Professional experience and career highlights
2006 Designed and built the sculpture for the entrance to Empire Square, a new outdoor concert venue in downtown Belleville - 60 feet long by 13 feet tall; faux black marble series of monoliths depicting musicians at work
. Designed and built a piece of installation art for the lobby of the new Royal LePage corporate offices - downtown Belleville
. Created 10 unique and individual table tops in faux stone and metal for Café E - Empire Square
. Asked to develop a proposal for two bronze sculptures celebrating the lives of Jack and Bernice Parrot, two well respected Belleville philanthropists. Have yet to obtain confirmation to proceed
. Created a concept for a sculpture of two life size dancers to celebrate Quinte Ballet School's 35 th. anniversary. Starting construction in 2007
Sold one of my early cast bronze life sculptures to a collector
. Discovered digital photography and began to experiment
. Created the sensual show Women on Fire which opened at the Rivendell Gallery - Stirling and then was shown at Unbridled - 2006- Belleville. Had great personal response, media coverage and sales
. My work is now on display at the Iris Gallery - Bloomfield and Burst - Toronto
. Creating a touring photographic art show, cara VIN, a sensual exploration of wine to be launched May 2007
2005 Designed and built Children of Hope for the Rotary Club of Belleville, a 15 foot tall bronze patina sculpture - Connor Park, Belleville
. Created work for the Jungle Jim restaurant - St. John's, Newfoundland
. Designed and created work for Mexicali Rosa's - Barrie, Ontario
. My over life-size faux stone sculpture of the god Ageus was purchased and shipped to the lobby of a resort in Venezuela
. Participated in the very successful art show, Unbridled - A Celebration of the Human Form. Displayed 52 pieces of my two and three dimensional work
2004 Designed and produced unique furniture, large stone structures, water-walls and sculpture for: Restaurants: Mexicali Rosa's Belleville, Ontario St. John's, Newfoundland
. Showed my two dimensional work at: Quinte Arts Council Gallery - Belleville The offices of MPP Ernie Parsons - Belleville The offices of MPP Lou Rinaldi - Trenton West Wings - Stirling
. Interviewed about my art by CBC Radio - Fresh Air
Participated in: Stirling Spring Studio Tour Prince Edward County Studio Tour Stirling Fine Arts Festival
2003 Opened my art gallery and expanded my studios - Rivendell Herb Farm, Stirling
. Participated in: Stirling Spring Studio Tour Stirling Fine Arts Festival Tweed Studio Tour
. Opened County Cuisine - a specialty line of foods - Picton, Ontario Won Best Tasting Regional Product (Liqueur Honey) award at -Taste! A Celebration of Regional Cuisine
2002 Designed and built Atlantis, a night club in Belleville. Comprised of sculptured ruins, columns, and life-size sculptures in the ancient Greek style
1999 Opened Rivendell Classics, a company that designs and produces one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and sculpture 1998 Became Chef for the Rivendell Tea Room Café. Developed a line of unique food products
1996 Re-located to our farm property, outside Stirling. Developed the property as a tourism destination, known as the Rivendell Herb Farm - a tea room café, gift shop, studios, and display gardens
1995 Recruited as President of the Toronto branch of International Duplication Services Responsible for all aspects of the operation
1986 Produced Stars on Parade a $1,000 a plate luncheon for Variety Clubs International
Composer - Louis Applebaum
Director - Heiner Pillar
Featured:
The Toronto Symphony
Conductor - Andrew Davis
The National Ballet
Choreographer - Vanessa Harwood Principal Dancers - Karen Kain and Veronica Tennant
The Canadian Opera Company
Director - Lotfi Mansouri
The Toronto Children's Chorus
An assortment of cameo spots by celebrities including Al Waxman, Ross Petty, Monty Hall and Toller Cranston
This was the first and last time all of these groups have ever performed together
84-94 Created Future Scenario a film and video production company Worked internationally as a writer/ producer/director and sometimes as an actor and composer in Television, industrial film /video and commercial production. Nominated for many awards Won Gold at Intercom - The Industrial Film/Video Festival - Chicago Garnered Gold at Japan's Festival of the Arts - Tokyo
1980 Was recruited as the 'Imaginator' by Batten Graphics, to develop ways of using a new technology - Computers in the creation and production of graphic design
. General Manager of F.A.S. (part of the Batten Group) - a new technology for transferring slide presentations to film and video tape
75-77 Managing Director of Cinacor Ltd. I was responsible for the design and manufacture of prototypes (Berlin, Germany), securing of world-wide patents, and venture financing
1975 Formed MJR Associates (Michael J. Rutland) a design and implementation company. I was responsible for business development, design management, project co-ordination, and client contact
1973 Hired as a Management Consultant by Laventhol and Horwath. This company became Price Waterhouse. Responsible for concept, design, and production of informational and educational packages
. Worked on many Canadian and International projects including one of the first voice response computer systems - Mel Lastman's Bad Boy stores
1972 Purchased 45 Acres in Centre Hastings and began to build
. Developed a new technique in building large, light weight, durable puppets and masks out of foam rubber Toronto Dance Theatre Created and built their International tour of Babar
. Czechoslovakia Black Box Theatre Redesigned and build all of their puppets and props Designed and built puppets for their famous musical Peter and the Wolf, Screen Gems
. Created and built the production Seven Dreams
. This technique is now used extensively in North America and is the method used by Toronto's Famous People Players and many of Jim Henson's Muppet characters
. Designed and produced numerous sets and props for Susan Rubes - Young Peoples' Theatre
. Ryerson Polytechnic Institute Developed Curriculum for their Tourism diploma programme Created films on alocentric/psychocentric tourism models The Dynamics of Resort Communities The Form and Structure of Resort Communities There Are Alternatives Lectured on the need for community planning and related topics at Ryerson The town of Bancroft Wasaga Beach Presented to a meeting of Canada's First Ministers in Ottawa - "Tourism from the Grass Roots." This presentation resulted in joining Laventhol and Horwath
1971 With long time friend Andrew Alexander and composer Robert Swerdlow created and produced Spring Thaw 1971
. Assisted Andrew Alexander in the creation of Second City -Toronto
. Was the first to use fabric sculpture and macramé as a set - Bottom's Dream (a children's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream) that played at the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto and the National Arts Centre, Ottawa
. Elements of the set remained on display as pieces of art at the NAC for many years
70-73 During this period I received Canada Council and other grants to work and study outside of Canada New York City, USA Nuremberg, Germany Edinburgh, Scotland
1969 Graduated from the Ontario College of Art - Sculpture Program
. Co-creator/producer Façade - Global Village Theatre, Toronto Ed Mirvish sponsored the show and launched it at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Façade was the first "legitimate" cabaret of female impersonation in Toronto
68-72 Co-founder of the Global Village Theatre, Toronto
. Created and built many sculptural and environmental sets for the Global Village This original work was taking place during my last year at OCA and was recognized academically for credit in the sculpture program
. Co-creator/producer Justine a contemporary musical - Global Village Toronto. This production moved to New York and opened at the Mercer Art Centre under the title Love Me Love My Children. It is the longest running 100% Canadian production to ever play off-Broadway.

