Thoughts & Observations
May, 1 2025
My principal creative interest is and has always been painting, however, in my “Portfolio” you will find various other media excursions that have attracted by attention. Not included in the portfolio is reference to my 45 years in the business of business, which to my experience has always been a very creative genre. More similar to making art than most people realize! But this is a topic for a book - if I ever get around to writing it.
Rather than the typical “Artist’s Statement” in this “Thoughts, Observations and Experiences” ("BUMPF") I would like to present a potpourri of glimpses into events and experiences collected over the past 25 years in the pursuit of creative expression. The collection of material following came about as a result of a website recovery operation.
This version of my website, www.DonaldRSteele.com, has been assembled from material I was able to salvage from my original website of the same name, that was destroyed a few years ago. I have had a website almost as long as websites have existed, but about 3 years ago after a friend tried opening the site (I seldom look at it or god forbid update it), he contacted me and advised me that my site was “TOXIC”. I had been “hacked”. Why I’ll never know? With no backup, multitudes of images and tonnes of “brilliant” philosophical "mental meandering BUMPF" had disappeared into the void. Given that I am now largely finished with the world of commerce and intend to devote more time to making pictures, hopefully interesting pictures, and perhaps other forms of my impressions of this world, this reconstitution of my website will serve as a display case and perhaps marketing soapbox. I intend to resume having showings and as in the past donate any net sale proceeds to charitable organizations to foster art education for the young.
At the same time I hope to spark an interest and a desire in a wide range of people, young and old, in the feeling of exploration and satisfaction that one gets from pursuing creative crafts - at all levels of proficiency.
The following material will provide a glimpse into the rich and enjoyable journey of this painter over the past 25 years.
2019 Interview with The Ivey Business School Alumni Magazine
MAY, 1 2025
During my 17 year "apprenticeship" at Emily Carr U. (see Previous Show 2007) I was fortunate to be exposed to 3-dimensional art making - ceramics, sculpture, clay building and some full scale construction. In recent years on my annual trek to The Art Students League in N.Y.C. I have had the opportunity to join the sculpture students of "Arslan" the resident guru of human form sculpture. Like "Life Drawing" the study involves a posed live model - unlike "Life Drawing" the practice is multi planial. I found it fascinating and really instructional in my painting practice.
In practical and personal terms with the experience gained in ceramics at Emily Carr I was able to craft, fire and glaze burial urns for my recently deceased parents. My mother "Eileen" was born the same year and on the same day as Queen Elizabeth II and often mused on the possibility that the hospital system had mixed them up at birth. To that end, with her incredible sense of humour she often attended events wearing a Tiara - naturally then the urn (displayed in the 3-D portfolio collection) is "Royal" in tone. Unfortunately I cannot find a photo of my father, Donald Sr.'s urn as it was buried 20 years ago.
It is very meaningful to me that the two sets of hands that held me at birth are now nestled in a final resting place that is a product of my, and by association my 3 siblings hands and is so inscribed.
The photos below show examples of my 3-D objects that I can find today - many have disappeared and were undocumented - but they are out there somewhere.
