Greg Hindle,master painter, teacher, mentor

"Daring Leaders" Oil over acrylic, was presented and auctioned in support of DAREarts education for at-risk children.The event took place at the Liberty Grand, Toronto, April 29th,2010. For the frame we chose profile called LUCERNE by Larson-Juhl.
There are paintings and there are PAINTINGS. These are the days when most art schools focus on developing ideas rather than training the skills. There are plenty of goodness in both approaches. Good paintings are rarely born without good ideas....but great skills are required to take that good idea to the maximum.
Greg Hindle is a traditionally trained painter and well loved teacher with outstanding technical skills. As an honours graduate from the Ontario College of Art, Greg also studied in Florence, Italy. As a teacher, Greg spend another twenty five something years teaching at OCA (now OCAD) and he currently teaches at various locations around North America. This September he will be teaching and supervising a group in Italy.
If you are under the impression that you don't need to know how to draw in order to paint, Greg will prove you wrong . He will show you that drawing is a skill that can be developed. It is based on hand-eye coordination and sharpened observation skills. OBSERVATION is the key word.
There is a difference in between seeing and really seeing. Greg can teach you how to look so you can REALLY SEE what it is that you are looking at, -instead of just THINKING THAT YOU SEE WHAT YOU SEE.
Confused yet? Don't be.
The truth is that a great representational painting cannot be born without fundamental drawing skills and practise. Follow the leader; here is GREG HINDLE!



Greg is comfortable with all traditional mediums: graphite, watercolour, pastel, oil and acrylic. You can commission him to paint a watercolour of your house, a pastel of your dog and an oil portrait of your grand-mother and they will all display mastery of technique and distinctive professionalism. Not to forget purity of colour and great likeness of the subject matter.

The small selection of paintings on this blog are a very narrow selection of Greg's repertoire.
I apologize for the quality of my photos, please click on the images to view them closer.

Greg is a great visual story teller, his favorite thing is to create paintings that stop the viewer and make him contemplate. His allegorical characters in whimsical settings often deliver strong social and environmental statements. The colourful cast of characters will make you laugh and growl.

Greg shows no mercy when he illustrates the foolishness of the human race.

This painting is titled "A Fool's Paradise" and it is the third in the series of "fools" paintings that follow an environmental theme. Together they satirically investigate humanity's plight as we realize that, bright as we think we are as species, we are unable to stop ourselves from poisoning our support system, the environment.

In this painting, the fools are happily going about their foolish pursuits, but there is feeling that something isn't quite right. A carnival-like scene is set against a skyline of now dormant smokestacks.

Over-consumption, instant gratification, unsustainable development, desertification and global warming are, like the jack-in-the-box, a big question mark to our future on this planet, that only a fool would ignore.

A blind accordion player stares with vacant eyes at the viewer, begging the questions of who really is the fool? Is he? Or are we? One fool's solution to the lack of greenery is to paint all the dirt and concrete with green paint. Another fool is about to consume the last beautiful flower.

Great or what? Fun or what?

It has been my pleasure at several occasions to study life drawing and painting under Greg's supervision. It is remarkable to see how quickly the quality of your work improves when you are given the right advice. Take me seriously here: only after a couple sessions of life drawing with Greg you will never look at a drawing , any drawing, the same way!

This is detail of a full size life drawing. Below you can examine another detail of this drawing. The actual piece measures 24"x18", conte on newsprint.

It is fascinating to watch Greg is action: his arm moves with a flow and does not dig into trivial detail. With a confidence that only one can only earn with experience, he carves the impression of the gesture on the paper. Fast.

If you study with him you will find out yourself : he will get your arm moving. He will teach you how to look so you can see. In no time you will be seeing everything differently; you will see FOUND EDGES, LOST EDGES, EDGES THAT ARE EARNED, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SPACES, FORESHORTENING EVERYWHERE! You will develop a deeper understanding and appreciation....you will learn to enjoy art on the whole different level!

Good, plump toes here. Michelangelo Buanorotti would have approved. :)

Great also has an affection to the Northern Ontario landscape. At several occasions he has taught painting workshops on a wilderness location at French River. This is 11"x14" oil, palette knife on wood panel. For the frame we chose black and silver a moulding called Palladio, recently distributed in Canada by Frameguild.

This belongs to my husbands extensive collection of painting of trees. Remember that Kevin has a degree in Forestry and trees are just as important to him as people. This is another piece that Greg brought back from the French River. It is an oil on canvas board, 16"x12". For the frame Kevin wanted something special to highlight the flavour of the Northern country side with a touch of elegance.. We elected on a stacked frame; this combination comes from Roma Moulding, a Canadian company that specializes in high-end, hand finished picture frame moulding from Italy. The outside frame is a rustic swan profile called Boccacio and the little gilded frame inside is from a line called Palio.

Another French River landscape , oil on board 12"x16". When I study these paintings I hear Greg saying: "Let your eye do the blending!" There's the secret: keep the colour clean and vibrant and leave the joy of discovery for the eye of the viewer. A painting is not supposed to be a photo realistic reproduction of the subject matter, is has to be MORE! This is where the ART comes into the picture: a true artist has the skill (hence:art) to show you more that you would have seen on your own.

This frame is one of my all time favorites, a wax wood pine moulding from Roma. Unfortunately, this particular line is not available any more, however, I have some others that feature similar rustic country charm.

Here is an opportunity of a life time: Join Greg and his wife Susan (also a OCA graduate and a remarkable artist herself) for a PAINTING TRIP IN ITALY! THIS SEPTEMBER! Imagine spending a week in a villa, just south of Florence, Tuscany! Oh Gelato! Oh Fromaggio! Oh Sergio! (just kidding, please!)Painting at historical locations around the area, with the help of the masters! Call Greg and Susan immediately at 905-729-3874, the space is limited! Hopefully, I'll see you there!

To see more of Greg's work, please visit his web pages at http://www.logsendstudio.com/. Greg was recently interviewed by Rogers TV, he will be featured on "Local Living" episode that will be aired in the fall.

Now, go and paint! That's what I'm going to do!

Have a wonderfully colourful weekend,

as always,

I remain,

Outi, the Frame Dame :)