"Cloud Puffs Over Calyley" oil

"Blowing Leaves"
6 x 8" oil

"Assiniboine River"
9 x 12 oil

"Yellow Flowers in a Blue Pot"
9 x 12 oil

oil

"Young Girl in Dreadlocks" oil

"Purple/Green Nude Study"
9 x 9 oil

"Nude in Purple"
8 x 6 oil

Robert Francis McInnis Born March 11, 1942, Saint John, New Brunswick
My twin interests in Art and Photography have always been intertwined, both as hobbies
and as career moves. My art interests have generally leaned toward the figurative and
landscape painting, where as my photography has been toward historical interests,
railways and prairie grain elevators.

My real art career began in Toronto in 1973. Perceiving Toronto to be the center of
Canadian art, I seized the opportunity to jump in, sink or swim, into the art world I had
always dreamed of. I’ve never looked back. Poverty level living and being frugal were the
result of finding a way with my art alone. I began to stress the figure in my painting
as a main theme. Along the way I met many people who believed in my work.
They supported me by buying these early figurative pieces. Toronto was by baptism
by fire. Many of the Toronto experiences later paid off by positioning me as a serious
Canadian painter.

Calgary was next. It was the year before the ‘Boom’ began in earnest in that city (1978).
Having made myself known in Toronto, establishing gallery representation there, I felt
safe in pulling up stakes and moving west again. The prairie had always appealed to me;
flat, dry, dusty, ochre land, grain elevators, and trains. These would become my new
subject matter.

When I arrived in Calgary, the office towers were just beginning to rise. They needed
landscape paintings for their office walls. Corporate art committees from these offices
were beginning to buy. Suddenly the boom was in full swing and I was at the right place
at the right time with my bold, brushy landscape. Then, within four years the boom ended
as quickly as it had started. But by now I was well established in Alberta too.

A three year return to Ottawa (1983-6) brought me back to familiar eastern landscape,
as well as established firm contacts and gallery representation in the National Capital.
My systematic plan was to make myself known nationally by living regionally.
Short periods in Montreal, Quèbec City any my native New Brunswick resulted in gallery
representation in these regions. But I longed for the western plains.

Edmonton became home for the next seven years (1986-93). Here, I continued the
“Women in Interiors” series I had begun in Toronto and had continued in Calgary and
Ottawa. I also painted the more northern portion of Alberta. But trees did not appeal
any more here than they did in British Columbia or Ontario. Involvement in art and
historical interests outside the studio soon began to overwhelm my time.

A year sojourn to the picturesque Comptè Charlevoix region of Quèbec
(Les Eboulements, 1991), intervened, and it was here Iattempted to bring profound
change to my approach to painting. I was seeking more depth and involvement to my
work, and less outside interference. Here I was living in rural, cultural and linguistic
isolation, away from friends and influences, ideal for a period of internal reflection.
Upon return to Edmonton I quickly realized it was time again to move on.
My excitement for the city had waned. I was craving the tonal ochres of the southern
prairie and what they could mean to my new personal vision, a place where I could apply
“the lessons of Quèbec.”

During a trip south to the Fort Macleod region of Alberta (1993), a small homestead
property, that was listed for sale, was investigated. The views from the windows offered
great potential as painting material, as did the flat, yellow land in all directions. Views of
grain elevators to the north (Cayley) and to the south (Nanton); flat, rural farmland
to the east; the Porcupine Hills to the southwester; and a clear view of the Rocky
Mountains to the west, made the decision for me.

In less than a month, Edmonton was left behind. On account of the scenery, few figures
were painted in the first years on this property. Models were at a premium away from
the major centers. However, figurative works were continued at every opportunity.
Having Fred Ross and Ted Campbell as teachers, steeped in the “Maritime” tradition of
figurative painting as they were, much of the Cultural Interpretation of growing up
“Maritime” had rubbed off on me. I carried it with me no matter where I lived in Canada.
The figure has always been considered by me to be my most serious work. Through it I
do my most important research in the elements and principles of design, painting
techniques, and advancing my personal vision and creativity. Because we live in Canada,
which is one big landscape country, painting the local scene will always be important.
But I believe it is through painting the human figure that the greatest challenges lie.