TORONTO - Once Toller Cranston left the ice behind, he focused his restless creative ingenuity on art — an all-consuming enterprise that he wryly referred to as his terrifying obsession. Radamel Falcao Jersey .The floridly innovative figure-skating great died at his home in Mexico on the weekend of an apparent heart attack at age 65.Even while marching to uncommon acclaim as a figure skater, he attended art school and conducted a career in art.Once he retired, Cranston funnelled all his boundless energy into painting. He painted with such prolific intensity that his output is now most often characterized by its staggering volume.Terrifying Obsession was the name Cranston suggested for an exhibition of his work, which was being prepped for a cross-Canadian museum tour prior to his death, according to longtime agent Christopher Talbot.And Cranston, always at odds with the figure-skating establishment, would have derived great validation from finally being accepted by arts old guard.I think his fondest wish would have been to have a show at a real, proper establishment art gallery, said Canadian fashion pillar Jeanne Beker, one of Cranstons closest friends, in a telephone interview from Paris on Wednesday.That was his dream: to have something at the Art Gallery of Ontario or somewhere, some retrospective, something. He felt he deserved to be there.He always felt that the world saw him as a skater first and an artist second. And it really drove him crazy.Talbot, who sometimes communicated with Cranston on a daily basis about his work, agreed.In his mind — and its maybe only in his mind — he never achieved the status he should have had as a figure skater. And he really wanted that as a visual artist, said Talbot, president and founder of Art Evolution Gallery, in a telephone interview from California.If Cranston never lived to see that recognition, it certainly wasnt for lack of effort.He retired from skating in 1997, more than a half-decade after his move to a sprawling compound in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. During the later stages of his skating career — and especially afterwards — Cranston was consumed by art.Friends recall an almost exclusionary drive. As Talbot tells it, Cranston was a fish out of water any time he was dragged from his work.Terrifying obsession really encapsulated Tollers role as an artist, Talbot said.He was just tenacious. He drove himself relentlessly. ... He couldnt stop.Cranstons Mexican home — or his little Shangri-La, as Beker calls it — became an overstuffed testament to his passion, even after he sold off a major part of his collection while still living in Toronto.A characteristically idiosyncratic sanctuary, Cranstons walled-in property was blanketed by a lush, professionally maintained garden. Inside, it was overgrown with artwork — by Cranston and by others, especially local Mexican artists whose work he acquired voraciously.Every square inch of his house, marvelled Talbot. If you look at a wall, you cant tell what colour it is because theres that much art on it.Beker recalls marvelling as Cranston bought works in an almost hedonistic fashion, collecting local artisans painted bowls and dishes and glass art, which hed hang from the ceiling.If he saw something he liked hed want to buy not one but 10 or 20, she recalled.I often felt that I was in the middle of a Toller Cranston painting when I was sitting there in his garden or one of his rooms. They would envelope you that way.In Cranstons estimation, his artistic style evolved little over a lifetime spent furiously creating — simply because it started off so clearly defined.As Cranston explains in an interview on the Art Evolution website, his colourful compositions grew from an interest in Eastern influences that he established at an unusually young age (specifically, he references Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Turkestan).The inclination, the subject matter, the concepts, the sense of colour, the people, the worlds, the imagery — miraculously — was in evidence when I was six years of age, Cranston said.Every painting (Ive done from) when I was six until now when Im 58, seems to come from that very same world.If nothing else, then, his work was distinctive. And his proponents argue that should count for something.No one was painting like that, said Michelle Kirkegaard, Canadian art adviser and owner of the Adele Campbell Gallery, a Whistler, B.C., space that has hosted exhibitions of Cranstons work. Anyone that has seen a painting, without seeing the signature, could say: Thats a Toller Cranston. And I think thats a sign of a very disciplined, mature and creative individual.The Cranston signature style had no shortage of devotees, people who spent thousands