Rick Janson

Terrace House (Troon) (2026) Oil on Canvas 12 x 12 inches. Rick Janson (Canada). #Ar #BlueskyArt #Troon #Scotland

Early Equestrian (2026) 12” x 12” Oil on Canvas Rick Janson. #Blueskyart #Oilpainting #Barrassie #Gallery #CanadianArt

Alone but never lonely — an art week I was rather shy as a kid. While I had friends, I was okay with my own company too, playing with my Corgis, gluing together model airplanes, flipping through a book or making a drawing. My mother s…

It's been a hectic few weeks. And then it snowed.
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Opening is Thursday night. We will be there. It is a group show — only one piece by moi.

Leslie Grove Gallery, in the Leslie Grove Park, Queen St E and Jones.

Thanks for the call out. Just delivered a painting to a show that starts in Toronto this week and picked up one from a show that just ended in Whitby. I’m usually showing somewhere at any given time.

For those in the GTA, I have a painting in a show of new members of the Toronto Artists' Network next week. Official opening is Thursday evening from 6-8 pm at the Leslie Grove Gallery (Queen St. E and Jones).

Being present in the City of Light This is probably the worst sales pitch ever. The second painting of mine to be completed in 2026 has to be among the saddest I’ve ever done, although I have been thinking about it since I sna…

It's likely one of the saddest paintings I have done.
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Social Time (2026) 16 x 20 Oil on canvas. One of my sadder commentaries.

The Peace I don’t really do pastoral images largely because it is not really my lived experience. I’m an urban dweller, and most of the places I like to visit are urban. I decided almost immediat…

This painting is as much about what was behind this view.
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Exhausting To Think About I get tired just thinking about it. It’s about storms, both metaphorical and real. Instead of making art, I find myself spending hours clearing snow from around the house, and in between, pre…

This story got little attention amid all the madness south of the border -- the 2nd largest museum of modern art in the world is closing for the next five years. Ugh! One more thing to make me feel tired.
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Work in progress. I don’t normally paint pastorals but this was different. On one side of the road was the site of a WW2 war crime, the other side was this. A peace dividend?

Red Into Pink (2025) 12 x 16 inches Oil on Canvas by me (Rick Janson)

Red into Pink Years ago I responded to a call for entry to a show at the Eastern Front Gallery that explored the colour blue. The invitation came through my involvement with the Riverdale Art Walk, having partic…

What happens when your brain tells you something is one colour, but in reality, is another?
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Why do we treat art history as a frill? When I entered Toronto’s Scarlett Heights Collegiate Institute in the early 1970s, I thought it was normal that a significant proportion of the school’s art program was in art history. …

A working class kid who took up art! Madness!
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Embarrassing that Canada is late to this party Some good news that is a little embarrassing. It got little attention in Ottawa’s fall budget but will impact artists going forward. Canadian artists have been fighting for it for years. In t…

As a Canadian, I find this a little embarrassing that this is only being addressed now... shorturl.at/7Bm7v

Looking at rich people’s stuff When we first arrived at Glasgow’s Burrell Collection we got offered a tour before even taking stock of where we were. Given the somewhat disorientating layout of the building, it turned out …

Who decides what art we see?
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Inspiration and intimidation Recently I found a copy of Kate Bryan’s new book “How To Art” while in Waterstone’s in Glasgow. It turns out, the signed copy also had an extra chapter on Banksy that was ex…

Looking at art for inspiration? I did. It almost made me cry.
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At the Fireworks display on Barassie Beach for Guy Fawkes day. #Scotland #Fireworks #Barassie #Troon

Windsurfers today at Troon’s south beach amid a hoolie. Look the wrong way and you’ll get sand in your eye.
#Scotland #Troon #Windsurfing

The rear view of the Scott monument, Edinburgh. #Scotland #Edinburgh

When the Grand Hôtel opened in 1867, it had 365 guest rooms — one for every day of the year. 12 floors — one for each month. Four turrets — one for each season. It was built in the shape of a V for Queen Victoria. In Scarborough, UK. #UKtravel #Scarborough #Yorkshire

Pleased to learn I have been selected by the jury to participate in the 2026 Scugog Studio tour as a guest artist. #ScugogArts #VisualArts #RickJanson #OilPainting #BlueSkyArt

Lobby of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, UK. #GrandHotel #Scarborough #Yorkshire #Travel

War and Remembrance: Knitted figure of Vera Lynn covering the top of a bollard in the old market town of Pickering, UK. #Pickering #veraLynn #UK #Travel #Yorkshire

High Street in Scarborough, UK. Walking around felt like time travel. Pic from early morning yesterday before the shops opened.
#Yorkshire #England #Scarborough

Taking a break in Glasgow.

Rocks on the beach at Barassie, Scotland. #Scotland #Beach #Barassie

View from Edinburgh Castle yesterday looking towards the Scottish National Gallery and the ‘poo’ building. #Scotland #Edinburgh

Jim Tribble speaks about and plays a variety of instruments that would have been used at the Royal Court in Scotland. We saw his delightful presentation in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle yesterday. #Scotland #ScottishHistory #Tribble