Thursday, June 27, 2013

Canada Day 2013 - Preparations - Part One

In preparation for Canada Day 2013, Painting #1300 "Celebration of 50 Years of Our Flag" is complete and presented here it is for the first time.
The mission of this painting was to "wrap the Canadian Flag in Canadian art". The historic Flag Committee was formed in 1964 to find the elusive symbol that would be used around the globe to ever after identify the uniqueness of Canada. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson had a similar goal in the early 20th century “to create a distinctly Canadian expression of art." The Group of One (that’s me) wanted to achieve the same goal in the early 21st century. Canada is distinctive. The land, water and weather are unique. The Canadian Flag is truly unique and the one of the most recognized symbols world-wide. The paintings that embrace the flag are my favourites but were selected by Bob Harper and John Ross Matheson as fitting tributes to the 50 Years of Our Flag Project. There are many stories to be told. The painting and its background is a course in Canadian history, nature, art, science, sport and of course weather.
The painting was started on December 20th, 2012 but that was just the tinting start of a project that would take many months. The first step is called " "imprimatura" " which comes from the Italian for "first paint layer". The first paint applied to the virgin canvas was thus a mixture of quinacridone/naphthol red oil which exactly matched the colour of the Canadian Flag. I have done this for many years but felt it should be explained in relation to the "50 Years of Our Flag" Project. The details of this project can be found at http://www.50yearsofourflag.ca/

The painting will be sold through a bidding process. This is the one that will be printed with as many copies that are desired. Contact either me or Bob Harper (bob@50yearsofourflag.ca)
I will unveil the sibling, insurance policy painting tomorrow...

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