of dollars to acquire his work.Cranstons hunger for the validation of the art establishment, however, wouldnt be sated in his lifetime.In the echelons of the art world, the top level of which would be official recognition — he wasnt part of that world. He was loved by the people who collected his work, said celebrated Toronto artist Charles Pachter in a telephone interview Wednesday.Theres a certain type of people that fits the milieu of the official art museums, he added. Toller wasnt one of those people.He knew Cranston. The Canada Day they spent together and among friends in 1978 was immortalized in Pachters painting Six Figures in a Landscape.Pachter describes Cranstons work as kind of like Disney on acid — like the Wicked Queen from Snow White.He was outlandish, outrageous, creative, funny, droll, Pachter remembered. He was a character. He was a true original.More of Cranstons work is sure to emerge with the eventual excavation of his cluttered residence in Mexico.Even when he was alive, it wasnt easy to maintain a reliable record of his work.As soon as he put his signature on a painting, it was out of his life. It was like it didnt exist, explained Talbot.Hed paint some masterpiece, something fabulous, a $30,000 to $40,000 painting, and he wouldnt even know where the damn thing was. ... This is a six-foot-by-six-foot painting that you knocked yourself out on for two months and you dont even know where it is? The level of dysfunction was spectacular, but its just the kind of guy he was.Cranstons apparently unstoppable work ethic, his seclusion, and his habitual disorganization may have contributed to hyperbolic estimates of his artistic output.And that, his friends say, is in its own way fitting.I have seen inaccurate figures printed that he did over 70,000 works of art, said Pachter with a laugh.No artist could do that many. Maybe 7,000, but 70,000? Its ridiculous.It is an exaggeration, he added. But in many ways, Tollers whole life was an exaggeration.— Follow @CP_Patch on Twitter Juan Fernando Quintero Jersey . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Santiago Arias Jersey . Here are some of the best from Week One and some to watch in Week Two: TOP PERFORMERS Anthony Allen, RB, Saskatchewan (176 YDS, 2 TD, 30 touches vs. Hamilton) - Powerfully-built back burst onto the scene in his CFL debut, after a couple of years in the NFL, playing 21 games with the Baltimore Ravens. http://www.soccercolombiamart.com/world-cup-robinson-zapata-football-jersey/ .C. -- Ryan Sproul scored the winner late in double overtime to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Friday in Game 1 of their American Hockey League playoff series.ROME - Roma beat Empoli 2-1 after extra time to reach the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday thanks to a very contentious penalty.Daniele De Rossi converted the spot kick five minutes from time, sending Empoli goalkeeper Davide Bassi the wrong way, after Piotr Zielinski was harshly adjudged to have brought down Leandro Paredes.You can see that he takes his legs away, but its difficult to tell whether it was before or after he got the ball, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. I think the referee was in a great position to judge.Empoli almost equalized right at the end, but Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski pulled off a great save to deny Francesco Tavano.Roma was jeered off the pitch by its own fans after a lacklustre performance against a team struggling at the wrong end of the Serie A table, 22 points behind the capital club.Im upset above all for my players, Empoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. What did I think about the penalty? What everyoone in the stadium thought, but the club has asked me not to comment on anything, although the pictures speak for themselves. James Rodriguez Jersey. arcia may say it could have been a penalty, but not according to his players. I spoke to two Roma players and they said it wasnt a penalty.Roma got off to the perfect start as it took the lead with less than five minutes on the clock after Douglas Maicons cross was flicked on to Juan Manuel Iturbe.Empoli levelled 10 minutes from the end of normal time when Simone Verdi beat the offside trap to race past Davide Astori and round Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski before firing into the far corner.Ashley Cole made his first appearance for Roma in nearly two months — after poor form had seen him dropped to the bench. But his return lasted barely 23 minutes before he was carted off following an accidental kick to his chin from Matias Vecino.Roma will next face either Fiorentina or Atalanta. Black China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo ' ' '