Ornamental woodblock series
01/12/2023
Mansuetudo (Gentleness)
19 1/2 x 34 x 1 3/4 inches deep, Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. Mansuetudo (Gentleness) a Gothic arch shaped painting captures the quiet moment a young musician peers from behind a curtain, timidly preparing to perform for us, the viewer. There is a gentle hesitancy in her presence, as though we are witnessing the breath just before the first note. She plays the shawm before an open window that overlooks a vast landscape, allowing her music to drift outward into the distance. The tones of the sky, the river, and the cloth of her dress intersect and flow together, moving with a slow, harmonic rhythm throughout the painting. Each passage of color echoes the next, creating a sense of visual continuity that carries the eye in the same way a melody carries the ear. The result is a composition that feels unified and contemplative, where sound, light, and atmosphere seem to merge into one quiet, resonant moment.
The Three Graces
36 x 35 x 1 3/4 inches deep, Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. The Three Graces is composed of six panels arranged within a single, unified structure. On the front, three panels depict Grace, Charm, and Joy, their presence gentle and luminous. Above them, an upper panel extends the scene into the trees, where curious goldfinches gather, quietly observing the world below. When the front panels are opened, the triptych reveals the Three Graces once more, this time portrayed across different stages of life: reading, writing, and rehearsing. These intimate moments of study and practice speak to growth, discipline, and the ongoing pursuit of understanding. The trees continue upward into the top panel, weaving visual and narrative continuity throughout the work, binding each scene into a coherent whole. At its heart, the piece reflects a timeless idea: wherever we find ourselves on the path of learning and self-discovery, we must first and always remain students, open, attentive, and ever curious.
Elevare
27 x 32 x 2 inches deep. Acrylic and Gel on canvas and old wood. Success in any pursuit often begins with the simple yet courageous act of showing up, of stepping forward despite uncertainty. This young musician embodies that quiet determination wholeheartedly. There is a sense of readiness, of resolve, in both posture and presence. Ultimately, the painting becomes a gentle but powerful reminder that growth and achievement are born from overcoming obstacles, both internal and external. To elevate oneself is not merely to ascend physically, but to rise inwardly — with courage, purpose, and belief.
The Poet
Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. 31 x 18 x 1 3/4 inches deep, framed and weighs 9 pounds. The Poet is about the vastness of the landscape and the realization that even the most ardent artist must accept; his creation, no matter how impressive or well received, ultimately pales in comparison to the art and mastery of nature. By breaking the image into mismatched, blocky segments, it suggests that a human can only ever capture nature in fragments. We try to piece together a coherent "view," but the wood grain and the physical seams of the negative space remind us that this is a manufactured object—a construct—rather than the fluid, seamless reality of the world itself.
Three Musicians
Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. 24 x 37 1/2 inches x 1 3/4 inches deep, framed. Three Musicians presents three distinct scenes unified within a single stained-glass–like structure, each vignette framed as though held together by leading lines of glasswork yet constructed entirely from carefully cut and assembled pieces of reclaimed wood. The composition delicately situates a shawm player, a mandolin player, and an angelic violinist in key positions throughout the piece, allowing each figure to occupy their own space while remaining visually and emotionally connected to the whole. The divisions between them feel less like separations and more like harmonies, much like musical measures, guiding the viewer’s eye from one performer to the next in a gentle, rhythmic progression. Each musician appears suspended in a quiet moment of devotion to their instrument, their presence both grounded and ethereal, as if their music exists beyond the frame. Together, the three figures form a visual chord; independent voices that, when combined, create a unified and resonant composition, celebrating not only music, but the harmony found between structure, material, and spirit
Interconnection
Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. 19 x 43 1/2 inches x 2 inches deep, framed. Interconnection is a tall, Gothic-shaped painting that captures a young musician performing on her violin, enveloped by a lush green landscape. The pointed arch format naturally lifts the eye upward, lending the figure a quiet reverence and a sense of elevation, as though both the music and the spirit are rising together. At its core, the painting reflects themes of health and beauty, and the understanding that we are deeply influenced by the environments we nurture. To care for something living, a garden, a patch of flowers, a cultivated space; is to enter a reciprocal relationship. What you give in attention and presence is returned in growth and vitality. If you are patient and engaged, the garden answers with beauty. This work speaks to that exchange, and to the restorative places we seek out to ground ourselves. It is about a healthy state of mind — where you go to find it, how you tend to it, and the quiet renewal that comes from caring for something beyond yourself.
