Praise for Various Works

Praise for my Painterlogue

Judith Finlayson, Victoria, BC.

These are great! Love to see your process and notes . . . I’m just getting back in to thinking about painting, ok I found a bunch of little 5.5 x 5.5″ cradle boxes and a few 8×8″, so I’m going to do cold wax on Arches Oil Paper, then will glue them on if they turn out. Just trying to do some calligraphy underneath first, but damn, it just beads up on the oil paper . . . duh? It’s only for a background that you might never see, so the more textured the better – then, I’ll start with the cold wax . . .

Jane Dill, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Ian, your art work gets better and better. Actually, getting them is like taking a class with all the information you provide.

Dave and Judy Hallgren, Michigan, USA.

Glad to see you’re keeping busy during the Pandemic. Same here, doing some painting as well. Here are some from Mexico as well as during the pandemic.

Bruce Raber, Steveston, BC

Great letter Ian—probably my favorite! I very much like the new phases you’re entering into with your paintings.

Peter Nosco, Vancouver, BC.

I really enjoyed your most recent Painterlogue #16. In the spring of 2008 we went to Paris for a week and then on to Morocco for a couple of weeks. We celebrated Dee’s birthday by an enjoyable visit to the Jardin Majorelle. I’ve attached a little photo album of our time in the garden. The day began with a wonderful birthday breakfast at the riad where we stayed. I think the Moroccans call the blue color used in the garden Majorelle blue, but it looks a lot like cerulean to my untrained eye.

Nicholas Long, Minneapolis, USA

Interesting post and great pictures. I too like cerulean, as a cool blue and one that makes great greens when mixed with a cool yellow. I have found that there is a huge difference between student quality cerulean and artists quality. Particularly with cerulean I think it is always worthwhile to go with the artists quality. I am working with pastels at the moment.

Geoff Mynett, Vancouver, BC

So interesting Ian! Love your work!

Please keep these articles coming.

Alix Bishop, Vancouver, BC.

Dear Ian – love “shake a leg” – it’s exactly that! I love getting these painterlogues as it keeps me up to date with your lovely work. I was thrilled to receive the info about your acceptance into the Toronto art group.

Alison Carter. Ledbury, England.

Wonderfully informative…and Shake a Leg in Scotland cracked me up something fierce!

Such a great job, Dad!

Love, Emma, Vancouver, BC.

I read your Painterlogue a couple of days ago. I really enjoyed reading about how you have been staying busy during quarantine. My favourite piece is your watercolour sketch with the forest and ragged shrubbery as it reminds me of the ravine I live next to in Burnaby.

Riley Jackes, Vancouver, BC.

We so enjoyed looking at your paintings. Your pictures are very beautiful and different than those we first saw in Mexico. You have really captured the beauty of light and dark in the scenery paintings. It is almost like being there or wanting to be there! Beautiful.

David Hallgren, Michigan, USA.

Very interesting articles. I particularly liked the the paragraph on your process. When it comes to watercolour, you are far more organized and methodical than me.

Geoff Mynett, Vancouver, BC.

I always enjoy reading your letters. Good to be reminded of Joan Eardleys work.

Dorothea Kirkwood, Vancouver, BC.

Good to see you are well and painting. Your art is beautiful and I love your paintings of the rocky coast. I can only imagine how beautiful Vancouver is this spring season. We just passed the peak of our spring blooms, but continue to enjoy our sunny days and low humidity while it lasts.

Lynne Taylor. Raleigh, North Carolina.

That was fascinating. Both to understand your process and to view the progression. I hope you’re both doing well. Here are some photos that might inspire your next painting.

Richard Kunz, Vancouver, BC.

Aesthetics and taste fascinate me. Why do I like butter pecan and chocolate mint ice cream but not strawberry? Why are grey and dark blue my favorite colours? I have simple, convincing-sounding explanations for all these and other “life” questions, but deep down inside, I’m not sure that they represent the “truth” in the sense of the full story. What is the limit of self-knowledge? Raven-like crows (karasu 烏) are revered in Japan for their intelligence, since they use tools and have culture that is transmitted across generations. The karasu in Crowbar is tugging on a thread that is enigmatically connected to sheet music. The colors and texture have a rough boldness that make for a refreshing contrast with Bamboo Frame, my other Carter. Something about the painting makes me wonder how you knew when it was done? All these elements certainly contribute to my appreciation of Crowbar and my subsequent wish to own it, but I do fear that this explanation is incomplete. Still, you’ve waited long enough, and thanks again for both your patience, and the creativity/skill that enabled the painting!

