Rick Janson Art Studio

I don’t varnish my paintings precisely because I have a habit of reworking pieces in my studio. I’ve previously spoken of Edouard Vuillard’s itch to rework his paintings, and have to confess, I often have that itch too even if our work is completely different. Last year I decided to return to the easel two very old pieces that I was unhappy with. This year I decided to revisit one of my efforts from early in 2025.

Connaught Park is one of those run-of-the-mill community parks that features a baseball diamond, a soccer field, a basketball court and a kiddie play park. Oshawa’s Starr trail also runs through it. A few years ago everyone paid attention when a homeless camp appeared on the trail close to the park.

A common theme of my work is marginal spaces — the kind of locations we often take for granted, although with Connaught Park, it is a favorite of our grand kids who often go there to kick a ball or throw some hoops while visiting us from Toronto. When they were small they also enjoyed the kiddie play area until they discovered the impressive new mega-playpark on the waterfront.

I often walk through the park as part of my rambles around the neighbourhood, and on this day in particular there were some impressive cloud formations overhead. I took a picture. Then another. I returned another day and took another picture to see what it looked like minus the clouds. I really wanted to understand what I was looking at, although the park already risked being over familiar to me. When it comes to painting, I usually prefer a clean visual slate, hence the travel paintings.

The first go-around in 2025 I focused on the drama of the sky, although in retrospect felt I’m not sure I got it entirely right. It was subtle enough and way too brown. I must have run out of steam by the time I got to the bottom of the picture in 2025, finding the observation to be not quite as meticulous as the upper regions of the painting. So, this past week it made it on to my easel for about eight hours of new work, bumping up and getting more meticulous about the sky, emphasizing more of the colour, and paying much more attention to the bottom third. I spent about an hour just reworking the curb.

I’m going to post both for you to look at.

I always have ringing in my head the fear of overworking a painting, something I hear all the time from the judges on the Artist of the Year shows on Sky Arts. But there is that itch, and I can’t say there has been a painting that came out worse after putting it back on the easel. Also ringing in my head are the voices of my long deceased professors who wanted me to stick with a painting until it was fully resolved.

Meanwhile, I have entered it with another painting into the Oshawa Art Association 58th Annual Show at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. It is a juried show, so I’m not expecting both paintings to make the cut, but hey, you never know. I generally do not try and predict what juries will or will not do, nor take it personnally one way or another. If successful, it will be the first time I have showed an Oshawa picture in Oshawa since my solo show at the Oshawa Little Theatre in 2006. Unlike some of the other non-profit shows I have participated in, the public will have an opportunity to make purchases from the OAA Annual Show at the RMG.

This coming week I will be continuing to prepare for the Scugog Studio Tour, having ordered some new frames and prioritizing work I want to be ready for the beginning of May, including a selection of 12″ x 12″ “smalls” that I am listing for a special price. It’s not a solo show, but it feels that way given I will have many pieces on display. I will also have my monograph book which is nearing completion. I hope to have it to my Quebec-based printer by the third week of the month. I am also starting to look at opportunities to appear in group shows over the summer. It seems all the calls appear to be around April and May, of which would be a stretch at this point with the OAA Annual Show and the Scugog Studio Tour on tap.

Meanwhile, if you want to look at my work, click here. I have added prices to the work now that I have the means to accept card and electronic payments (Visa, Master Card, Debit, Apple Pay).