The Nocturne Series

Welcome to a sample of available works from past Nocturne exhibitions. As Monet once did with cathedrals and haystacks, I have returned again and again to the Burrard Inlet and Vancouver Inner Harbor at night. If you are interested in viewing more of my Nocturnes, please see paintings from Nocturne exhibitions in 2014, 2015 and 2022 in the Exhibitions section.

I moved to Vancouver in 1991 and instantly fell in love with the Burrard Inlet: mountains, clouds, beach volleyball, sunsets – and freighters amidst a froth of sea planes, sailboats, windsurfers. I found oil tankers and cargo freighters the most interesting architectural objects in our landscape. I admire how the older ships – with their now-obsolete design, patches of peeling paint and rusting steel hulls – maintain a quiet dignity while accepting their fate.

I paint freighters in fading light: late afternoon, sunset, crepuscule, deepest night, and the gloaming before dawn. Their shape changes and distorts as they slowly rotate with the tides. At night, the ships’ masses blur into the mountain background while weak lights glow from the cabins of their crew – transforming ships into mysterious fortified floating monasteries, with tangled cranes serving as rococo superstructure.