‘Afoot Magazine’ Featured Content

Dmitri and the guys over at ‘Afoot Magazine’ are knocking down doors to make their magazine the premier lifestyle/culture resource for the lower mainland community. I had the opportunity to connect with their crew and rock a bit of work which will be in their first issue coming out shortly, but in the meantime they were nice enough to hook up a bit of coverage on their site as well as share the stop-motion clip I did of my recent painting ‘Childhoods Dream’.

Great work these guys are putting out their, grinding to make a go of it in a sea of shoddy media these days. Check out their stuff and the feature they did on me.

http://www.afootmagazine.com

Props to Dmitri and Sebastiaan for the support!

‘The Proof’ profile @ Vancouver Is Awesome

Bob K. and crew over at their site ‘Vancouver is Awesome’ did a little profile / ‘proof’ feature of my daily life. Check it out and check out their site. It is filled with a great community of people making the Vancouver community pop off with inspiration and motivation as well as coverage of all things that make Van city a rocking city on the edge of salted seas.

http://vancouverisawesome.com/2010/06/08/the-proof-davyd-oram/

‘The Local’ Newspaper Coverage of Live Murals

The local newspaper ‘The Local’ has coverage of the first in the series of murals I am creating this summer for the Egmont Heritage Centre/Museum. Check it out here. 

http://www.thelocalweekly.ca/

‘Skookumchuck’ Egmont Live Mural Event Photos

I did a live mural performance in Egmont, BC last saturday for the Egmont Heritage Center during Egmont Day. Great time up there and a great group/organization to support. This mural is the first one in a series of four events spread out over the course of the summer.

They are also taking pre-orders for a print series from the four completed works that will be offered up in September once all four murals are completed. The finished murals will be going towards an outdoor display surrounding the museum to be enjoyed by all.

Thanks to Beverly and the Egmont Community for getting me involved in such a great series of events.

‘Breaks at Broken Cup’ | Scott Dunbar Music

I just finished up this painting ‘Breaks at Broken Cup’ as part of a painting/music trade with the musician Scott Dunbar. The painting carries on and reflects the new changes in approach I am working on with more textures and loose brush strokes. Still reflecting hard on the coastal scenery and elements but from a wholly different angle than the primary brush strokes of the last few years.

I found out about Scott and his music through the Artswells Festival in Wells, BC where he has been a performer in the past. Currently he lives in Montreal, but I think originally he came out of Prince George, BC. An amazing one-man band his music has been on my computers playlist in the studio now for the last few weeks almost non-stop.

Check out his cover of ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Old Crow Medicine Show / Dylan –>

You can order his cd ‘Philosophies of a Moth vol.#2′  at his site here –>  scottdunbar.wordpress.com

‘Danger Bay’ Outlaw Slide Competition Poster

Did an event poster up the other day with a quick turnaround time for an old friend who has worked tirelessly to the benefit of long boarding and the whole community around it. This event is just one of dozens he has put on over the last decade or so, and I am really happy to contribute a bit of art to the whole effort and share in a bit of that whole spirit.

Besides after being a skater for my whole teenage years I havent really had much opportunity to reference that past in jobs/clients, so this job was definetely a win/win scenario in my books.

‘Doubles Reach’ New Coastal Landscape Painting

'Doubles Reach'

I am trying to bring more detail and realism into the work while at the same time loosening up the brush stroke style from the last few years of framing everything in a dark/black line. The dark black lines come from sketchbook, illustration style really but as I reach out towards more life studies and coastal landscape based work I am finding those color choices hanging on the palette too heavily for what I am trying to project.

'Detail #1'

 While the black lines still play heavily into this piece, they are departing. Making way for the other methods I am starting to use to frame the key elements in each painting. Siennas, ochres, you know the deal.  If not you will be seeing it soon enough through the upcoming work.

'Detail #2'

 I have also started switching up the brush choices. For the last 3 or 4 years I painted almost exclusively with a 1″ flat brush. Perfect for stiff lines and quick fill-ins on large pieces but it definetely leaves a flater painting than where these ones are at, using various rounds and finer points.

'Detail #3'

 ’Doubles Reach’ doesnt really exist as a physical place but it easily could. It’s every little stretch of coastline I love to wander along and jot down in the blackbooks in rapid pens strokes and ink scrawl.

Ink Cabin Washes

Red Cabin Washout

Goldenrod Cabin Washout

Just a couple of new ink brush and acrylic wash piece I have been working on lately. Trying to add more layering to the subject matter with the grey tones and bring some more realistic depth to what I am working with.

I always love the india ink and brush method of working. The crispness of the line work and the way you can flow the medium off the brush or chop it all up cross-hatching style. No mistakes or ‘undo’ button available, it just speaks to me in the quick drying time and immediacy of the effort. Death or glory type penmanship. Ha. Funny part though is these types of studies are taking longer and longer to create/complete with all their tiny brush strokes and details.

‘The Wind…’ Commission

Full Shot

Detail / Close-up #1

Detail / Close-up #2

‘The Wind of the Tree Spirits’

‘First Saturdays’ Live Mural Benefit/Event

I will be performing 4 live mural events on the first saturday of each month through this summer, up in Egmont, BC.

High quality prints of each mural will be available in a limited edition of a hundred prints per mural, numbered and signed for authentication by me.

‘Egmont, BC holds a special place in my heart, life and creative output as it is the birth place of my grandfather and other extended family members. His family were one of the first homesteading families to lay roots down in that area and carve out claims while logging and fishing with the seasons. A whole lot of those lives and lifestyles are still embedded in the scenery up there both through old homes passed down through the family and stories and experiences that have shaped the families since. ‘

These murals and the print series to follow are benefits for the further development of the ‘Egmont Heritage Centre’ by the Skookumchuck Heritage Society and its members. I feel honoured to be contributing to a museum that carries with it a mandate of preservation for the future of these lives that came on the coastline before ours., and at the same time am stoked beyond belief to be giving my part through my career back into that community that made my family and my work what it is today.

So come on out. Support the museum. Buy a print. Enjoy the scenery and the artwork being created..