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    gordonhawkins April 7, 2016 Arts location photography, Paria Shahverdi, Rob Saley, Scott Johnston

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    It’s always great to work with artists. Over the last few months,  I’ve had the opportunity to photograph a number of painters, including:  Rob Saley, Scott Johnston and Paria Shahverdi.

    Shoots and bad weather have been a bit of a theme these days, but you always end up working around it and heading up to Rob’s at the end of March, was no exception. I’ve posted some of the images here, as well as the artists’ bio’s and links to their websites.

    Rob Saley  /  AOCAD, RCGS Fellow

    www.robsaley.com

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    Rob was born in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario.

    In 1992 Rob graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto.

    A diverse and prolific artist, Rob paints in a variety of mediums and styles. Moving with ease between oil painted landscapes to subjects such as abandoned houses and vehicles done in oil

    or acrylic paints, or on to a series featuring Inuit “country” food in mixed media. Additionally, the Yardbird series, which have realistic portrayals of the birds in his backyard with abstracted backgrounds in acrylic paint, to crazy wild cartoon canvases with bright, bold acrylic colours and an emphasis on black line often featuring “Bucketfish”, a cartoon character created at art college.

    A founding member of the acclaimed Canadian artist collective Drawnonward, Rob Saley has drawn his inspiration from the far reaches of Canada and abroad for the last two decades.

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    When Rob is not working somewhere onsite, he paints out of his historic log home and studio, located in the Pretty River Valley along Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment.

     

    Scott Johnston

    www.scottjohnston.ca

    SJ_Blog_7560For the past year, Toronto artist Scott Johnston has been concentrating his focus on his new body of work.  His stated interest was to create a complex and rigorous visual language, separate and distinct from others. As the work progressed, he learned that there was not much information to be gained from outside of the work; that the work itself was the best source of how to proceed, each painting informing the next.

    The paintings are mainly made up of the interplay of various coloured circles overlapping one another on an iridescent patchwork of coloured squares. The geometrically opposed shapes work together to create separate but, at the same time, integrated fluid visual movement.

    The circles continually merge and divide from one other, never actually forming a complete circle, holding the viewer’s attention in a perpetual weave with no beginning and no end. Layering the fragmented circles with a combination of warm and cool colours further conveys a sense of depth. Foreground and background continually trade roles, sustaining and driving this undulating rhythmic pulse.

    The mind’s eye tends to complete the incomplete, reflecting a desire to fill in the blanks. Johnston’s latest paintings—with their dual presence of echoing squares and broken circles that seem to extrapolate past the edges of these large-scale works—keep that desire active and challenge our ability to see the work in its entirety.

    SJ_Blog_7413We often have similar experiences within our daily existence, words left unsaid, something left behind or a piece missing from the puzzle—just that one thing, whatever it may be, that would make everything complete. And, of course, for better or worse, we never really find it.  Scott Johnston seems to understand and reflect this concept completely.

    Margaret Baxter – December 2011

     

    Paria Shahverdi

    www.pariashahverdi.com/

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    Paria Shahverdi was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, during the Islamic Revolution. During the Iran/Iraq war, she worked as an operator at a local newspaper, but stopped working to raise her young children. During this time, inspired by the memory of her father, a poet and playwright, Paria explored writing and drawing. Ultimately, she graduated from the Fine Arts Program at the Azad University of Tehran.

    PS_Blog_32822After immigrating to Canada in 2004, Paria continued her education through the Animation program at Seneca College, and at the Toronto School of Art. A well respected arts organizer, Paria is Vice President of the Ontario Society of Artists, and an elected Member of the Canadian Society of Artists, the McMichael Art Collection, and the Iranian Society of Artists.

    Bios reproduced with permission from the Artists.

    Michelle McAdorey

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    gordonhawkins December 10, 2015 Music Crash Vegas, Gord Downie, Into Her Future, location photography, MIchelle McAdorey, Music

    mmcdpakagefrontI first met Michelle McAdorey in the mid 90’s, when I was hired by Sony to shoot a promo for Crash Vegas.

    A few years ago, I reconnected with Michelle, and last year I shot the images for her latest release “Into Her Future”.  We shot at a location, several hours north of Toronto that has a special connection for Michelle, since some of the songs for the album were written there.

    There was pretty much no power where we were going, so I had to make sure all my batteries were charged on all my camera gear, portable lighting and computer. The car was stuffed with as much gear as possible, and we headed north and into the rain. Once we arrived and unloaded the gear, everyone got their rubber boots on and we headed out to look for locations. I actually shoot a lot of work in not so great weather, but it just didn’t want to stop! We had to make the best of it, but it was really amazing how the rain made the colours more intense and how peaceful and quiet it was.

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    The shot on the cover was on our first day on location and was not set up. It was pretty much the first frame I shot. We were getting ready to fill some water bottles and I was walking behind Michelle. I saw a moment and I took the photo – it ended up being the front cover. Over the next few days, we would wait for a break in the rain and them scramble outside as quickly as possible to get as much done before it started to rain again.

    When working with musicians, I like to work with a small crew, or none at all if it suits the project. It’s great having the support on set, but it’s also really nice to be able to work one-on-one with the artist. I feel like there is more of a direct connection with the person your photographing. I did that a number of years ago with Gord Downie, and it worked so well. It can allow for a much more relaxed shoot that gives more flexibility, and sometimes it can provide a bit of break for the artist from a lot of other distractions that sometimes comes with working with a large crew.

    We lucked out, and just as the sun was setting, there was a break in the clouds. If you would like to check out some of Michelle’s music you can find her on Facebook   / Twitter  and  here is the Video by Yuula Benivolski for the 1st single “Into Her Future”