Sacred Love
22 1/2 x 35 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches deep, Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. Sacred Love captures the enduring love and profound bond between a mother and her child. The arch form: common in Renaissance devotional works and revisited throughout Steve’s practice, lends the piece a quiet reverence, echoing the shape of altarpieces and framing the figures with intimacy and sanctity, elevating an everyday moment into something timeless and sacred. Rich colour, deep tonal values, and layered textures within the segmented wood surface bring warmth and life to the scene. The natural grain adds depth and movement, allowing light to travel across the surface like stained glass, enhancing both its emotional and visual resonance. The image reveals a tender moment of complete contentment between the Madonna and her playful child. Their interaction feels unguarded and natural—small gestures and shared glances conveying a connection beyond words—while a gentle stillness settles over the composition, as though time itself has paused to honor this fleeting, precious exchange.
The Young Suitor
Acrylic and Gel on old wood, Framed. 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 1/4 deep. The Young Suitor rests within a thorned quatrefoil, an ancient shape borrowed from early European architecture and the margins of illuminated manuscripts, carrying with it the hush of centuries past. A carved frame of century-old fir encircles the scene, its weathered grain etched like memory itself, marking the slow and patient passage of time. Though the title names the suitor, he feels almost peripheral, gently absorbed into the greater story unfolding around him. A small boat glides across quiet water, bearing a young couple, a steady-handed chaperone at the oars, and the soft murmur of a lute player. Music drifts through the air as glances meet and slip away. Movement and melody entwine, and the moment becomes less an event than a feeling, a courtship balanced delicately between hope and happenstance. Subtlety governs the painting. What appears minor reveals itself as essential; what seems still is quietly alive. The eye wanders from one tender exchange to another, discovering a series of intimate vignettes; many paintings within a painting, each breathing on its own, yet gathered together in a gentle and enduring harmony.
Precious Gift SOLD
Acrylic and Gel on old wood, Framed. 20 1/2 x 35 x 1 3/4 inches deep. This painting uses the same theme and Gothic imagery as "Devine Love", part of the original Canvas Series, but is done so with a new painted image, rather than a repurposed one from years ago. It is a play on the visual presentation of stained glass and uses old wood in a similar style as the broken and gridded old Gothic church widows were. The Madonna and child theme is one that Steve has explored often over the years, each one taking on a unique way of expressing emotion, interaction, and love. This one is no different, with the interaction occurring not so much through facial connections, but rather through touch.
The Olive Pickers SOLD
Acrylic and Gel on old wood, Framed. 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches deep. The Olive Pickers opens onto the rolling hills of the Tuscan landscape, where the land rises and falls in soft rhythms beneath a wide, luminous sky. Among the groves, laborers move with steady purpose, carefully harvesting the season’s most prized fruit. Their gestures are deliberate and unhurried, shaped by tradition and repetition, as if the work has been passed down through generations. There is a quiet harmony between the figures and their surroundings, the workers do not separate from the land but are part of it. Warm earth tones, layered textures, and the natural patterns of the wood surface echo the organic forms of trees, hills, and soil, allowing the entire composition to feel rooted and alive. Though centered on labor, the painting carries a gentle stillness, honoring not only the work itself but the timeless relationship between people, place, and harvest.
Harvest Triptych SOLD
Acrylic, canvas stretched over wood block with old wood segments, Framed. 17 wide 21 in height x 2 1/8 deep. When open it is 34 inches wide. This painting is a multi panel presentation. When the doors are closed it shows 2 images and when the doors open there are 3 new images inside. The door latches can be fastened when the doors are closed. Triptychs were commonly used as altarpieces and were found during the Middle Ages. For this triptych, Steve chose to present a harvest scene full of activity and color. As an Alberta boy, surrounded by agriculture, he paints what he loves, big skies and warm fields, evident in all his harvest paintings.
Subjects of Interest SOLD
Acrylic and gel on canvas and old wood. 38 x 38 inches x 2 inches deep, framed and weighs 29 pounds. This is a complex piece, it's a busy narrative with three parts, each illustrating a connection to one another and the viewer. The young female to the right is playing a shwam, but is more interested in the male lute player who too is finding it hard to stay focused as his fingers are misaligned with his instrument. He is much more interested in her. At the center there is a female lute player who is being entertained by the the little girl who is captivated by the melody as she dances and seems to be lost in her own world. And to the far left, a musician plays her flute for us the viewer from behind the shadows of the falling drapery. It's stories with in a story and Steve is happy to be sharing them with you.
