Denis Hopkins

I visited this excellent show yesterday in the Williams Mill Art Centre, Glenn Williams.  Denis is a fascinating guy with an incredible background in art and psychology.  He has one of the most incredible studios I have ever visited and we has a wonderful chat about art and life.  The works in this show are far beyond anything he has done previously.

Landscape and Still Life Denis Hopkins November 5 to November 16, 2014 Artist's Statement My first love in painting is still life. Oil is my favourite medium. I am influenced by the still life paintings of the 17th century Dutch masters, the work of Chardin, and, to some extent, the work of Cezanne, who used colour to depict form. I concentrate on seeing the subtleties of what is before me and on drawing the, as accurately as possible. The importance of doing this has been reinforced by several years of study in France. I am especially interested in representing the changes that are brought about by the passage of time, the imperfections in a pot, the patina, for example, resulitng from use over many years, or the effects of corrosion on surfaces.  Some of my still life paintings may be seen as metaphors for the aging process. In landscape painting, I am interested in atmospheric conditions which are constantly changing.  This work tends to be impressionistic compared to the detailed realism of my still life painting. My favourite locations for painting are Vermont, the Loire Valley in France, and Wellington County in Ontario.  I maintain studios in the Loire Valley, and in Ortin, Ontario.