RECENT WORK -2021

As I was nearing retirement I wanted to give a gift to the high school that I had taught at for 35 years. A thought came to my mind. It wasn’t so much a gift to the school but a gift to someone near and dear to the hearts of the Holy Cross community. Our beloved Father Mike, the Franciscan. Over the last 15 years of my teaching career he has a been the spiritual leader of our school for both staff and students. He has always walked the talk. A beacon of the Catholic faith. A faithful follower of the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.

So I began creating a portrait of Father Mike to honour all that he has meant to me and our school community. It took about a year to complete, from conception, to the imprimatura (first painting), to the completed painting, varnishing and framing. The picture was painted, for the most part, at the Old Masters Painting Atelier in Hamilton under the watchful guidance of Paul Richard James. Mike Raso, a woodworker in Guelph, made the beautiful frame for the portrait. Mike Texiera (Technology Department Head) along with Nancy Stirpe (Visual Arts teacher) at Holy Cross were instrumental in the conception and presentation of the gift  to Father Mike. May God Bless him.