Yesterday, I was honored to spend 1 1/2 hours in my studio discussing my art with the Curator of Contemporary Art from our regional museum, The Art Gallery of Windsor. In Canada we call them “galleries” instead of museums for some reason. It can be very confusing at times.

My work hadn’t been properly critiqued since university many years ago, so I was a bit apprehensive. I had never met James Patten, but to my absolute delight he was very friendly and we hit it off right away.

His visit was quite enlightening and a turning point for me. For one thing James seemed really taken with my work. When I asked him to point out my strongest and weakest paintings, he found it hard to point out any that were weak. Wow ! I was thrilled.

This was one of his favorites. It measures 48″ x 36″

He had 3 pieces of advice:

1. just keep doing what I’m doing
2. paint in consistent sizes within small, medium and large categories
3. try painting REALLY BIG.

I’ve often painted really large pieces but they’ve been triptychs or quads to make shipping easier. Anything over 48″ x 72″ is really bulky to handle and expensive to pack and transport. I’ll have to think about how to overcome the challenges.