Trap

"Trap", 2006, Oil on Board, 4' x 2'

I painted this right after finishing the fish bellies. I was inspired by a girl I saw on the side of the highway right outside of Calgary. I was driving late at night and all of a sudden my headlights shone upon this girl sitting on a suitcase by the road. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her head down on her knees. It scared me at first because I wasn't expecting to see someone sitting so close to the road, but as I drove on I felt a wave of sadness come over me... I realized I had never seen anything as hopeless as that girl before. That image of the girl stuck with me and I felt that I had to make a piece about it.

Belly Up

"Belly Up", 2006, Oil on Canvas

These were the first pieces I did when I got my studio space in 3rd year. I had researched how fishermen gut a fish and how scientists dissected fish. After a critique I found out that people couldn't really tell which one was which. However, I really liked how the fish belly's floated in space and some people even thought they were paintings of weird couture dresses.