Artist CV

Bob Young, Canadian painter, b. 1960.

Bachelor of Fine Arts | York University, Toronto

In addition to a visual-arts BFA from York University, Toronto, I did an architecture degree in the mid-1980s at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver. After working in architecture for five years, I shifted to urban planning, then got involved in web design.

Throughout those varied day-jobs, I continued to paint. In 2019 I retired with my wife to Kingston, Ontario, where I'm pursuing the local and regional landscape of Eastern Ontario.

Solo Exhibitions

2020 "Leaf Dances," Art Noise Gallery, Kingston, Ontario

Group Exhibitions

2017 Guelph Studio Tour, Studio 404, Guelph

2013 Guelph Studio Tour, Studio 404, Guelph

2010 The ArtsInform Show (juried), University of Guelph, Guelph

2009 41st Juried National Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists, Toronto

Guelph Climate Festival, 10 Carden St. Community Space, Guelph

Insights, Elora Arts Council Jurored Exhibition, Wellington County Museum

La Convivencia, Barber Gallery, Guelph

2000 Guelph Studio Tour 2000

1998 Lakeshore Arts: Juried Exhibtion, Humber College Studio Theatre, Toronto

1984 Viewpoints, Regional Juried Exhibition, Art Gallery of Guelph

Awards

2010 2nd Prize. The ArtsInform Show, University of Guelph, Guelph

1998 1st Prize. 38th Annual Juried Exhibition, Guelph Creative Arts Association, Guelph

1997 Elora Festival Award. Insights: Elora Arts Council Regional Juried Exhibition, Elora

Willows, Collins Bay

Willows, Collins Bay , oil on panel, 9 x 12 inches. Lemoine Point Conservation Area is on Collins Bay in Kingston, Ontario. On the bay's opposite shore lie waterfront houses, which I've suggested on both sides of the tree trunks. The day was hot and humid, the haze hinted at here. Using safflower oil as the medium here was a revelation! In years past, I've employed solvent or quick-drying alkyd mediums. But safflower oil (even more than the standard linseed oil) dries very slowly, in four to seven days, which means the painter can work wet-in-wet -- and get those expressive brush-marks and textured blends of colour -- for a week.

Early Spring, Lemoine Point

Early Spring, Lemoine Point , oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches. Painted in May 2023, at Lemoine Point Conservation Area, this piece marks a return to landscape painting for me; I had done a semi-abstract series called "Oak Dances" in 2019. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, and I got sidetracked with music theory and composition -- to keep myself mentally occupied during the lock-downs. Anyway, this landscape, while a bit rough, was a joy to paint. The intense blue of the distant shore is purposely unrealistic: it works with the saturated yellow spots as the focal area in the lower-right third of the picture. I began with a transparent brown wash, approximately indicating the dark masses (land and trees). You can see this layer at the image's left and right, and in the treetops. I like that the illusion "falls apart" this way: the picture isn't complete til you step back and your mind assembles the parts.

Bob Young

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