Announcing the 2013 Calendar

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Curator’s Statement by Rachel Martin
The paintings of Stephen B Brooks chosen for 2013 represent specific moments in the trajectory of the artist’s portrait series, which encompasses 340 paintings over a period of 4 years (2004 - 2007).  The portraits invite one to “Wake Up!” and express a sense of basic goodness that is universally inherent to our experience as human beings. 
The task of curating a exhibition of Stephen’s work at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia was a delight, as I’ve gotten to know the work more and more over the past 5 years (beginning with our first collaboration together on the 2009 calendar “Imaginary Book Characters”).  The exhibition itself included 45 portraits, which here have further been reduced to 12.  The color and composition in the chosen pieces shows the development from the earlier “Wild Faces” series to the final, more mature pieces from 2007.  It is difficult with such a small selection to truly show the full range of the variety of Stephen’s numerous themes and moods, but one could say the portaits here begin very cheerfully and intense and progress into being more spacious and subdued.  I have attempted to extract the pieces that I feel have a unique presence both on their own and in the context of the larger group.  I hope that you enjoy this journey of 2013. 

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Please email us at adventurerpress@gmail.com to request your 2013 Calendar (Include your name, mailing address and quantity).