Study of the London Underground:  Sept 1998 - Dec 1999

Pocket Guide to London Underground (used as reference).

When you live in Canada you are privileged by all the landscape. The mountains, the sea, the vast space, and forests with endless trees. When I moved to London in the Summer of 1998 to be with my wife. The shock of moving to a new country filtrated into my studio... so a few months after arriving into this city I started a series of painting about the London Underground (tube Map).

Study of the London Underground (Day). oil on canvas. 40 x 60 inches. Fall 1998 - Dec 1999. (Sold)

Study of the London Underground (night). oil on canvas. 40 x 54 inches. Fall 1998. Price: £1400

Study of the London Underground. oil on canvas. 40 x 54 inches. Fall 1998. Price £1400

I cut up and destroyed the bulk of this series. I had completed five painting on this series and had another six that I was working on. When news spread that I had sold one of these paintings to the Prince of Morrocco a wave of people started calling me wanting Underground paintings. Eight people called in the space of a weekend... all wishing to purchased Underground paintings. This falseness upset me... so I cut up all the works I was currently working on and ended the series. And said... 'sorry... no more Underground paintings'.

At that time I was working or using the second bedroom on 18 Garfield Road as a studio... which had approximately 50-60 paintings stored in it. Two months later Marco Martins heard about me, and purchased some work... and volunteered to sponsour me (which entail paying for a studio for me for a year, plus giving me £1500 towards materials). So I started painting at Amce Carpenters Road Studio. Eight months later things had cooled down with regards to the Prince of Morrocco. I was sorting through all my canvases at Garfield Road and noticed an Underground painting stacked behind fifteen other canvases. It was 95 % complete... so I spent a 20 - 30 minutes and finished it.

The Tube Map is such an amazing subject matter to explore. It is a modern landscape. To paint Impressionist landscapes of the River Thames scenes some how does not seem right in todays world. The Milliumum Dome, Canary Wharf, the London Eye. Perhaps in a few years I will return to the Study of the Underground Series.