Perpetual Journal
I began a perpetual journal as a way of slowing down and paying attention to the nature that surrounds me. Many years ago, someone asked me a question that has stayed with me: If you weren’t an artist, what would you do? My answer has always been connected to plants. I have long been fascinated by their healing properties…the ways plants have been used to nourish, soothe, restore, and sustain us. So I’ve decided to bring those two interests together in a new project.
For the next five years, I’ll be documenting the plants in my surroundings, one week at a time. A perpetual journal gives me the opportunity to return to the same pages year after year, noticing what is blooming, changing, disappearing, and returning. It is as much a practice of observation as it is a record.
Brightly coloured flowers immediately draw the eye, but sitting with the plant long enough to sketch it reveals so much more…the structure of the flower, the shape and texture of its leaves, the way the stem holds everything together. Painting a plant asks me to really look at it. And perhaps that is the heart of this project: learning to see what is already here.
Over five years, I hope these pages will become more than a collection of botanical studies. I want them to hold a record of place and season, curiosity and discovery; a visual diary of the living world around me, and a continuing exploration of the relationship between art, nature, and the healing properties of plants.
Nasty Women
I tend to avoid discussing politics or religion as I find it uncomfortable to engage in heated debates. However, my eldest daughter, Alexandra, had introduced me to a podcast by Estee Lalonde which sparked a change in my perspective. While listening, I was initially unsettled by Nina Donovan’s comment about the importance of not being apathetic during difficult times. Given the political climate in North America and the #metoo movement, I knew that I could no longer remain silent. As a mother of two strong and independent young women, I felt a responsibility to take a stand against anything that may be considered unjust or discriminatory, especially since I come from a large multicultural family and strongly believe in equality and acceptance for everyone.
I kept asking myself, “What can I do?” and it occurred to me that art has long served as a catalyst for change. This is why I chose to use my voice in the best way I knew how, by empowering other women to be brave and show up in their lives. My younger daughter, Katherine, had previously suggested that I paint famous women who have influenced our lives as part of a year-long project titled “Heroes.” As part of #The100DayProject, I took this idea further by painting 100 women in 100 days who personally impacted my life in some way on 8×10 gallery canvas to celebrate and honor the “nasty women” in my life. I began with a self-portrait, followed by portraits of the beautiful women in my life who stepped up to support this project.
Sacred Vessel
Being surrounded by the beauty of the boreal forest and the Churchill River in my youth initially inspired me to become an artist. The animals that were prevalent and often visited my community, such as wolves, ravens and bears were the impetus for a year-long series of 52 small paintings. This was followed by another year-long project that consisted of wildflowers and their medicinal properties. Recently I made a decision to enlarge some of those previous works while pushing myself further in the exploration of colour and mark-making.
Now that I live in a rapidly growing area I have seen a number of wild animals in our city, a coyote in my alley and a porcupine in my lilacs, and wanted to incorporate an urban quality in the paintings through the use of hand cut stencils and hand carved stamps.
Both past and present are reflected in this collection of paintings, inspiration that came from my childhood north of ’56 and the qualities of urban art to reflect the place I reside today. My goal is to continue to study the beauty of nature and culture to honour the place I came from while integrating the freedom of graffiti inspired methods of layering bold colour and pattern.
Simple Pleasures
“Hold every moment sacred. Give each clarity and meaning, each the weight of thine awareness, each it’s true and due fulfillment.” – Thomas Mann
My paintings are my attempt to connect to the heart and to the mind. In my interiors, I want to go beyond the physical and convey the inspiration and serenity I experience in my surroundings. I am drawn to the everyday.
My goal is to create a sanctuary, a quiet place of contemplation. To share a tranquil spot with the viewer and offer an inviting place to be still, to create something beautiful out of the ordinary. There is beauty in every thing and I choose to translate this beauty in my paintings by combining simplicity, light and vibrant colour through the use of opaque and transparent acrylic glazes. I draw with my brush, slightly distorting and manipulating the subject to share the beauty of imperfection, creating soft, sculptural form. My images are an endeavor to capture the essence of spiritual light that are found in the forests of Emily Carr or the flowers of Georgia O’Keeffe.
The foremost emotion I am attempting to convey is joy: it is all around us in forms we may not see or appreciate. A warm bed to crawl into, a comfortable chair to sit in and a book that will take one to places never imagined. These are my simple pleasures.