Expérience professionnelle et projets de carrière
2006 Sculpture pour le hall d'entrée du Empire Square - 60 pieds de longueur et 13 pieds de hauteur; série de musiciens en représentation monolithes
. Sculpture murale pour le hall des nouveaux bureaux de la compagnie Royal LePage
. 10 dessus de table uniques en fausse pierre et faux métal pour le Café E - Empire Square
. Projet de sculptures en bronze en hommage à Jack et Bernice Parrot
. Projet de sculpture de deux danseurs (taille réelle) pour l'école de ballet Quinte
. Création d'une exposition de photographies sensuelles Women on Fire
. Mon œuvre est maintenant exposée dans la galerie Iris - Bloomfield and Burst - à Toronto
Co-création d'une exposition itinérante de photographies d'art, Cara VIN, a sensual exploration of wine through art
2005 Children of Hope, sculpture en bronze et patine de 15 pieds de hauteur, représentant trois enfants
. Sculptures pour le restaurant Jungle Jim - St. John's, Province de Terre-Neuve
. Sculptures pour Mexicali Rosa's - Barrie, Ontario
. Sculpture du god Ageus - hôtel au Vénézuela
. Unbridled - A Celebration of the Human Form, Exposition de 52 pièces de mon œuvre
2004 Meubles, structures en grosses pierres, nappes d'eau et sculptures pour : Mexicali Rosa's, Belleville, Ontario et St. John's, Province de Terre-Neuve
Expositions :
. Galerie du Conseil des arts de Quinte - Belleville
. Les bureaux de MPP Ernie Parsons - Belleville
. Les bureaux de MPP Lou Rinaldi - Trenton
. Galerie West Wings - Stirling Tournée des ateliers d'artistes de printemps - Stirling
. Tournée des ateliers d'artistes - Compté de Prince Edward
. Festival des beaux-arts - Stirling
2003 Ouverture de ma galerie d'arts et d'ateliers - Galerie et emporium - Rivendell
Expositions :
. Tournée des ateliers d'artistes de printemps - Stirling
. Festival des beaux-arts - Stirling
. Tournée des ateliers d'artistes - Tweed
. Entrevue sur mon œuvre par la CBC
2002 Conception et construction de la boîte de nuit Atlantis
1999 Rivendell Classics, conception et création de meubles et sculptures uniques
1998 Chef au Salon de thé et café Rivendell
1996 Projet de Rivendell Herb Farm - salon de thé, boutique de cadeaux, ateliers et expositions dans les jardins
1995 Président - International Duplication Services - Toronto
1986 Production de Stars on Parade, un dîner-repas de 1000$ pour Variety Clubs International Avec - l'orchestre symphonique de Toronto, la Ballet national du Canada, la Compagnie d'opéra canadienne et le Toronto Children's Chorus
84-94 Création de Future Scenario, une compagnie de production de films et de vidéos et collaborations internationales en tant qu'auteur/producteur/réalisateur et parfois en tant qu'acteur et compositeur à la télévision, pour des productions de films/vidéos documentaires et publicitaires. Nombreuses nominations pour des prix Prix Gold (or) ) l'Intercom - Festival du film/vidéo documentaire - Chicago Prix Gold au festival des arts du Japon - Tokyo
1980 Responsable général de F.A.S. - une nouvelle technologie pour transférer des fichiers de présentations diaporamas vers des films et des cassettes vidéos
75-77 Directeur général de Cinacor Ltd.
1975 Création de MJR Associates (Michael J. Rutland), une compagnie de mise en œuvre de nouveaux systèmes.
1973 Conseiller en administration pour Laventhol and Horwath, maintenant Price Waterhouse.
1972 Création et mise en place de la tournée internationale de Babar - Toronto Dance Theatre
. Création de marionnettes pour le Black Box Theatre de Tchécoslovaquie Création et fabrication de marionnettes pour Peter and the wolf, et Seven dreams - Screen Gems
1971 Co-production de Spring Thaw 1971, Assistant d'Andrew Alexander pour la création de Second City - Toronto
70-73 Pendant cette période, j'ai reçu des subventions du Conseil des arts du Canada et d'autres subventions pour travailler à l'extérieur du Canada New-York, États-Unis Nuremberg, Allemagne Édimbourg, Écosse
1969 Diplômé du collège des Arts de l'Ontario - Programme de Sculpture Co-créateur/producteur de Façade - Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto. Le premier spectacle " légitime " de travestis à Toronto.
68-72 Co-fondateur du Global Village Theatre, Toronto
. Co-créateur/producteur de Justine , une comédie musicale moderne - Global Village Toronto. Représentation à New-York sous le titre de Love Me Love My Children, Il s'agit de la production 100 % canadienne jouée le plus longtemps en dehors de Broadway.

