Biography
George paints and draws in a variety of media, depicting joyous landscapes and symbolic imagery. A Redeemer University graduate with a BA in Art and French, he also studied art in Florence, Italy. He has since earned the Art and Design Certificate from OCAD University and taken classes at Dundas Valley School of Art. He is a member of the Art Gallery of Burlington, and his works have been displayed at the AGB, McMaster Divinity College, Durham Art Gallery and various art festivals, and are in private collections in Canada, US, and Europe. His close-up observations and thoughtful images provide windows into an adventurous life, reflected in his paintings and his illustrations for French children's books.
About
Because I am fascinated with the way light affects the appearance of everything we see. Besides that, I use vibrant colours in my pieces. My ultimate goal is to share the light of Jesus with others.
Why call it
Bright Art?
Artist Statement
It can be easy to not fully recognize how our perception of the world is affected by lighting and the way our eyes adapt to it. All that visual input is filtered through the mind and linked to our emotions, making experiences very personal.
Working in acrylic and oil, the latter being my preferred medium, I have painted close-ups of the Canadian landscape, European architecture, and scenes that hint at the spiritual realm. I use precise as well as expressive detail in my art, playing with colour harmonies to capture the essence of the places I visit and my experiences in nature. I am observant of textures, light and optical effects, aiming to depict human vision as distinct from a camera lens.
My first main area of interest in art was storytelling and cartooning, as this was a fun method of sharing moments in life through whimsical or quirky drawings. As I learned to draw in a naturalistic style, my medium of choice was pencil crayon, and I also used chalk pencil, watercolour and digital media.
I enjoy art because it intersects with disciplines such as philosophy, theology, science and math. This makes my creative process both intellectual and expressive. I am still drawn toward narratives, and this has come through in artworks that tell a bit of my life story: my love of reading, dealing with loss, my perseverance and hope.
Symbolism often plays a significant role in my work. I tend to use nature and landscapes as metaphors to convey strength, fragility and danger; visual devices such as a climber on a rock face, a desert scene and the top of a waterfall represent these themes. This symbolic imagery makes my experience more accessible to the community at large.
My art lets viewers appreciate the everyday beauty of the natural world, giving them a glimpse of my travels and my life journey. I express the mood of a piece through vibrant colour choices and the lighting of a scene. These images become a visual journal that viewers can enter into and identify with.
