Artwork

Third Beach (Umbrellas) - 2023. Acrylic on canvas 20" x 16"

A first-person view from Vancouver's Third Beach, located on the west shoreline of Stanley Park. The view, west, looks across Burrard Inlet to the distant mountains of Vancouver Island on the left, and the nearer, mainland mountains, of the Sunshine Coast and West Vancouver on the right.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Kits Beach - 2022. Acrylic on canvas 60" x 30"

A view of Kitsilano (Kits) Pool with Kits Beach, Vancouver's West End, and the mountains of North Vancouver in the background. The Pool is one of five outdoor swimming pools in Vancouver. It first opened in 1931 and at 137 meters (450 feet), it remains the longest salt water pool in Canada; almost three times the length of an Olympic pool.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Beatty Street - 2020. Acrylic on canvas 36" x 36"

The 500 block of Beatty Street, Vancouver, BC. I liked the striped pattern made by the buildings and the trees and the feeling of being in a canyon. The buildings are (from left to right) the 1911 Duncan Building on Pender Street, the 1912 Sun Tower (originally named the World Building), the gold brick 1911 Storey & Campbell Warehouse building, the 1906 cream coloured Bowman Block, the 1912 Crane Building (of Crane Bathroom fixtures fame) and the 1907 Mainland/Vancouver Warehouses Ltd/CPR building. All six buildings are now over 100 years old. I used to rent a studio space on the 7th floor of the gold brick Storey & Campbell Warehouse building in the late 80's. It has since been converted to condos.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

East Hastings 1990 II - 2020. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

Another scene from my 1990 reference collection, this view looks east from West Hastings.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Lighthouse Park II - 2019. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

This is the third time I've painted this scene, each time is different. This time smaller, faster and starting from a black-primed canvas.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

San Francisco Pawnbrokers - 2018. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

San Francisco Pawnbrokers was a family owned and run fixture of West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC, for over 50 years. The family sold the property to developers (Concord Pacific) in 2007. It was a good time to finally sell because the real estate market in the area had heated up in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics and it marked the true beginning of a re-gentrification of this economically depressed area of Downtown Vancouver.

The new owners also bought up most of the other older properties along this south side of the zero block of West Hastings. They tore down the buildings and have let the land sit empty, temporarily being used by Hastings Urban Farm as public food gardens. The land owners, no doubt, waiting for the most advantageous time to redevelop these lots into new high priced store fronts and condos. Perhaps their plan is to wait until they can roll up the entire block before rebuilding.

Reference for this view comes from a series of photos I took of the area in 1990.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Pierre Paris - 2018. Acrylic on canvas 36" x 22"

Pierre Paris was a new immigrant from the Basque region of France when he opened his first small shop on Main Street at 7th. He called it, The World Shoe Hospital. Business was good and he then bought and moved into the the building at 51 West Hastings in 1911. It had a bar in the basement, warehouses on the main floors and the Strathcona Hotel above.

Pierre’s company grew, making shoes and especially, boots for the logging industry that was booming in Vancouver at the time. Their success and reputation continued for 60 years.

In addition to running his growing enterprise, Pierre studied podiatry and his two sons, George and Roger, followed his example by attending podiatry school in Chicago. George and Roger returned to Vancouver to join their father’s podiatry practice and each took their turn at the helm of the family business.

In 1979, the well known Dayton Boot Company bought the rights to make Paris Boots. The building was sold for $375,000 and Pierre Paris & Sons became Paris Orthotics, which still does business out of Kitsilano to this day.

My 1990 scene shows the building on Hastings housing Idea Gift & Toy on the ground floor. This was a time when this part of West Hastings had begun to slip into economic decline. The building became run-down and abandoned.

It has now, recently, been turned into condos and is referred to as the Paris Block.

My personal connection with Pierre Paris & Sons begins with my late uncle, Martin (Marty) Rooney. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, he arrived in Vancouver in the mid 1960's after having secured work at a gold mine in Northern British Columbia. While in Vancouver for the first time, he discovered Perrie Paris and what he felt was the best pair of shoes he had ever worn. From that day, he never bought a pair of shoes anywhere else. He was angry to find that Perrie Paris had closed down in 1979. Sadly, it was only a few years later, in 1984, that he passed away. He was only fifty years old. It was his second job in northern BC, that he started in the early 1970's, at Cassiar's asbestos mine, that ultimately cursed him with asbestosis and lung cancer.

