I will be showing my pixel art this year at The Artist Project. Running from April 13 to April 16. It has a new location in the Better Living Centre of the CNE (195 Princes’ Blvd, Toronto, ON M6K 3C3). Hours of Operation Thursday April 13 4 PM – 9 PM Friday April 14   12 PM […]

I decided to recycle an old painting that i created 9 years ago. First I used a palm-sander to smooth it out, then applied a new layer of Gesso. It was tough painting over something I spent so much time creating, but sometimes we need to let go. In my next video I’ll work on […]

I was asked to participate in the 2017 Brain Project for the Baycrest Foundation. They provided me with a 3 dimensional blank brain which I painted with my pixel style.  The project was a lot of fun and my Brain has already been sponsored by Muse (they donated money to the foundation to have have their name […]

I am happy to announce that I have sold 11 pieces over the last 2 months! 7 were through a commission which I cannot reveal until the client has their own PR launch (Stay tuned!) and another was for a charity which I will be able to announce this week when they officially launch their event. […]

I have just finished an art project working with the fabulous model Vanessa (Vivi the Vamp). The project consisted of a painting and a silk screen print run (available in my shop). The painting was in my signature pixel style, but for the print I went in a different direction because I was pleased with how […]

I’ve been asked to participate in a promotion for Crystal Head Vodka for the Artist Project. They asked me to paint this skull bottle in my pixel style. I’m on the fence on whether to paint a pixelated face or one of my pattern, I’m leaning towards one of my patterns. I’ll post updates of the project as […]

I have just finished a project with the lovely and talented Kristen Au. The project consisted of a silk screen print series as well as a painting. For the print I decided to use a portrait and for the painting I decided to use a bodyscape. I plan on exploring more bodyscapes with my upcoming projects.  

 What a great birthday show! The night before I was at the Mars Hotel show at the Mod Club when I heard Bob Weir was playing in Toronto the next night! Ticket sales were closed and it was for a charity. I was determined not be be shut out and managed to get myself a ticket. […]

One of the reasons for my recent push into silkscreen printing is my concert poster collection, many of which are silkscreens. Here is my collection so far. All posters are first edition, and if they have any special signatures or things to note I will list them in the descriptions (I downloaded these previews from […]

Another great show by Paul McCartney at the ACC in Toronto. Not a different show template than the show saw 5 years ago, but  great new songs for me to hear (A few of his songs and and intro stories are the same). Some of the  songs I was very thrilled to hear were, Being […]

The Primus concerts were amazing. I went to both shows this past weekend at the Danforth Music Hall and was blown away by their creativity. They played the first set with a simple stage and all their old classic songs. The second set is where the insanity began. The recreated quite a few songs to […]

After 21 years, I finally attended another Grateful Dead Show. It was everything I expected it to be and I had a great time. Chicago was a great city, I had a an easy time travelling around the city, pizza was the best, Soldiers Field was a good venue. I picked up many posters, but […]

I am happy to announce that I will be giving away my Pixel Tree Painting as part of a promotion to build more of a social media presence.  This was one of my first pixellated paintings and it helped to define my current artistic direction. Value: $800.00 Size: 24″ x 36″ Medium: Acrylic on canvas. […]

Today I am setting up a new art show at Rainbow Cinemas Gallery in Market Square Toronto.

Last week I had the extreme good fortune to attend the Furthur concerts at the Hard Rock Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico. Twenty-five years ago when I first started seeing the Grateful Dead, we typically drove around in beat up vans or cars, and slept in the back seat at rest areas and parking lots. At […]

Over the holidays I finished a new pattern painting  and it was immediately accepted into the Project Gallery Art Show. The show is titled “Only New Art” which was very appropriate as it was still drying as I packed it up for the show. More information about the show can be found by following the link […]

Last night I attended an awesome party hosted by Art Battle & ArtBomb at the Steam Whistle Brewery.  The night consisted of a 45 minute Art Battle and a silent auction of ArtBomb artist paintings including my own. I had a last-minute change of paintings, originally my painting Samantha was supposed to be at the event […]

