Charles Pachter

The Canvas House - landscape, abstracted, pop-art, acrylic on canvas

2014

With Dream Flower, Fiona Ackerman has painted a gorgeous ethereal abstract arrangement of brilliant pink, purple, mauve, orange flowers and organic shapes against a background of vib...

Inspired by the narratives and botanical drawings of women naturalists including Canadian pioneer Catharine Parr Traill, Fiona Ackerman has created a series of paintings that re-imag...

Vancouver artist, Fiona Ackerman strays from botanical-themed compositions to explore the concepts of philosophy in this new abstract acrylic piece, one of two. Her colourful palette...

Botanical imagery layered with shapes in mauve, sapphire, yellow and green form a playful narrative in this acrylic painting by Fiona Ackerman. The painting is part of a series inspired by the narratives and botanical drawings of women...

Canadian contemporary artist Charles Pachter was just eighteen years old when Canada famously adopted the maple leaf as its national flag. As a tribute to his birthplace, the pop artist has painted it many times. In this piece, the flag is flying low on the pole suggesting ‘half-mast,’ a universal sign of respect for the passing of a socially important person. The image of the maple leaf is only partially visible as the wind has wrapped the flag around the pole. “My favourite Pachter work is his variations on the Canadian flag...

Charles Pachter’s love of barns has spanned decades. For the cherished Canadian contemporary artist the barn is a reminder of Canada’s strong rural roots and agricultural heritage. In this painting, the barn is a forest green; a colour that became popular after the 18th century invention of a paint pigment called ‘Paris green.’ The rich colours are enhanced by the reflection of the image in cool blue waters. The undulating borders blur the line between earth and sky. While Pachter has been much lauded as a pop artist often compared to David Hockney, Andy Warhol and Jim Dine, his charming imagery is distinctly his own. “Charles Pachter is the most Canadian artist this country has ever produced, including the Group of Seven. Charlie is a Group of One, and no one else can do what he does.” Leonard Wise, Author and Art Critic Pachter is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier of France’s Ordres des Arts et des Lettres and twice a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee...

Josh Talbott's (US based) "Untitled at Sea" is an acrylic painting that depicts a small toy red piano floating suspended in a light blue sea background. Bio: Josh Talbott grew up in suburban/rural Georgia in the southern US. His first work as a professional artist was in scenic painting and murals for various production companies. An attempt to deepen his well of possibilities led to New Orleans where as a street artist he sold works to people from all over the world before loosing everything in hurricane Katrina. With short stints in Santa Fe and then Los Angeles Josh arrived in the small coastal city of Los Osos, California where he lives and works today. His curiosity is voracious and interests are many, including scuba/ free diving, sailing, surfing, gardening, geology, rock hounding, rationality, AI, history, and philosophy. In his studio there is always an audiobook on, and outside of the studio there are all manner of activities making there way into his work. He has many private collectors scattered across the globe and murals in San Francisco. ARTIST STATEMENT We live in a time of extreme and accelerated change, growing complexity, and specialization. At every stage in our human trajectory from primitive beginnings crawling out of the sea to the present gauntlet of challenges, our thinking tools and their uses are central to the story of what it means to be human. My work is informed by a fascination with thinking tools and the effects of programming and environment through the different phases of life and our capacity for storytelling. My practice consists of constructing small-scale still life scenarios of toys and other artifacts of human development, then creating photorealistic acrylic paintings of these scenes. The work juxtaposes the familiar and playful with a contemporary, complex, adult world. While I am interested in the science of the mind, and what it means to be a human, my work seldom features the human form, focusing instead on the objects and items that are frequently left behind. As such, the subject of the painting becomes the viewer him or herself because their own humanity is ultimately what is revealed. My work honors toys as thinking tools for small people and the scenes depicted explore the ways in which the culture of our formative years leaves a lasting mark and continues to shape our storytelling. The plastic artifacts of my formative years carry memories of simultaneous confusion and wonder at the world around me. These are sensations and emotions still very much present in my life. What were your imaginings and dramas when you played with toys? Are you living them today? The multileveled still life paintings of familiar toys are bright and accessible and connect to the viewer's nostalgia and playfulness while provoking deeper insights into our current evolutionary, cultural, and technological moment. I place each little curio with care into meaningful relationship to their interlocutors and environment. The plastic dinosaurs often depicted are emblematic of childhood curiosities, of great wonder and speculation at past worlds and the depth of evolutionary time, and yet they are made of a material that illustrates our shortsightedness, a quintessential human quality that makes it quite possible that these plastic creations will outlast us all. I do my best to draw inspiration and resources from everywhere to build a visual language. In my divergent path I find the musical compositions and the story of composer, Philip Glass inspiring. The story of his devotion to his craft and his subsequent successes have encouraged and inspired me. I'm influenced by writers such as Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Sapolsky, and Yuval Noah Harari, the many books by Simon Winchester, Daniel Dennet, Robert Wright...