I am the proud owner of your beautiful painting...Rhododendron Wood and Stream. When I got it home and opened it up I was thrilled. Your colours are beautiful and there is such depth. I feel very lucky to have one of your paintings. Sue Hurd

Thank you for sharing your work Ian. Your inspiration and variation seem endless, with really awe-inspiring depth and breadth, and enviable enthusiasm. I hardly know what to say, but I’m finding great pleasure in all the phases, graphic and written, that you communicate.

It is so interesting that Ian focused on the rocks in this painting. The rocks are what convinced me to purchase this landscape of the West Coast forest, rocks, and water. I love the wet on wet techniques throughout and the many colours (including cool and warm hues within the same object) with value extremes from light to dark which are so important in landscape paintings. Thank you Ian.

As a historian, I use words to describe persons, things and events that I will never see, but I nonetheless find it difficult to describe in words why I find this painting, which I now see daily, so captivating. However, here’s a clue, and it comes by way of analogy…. My favorite photograph is by the photojournalist Howard French: it depicts a professional photographer himself taking shots of cosplay and tourist visitors at the entrance to a site in Tokyo that I’ve myself visited a hundred times. By contrast, Ian’s painting includes a frame that encloses stylized bamboo for which the model was the dense patch of bamboo that I see daily from the lobby window of the building where Ian and I have our respective flats. How cool is that? For me, the artist’s pun of scene/seen, and his precisian’s use of “instance” instead of “case” appeal to something truly deep-seated, and is what I often hear others call “value-added”!

So good to read your painter log and see your recent work. You have been busy, having fun, I can tell, and getting recognized. Your compositions and color are really great.

Wow! I don’t have a lot of other words. You are enjoying remarkable and well deserved recognition for your amazing works of art. Barry and I are so honored to own a “Carter”. Hope to see you in Vancouver one of these days Love, Lynne

You know I admire your unique works. Let’s see, today you’re out painting with your friend, right? Enjoy Mexico. I’d love to be there painting today as well AND not working. Keep in touch, Bob

Your work has blossomed into a lovely, strong artistic voice. I love it! Congratulations on all your progress and well deserved recognition. XO CW

I love your Collection of Imagined Landscapes of Mexico.

Upon returning to the desert, I looked for the perfect spot for your painting of the “Three Houses”. I believe I found it and it looks lovely.

The painting has a jewel like, almost mystical quality, which speaks to me; it evokes memories of Mexico, past and present, which we experienced. And for that, I thank you.

About Mineral de Pozos This is my favourite! I love the scene, the suggestion of movement, life and the combination of colours you used. It tells a story of the culture. It evokes the imagination.

Adrian asked me if I would permit him to use my painting "El Tajin" for the cover of his upcoming CD of Classic Guitar music.

Carole is an Oregonian, and I was in Oregon for high school and college. Lots of familiar sights on the Oregon coast. Actually it wan't any attachment to Haystack Rock, it was the freshness of your painting that I like. I am so happy to have one of Ian's early pieces. I was taken with this image the first time I saw it. Fresh and painterly, it's all there without being overworked. I have come from a graphic background and one focuses on being tight and clean with the work. I'm attempting now to loosen up with my painting, catch the essence leave the brush strokes. Your new work is very fresh almost Zen. I will be glad to have this piece of yours.

Where do I begin to tell you why the picture speaks to me? I love nature and being outdoors, so the beauty of the lake and sky calls to me. It also feels very serene; the quiet of the lake, the beauty of unspoiled nature. I love the fact that the boats are not the same color. Although it looks nothing like LYNNE’s lake house, it reminds me of last summer when Nigel and I visited them in Northern New York and we went out in their kayaks every day. Your painting instills in me a sense of happiness. I will probably want to buy a second painting after we visit San Miguel because then I will have a reminder of being with you there.

Tres Cruces Aldama Your painting speaks a language of its own, for itself. Words seem superfluous, even contrived. This is a genre work, with deep sensitivity to San Miguel. Thus I wanted to take it home with me, and tomorrow we will even look at a house on this very street, Aldama, as a possible venue for next year’s stay.