So this piece is in memory of my Uncle Marty. I still miss him. He always spent so much time with me and my brothers and sister. So many long walks and hikes, stories and laughs.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Glory Foods - 2018. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 24"

A Fall evening in Gastown, Vancouver, BC and a scene of life near the corner of Carall St and Powell St., looking south along Carall. From this viewpoint, if you turn your head to the left, you'd be looking at Gastown's iconic Hotel Europe.

It's strange to find two convenience store side by side like this. The competition must have been intense because Glory Foods has since gone out of business and disappeared.

I just loved the lighting, the activity and the colour found in this one.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Burrard Street Bridge - 2018. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 36"

After painting Vancouver scenes for over 30 years, I finally wanted to paint something that features our North Shore Mountains as a backdrop. This scene from the Granville Street Bridge, overlooks Granville Island with its bright yellow Bridges Restaurant building and includes the marina, the Burrard Street Bridge, the highrise apartment buildings of Vancouver's West End and the mountains.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Marine Building - 2016. Acrylic on canvas 20" x 30"

Located on Burrard Street, Facing West Hastings Street in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, The Marine Building was opened in 1930. With 22 floors, it was the tallest skyscraper in the city until 1939.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Granville & Nelson - 2015. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 30"

Ganville Street forms the heart of the entertainment district in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 1950's it was world famous as a neon 'Great White Way.' Much of the old neon is now gone, but some of the orginal signs can still be seen. A recent renovation of the street for the 2010 Winter Olymics, installed the vertical LED street lighting in an attempt to recapture the historic neon glory. This view looks north east and on a clearer day, you would be able to see Vancouver's North Shore mountains between the buildings at the end of the street.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

East Hastings 1990 - 2014. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 30"

East Hastings is the gateway to the Vancouver city core for those of us who grew up in the suburbs to the east. I started this painting in 1990 when this neighbourhood was just starting into a slow economic decline, becoming part of the more notorious skid row a few blocks east. Finishing this painting now seems fitting as these blocks are now seeing a revival in overall economy and culture.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Bridges - 1993. Acrylic on canvas 60" x 30"

Bridges restaurant and pub can be found on Granville Island in Vancouver. In my second year at Emily Carr College of Art and Design, the school moved to Granville Island and myself and other students would often gather at the Bridges pub.

Gillian's Nova Scotia Seaside - 2013. Acrylic on canvas 40" x 30"

Mathers House - 2013. Acrylic on canvas 18" x 12"

Here & Now - 2011. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 22"

Flyby - 2016. Oil on canvas 12" x 18"

Something a bit bizzare and sci-fi makes a great piece to try out oil paints once again. Hard to get used to after so many years working with acrylics, but I like oils and may do more portrait or even urbanscape work with them in the future.

I am now selling high quality giclee prints of this piece on canvas. Contact me for pricing.

Melanie Pinup - 2015. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 24"

Mona Leather - 2003. Acrylic on canvas 18" x 24"

"It's not a rip-off, it's a homage." Painted for a local fundraising event. If you take a look you'll see that it's not a direct copy of Mona Lisa. It's not her face, but I did loosely follow DaVinci's composition, colouring, and hands. Nowhere, however, do I even come close to the amount of work and detail found in Leonardo's original masterpiece. Vancouver residents should be able to recognize the background in which I include an idea of the city, Burrard Inlet from the First to Second Narrows, and our infamous East Hastings Street.

Anstruther - 2010. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 12"

St. Marinella House - 2002. Acrylic on canvas 12" x 16"

St Marinella is a small sea side town located about 20 minutes by train north of Rome, Italy. This beautiful red villa faces the sea.

Le Saint Severin - 2001. Acrylic on canvas 16" x 12"

While North America has seemingly been taken over by Starbucks, no one does café culture better than the French. When they're not behind the wheel of a car, they seem to know how to just sit and relax. Le Saint Severin can be found in the Latin Quarter of Paris.