I have just finished 2 new paintings using the same model and photograph but with quite different effects. Both of these pieces will be available at the ArtBomb and Art Battle Holiday coming up on December 18th. This party will be full of great Canadian art and artists. For the larger sized painting we have […]

Last week I was pleased to catch Eddie Izzard at Massey Hall in Toronto. I have been waiting for a chance to see him live after discovering him on youtube, most notably his Death Star Canteen bit (which he used to launch new new jokes at this show). I loved his style, he would kind […]

My favorite cover band came back into town last week, Darkstar Orchestra. They replicate Grateful Dead concerts and do an amazing job at it too. For this concert they played a show from  April 4th 1982 , Cameron Indoor Stadium – Duke University Durham NC. For an extra encore they threw in “My Sisters And Brothers” […]

Over the last 2 weekends I was lucky enough to get out and go to a few art shows, one being the Spoke Club / Artbomb show I have wrote about already and the other 2 were for Canadian artists Kyle Tonkens and Christine Mathews. A few months back Kyle honoured me by creating a […]

I am pleased to announce and reveal my latest painting which is titled “Njambi”. I am very pleased with this painting and it will be the second painting (the first piece being Amelie) in a new direction towards more subtle and abstract paintings. With this painting I played with 2 different shaped pixels and added a […]

My latest painting which is titled “Engineered Beauty” has just been finished. It is a pixel painting using 4 different shapes for pixels; circles, squares, triangles, and hexagons. This painting was inspired by a dancer and friend. This is my second contemporary painting to be inspired by a dancer. It will be on display at Toronto Lindy Hop’s […]

Thurston Moore’s new band, Chelsea Light Moving played in Hamilton and I was very pleased to catch it. As a long standing Sonic Youth fan I was amazed that I got to see this for free at Hamilton’s street festival, Supercrawl. While Thurston may cringe to hear this, what I liked most about it was that is […]

I have been recently honored by Artist Kyle Tonkens. He contacted me and asked me to pick some colours which he then used for a painting which he named “Justin Blayney’s Choices”. The colours I chose where Cerulean Blue and Cadmium Orange and this is the great painting that Kyle created with those colours. Please […]

After 20 years I finally made it inside a Phish concert and I was totally blown away on how great they were. I was shut outside of many Phish shows at some great California venues (Warfield, Wiltern Theatre, Greek theatre and more I’m sure) back when I was following the Grateful Dead. Anyways, lots of […]

My paintings At Ease and Blazing Heart have both been recently sold on ArtBombdaily.com which is an online Canadian Art Auction website.

My latest painting is done and just in time too, it will be on display at my booth at TOAE (click for info). This painting of Gollum is inspired by a story I have been ready every few years since I was a child. I tend to do that with books I like, wait 2-3 […]

What an awesome concert, Primus delivers yet again (my 3rd or 4th show). My first 3D concert experience was amazing (I could only imagine if the Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd had this 3D technology at their disposal what they would do). I was also very happy to pick up the Primus limited edition poster […]

Just a reminder, my painting At Ease will be up for auction on ArtBomb on Saturday June 15th. The auction will only run for the day so be sure to pay attention if you would like to purchase this painting. Artbomb is a carefully curated, subscriber-based daily online auction featuring artwork by Canadian art stars.

I am pleased to present my latest painting to the online world which is titled Erg Chebbi. It is named after the place I took the original photo, the Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes in Morocco. This painting continues in my theme of using different shaped pixels on the same canvas and starting to break away […]

This weekend I am attending Arts on the Credit at the Waterside Inn in Port Credit Mississauga. Please come out to support myself and 30 other artists. There is quite a bit of contemporary art as well as many craftsman selling their work at this event. More information on the Art Show page.  

