Uptown is the view looking west toward the Bloor and Yonge area of uptown Toronto. The idea for this painting took root when I was taking photos from a thirtieth floor balcony of the Verve Condos at Homewood Avenue and Wellesley Street. I was concentrating on the view looking south, toward the financial district downtown. I wasn't getting what I was hoping for when I realized the buildings over my shoulder were calling to me, “It's over here!” I think they were right. When I was photographing, the sun was just at the horizon and casting a red/orange glow over the buildings, but the sky was clear. The clouds in the painting were added later, taken at another time and place.

Click here for a ten-stage animation of the development of this work, from first paint to last.