, and something to look back [...]

I thought it would be interesting to have a running blog showing what work was in progress. Sometimes art changes quite a bit as it works it’s way onto the canvas or the drawing board. Sometimes the process leads to an evolution that wasn’t expected at all. The review of the art can be a [...]