Robert_Bateman

My favourite artist is Andrew Wyeth. He has inspired my work as I mentioned to u/Spiel_Foss. But I am also influenced by abstract artists such as Fraz Kline and Clifford Still. I am also influenced by Canada's Group of Seven ) and Tom Thompson.

Once I have been influenced by an artist I see the world, as I move through it, partially through their eyes. For example, a rail fence might make me think of the powerful black strokes of Kline. I will photograph it and perhaps use it in a future painting, as I did in my painting "Redwing-blackbirds and Rail Fence". The large empty skies in several of my paintings, such as "Cheetah Siesta" and "Circus Train", were influenced by the abstracts of Marc Rothko. My view of Autumn in Ontario is enhanced by the work of the Group of Seven.

Hello! Thank you for reminding me of Frank Smith. A wise and gentle person who was a role model for a good human being. I have many happy memories of the "Brodie Room", not open to the public on the 4th floor of the Royal Ontario Museum. I was a serious bird carver before I was a serious painter, but they both came along around the same time. The pinacle of my bird carving was a Screech Owl (Owl faces are hard!) I did as a gift for my mother, in the late 1950's. The most important thing we can do is to vote for politicians who care about preserving and protecting nature. If this means paying higher taxes, and paying more for products, so be it. "There is no free lunch" We can pay now, or we can pay later, but if we pay later, it will cost a lot more.

OK we were in New Zealand and we had been put shore on this little island. There was a steep cliff (maybe 20ft high) with a field above it. I was sitting drawing the shoreline at the bottom of the cliff and some cows were up in the field on the the fence line. My wife was walking up the field from the other side, which spooked the cows. She had no idea they were there. They went towards the edge of the cliff and one fell/jumped over the slight overhang (which broke off). The cow fell over the cliff, just missing me by a meter or so. The cow landed on its feet and seemed fine. I was fine to.

(Note from transcribing son: TIL my Mom could post a TIFU called "TIFU by almost crushing my husband with a cow". Now that would get some upvotes!)

Thank you for your question. I don't have a favorite painting. It's like asking who my favorite kid is (I have 5). I generally like the more challenging once better than the, "easy pieces" Generally speaking I like predators: Hawks and owls, wolves and lions. It may be a guy thing, but I think they have better shapes. The beaver is basically a boring brown blob. (sorry Canada) However it's a much more admirable symbol than the bald eagle.

Great questions. Thank you!

Since, as you probably know, I used to be an abstract painter and before that I was a group of seven groupie and painted everything on the spot out of doors. I never touched it again in the studio. But since my "road to Damascus" in the 1962 Andrew Wyeth show at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, I realized that the only way to be true to myself as a naturalist (who cares about particularity in nature) was to change my style to Realism. In the 1970s I had a decent camera and was able to shoot lots of reference photos. I use 5 to 50 photos as reference in a painting. I used to use a slide view but now rely on my iPad to view them. I also use my own wax models to reference angles of limbs. And I have my own small freezer to store birds in (perhaps another question will follow on that). I am still inspired by the subject matter - I have far more ideas for paintings than I have time to do them. And I keep getting more all the time.