I have just returned from Morocco where I attended a Psytrance festival (Transahara) at the Erg Chebbi Dunes and roamed through the Medina of Marrakesh, what an amazing time I had. I did lots of exploring through Marrakesh, found some great treasures and had fun haggling with the vendors. At the Dunes it was all about enjoying the surroundings and […]

I have recently been in talks with Artbomb, which is a Canadian online art auction. This website has daily auctions for unique Canadian artwork, each auction runs for 1 day only. The first painting we have decided to auction is Orange on Blue Chrome as seen to the right, look for it to appear May […]

My upcoming Arts on the Credit show is fast approaching, more details on this fine craft and art show can be found here. If you print the ticket below and bring it you can save the $5 admission charge to the show.

I am pleased to have finished C3PO which is made up of Darth Vader pixels. This painting will be on display at Rainbow Cinemas for the Month of February along with 5 other pieces of my art

November 15th I attended the Darkstar Orchestra concert the Opera House in Toronto. An amazing show, I really could not tell the difference in some of the jams between them and the Grateful Dead, and I saw the Grateful Dead play 150 times. I got lost completely in the dancing which I haven’t done for […]

Awesome night last night at the Sound Academy, I attended the Die Antwoord show and had a great time. I spent most of this show right up front in the pit and it was pretty crazy in there. Like a rolling sea in a storm and I had a lot of fun. They opened the […]

I had an awesome time at this years Toronto Zombie Walk. I didn’t get a change to make a costume, yet still had a great time hanging out, meeting people and taking photos. Below are some of my photos from the event.  

I was totally blown away at this show and I have become a Jack White fan for life. I barely knew any of his music before the show and loved every second of it. I took my son Brenden to see this show as he is a big fan and I became a fan myself. […]

I am pleased to announce that I have completed my painting of Spock from Star Trek. This is the beginning of a series of Science Fiction characters and actors I will pay tribute to with my next few paintings.  

It has been a slow summer for creating art, I have spent most of my time showing my artwork in and around the Toronto area. I have just completed a pixelated self portrait in squares and I am feeling kind of on the fence about it. So I will leave it here for now, all comments […]

Tomorrow (Saturday August 10) I will have some of my artwork at the Brampton Farmers Market which will be located on Main Street in downtown Brampton. I will be located at Beaux-Arts Brampton, 74 Main N  Brampton, ON L6V 1N7, on the street directly in front of the gallery. If you are in the area, please […]

Thank you to everyone who came to visit and stopped to chat at the Big on Bloor art show (Bloor Alternative Art Fair). I had a great couple of days and good company from both the visitors and my fellow artists who were displaying in my area. Ngadi J Smart (ngadismart.com) and Leone McComas (leonemccomas.com) are two […]

At the past TOAE (Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition) I had a bit of an accident, my wall blew down and one of my paintings got scraped and punctured. So the last few days I learned how to repair a punctured canvas. I’m very grateful my art has solid colours so repainting after was relatively simple. To […]

Last weekend at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition I was approached by Carol Frilegh who shared with me her love of Victor Vasarely and one of her art pieces. Vasarely’s work can be seen as an influence of mine and she picked up on that right away. Carol shared a needlepoint she had created of the Orion […]

I have just completed my latest painting which is as yet untitled. It is based on a photo from Nils Blondon of a homeless man which I think is fabulous. I used pixel hearts to create this painting, the message being that we all deserve love, no matter where we are in life. This is the […]

Once the summer hits I find that I slow down with painting and spend a lot of time outside on my bike or sitting around sipping coffee. I do have one painting in progress and have been dragging my heels over and can be seen to the right still covered in tape and stickers. I […]

I have just finished a painting which I have titled Discarded. This painting was a lot of fun as I am now exploring different shapes, and for this one I used stars to make up the pattern. A special thank to Nils Blondon for permission to use his photograph of a Dolls Head.

I attended  the I Mother Earth concert at the Sound Academy last Friday and had a great time. They put on a great show and had a long set. One thing that really impressed me though was the opening band “The Bright Light Social Hour“, they blew me away. I bought their CD and have […]

I attended Jane’s Addiction last night at Massey Hall in downtown Toronto. Jane’s Addiction always was and still is one of my favorite bands to see and it was great to see them come out to such a small intimate venue. I was on the floor this night and I must say the seats are […]

The other members of the Art Show and myself all met yesterday to set up our New Exposures, New Members, New Inspirations Art Show at Beaux-Arts Brampton. It is all coming together, looking great and will give art lovers a great mix of art to enjoy. The show starts tomorrow (Feb 7th) and will run […]

This painting was commissioned as a New Years Eve gift. We started with a photograph and worked to create a final image which would work within specific  size restrictions. The idea behind the painting was very romantic and the gift was a success.

