Contact David Mceown

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Studio visits also  may be arranged in Vancouver and Richmond Hill - Ontario,  Canada through out the year. I  look forward to hear from you.

 

 

         

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Recent/Blog

News and blog posts about recent works, workshops, events, presentations, expeditions and exhibitions by Canadian artist David McEown.

Filtering by Category: Antarctica

Antarctica

David McEown

Once again we visited the antarctic peninsula  as part of the team at One Ocean Expeditions. However this time we arrived later in the season and saw lots of seal and whale action including many adolescent  and energenic penguin chicks! Posted here are video journal highlights , and a selection of Antarctic paintings completed on location.

A collection of video impressions from the Antarctic Peninsula , including David painting the dramatic glacier at Neko Harbour.

This short video is shot while painting on Petermann Island, a special place to observe the variations of penguin species nesting and the changes in populations due to climate change. In this case David encounters 2 young adelie penguin chicks walking into the foreground in front of a dramatic backdrop. 

During a voyage in the Antarctic Sound aboard a Russian research vessel , David paints in sub zero temperatures to allow chance effects and interplay of the weather and the mark making process, all the while trying to convey the scale and mood of immense tabular icebergs appearing through the advancing storm. On the way north , the ship surveys the shores of Elephant island and David has a chance to work on a few paintings of "Point Wild", this is were the members of Shackleton's party were rescued.

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categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, extreme painting, Landscape painting, Point Wild, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic Peninsula
tags Antarctic paintings, Antarctica, Elephant island, Penguins, en plein air

South Georgia

David McEown

Looking forward to working with reference gathered during our recent trip to South Georgia, Posted here are highlights and video of the process of trying to comprehend on paper the scale of these sub-antarctic islands.

King penguins line up to cool down and molt along side the glacial melt water rivers of St Andrews bay. The warm sunshine allows for washes to dry allowing for transparent veils of colour to be applied in an attempt to capture the feeling of backlighting over this surreal landscape.

There is not paper big enough to capture the vast display of life force present at the king penguin colony of Salisbury Plain, South Georgia! Canadian artist David McEown paints on location in watercolour some of this planets most remote yet fragile landscapes.

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categories Antarctica, Baffin island, en plein air, extreme painting, Landscape painting, South Georgia, South Georgia Heritage Trust, St-Andrews Bay, King Penguins
tags Watercolor, South Georgia, St- Andrews Bay, Penguins

Falkland Islands

David McEown

We started 2017 off by camping for a few weeks in the Falkland Islands. The wildlife and landscape of Saunders island and  Volunteer point are very inspiring! Posted on this page is photos and a few  short video highlights of behind the scenes of the painting process. 

Video of king penguins merge with watercolours as David McEown paints on location during a visit to the king penguin colony and white sand beaches of Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands.

This time lapse trailer is shot while painting the changing light on a colony of Black Browed Albatrosses located on Saunders Island.

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categories Antarctica, en plein air, extreme painting, Landscape painting
tags Fakland Islanda, Saunders Island, Watercolor, Watercolours, Black Browed Albatross, albatross, Volenteer Point

Upcoming Expeditions to South Georgia , Antarctica

David McEown

Painting at Gold Harbour, South Georgia.

Painting at Gold Harbour, South Georgia.

We are excited to be joining One Ocean Expeditions for the following  2015 trips and programs to Antarctica/ South Georgia. 

“Painting and Photography in  the sub antarctic island of South Georgia is truly incomparable. Its  stark remoteness and vast glaciated peaks rising out of an unforgiving icy ocean is home to unbelievably  numerous and curious species of  wildlife that makes one  feel like a visitor to a whole new planet. The overwhelming scale, patterns ,color and texture of this place   provides endless  creative inspiration yet can challenge  and “reset” old preconceptions of composition and field work habits while awakening feelings of beauty, reverence and interconnectedness.”

• "SOUTH GEORGIA IN DEPTH" Oct. 17- 30,

 

• "ANTARCTICA OFF THE BEATEN TRACK" NOV. 10- 22

• "FALKLANDS, SOUTH GEORGIA, ANTARCTICA PHOTOGRAPHIC SYMPOSIUM", NOV. 22 to DEC. 10, 
with watercolorist David McEown and photographer Daisy Gilardini


To find out more details on the program, itinerary , and cabin availability  see one ocean expeditions.

This video clip  is from a 2011 expedition to South Georgia.

2 Comments
categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, Landscape painting, Point Wild, South Georgia, St-Andrews Bay, Watercolour, watercolor
tags Antarctic paintings, Elephant island, South Georgia, Antarctica, Gold Harbour, watercolour

Polar Wonders at the McMichael Canadian art Collection

David McEown

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categories Antarctica, Arctic, Baffin island, Devon island, en plein air, Greenland, Landscape painting, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, North Pole, Northern Landscapes, South Georgia, Watercolour, watercolor
tags McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Arctic, Greenland, polar exploration

Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands 2013 painting highlights.