Since my first drawings, over 50 years ago, the nuances of living tissue have fascinated me. Four years at the Ontario College of Art taught me the fundamentals of life drawing and the basics of sculpting the human form. My earlier work focused on capturing all the parts of the anatomy to create "the picture". Now I work to capture "the feeling" in as few strokes as possible.

For me, art is an expression of emotion that is portrayed with honest clarity and direction of purpose. One of the most personal emotions is sensuality and eroticism allows artists to explore that emotion. Eroticism, however, is sometimes confused with pornography or exploitation.

Pornography is defined as "works depicting sexual activity with the intention of arousing sexual desire." The arousal is the objective. Erotic art, on the other hand, is not necessarily about arousing sexual desire. It is about a heightening of sensory feelings. Eroticism is of the mind. It has to do with feelings - an appreciation of all the nerve endings.Pornography is the stimulation of one organ. Eroticism is the stimulation of all of your organs. To experience erotic art is to question and enjoy, but mostly to feel.

Michael Pellkerin, explains in Masterpieces of Erotic Photography-"What is erotic? In a narrow sense eroticism is very individual, and ruled by the dictum, 'One man's pleasure is another man's poison.' Taken in a wider context, one sees it is intimately related to the tastes of the age. As the landscape of our society changes, so do our attitudes toward ourselves. What was disturbing to the Victorians may seem even quaint to us. A case in point is Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. He was an avid photographer and his exquisite portraits of little girls are an early milestone in sensual imagery. For us, they contain a lyrical intensity, but for him they belied a terrible and haunting passion. In the same way, the innovations of one period become the conventions of the next."

Conventions and accepted values can have the opposite effect. Recently, I attended a production of the musical Anne of Green Gables. During the production the male school teacher pursues a female student of 16, who becomes pregnant by him. This story-line happened to the delight of the moms, dads, and their children sitting around me. Am I, the only one disturbed by this? Today, the teacher would be imprisoned as a pedophile like so many of our priests, coaches, and others in positions of trust. If this Canadian icon were written today, it would not be accepted by today's audiences.

To be an Artist is to be in tune with all aspects of humankind - birth, death and all the in-between. As Artists, we are able to celebrate the innocence of children as we are able to delve into humanity's primordial side. If, in my art, I create works of children it does not mean that I cannot also create works of sensual fantasies of the adult. The latter does not make me a pornographer, merely an artist able to interpret and express the diverse feelings of my fellow human beings.

As an Artist, I wish to expand your consciousness so you can embrace, enjoy, and understand new ideas, concepts, and feelings that may be unfamiliar to you. Some of your responses to my work you may not like; some may frighten you; some may challenge your beliefs about the world around you. The most important thing for me is that you, the viewer, have some sort of emotional response - love it, hate it or otherwise.

Currently I am creating a sculpture for the Quinte Ballet School of two young dancers. I am also working on several other prominent projects for Belleville's Village and an exhibition of my most recent sensual works. These works are part of Banned Together, a collaborative show with painter Yolanda and other fine artists who have a desire to push the boundaries; artists who have had their work banned from display in mainstream galleries or shows.

(Artist's statement)