This painting was a long time on the making as a commission piece got in between. My model Carly who is also a graphic designer took this photo of herself and I just had to paint it. The colours, her hair and her thoughtful expression caught my attention and I did my best to capture […]

I have spent the last 2 evenings attending the receptions for 2 art shows which have my work on display. The first reception was at the Jane Roos Gallery on December 7, the show runs partway through the month of December, more details on this contemporary art here. Jane Roos put on a fabulous reception, […]

A political piece. What I am saying is simple, don’t believe what the media tells you. Was the war on terror and the Iraq war no more than a ploy for corporations to make more money through stealing the middle eastern oil, or did the U.S. really save us from the evil Middle Eastern terrorists? […]

I participated in this years Toronto Zombie Walk, this was my first event like this and I had a lot of fun. I went as a zombie soccer coach and my son went as a zombie soccer player. I didn’t get many photos as I was participating, but here is what I got below.

I attended 2 great concerts this weekend, I went to Portishead both nights they were at the Sound Academy in Toronto. This is one of my favorite bands so this was especially exciting for me. Since they haven’t been here for 14 years, I had no problems going both nights as I may never have […]

Thanks for all the great toys and tools.

I have found yet another interest to occupy my time. I have signed up for a yoga teacher training course which will last 6 months and starts in 2 weeks. I will be learning how to be a yoga instructor from Leewi Yoga in Port Credit and my teachers will be Michael Siddall, Jesse Enright, June Bradley, and Kiran […]

I spent the evening attending an art show opening at the McMaster Innovation Park (MIP). I went specifically to support my talented and beautiful friend Christine Mathews ( visit her website www.cmbear.net ) who had 3 amazing pieces in the show.  The Exhibit will be available for viewing Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in […]

I have completed my set of chrome paintings. They are opposite colours and we a lot of fun  to make. I am considering making a much larger version sometime in the fall. One will be available at the Buskerfest Charity Auction for Epilepsy Toronto and the other I will have for sale at my Buskerfest Toronto […]

I have just finished a painting which I have named Blue on Orange Chrome (yes I still need help with naming), it is a small 1 foot square piece. This painting will be available for purchase at the Buskerfest Charity Auction for Epilepsy Toronto. I am still unsure of the where and when of this auction […]

Please check out Christine Mathews [http://www.cmbear.net/], she does some fabulous work in many mediums, my favorites are her oil pieces. She also has some upcoming exhibits in the Hamilton area, check out her website for more details.

Thank you everyone who attended tonight’s events. A special thanks to Stephen and Dan from Arts Hamilton who helped to set up the event and Barbara from the Pearl Company Art Bus who brought a bus load of viewers. I spliced together 3 photos which were the 3 separate walls my Art was hanging from […]

Tomorrow (Friday June 3rd 2011) I will be opening my first solo contemporary art show. It will run from June 3-30th, 2011 and will be located at Arts Hamilton. I have created a post card which you can download here and will also be available at the gallery. The opening tomorrow will run from 7 […]

August 25-28 2011 is Toronto Buskerfest which takes place in the St. Lawrence Market neighborhood in downtown Toronto. I am lucky enough to have gotten a booth to display and sell my artwork thanks to Art for All Canada. I will be posting more information on this event as we get closer to the date. […]

Last year someone suggested I put my tulip bulbs around the roses so there will always be flowers in the spring and summer. I wish I could remember who it was as it was a great idea. Whoever you were, thank you.

