My Paintings
Dock Street - A Wintery Warm Embrace
Oil on canvas, 16 × 12 inches
Dock Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia
After a snowstorm, Dock Street has fallen completely still. The full moon hangs over the cold winter night as the town sleeps. The familiar buildings of Dock Street are here, but the scene is not intended as an exact depiction. I’ve taken some artistic liberties with the street and stone walkway to create the place as I wanted it to feel.
There is a sense of solitude—of experiencing this familiar place entirely on your own and simply taking in the silence. For me, the lamplight brings warmth to an otherwise cold and frigid scene. It is about the quiet, the stillness, and the private beauty of being alone on Dock Street.
Our Last Drive
Oil on wood panel, 18 × 12 inches
Sandy Point Light, Shelburne, Nova Scotia
My mother loved the drive along the Sandy Point Road and seeing the Sandy Point Lighthouse. While she was battling cancer, we took her there for what would become her last drive.
That evening, the sky seemed to put on a spectacular show for her. The sun had set, leaving the sky and water ablaze with colour behind the lighthouse. It felt almost as though God was giving her one last beautiful display.
Soon afterward, my mum became bedridden, and she passed away a few weeks later.
I painted this from a photo we had taken of that evening together. For me, it is more than a painting of Sandy Point Light. It is the memory of our last drive, one extraordinary sunset, and a quiet moment with my mother that I will always carry with me.
Quiet
Oil on canvas panel, 14 × 11 inches
This is an imagined place — somewhere removed from the noise and distractions of everyday life. A place to be alone, to become lost in thought, and simply watch the sun disappear across the water.
There is solitude here, and perhaps a little loneliness, but there is also peace. The small shack, the boat and the fading light represent a place where nothing is demanding your attention and nothing needs to be done. For a little while, the noise of the world has simply been turned off.
It is a place I sometimes long for — somewhere quiet, away from it all, with nothing but my own thoughts and the stillness around me.
Hannah Atlantic
Oil on canvas, 18 × 12 inches
Shelburne Harbour, Nova Scotia
The Hannah Atlantic was my father, Captain Percy Cox’s, offshore lobster fishing vessel. He spent much of his career at sea as her captain. I also spent about ten years aboard with him as a member of his crew, so this boat holds many memories for both of us.
When Dad retired, he had hoped to have a painting of the Hannah Atlantic, but what he received instead was a photograph. Years later, I decided I would finally give him the painting he had wanted. I painted this as a Father’s Day gift — something personal from me to him and a reminder of the many years he spent at sea.
The painting depicts the Hannah Atlantic sailing out of Shelburne Harbour on her way to the offshore lobster grounds. She took us out to sea to fish and, voyage after voyage, brought us safely home again. Along the way, she sailed past the Sandy Point Light countless times — a familiar landmark on our way out and a welcome sight on our return.
For me, this painting is about more than the boat. It is part of my father’s life, part of my own, and part of the years we spent together at sea.
The Dory Shop — Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Oil on wood panel · 14 × 12 inches
This painting began with a photograph my sister took of the old Dory Shop in Shelburne. She asked if I would paint it for her, and I thought it would be a fun little project to take on.
What interested me most was the character of the building itself — the old woodwork, the markings and weathering of the boards, and the deep reds against a quiet winter day. I especially liked the old-fashioned streetlamp standing beside it. There was something about the whole scene that simply appealed to me and made me want to paint it.
Sometimes a painting doesn’t need a complicated story. Sometimes I just see something that catches my eye and think, I’d like to paint that.
Echoes of Home
Oil on wood panel, 18 × 12 inches
Inspired by a photograph originally seen in a Downhomer calendar.
This old abandoned house caught my attention and stayed with me. While the building is based on the original reference, I changed the surrounding landscape some.
I often found myself wondering about the people who once called this house home. At one time, these walls would have held an entire life — family meals, laughter and love, but also sorrow, births, deaths and all the ordinary moments in between. Perhaps generations of one family passed through its doors.
Now the house stands empty and slowly gives way to time, while nature grows up around it. Yet somehow it doesn't feel entirely empty. There are still echoes of the lives that were once lived here — a reminder that every abandoned home was once simply home.
Tall Ship
Oil on wood panel · 18 × 18 inches
I have always been fascinated by tall ships. There is something magnificent about their scale, their sails and rigging, and the skill it must have taken — and still takes — to sail them.
The reference for this painting came from an image I found online some time ago. Unfortunately, I no longer know the photographer or original source. I used the ship as my starting point, while taking some artistic liberty with the original image and making changes of my own along the way.
More than anything, I painted this one as a challenge to myself. The sails, lines and rigging made it a very different subject from the landscapes and buildings I often paint, and I wanted to see if I could capture some of the presence of these extraordinary vessels.
I have tremendous admiration for the sailors who crew them, both past and present. I hope this won’t be the last tall ship I paint.
The Old Boat
Oil on canvas · 36 × 24 inches
This is the largest painting I have completed to date. I wanted to challenge myself by working on a much larger canvas, and when I saw a photograph my cousin had taken while visiting the Boatskeg Distilling Co. in Pubnico, Nova Scotia, I knew I had found my subject.
I was immediately drawn to the old metal boat — its rust, its colours and contours, and all the wonderful markings created as the metal weathered over time. Using my cousin’s photograph as a reference, I took considerable artistic liberty with the scene, changing the surroundings and adding a setting sun to create the atmosphere I wanted.
This painting became as much an exercise in patience as it was in painting. Every blade of grass was painted individually, and working at this scale challenged me to pay attention to both the smallest details and the painting as a whole.
It was a great challenge, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. There is something about an old, rusting boat that makes me wonder where it has been, what it has seen, and how many stories it might hold.
Santorini, Greece
Oil on canvas, 16 × 12 inches
This is one of my early oil paintings and one that helped spark my interest in continuing to paint in oils. I was drawn to the brilliant blues of the sea and dome, the simple white architecture, and the delicate blossoms reaching across the scene.
The painting was based on a photograph of Santorini, Greece, that I found online some years ago. Unfortunately, I have been unable to trace the original photographer or source.
Looking back, this painting marks an early point in my journey as a painter — a time when I was beginning to discover how much I enjoyed working with oils and wanted to continue exploring the medium.
