My last painting, whose working title was “Fox Wedding”, has been renamed: “More Subtil Than Any Beast”. One of my students actually pointed out to me that the painting reminded her of the Temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden — which never occurred to me while I was painting the piece. The title is taken from the King James Bible, Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

So this morning I touched up the foxes: yellow and green highlights for the bride, a little more purple in the groom. They’re both a little more understated. To be honest, I’m still not 100% convinced of the title, “Fox Wedding” — but it’s been the working title for so long, it’s the only thing that pops into my mind whenever I look at it (and I’ve been looking at it for about a year and a half now!). On to the next project!

Well, it took long enough, but I believe I put the final touches on Fox Wedding this afternoon. There are some things I find slightly frustrating with this photograph: some aspects of the snake don’t come through — the colour isn’t exactly right, and we lose a lot of the texture. I may try another photo shoot tomorrow. Also, I may touch up the foxes — but I’ll sleep on that first. 

As a musician I’ve had the honour of being nominated twice for the Western Canadian Music Awards, which acknowledges the outstanding efforts of musicians in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. This year I’m delighted to see a number of my colleagues nominated in both the categories of Classical Recording of the Year and Classical Composition of the Year. And I’m extra thrilled that two of these nominees feature my artwork on their album covers. The Emily Carr String Quartet‘s first CD, Hidden Treasure, features music by Kodaly, Tavener, and the Turkish composer Saygun. It’s a beautifully programmed and breathtakingly performed album… and its nomination in the category of Classical Recording of the Year is extremely well-deserved. The cover of Hidden Treasure features my painting, Trésor caché d’André Cormier.

In 2011 Vancouver composer (and good friend) Jordan Nobles saw the release of Undercurrents — the first CD dedicated exclusively to his music — on the Redshift Records label. Featuring the Toronto new music ensemble Contact, Jordan’s haunting piece, Simulacrum, has been nominated for Classical Composition of the Year. The cover of Undercurrents features my painting, Summer.

The 2012 Western Canadian Music Awards takes place on September 30th in Regina, Saskatchewan. Congratulations to everyone!