"Packing Up"

I completed this painting in September just in time to be displayed at Art Toronto, the largest international art exhibition in Canada. It was my first time exhibiting with Engine Gallery at the fair, and they did a great job of finding a home for the painting during the collector's preview.

Art Toronto gathers galleries from Toronto, Montreal, New York, London and others from around the world to display what new and fresh in the art scene. The work covers the widest range possible, which I always find refreshing, and there seemed to more figurative work this year than last.

"Packing Up" is the second painting from my "Moving Out" series, which come from my experience of leaving my last apartment. I lived there for about five years, three of which with my wife Kelly Grace. It was a little house from around 1890 with tons of character, like the doorbell that screamed like school bell and made us jump every time it rang.

Kelly and I both used the living room as our studio (pictured in the painting), an incredible feat given the cramped quarters, but we had the house to ourselves and plenty of good times were had under that roof. We have separate studios in our new place, which is fantastic, but I will always think fondly of the days in that little house in the East end, and all of the paintings that we created there.