Artist Statement

The Canadian landscape has profoundly impacted my life and work. I turn to nature for rejuvenation, inspiration and invigoration. The Look Way Up Series was conceived on a wilderness canoe trip in Temagami after an intense portage. Carrying my canoe overhead forces my gaze downwards, focused on the path just ahead. As I gently lay my canoe down at the water’s edge, I was free to look up, as if for the first time. Humbled by the majestic beauty of an old growth tree, I felt connected with my purpose. My paintings capture the physical and spiritual essence of the natural world. Witnessing its complex interdependence, simultaneously fragile and robust, Iam called to my studio to mirror how this reality of unity and harmony can exist within us.The paintings in this series involve looking up at trees in all seasons, but sunlight is my primary subject, as light and shadow reveal the infinite nuances of colour. I divide the paper’s surface into overlapping jewels of transparent watercolour. My watercolours on yupo paper are painted in a subtractive technique of my own invention and my oil paintings have the flowing strokes of a hand that has most often held a watercolour brush. My hope is that my paintings will change the way you see the forest, perhaps glimpsing the innate harmony possible in the world.