“Canadian Call”
© 2020, 18” by 18”, Watercolours
This is my third painting in my planned nine-part polyptych (in progress and described in more detail below). I very much enjoyed creating this image if, for no other reason, than it finally gave me an opportunity to paint a loon! I’ve always wanted to paint a loon, but when it comes to paintings of iconic Canadian wildlife, it’s all been done before (several times in fact) and I don’t like to commit to a project unless I can find a way to do it in an original way. Painting a real loon on the face of a beat-up old loonie certainly seemed like a way to do this.
Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that there's a cameo from another famous Canadian coin on the other side of the island just above the bird’s folded wings. I put this here because, from the moment that the loon design was revealed for the Canadian dollar coin back in the late 80s, I've always wondered if the rocky island that appears on both the loonie and the classic silver dollar was the same one. It seemed to me if the tandem Voyageur canoe was on one side of the island while the loon was on the other, you should be able to see them. Here's your chance to petition the Canadian mint to update the loonie's design to fix this egregious error!
The Canadian Coin Polyptych
In case you’re unaware, a polyptych is a painting with multiple parts or panels. The most common form of this being the “triptych,” a painting with three parts arranged in close proximity on a wall.
My polyptych will include nine paintings (check out the plan included as one of the preview images on this page), eight of which will portray a Canadian coin with the image on its back painted to look like it’s real (are you surprised to learn that the side of the coin without the head of state is the “back” of the coin? Well, you’ve just learned something new today (two things if you didn’t know what a polyptych was (three if you didn’t know you could nest parentheses three sets deep))).
The individual paintings will be tied together by the common barnwood background as well as a large red maple leaf, parts of which will extend into some of the other individual paintings. As such, the only way to see the polyptych in its entirety is to assemble all of the nine parts in the correct configuration. When complete, the concatenated image will measure over 5 feet by 4 feet!
Canadian Call
Original Available
Frames
Prints
Reproductions of my art are available printed either on paper or canvas. Both formats are signed by me, the artist, and are high quality, full-colour prints of a high resolution scan or photograph of the original painting. All prints are inspected to ensure that the colours match the source and created using inks that are guaranteed to resist both fading and UV light.
Paper Reproductions
These are printed on high quality paper to give them the look and feel of the original painting. In terms of the dimensions listed, please keep in mind that they are approximate. Since I custom mat and frame the prints myself, I reproduce them at specific sizes so that when they are matted to standard matting dimensions, the mat-board borders are consistent widths on all sides. It’s because of this that I highly recommend that you upgrade to the matted version (seriously, go do it now).
Now, if you've ordered a print that is not a standard sized when matted, then I highly recommend that you go back and order it in a frame. As described in the sister section Frames, I do all my own framing using reclaimed wood and am affordable.
Stretched Canvases
If you want to avoid matting and framing altogether, then I suggest that you order the canvas option. I stretch the canvases myself using reclaimed wood and, with a profile that is an inch and a half thick, the art will make a strong statement on your wall.