Curious about the Mentor’s Waiting Room? Cool! This online orbit showcases the artwork of yours truly, from paintings to tattoos, and the inspiration behind them. I’m a professional artist based in Calgary, Alberta. My clients range in age from one-year-old to 75-years-young and span the globe. The places my impressions now call home vary from a remote school in Romania to a legendary Hollywood director’s Hawaii beach house – from an orphanage in India to a music producer’s home in Toronto, Ontario. I don’t mass produce or replicate – all work is one-of-a-kind. I normally draw my inspiration directly from the person I am painting for. I try to capture the recipient’s archetypal truths through symbols, styles and colours that begin to integrate and express their distinguishing and animating traits. I usually get my first idea for the border, and then move inwards from there to tell the story of the individual, or a grouping of individuals (which, when you think about it, is how we get to know people. Not inside-out as we sometimes say without thinking, but first from the exterior, then inwards as we acquaint ourselves with the imagery of the soul).
Please note that currently I have quite a backlog and limited time to create – so I am currently not accepting new commissions.
Testimonials
“I have been thinking for 24 hours how to ever thank you for the unreal beautiful soulful gifts you have created for us all. I feel very feeble…..it seems so pathetic to write you and attempt to say thank you. How can I POSSIBLY thank you for what you have given us? They are so much more than just these amazing pieces of art. They truly are testaments, windows into the essence of my family. To have these beautifully colored, textured creations in my home to remind me of the loving, strong and dynamic men in my life is such a gift in itself Mags and I cannot even begin to thank you, I just can’t.” – Lori “The Phoenix” Gardner
“I didn’t know what you would come up with when we first talked. What we now have is something far beyond what I could have ever dreamed of. The significance of our important ties to each other is not something that we could ever imagine someone else could see. You not only saw this significance, but put it in art that is beyond discription.” – John Gardner
“I’m ecstatic with my painting, which hangs majestically in my main room. It satisfies the ‘conversation piece’ element I’ve spent two long years searching for, as well as being a remarkably stunning work of art. The rich colours, the simple intricacy of design, the interconnectivity of symbols. It evokes feelings of warmth and positivity, intrigue and mystery, strength and fortitude all at once. I’ve already envisioned friends coming through the front door…heads turning…jaws dropping…eyes transfixed by your hypnotic creativity impressioned on my wall. An esoteric signature of beauty luring select mortals and random angels to gaze…meditate…even levitate in its presence.” – Ralph Joseph, President of Sukha Records Inc. and songwriter/keyboardist.
“… when I unrolled the tapestry, I was totally in awe. The beautiful piece and the card, with the explanation of what the tapestry signifies, will hang side by side with great pride here in our Maui home…. Thank you, thank you.” – Richard Donner, Hollywood director of movies such as Superman, The Omen, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon I-IV, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory, and Scrooged
“Our wall hanging that hangs ever so powerful and mesmerizing in our living room means very much to me. It has symbolism so deep and rich that any individual who knows the personalities of me and my husband would completely understand each character specifically chosen by Mags to represent us and our lives… Art must move me and represent a little bit of me in some small way. Our hanging is dripping in purpose and meaning and that makes it fine art in my eyes….I am thrilled, delighted, and touched very deeply by our wall hanging. But I think I am even more amazed by Mags’s ability to understand people and understand compassion enough to interpret them into art. That is talent and that is a gift. – Fiona and Andy Warren, proud owners of a Mags original.
“This gorgeous hanging occupies a space in my home where we meet head on every morning as I start my day. It’s sunny and colorful and thought provoking, each square a symbol for life and wisdom and dreaming. Wrapped in a border representing a reel of film, it’s almost as though it were made for me – Hey, it was made for me! Thank you Mags!” – Glen MacPherson, Cinematographer (Director of Photography) of such movies as Rebound, Walking Tall, Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds
“The images that you have conceived and brought to life are stunning. I’m not sure I have the capacity to select words to do justice to your work, so I won’t ramble hopelessly. But let me try two… ‘power’ and ‘energy’. This is what I feel when I look at the images you’ve painted – the power and energy of colour, of emotion, of order and chaos, of symbols, of expression, and of joy. The power and energy of experience. Congratulations on your work, oh Creative One, and on this adventure.” – Will Roberts
“…I can honestly say that every person I have brought through my place since it has been up has commented (positively) on this piece. I love it! It’s by far my most prized art piece, and made all that more special because of who painted it.” – Rhonda DeJong
“We can’t say thanks enough for the wall hanging. We absolutely love it. It’s the focal point of our living room where we get to admire it all of the time. Our guests regularly are wowed by it (as are we) because it’s so unique and filled with so many interesting and though-out symbols and art. Dawson’s (our new son) favorite thing to look at is your wall hanging. He just stares and stares at it – I put him down on his little play mat with 25 critters and things dangling to capture his attention and develop his brain, and what’s he do, turns his head so he can stare beyond it at your wall hanging in the distance.” – Tracy & Murray Sagal
“Your work is remarkable! You have taken the time and disciplined yourself to look inwards, something most people are scared to do. When I look at your art, the energy I see and feel is something I cannot describe.” – Michael Edwards
“The hospice has 2 of Mags’s hangings she generously donated to brighten up the walls. Mags brings her vibrant personality, her magic, her compassion for people and her creative talent to the experience of volunteering. I have seen the brilliant smile of a dying women when she was given a beautiful picture by Mags so the women could send one last gift to her niece. Mags’s heart shines through when you are in her presence and shines through her art as well.” – Sandra Becker – Social Worker, Sarcee Hospice
And finally, one last word from our mentor:
Mags – I’ve been thinking about the paintings you’ve completed since we first sat down in the room we invented for conversations while waiting for The Mentor (or Godot, or The Other, or The Next Big Thing) to show up. “Wall Coverings” or “Hangings” seem correct enough as classifications of what you’re making but somehow misnomerish to me. “Discoverings” would be closer to the mark. Windows or portals maybe, because they let the light and the world in. And us out. And they raise something up; hanging invokes gravity. I remember how surprised I was that a) in addition to everything else you were doing you were painting and b) what you were painting wasn’t Jackson Pollacky, it wasn’t bursting-in-air and wildly (self-indulgently?) self-expressive, and it wasn’t a representation of the real/surreal circus that seems to be happening in your head when you’re talking (you are exuberant) and when you’re going about your daily business (you are active). Now of course it isn’t so surprising to me that you are grounded by some kind of convergent orderliness and divergent imagination and have found your form and balance. Words like iconographic, symbolic, allegorical, hermetic, mandalic come to mind when I look at the collection so far; but somehow you manage to make those potentially heavy, potentially pretentious aspects wonderfully light. I love their handmadeness (the slight wonkiness of certain lines and the texture of the fabric telling you a poster or even a paperwork won’t do) their vitality, playfulness, intuition, and gorgeous ordered sensibility. Meanwhile, happy discovering. “Imagination,” as Coleridge said and you know, “brings the whole soul of man [woman, you, the people you paint for] into being”. – David Pike, founder of the name The Mentor’s Waiting Room