David McEown

I am just unpacking paintings and backing up terabytes of reference materialfromthe recent expeditions to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.  The two videos in thispost share some of the painting highlights and wildlife encounters which Daisy  and I filmed. We were fortunate to go back in February 2013 at the end of the Antarctic summer and visited again this November through December in the austral spring to continue our long-term projectstudying this wilderness area.

The trips were not only successful in the wonders we saw but also for the charity auctions that raised much-needed funds to supportimportant conservation projects such as the South Georgia Heritage Trust and Oceanites. Thank you again to the generous fellow travellers that put forth a bid on my illustrated marine charts and Daisy's books. Also a big thank you again the the One Ocean Team for making it happen!

"Enter the Drake", 6 x 15 inchers, watercolour
"Enter the Drake", 6 x 15 inchers, watercolour
From Petermann Island, 12 x 22 inches, watercolour
From Petermann Island, 12 x 22 inches, watercolour
Painting From Petermann Island.
Painting From Petermann Island.
6 Comments
categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, Paradise Bay, Peninsula, Point Wild, South Georgia, South Georgia Heritage Trust, watercolor, Watercolour
tags Antarctic paintings, Antarctica, en plein air, Frank Wild, Icebergs, Sir Ernest Shackleton, South Georgia Island, Watercolor, watercolour

McMichael Canadian Art Collection "Art Mentorship Project"

David McEown

"What Grows Here", 29 x46 inches , watercolour
"What Grows Here", 29 x46 inches , watercolour

December 20, 2013 - March 02, 2014

Exhibition Opening

Sunday, January 19, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, with remarks at 2:00 pm

  McMichael Canadian Art Collection

10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada   L0J 1C0

(Islington Avenue north of Major Mackenzie Drive on the east side)

Information: 905.893.1121 or toll free 1.888.213.1121

In the summer of 2013, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection partnered with York Region Arts Council (YRAC) to launch a new Art Mentorship Project to provide support to emerging artists and foster professional development, production and exhibition under the guidance of local, established artists in a distinctly Canadian context.

For the project’s inaugural term I was honoured to be mentor and was delighted to work and share ideas with the programs first successful applicant Ben Barak, a recent  BFA graduate of Nipissing University. We had several sessions working on site at the McMichael Gallery and used the historic Tom Thomson Shack as shelter and place for critiques. The highlight for me was painting on location along the Humber River and a week long trip to Algoma in Northern Ontario, following the rail tracks to places that so inspired the Group of 7 and close to where I used to live.

The mentorship program has been a great opportunity to share, reflect and build upon my past body of work.

I have been interested in painting remote wilderness areas from Antarctica to the North Pole attempting to capture their wondrous beauty as well as witness the increasing changes in the landscape. Equally inspiring my artwork is the local indigenous flora and forest not far from my own home and how it is interrelated to what is going on at the “ends of the Earth”.

In response to the mentorship studio demonstrations of watercolour techniques, I chose to paint a large spring wildflower painting inspired from my hikes over the years when I lived near the Humber Valley. “What Grows Here” is a microcosm of the brief unfolding complex circus of wildflowers that covers forest floors that used to dominate York Region.

Juxtaposing the   local Humber River Valley painting is a selection ofmy watercolours inspired by remote wilderness of the North Pole, Antarctica and Lake Superior. Ben Barak’s work, on the other hand, focuses on themes of searching an identity, executed using many of the techniques he practiced under my demos and critiques.

_ANP5252
_ANP5252
Painting Along the Humber River
Painting Along the Humber River
"White Pine", 30 x22inches , watercolour
"White Pine", 30 x22inches , watercolour
2 Comments
categories Algoma, Antarctica, Arctic, Art Workshops, en plein air, Lake Superior, Landscape painting, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, North Pole, Northern Landscapes, Watercolour
tags art mentorship, Ben Barak, en plein air, Group of Seven, Humber Valley, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, north pole, Tom Thomson Shack, Trilliums, watercolour, watercolour techniques, York Region Arts Council

Painting in Antarctica

David McEown

 Early in the season we saw incredible sunsets and unusual amounts of ice in the channels. Recent paintings are now posted on the website and many new studio works are in the concept stage. Having so much amazing reference and ideas is a wonderful problem to have!

Iceberg n.10
Iceberg n.10

In the Antarctic spring it is exciting to witness the energy of creatures breaking trails in the fresh snow returning to nest or  to feed below the surface. They seem so at home among the  hidden turquoise ice caves, following the ancient rhythms and echoes of the ocean. Often it seems the weather etches the shapes of mythical beings on the icebergs. Every block of ice has such a story to tell as it  contains  the  layers of the past as well is being  worn by the  warming currents of today.

Iceberg n.11
Iceberg n.11
3 Comments
categories Antarctica, Art Workshops, Elephant Island, en plein air, Landscape painting, Peninsula, watercolor, Watercolour
tags Antarctica, en plein air, Frank Wild, Icebergs, Paintings, Watercolor