Isle Saint Louis - 2001. Acrylic on canvas 16" x 12"

Café Isle Saint Louis is one of the highly visible cafés on Ile St-Louis, which is generally considered to be the oldest part of Paris. People sitting here can look across the Seine River to the second, larger island, Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Souvlaki Place - 1989. Acrylic on canvas 16" x 12"

English Bay, Vancouver

Lighthouse Park - 1992. Acrylic on canvas 30" x 20"

Point Atkinson, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Cannery - 1989. Acrylic on canvas 30" x 20"

The Cannery is a set of buildings that can be found on the banks of the South Arm of the Fraser River in Steveston, which is about 40 minutes south of Vancouver, Canada.

Chateau Chenonceau - 1984. Acrylic on canvas 58" x 40"

This chateau can be found south-east of Paris, near the town of Amboise, although it may not look quite the same. I painted this years before travelling to France from library photos and took a lot of license with the scene.

Pont Neuf - 1984. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 24"

Another scene from France painted long before finally making it there. Pont Neuf translates to 'new bridge' and the portion above connects the Left Bank of the Seine River to the Ile de la Cité in Paris.

Vancouver Special - 1990. Acrylic on canvas 12" x 18"

This old house can be found on Butte Street, near Davie Street, in the West End of Vancouver, Canada. I believe this particular house is where the Canadian national anthem, "Oh Canada," was composed, but I could be wrong.

Queensbourgh Fishermen - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 30"

Queensbourgh is a small neighborhood found at the eastern tip of Lulu Island (Richmond), between the north and south arms of the Fraser River, 25 minutes south-east of Vancouver City.

Geese ll - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"

Canada geese.

Richmond Farmhouse - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 40" x 20"

This farm house can still be seen in Richmond just off the Westminster Highway on No. 8 road.

Coal Harbour - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 24"

This is a quite a famous view of Vancouver City, looking across Coal Harbour from Stanley Park. My version of this scene is an early winter morning with a bit of fog still hanging around. The Island to the right is Deadman's Island and the building is the HMS Discovery navy acadamy.

Robinson House, Nova Scotia - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 30" x 20"

This piece was commisioned by the family that grew up in this house. I thought it was fascinating to detail the changes and additions that have occured over the years.

Musketeers - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 36" x 18"

Derelict Fishing in Steveston, perhaps under repair.

Vernon Steamship - 1992. Acrylic on canvas. 24" x 16"

Vernon is located in the central interior of British Columbia on the shores of Okanagan Lake.

Rossland House - 1991. Acrylic on canvas. 24" x 18"

I found this old house in Rossland, British Columbia. Rossland is a ski town, well known for its Red Mountain Ski Resort. The town has a gold mining history.

The Rocks - 1990. Acrylic on canvas. 30" x 40"

Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver.

Girls - 1979. Oils on canvas 60" x 30"

MG - 1984. Mixed media on illustration board. 24" x 16"

George Noris's The Crab - 1991. Acrylic on canvas 24" x 36"

Cineplex - 1989. Acrylic on canvas, 72" x 34"

I'm a big movie fan and like seeing new films downtown Vancouver, often on Granville Street. The Cineplex Odeon, also know as the Granville 7, was the 2nd cineplex (multi-theater) to be built in the same block on Granville Street. It opened in the mid '80's and finally closed on November 4, 2012. I always liked its neon marquee.

Ireland (Marjory's l) - 1993. Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 18"

Ireland (Marjory's ll) - 1993. Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 12"

The Steam Clock - 1991. Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

Perhaps the piece I'm most widely known for ... well, with tourists anyway. This image was published as an art card in 1991 and has been sold in Vancouver's Gastown shops ever since. I used to own the beige Pontiac sedan seen on the street.

Hotel Europe - 1991. Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

This Vancouver Gastown scene was also published as an art card in 1991, however my publisher took it out of print in 1995. I guess the tourists didn't like this one as much as the Steam Clock image. Too bad, this was my favorite out of the two. In my first year at Emily Carr College of Art in 1980, the school was located at 21 Water Street, just a head turn to the left from this scene. Myself and other students used to eat lunch in the pub that used to occupy the ground floor of the Hotel Europe. Cheap beer, even back then -- 60¢ a glass.