I have just finished the painting Wonder which is named after the look of wonder I tried to capture from the photo of my son. It is solid circles of colour overlaid on top of a pixelated gradient background. The panting really comes into focus at about  20 feet from the canvas. I will be submitting […]

I have just put my application in for the Beaux-Arts Brampton open juried art show. I will be submitting 2 paintings with the chance to win cash prizes and a chance to display my art at their gallery. I decided to submit the Focus painting and the new portrait painting I am working on now. […]

This weekend the Art for All Canada show is on and  I wanted to create a new painting for it. I pulled it off with many very long days and a few headaches and I am pleased with the result. It started off like the I Love You Cerulean Blue and Pixel Glow paintings, I […]

I have finally finished the I Love You Cerulean Blue painting. This painting was a beast, I clocked in about 95 hours on the painting. To critique myself, I would say it is kind of “meh”, a bit washed out with no contrast which is why I say it is maybe complete. I came up […]

My daughter Sierra got published in a book named You’re My Hero, which is a Girl Guide book filled with short submissions from Girl Guides.  I am very pleased that she is so creative and took advantage of this opportunity, I guess she takes after me just a bit. My copy just arrived in the […]

Making progress, almost complete… sorry for the blurry photo.

A very good concert and much different than what I expected. The opening band, 2 brothers, Cody & Luther Dickinson were awesome. They played some great heavy guitar blues. Robert Plant and the Band of Joy impressed me and were pretty fabulous. One thing I really liked is that they switched up the vocals alot […]

I received an email from the Grateful Dead today that was addressed, Dear Dead Head. May seem silly but it made me smile, where else can you receive such a casual greeting and it is perfectly accepted. The email was for my personalized copy of the new Europe 72 full tour box set which is coming up […]

I am just over the halfway mark with the cerulean blue painting. Here are some before and after photos I took while removing the tape. I am generally pleased with how it is turning out but it seems that the transition to the darkest tones is a bit abrupt and I will need to do […]

I have finished the first coat of the first taping for this painting, this photo will give a rough idea of what the finished product will look like. I have been tracking my time for this painting for the first time and in some ways that is a bad thing as I don’t think I […]

I have just finished mixing 25 shades of cerulean blue for my next painting, which I think I will name “I love you Cerulean Blue” (thanks to Sonic Youth for the name inspiration). It took about 6 hours as I spent so much time testing each shade. The purple glow painting was tricky and I […]

So I just bought a 4 x 3 canvas for my next pixel painting. It is a bit intimidating, almost as big as my Christmas tree. I have never attempted a painting in this style at that size, the amount of taping is starting to scare me already. I have to listen to the voice […]

This painting was inspired by my recent trip to British Columbia. It is from a photograph I took from Lighthouse Park in North Vancouver. My pixel painting technique is becoming more refined so I need to do less and less touch ups with each painting. I painted a border into this painting which I think […]

This is my review for Rogers Waters performing The Wall last night at the ACC. I have included tons of photos, I am sorry the quality is so bad, all I had was my phone to take the photos. The show was fabulous, fantastic, incredible, etc.. 11/10. Roger took a huge portion of seats and […]

I went to a Michael Buble concert last night and while this isn’t my usual type of music, I must admit it was a pretty good show. He is a funny guy and knows how to entertain the crowd. It is unfortunate for him that I saw Paul McCartney 2 days ago which is basically […]

What a show, and what great seats. A client of mine sent me tickets for the show and until I got there I had no idea how amazing the seats were. I don’t think I have ever seen a better concert and have seen many, many, many concerts. This is the only time I have […]

Last week I was on vacation in BC which was very refreshing and inspiring and I did something I have never done before, I bought a painting from a small art store in Victoria. It is from an artist named Nguyen Dinh Dang from Vietnam. There was another painting which I wanted more but I […]

I haven’t seen anything Grateful Dead or even close for almost 5 years. Last show I saw was Rat Dog In Toronto, so I was very happy for this show. It was great to travel there with my son Brenden and hook up with my old friends Drew and Talli and see their 3 great […]

The summer is coming and I realized I have a whole bunch of concerts to go to this year and I thought it would be fun to review them. The first up is Mark Knopler at Massey Hall last night. The concert was pretty mellow and he playing much of his solo work and it […]