Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  What came first, the Chicken or the Dog? In the case of Canadian art expert Chris Finn and myself, it was the pigeon. It was 1970—way back in my second year at the University of Windsor. I picked up a gig to pose for a sculpture class for a whole semester. I needed the money. The class of about 12 undergraduate Fine Arts students had a choice: sculpt me or a live pigeon (I lied about the chicken). Everyone picked me. Only Chris Finn picked the bird. Probably a wise choice. The next year, my wife and I moved to Toronto. I got my degree in Journalism and didn’t see Chris again until I got some part-time work at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. It was 1999, and I kept the gig for 16 years. Small world—Chris was the resident expert there on Canadian Art. I promoted a number of shows he was involved in. No end of fun, no end of pigeon jokes. I moved on and took on some work with the Brampton Art Gallery after that. Chris eventually retired from the McMichael and moved back to his ho

What Makes Charles Pachter Tick In A Trumpian World? By Stephen Weir. April 5, Huffington Post Too bad Winston Churchill never met Canadian artist Charlie Pachter. The British WW2 Saviour of the Nation might not have given up on aging liberals so quickly when he reportedly opined that "any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains". If you work in the Canadian Art milieu you have will have met Charlie Pachter and seen his work. His huge  Canadian Flag Paintings , The Queen on a Moose, the Pope nose-to-nose with a Moose, the Canadian Moose on a Hudson Bay bag, Hockey Legends. And, of course, Trudeau - younger and elder please. Charlie Pachter with his Canadian flagpaintings He is one of the most recognized contemporary artists and best selling authors, in part because of his passion to use Canadian icons, symbols and faces in the creation of his quirky masterpieces. He is 74-years