I’m so pleased with my newest painting, your watercolour “Van Dusen Autumn”. The colours really captured me. Its’ autumnal colours evoke a sense of serenity but yet the colours are so rich and there are pockets of drama in the composition. It’s really lovely and hangs in my foyer where I can admire it several times a day. I’m so glad I have it. Liz Surowiec

I've been looking through your collections on your website, very beautiful work and I love Imagined Landscapes of Mexico. In particular, El Tajin. Something about this painting transports me to another realm when looking at it. , I am starting the recording of a new solo album of original works for guitar by Canadian and Mexican composers. Mostly these are contemporary pieces that I have commissioned, or were otherwise dedicated to me. The album will reflect my work, and taste in new music over the past several years and will also reference my split Canadian/Mexican heritage. Would you permit me to use the image for the album cover? If you agree, I'd be very honored and I think the feel of the painting is consistent with the musical content.

I am tremendously excited about your new imagined Mexican landscape series, and now we own one of them - “El Salto Falls”. I love the vivid colours, the relatively looser brushwork and the apparent freedom with which you painted it. Your joy in creating it must be equaled by our pleasure in looking at it. With your Yellow Point drawing we have made a special “Carter Corner” in our living room. Thank you for expressing your artistic talent so beautifully and for letting us share your vision.

Ian. I just wanted you to know how thoroughly thrilled I am to have the acrylic painting "Dos Amigos". Looking at the painting I am instantly transported back to Mexico and can even feel the heat on my skin Your use of colour makes the picture come alive and my whole family has commented on the painting.

I absolutely love your FROM HOTEL POSADA DE LA ALDEA LOOKING AT THREE HOUSES painting. Gorgeous!

I’m so pleased I came to your art show recently. Your work is so beautiful, whether it’s your pieces from San Miguel or of the west coast of BC. Your sense of colour and perspective is wonderful. I’m so happy with my watercolour of Yellow Point Lodge. I seem to gaze at it and dream of a calm, beautiful place. Thank you Ian.

Favorite painting in home. Gorgeous colours. Instantly transported to rural Mexico. Looking forward to new paintings from the artist.

I am the proud owner of an acrylic painting by Ian Carter entitled "Post Boxes, Washington State". It shows a number of post-boxes by the side of a road, in a country setting. I find the picture evocative as it speaks of absent letters (we live 7 000 miles away, in the country) and is a constant reminder of remaining in touch. The colours are bold and the artwork a little impressionist rather than purely an exact depiction. The painting exhibits skill and we love it

Wanted to send you a note to tell you how impressed and touched I and my whole family is with your painting of my grannie's home! The way you painted her garden, the little details around her yard and especially Josie herself waving from the front window captured the moment in time, and will forever be a keep sake in our family. I cannot thank you enough, I feel honoured to have an original Ian Carter hanging on my wall! I will for sure be singing your phrase to anyone I know who would love a beautiful water colour art piece commissioned.

Ian Carter’s paintings capture the mood of the cooler coastal landscape of the Canadian west to the warmer umber and sienna tones of the Mediterranean and Mexican townscapes

I love the way that Ian has managed to capture the flow of busy traffic through the streets of New York. The feeling of a rainstorm at night is cleverly portrayed, seeming to add to the rushing speed of the yellow cabs busily conveying passengers to their destinations. A very atmospheric picture which has been highly praised.

Ian Carter's watercolors capture vivid memories of our brief visit to San Miguel. A street scene that hangs on the wall of our bedroom brings us back, each time we look at it, to a magical time and place. We were there in April as the jacaranda trees bloomed, and we long to return.

I have a small water color by Ian Carter. It pleases me every time I see the typical Mexican country scene, a beautiful ancient church and a group of goats gamboling on a dirt road in the foreground. The light is amazing. In this case, the sky is cloudy and the soft light spreads a quiet peaceful mood over the painting. Love it!!

I first fell in love with Ian's drawings of Yellow Point which for me combine exquisite detail and artistry, and one of which I am thrilled to own. His dedication to art, both in his long architectural career and in his lifelong passion for drawing and painting, is inspirational, his support of other artists most generous.

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