TOWNHOUSES THROUGH THE LILACS
oil on board
26.25 x 24 in.
framed dimension: 27.2 x 25in.
$2,100

LES AND ALEX'S YARD
oil on board
24 x 26.25 in.
framed dimension: 25 x 27.25 in.
$2,100

INTERIOR OF THE STUDIO LOOKING TOWARD THE BACK WALL (2002 and 2009)
oil on board
24.75 x 30 in.
framed dimension: 32 x 37 in.
$2,200

GLASS BOWLS WITH ORANGES AND PEARS (COLOURFUL) (2009)
oil on board
17.75 x 24 in.
framed dimension: 19 x 25 in.
$1,700

Stephen May was born in Témiscaming, Quebec in 1957. In 1976, after one year of study in the Photographic Arts Program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Stephen began to attend art classes at the Ottawa School of Art. Three years later he enrolled in the Fine Arts program at Mount Allison University, from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During his fourth year of study, while in the process of creating a landscape painting, he came to understand the relationship between the success of a painting and the spirit of the painter. Stephen realized that drawing and painting were the media most natural to him. His convictions in that respect remain strong to this day.

Following his formal education, Stephen travelled through Europe for eight months exploring collections of great art to deepen his appreciation and knowledge. On his return from Europe, he accepted a seasonal position with Theatre New Brunswick as a prop builder, allowing him five months per year to pursue painting full time. After being awarded a Canada Council “B” grant in 1992, Stephen was able to take a one-year sabbatical from Theatre New Brunswick which provided a stepping stone to his decision to resign and paint full time, which he has been successfully doing since 1996.

Stephen has been a resident of Fredericton since 1984. In that time, he has exhibited extensively, been an active member of the arts community both professionally and as a volunteer, raised two daughters, and been formally recognized as one of the province's most respected painters. Gallery 78 has represented Stephen since he assumed residency in Fredericton, and has presented many solo and group exhibitions of his work. In 2006 the Beaverbrook Art Gallery presented Stephen May: Embodiments, a solo retrospective, and in April 2007 Stephen was awarded the prestigious Miller Brittain Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I am a painter of ordinary things.

What I love about painting is that it is physical. Real hands are making real objects with ground-up minerals and oil. I can relate to the old stories about alchemists, men who took common materials and gave them value and power.

The old artists were like that too. Velasquez and Rembrandt, Chardin, Manet, and Van Gogh all had those same minerals, oil, and canvas that they transformed into extraordinary paintings.

Some things never change. Painters joke among themselves about "pushing mud". We all use those common materials and try to invest them with value and power using our own personal alchemy.

Those alchemical secrets aren't really secret but none-the-less maybe they shouldn't be mentioned because after all, the painting's the thing.

Stephen May, 2009