Currently

The second painting in my newest series of works; 
Dad and the New DeSoto
26” x 40” oil on canvas. 

This is from an old snapshot taken just after World War II, circa 1946.  This was a “spur of the moment” snapshot taken beside Lake St. Claire outside Detroit.  That hazy summer sunlight, the wind blowing in off the lake, the new car idling beside the road as someone waits patiently in the passenger seat while a photo is quickly snapped.  Standing beside the new DeSoto is the artist’s father.  This is the only photo that survives of this excursion.  The scene captures that confidence of the post war era, a triumphant America has come home with the return of the troops and the return to civilian life.  For this brief moment in America’s history we could conquer any obstacle.  The challenges of post war life, strikes, inflation, the Cold War lay over the horizon, but not yet visible.  On the day this photo was captured, America’s future was as bright and shiny as that new DeSoto! 

Spring, 1930
  50” x 30” oil on Canvas

A new suspension bridge opens between Canada and the USA at Detroit.  Detroit and the auto industry had been booming for nearly a decade.  The Great Depression was around the corner, but had not arrived yet.  This image is of a day trip to see this latest marvel of the Industrial Age.  In the painting, one sees two women and a small girl posing on the walkway of the new bridge.  The little girl is the artist’s mother as a child of 4, her mother and her grandmother taken on the newly opened Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor Canada.  On the back of the snapshot was penciled; “Spring, 1930”, ergo the title of the painting.  There are 5 different snapshots of this day trip that survive.  This is snapshot #1. 

A second painting from this set of snapshots is scheduled shortly as part of my “Family Photos” series.  It will be the same size and painted using the same colors and techniques so as to create a pair.

The new series of Family Photos continues!  A total of eight paintings in this series are planned.  Another Used Cars set of paintings will be forthcoming in 2010.   

Ruins of Detroit Series 

There has been so much interest in the images of Detroit, the once great industrial empire now fallen into ruins.  The collapse of a great American City is quite unique and largely not understood in the rest of the country.  These ruins are remnants, frozen in time, vestiges of a once great past.  Can you imagine a central business district filled with skyscrapers build in the 1910’s, 1920’s of which almost all of them are empty and abandoned?  Detroit has been for many years, an abandoned city where no lights glow from the windows at night.  I am compelled to complete this series in 2010.  There is interest in an exhibition on the east coast combining these works with the Family Photos series. The images I have are stunning.  Many buildings from which these photos were taken no longer exist.  The Packard Plant, which I produced two paintings in 2006 still exists, but its condition has markedly deteriorated since the original images were captured.  See the following paintings on my Gallery Page.

• Corner Detail, Ruin of the Packard Plant  40”’x30” oil on canvas

• Inside the Packard Plant 30”x40” oil on canvas

 I plan several paintings on the GAR building (Grand Army of the Republic), a castle-like fortress of a building, empty and boarded-up for decades.  I plan to include several scenes of buildings around Grand Circus Park, the Michigan Central Building and a couple more Packard Plant paintings.  The sheer size of the Packard properties is enormous, all of which has been closed since the company ceased production in Detroit in 1956.  Several of the buildings in the Packard properties were designed by famed architect Albert Kahn. 

Lastly, one of my most prized photos I took is of the J.L.Hudson Department Store building in downtown Detroit, since demolished.  The photo was taken on a hazy early summer day in May of 1993 and I believe it to be one of the best photos of the building I have ever seen.  The photo captures the impressive turn of the century architecture of this massive building before the vandals and scavengers and salvagers reduced this monument to a shell.  Every window and window shade is clearly visible in my photo.  This scene must be recreated on canvas with great care and detail as the building was symbolic of Detroit’s great past.  For the J.L.Hudson Department Store, I plan a rather large painting to properly capture its scale and visual impact.   

imited edition art prints are planned for some of the upcoming paintings, the first of which will be Dad and the New DeSoto.  These prints will be available from the artist or through the Enchante Salon in West Branch.  Please contact me using the “Contact” page if you wish further information regarding an Art Print of this or other paintings.    

Dad and the New DeSoto will be available early in 2010.  Please contact me now if you would like to own a Limited Edition print of this painting.   

Summer, 2009; Curb Service; Best of Show, Ogemaw Fair

Summer, 2009; Spring, 1930; 2nd Place, Portrait Category, Ogemaw Fair

Fall, 2009; Hotel Sign, Route 6; First Place, West Branch Creative Arts Association Autumn Art Show. 

If you have an interest in viewing or purchasing one of my paintings seen on this website you can contact me using the Contact page on this website or you may contact The Enchante Salon in West Branch, Michigan.  Their website is www.enchantegallery.com   Contact Chantelle Perreault at the gallery for more information.  The galleries’ phone number is (989) 343-0227