These muted hues have endurance and awe brushed into their presence. So often painters seem to feel the need to resist the gray and brown and heaviness of our southwest Canadian rainforest. This is a mistake because there is beauty to explore in these melancholy landscapes. There is fuel to feed our own inner strength. We need not brush it over with artificial colour. We need only to seeking deeply into the hues and hold this wonder on our canvas. These are this artist’s musings as Terrill Welch worked on this oil painting inspired by a resent hike when the mist was rolling along the ridge, the air damp on her skin and her body warm from her steps.
GARRY OAKS ON BROWN RIDGE 14 x 18 inch oil on canvas
Following the goat paths where the Garry Oaks lean into Brown Ridge on Saturna Island is a beautiful sight. We must stop before looking up from our feet and out over the inside passage towards Saltspring and Vancouver Island. Contemporary Canadian landscape art is eminently present in this view.
A few words from the painter:
Painting the spaces in between whilst keeping ones visual balance to capture the feeling of being high on Saturna Island’s Brown Ridge is a challenge that this landscape painter is prepared to breathe life into. The intention is to allow the viewer’s eye to escape the edges of the canvas and find themselves imbedded within the view. But not comfortably. I desired that sense of wanting to look, feeling the wisps of sea air in our ears while we steady ourselves on the narrow path. I wanted the painting to be saturated with not quite clear emotions of awe, wonder and eternal loss. This may be a tall order for one relatively small canvas but I had to give it my best didn’t I?
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