Peter's blog

November 18th, 2025                 NOW OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS! Dear friends, Over the last 12 years at the gallery, I have often been asked to do commissions.  Most of the time I said “no”, because I thought commissions were a source of stress and the reason I first started painting in the first place was to relieve stress! When I did do the odd commission, I made sure to say there was no obligation to purchase the painting for two reasons… the most important being I wanted the recipient to be 100% happy with the work and secondly, if they weren’t, I knew I could probably sell it in my gallery.  I didn’t have a gallery when I did my first custom painting.  It was in the early 2000s.  A neighbor had recently returned from his ancestral village in Ireland and asked me to do a painting.  He gave me a number of photos to choose from and left it up to me to decide which one I would paint.  We agreed on a price.  But I ...

  October 14th, 2025 WEST ISLAND BLUES FESTIVAL Dear friends, My family moved to Dollard des Ormeaux on the West Island of Montreal in the early 1960s.  We were one of the first families to settle in DDO.  At the time, Sources Road and Boulevard St. Jean were country roads.  There was no highway 40, only the 20.  Fairview Shopping Centre was a farmers field. In the mid 70’s I lived in Ireland, but when I returned, I came back to DDO.  Needless to say there were a lot of changes.  One of them was the Dollard Civic Centre… a great facility with skating rinks, swimming pools and a wonderful public library.  I spent a lot of time at the Civic Center watching my three young Sons play hockey there. In 1984, I was lucky to meet Errol and Veronica Johnson and form a lifelong friendship with them. Both have led full lives.  Veronica became an Immigration Judge.  Errol had distinguished career in the insurance business.  Together they rai...

  September 16th, 2025 MEMORIES FROM MY STUDIO FLOOR Dear friends, I’ve painted on my studio floor for many years. One day, there was a particularly beautiful pattern on the floor right beside the painting I was working on. I took a photo of it and sent it to the team at the gallery. They said it looked great and asked when they’d be receiving the painting. I told them, “Never”—because it was on the concrete floor! Not long after, I came up with the idea of carpeting my studio in canvas to capture these patterns and turn them into paintings. Eventually, I covered not only the floor, but also the walls and even my worktables. When I see a pattern I like, or when there’s e nough paint built up on the canvas carpeting, I lift it, cut it, and stretch it. These become the foundation for new paintings—or, occasionally, if I’m very lucky, finished paintings in their own right. I’ve done this about three times over the years, and I’ve just taken advantage of our recent studio move to do it...

August, 2025 GOODBYE MY OLD PORT GALLERY FRIENDS & THANK YOU ALL! Dear friends, This post is a bit late… it short of got lost in the move but better late than never!!!  LOL! Francine and I have met so many wonderful people since we  opened our gallery 12 years ago at 367 Rue St-Paul Est. As we prepare to move to 49A Donegani in Pointe-Claire, we want to express our deep appreciation to some of the incredible individuals who helped make our time in Old Montreal such a success. First, a huge shoutout to FARD, our landlord, owned by Fred Shahrabani and his family. Fred has been the best landlord I’ve encountered in my 47 years with Rideau and during our 12 years on St-Paul. He, along with his siblings Danny and Rosie, supported us through St-Paul’s road closures, COVID, and so many other challenges. Their team at FARD—Julia, Shlomo, Bart, and others over the years—were always responsive, no matter how big or small the issue. If anyone is looking for space in the Old Por...

  English Version - *version française dessous*     PAINTING AT EVERGREEN SCHOOL Many years ago, a few of my nieces attended Evergreen Elementary School in Saint-Lazare, Quebec. Two of my grandchildren are currently students there, and four others went there before high school. So, Evergreen is a very special place for my family.  Zachary, Peter, Francine & Isabelle About seven or eight years ago, I painted at the school with some of my grandchildren. We created two or three collective paintings, which now hang in the school. A few months ago, my grandson Zachary asked if I could go again. He had spoken to one of the teachers, who had been there at the time and later visited our gallery. Of course, the answer was yes!   So, on March 12th, Francine and I painted with three different kindergarten classes. It was a lot of fun, made even more special because Assistant #1 was Zachary, who is now 12 years old.   Zachary AKA Assistant #1 & Pete...

   English Version - *version française dessous*      MAY 17 th … SAVE THE DATE! We are moving the gallery to 49A Donegani in Pointe-Claire!    But before we go, we’re planning one last big event at the gallery that has served us so well over the years. Located at 367 Rue St-Paul Est , right across from Marché Bonsecours, the event will take place on May 17th, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM . Light refreshments will be served.   Our very first event at the gallery was also held on May 17th , back in 2013 , to celebrate my 62nd birthday . But that was a private party—we only invited family and close personal friends. Normally, we would have held it at our home, but 2013 was different. You see, the next day, Saturday, May 18th , we were opening our new pop-up gallery. Francine and I had no idea whether our latest venture—or perhaps more accurately, “adventure”—would be successful. So, we decided to host the birthday party in the gallery an...