About

Meet the Artist Cam McKechnie

I am a practicing lawyer in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have painted and sketched all my life, but it was not until about 2014 that I began to take art more seriously and commit more time to it. At that time, I took a workshop with a local painter, Maureen Coles (maureencoles.ca), and began painting in acrylics (see my painting “Lagos, Portugal”). Soon, however, Dene Croft (denecroft.com) persuaded me to come over to the “dark side” and begin painting in oil. Since then, I have attended Dene’s studio one evening most weeks to paint, drink a little single malt, listen to inspiring music and participate in genial conversation with up to a dozen others, and be mentored by a great guy and a superb artist. Escaping to Dene’s for an evening is escaping from the sometimes burdensome profession of law.

I remain very much an amateur. I enjoy trying new techniques and exploring new subjects and new styles. I love painting with oil because, being slow-drying, it can be sculptural – the paint not only goes on but can also come off, as in the technique known as “grisaille”. I also enjoy using other media, such as molding paste, to create texture and in some cases to build three-dimensional images such as the paintings in the “Bas Relief” section.