Abstract expressionist floral work from the garden of Susan Bleakley. In her paintings of flowers colour and texture are highlighted and vibrant, Susan spends hours perfecting the fo...

Frank Faulkner Birches I, 2012 60" X 60" Acrylic on Canvas Produced 1987, Repainted 2012 (Contemporary Minimalist Painting with Tree Branches on Black Impasto Background) The Birch Tree paintings are an elegant and sophisticated body of work painted by Frank Faulkner in 2010-2012. White birch branches are contrasted by a dark ground that transitions from black to steel gray. The Birch Tree is the symbol of new beginnings, regeneration, hope, new dawns and the promise of what is to come. The tree carries ancient wisdom and yet appears forever young. With a natural eye for design, Faulkner was well known for his abstract paintings of low-relief decorative patterns informed by his love of the applied arts, from Art Nouveau inlays...

Birches III: Contemporary Minimalist Painting of Slender Birches by Frank Faulkner 60 x 48 inches, acrylic on canvas Vertical orientation The Birch Tree paintings are an elegant and sophisticated body of work painted by Frank Faulkner in 2010-2012. Several birch trucks intertwine; their white bark starkly illuminated against a dramatic, dark ground.against a dark ground. The Birch Tree is the symbol of new beginnings, regeneration, hope, new dawns and the promise of what is to come. The tree carries ancient wisdom and yet appears forever young. Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1946, Frank Faulkner received his B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1968, Phi Beta Kappa, and his M.F.A. from the same institution in 1972. Faulkner’s work quickly won him numerous grants and awards, including an individual artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974. He was selected for the Whitney Biennial in 1975, which prompted him to settle in New York. There, he came to the attention of Dorothy Miller, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art with a legendary eye for new talent. Since then, Faulkner has continued to garner acclaim and awards. He has been featured in dozens of one-person exhibitions (not to mention group exhibitions) in this country, as well as in Japan, Switzerland, and Germany. Faulkner’s work is owned by leading museums (the Smith College museum in Northampton, Massachusetts, for example, the National Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C.) and by renowned collectors such as Nelson Rockefeller, Baron Leon Lambert, Phillip Hanes and Abba Eban...

Frank Faulkner Birches IV, 2012 Contemporary Minimalist Painting w/ Single Birch Branch by Frank Faulkner 48" X 36" Acrylic on Canvas The Birch Tree paintings are an elegant and sophisticated body of work painted by Frank Faulkner in 2010-2012. Several birch trucks intertwine against a blue sky that is beginning to peek through dark foliage. The Birch Tree is the symbol of new beginnings, regeneration, hope, new dawns and the promise of what is to come. The tree carries ancient wisdom and yet appears forever young. Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1946, Frank Faulkner received his B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1968, Phi Beta Kappa, and his M.F.A. from the same institution in 1972. Faulkner’s work quickly won him numerous grants and awards, including an individual artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974. He was selected for the Whitney Biennial in 1975, which prompted him to settle in New York. There, he came to the attention of Dorothy Miller, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art with a legendary eye for new talent. Since then, Faulkner has continued to garner acclaim and awards. He has been featured in dozens of one-person exhibitions (not to mention group exhibitions) in this country, as well as in Japan, Switzerland, and Germany. Faulkner’s work is owned by leading museums (the Smith College museum in Northampton, Massachusetts, for example, the National Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C.) and by renowned collectors such as Nelson Rockefeller, Baron Leon Lambert, Phillip Hanes and Abba Eban...

Minimalist landscape painting of white Birch tree branches on a dark silver surface Birches VI, painted by Frank Faulkner in 2012 36" X 30" Acrylic on Canvas Wire backing for secure installation Signed, verso The Birch Tree paintings are an elegant and sophisticated body of work painted by Frank Faulkner in 2010-2012. White birch branches are contrasted by a dark ground that transitions from black to steel gray. The Birch Tree is the symbol of new beginnings, regeneration, hope, new dawns and the promise of what is to come. The tree carries ancient wisdom and yet appears forever young. An impasto relief is created using acrylic paint on wood panel, in an abstract, almost bead like design. The minimalist landscape is completed on canvas and is signed by the artist on the back. More about the artist: Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1946, Frank Faulkner received his B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1968, Phi Beta Kappa, and his M.F.A. from the same institution in 1972. Faulkner’s work quickly won him numerous grants and awards, including an individual artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974. He was selected for the Whitney Biennial in 1975, which prompted him to settle in New York. There, he came to the attention of Dorothy Miller, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art with a legendary eye for new talent. Since then, Faulkner has continued to garner acclaim and awards. He has been featured in dozens of one-person exhibitions (not to mention group exhibitions) in this country, as well as in Japan, Switzerland, and Germany. Faulkner’s work is owned by leading museums (the Smith College museum in Northampton, Massachusetts, for example, the National Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C.) and by renowned collectors such as Nelson Rockefeller, Baron Leon Lambert, Phillip Hanes and Abba Eban...