Artist’s Bio | Painter’s Progress.

Painter Stephen B. MacInnis lives and works in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, where he was also born and raised.

Stephen B. MacInnis’s work is distinctive for its bold use of colour and playful reliance on humour. His figurative paintings are surrealist, allusive, and deeply narrative.

Stephen is reluctant to comment on his own paintings’ meaning. Instead, he invites viewers to rely on their imaginations and to trust their own interpretations.

Stephen formally trained as a commercial designer at Holland College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island but left commercial design to apply his graphic sense to more imaginative works.

He works primarily in oils and watercolours. He paints prolifically, sometimes working on up to four works at a time. His work does not shy away from surface ornamentation or from sheer lush colour, often built up in transparent glazes.

His work over the past year has shifted away from figurative painting, and moved towards abstraction and assemblage. He continues to try to expand his creative process through experiment and study.

Stephen B. MacInnis’s work is represented in public and private collections in Canada, the United States, and overseas. He received an Artist’s Grant from the PEI Council of the Arts in 2002 and again in 2006.

Stephen B. MacInnis’s work has frequently been selected for book covers and has featured frequently on the cover of The Buzz arts and entertainment monthly.