Artwork by James Long
Borje Salming dies at 71 of ALS November24, 2022 Growing up in Toronto I was lucky enough to meet Borje Salming more than once. I even got to have lunch with him and other players at the Hot Stove Lounge in Maple Leaf Gardens as a youngster (compliments of Alison Doran, then president of the […]
Meat Loaf Dies Today at 74 Cover Art for BAT OUT OF HELL album by Meat Loaf 1977. First album I ever bought was Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf. Got it as soon as it was released in ’77. I was 11. I loved the cover and I loved the music and spent […]
HKY GRL: SILKY MITTS Final original 20″x27″ acrylic painting by artist James Long. SILKY MITTS: hockey slang referring to a player’s hands, often described as ‘silky’ when a player has great skill with a puck, especially in dekeing or goal scoring. Sweet Hands. Million Dollar Hands. To be good at anything, time and effort must […]
ANGELA JAMES -WORLD’S FIRST FEMALE HOCKEY STAR Angela James Concept Sketch by artist James Long. If you are unaware of Angela James, let me introduce you to the Wayne Gretzky of female hockey! Angela grew up in the same Toronto neighbourhood as me, and it is no exaggeration to say I was lucky enough to […]
Bubblegum and Blueprints Good god, what a beanpole I was. I came across these two pics of me as a kid adding some details to my dad’s drawings while I waited for him in his office one afternoon. I believe I’m about 12 or 13 here. Dad was a draughtsman and worked at North York […]
Gilles Lupien This is really sad news to me. Gilles is an NHL player best known for his time with the Montreal Canadiens from 1977-1979, where he won two Stanley Cups. He was brought in as an enforcer to protect Guy Lafleur. Ironically, in his post NHL career he fought to diminish fighting in hockey […]
This Spring is shaping up to be a great one!Things are slowly getting back to normal.The long weekend is right around the corner, playoff hockey is back (and my team is still in), the weather is warming up, we can enjoy friends on the outside decks, and that dirty ‘C’ word (which I shall not […]
CANADA’S PROUD Although this painting was not done for Remembrance day, it feels like the appropriate time to talk a bit about the inspiration behind it while we acknowledge those who it honours. Our soldiers are well respected by civilians and militaries around the world, and I wanted to capture the noble spirit of these […]
My Howie Moments Hockey icon Howie Meeker just died at 97. To Canadians and hockey enthusiasts across North America, he will be remembered for his tremendous contribution to not only NHL hockey, but for his passion and love of the game in general. But my memories of Howie are slightly different and a little more […]
Sometimes really cool things just seem to fall into my lap. This is one of those times. I’m never comfortable restoring/repairing other artist’s work simply because it’s not mine. But when a customer in British Columbia asked if I could repair an original picture of his parents that was damaged by breaking glass when the […]