Alone

Seeing things through the lens of climate change and civil unrest around the globe, I have been using my surroundings at Long Branch Studios to find inspiration for my current unsettled work. I have been thinking of the ending of the world as I knew it, and know it, losing hope for a timely response from humanity to the crisis of global warming. 

When Richard died suddenly in November of 2019, followed by the challenges and restrictions of the pandemic, the world and my world had changed. 

Isolation created introspection. Alone.

Hiker on the Marsh and Lost on the Marsh were featured in the exhibition Alone at Acadia University Art Gallery.

https://www.artsteps.com/view/60103f3f92f9ac58a1a2d497

https://exhibitsatacadia.omeka.net/exhibits/show/alone-at-acadia/item/58

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLegUyTnl64/

Hiker on the Marsh, 2019, acrylic on birch panel, 3' x 4'.

Lost on the Marsh, 2020, acrylic on birch panel, 3' x 5'

 

Going back in time...

In January of 2018 I came to Annapolis Royal to meet with artists Sharon Irving Kennedy, Brad Hall and ecologist Gregory Heming to discuss artwork in response to the environment and climate change. Before I left Halifax while daydreaming on the internet I came across Nancy McCabe;s property in Port Royal. I saw it, brought Richard to see it and we fell in love with it. By April 19th we had sold our city home and moved to rural Nova Scotia.

Long Branch Studios is situated on the Granville Road at the base of North Mountain, with the Queen Anne Marsh and the Annapolis River basin right across the road. I was surrounded by multiple ecosystems: marsh, tidal, forest, field, farmland, orchards, brooks and water courses were all part of my daily walks. 

The barnyard with view of the vegetable garden, studio (white barn) and chicken coop on the hill.

The brook flowing across the property at the entrance to the woodlands.

A view of North Mountain from the Queen Anne Marsh in the late fall.

The Annapolis River Basin looking east toward Annapolis Royal.

Kennedy Brook empties into the Annapolis River Basin.

I continued to be fascinated and inspired by microcosms of the earth, tidewrack and forest floor.

Broom moss?

Hosta leaves in the fall.

Frost on the field grasses.

Rain drops on Russian Kale.

Ice formation on a marshland puddle.

Ice on the brook.

                                             Wildeornes

Stream connecting Crane Lake with Susie('s) Lake

In 2016, I received a creation grant from Arts Nova Scotia/the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage.  Without this support, Wildeornes would not be possible.

Wildeornes is a series of paintings/audio recordings describing my personal reactions and interpretations of urban/suburban/wilderness groundscapes.  The earth beneath our feet is our most immediate physical connection to our environment.  It also reflects dramatic change in the debris field dependent on the degree of human interference.  The soundscape for each location was collected and will be manipulated to further interpret the individual sites.  

Wilderness can be defined in two opposing ways: a wasteland, or an unchecked profusion, luxuriance of life forms.  In the first case, wilderness is seen as a space devoid of purpose, awaiting development to give it usefulness.  In the second case, wilderness is seen as an area of value because of its lack of human interference.  Working with regional conservation experts, I would determine the nearest public access to (mostly) intact wilderness from the urban core.

Using GPS, I measured the distance from the City Centre, identified in this case by Halifax City Hall, to the closest wilderness area. I then chose 24 equally spaced locations along that line as the subjects for research. Assisted by Daniel O’Neill, sound recording and editing artist with the Centre for Art Tapes, I collected audio field recordings from these selected locations. Paired with the visuals, they present a more comprehensive understanding of the artwork and the environments that they represent.

Daniel O'Neill setting up near the steps of Halifax City Hall

Drawing: Steps of City Hall


Painting, Location 1, City Hall

Behind Bayers Road (Bowlarama)

Point #9  behind Bowlarama

Near point 19, Susie Lake.

Painting based on location 19

Point 23, Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes

Painting based on point 23

Douglas Smith and Lylia Mogosumova, intrepid my guides

End point, Location # 24, Three Finger Lake

End point, Location #24, Three Finger Lake

Painting based on Location #24

Fundy Tidal: Terroir

My observations of the movement and placement of the debris in the swash zone along the Bay of Fundy inspired drawings of tidal action and the painting titled Fundy Tidal. Tidewrack creates lines in the sand, is tumbled through foam, and, with elements of both natural and discarded litter, performs a rhythmic dance along the shoreline. 

Life on our planet is dependant on the oceans, and the health of that environment reflects the health of the earth.  The energy of the Bay of Fundy, with the highest tides and strong currents, rips kelp from seabeds, erodes cliffs at its edge.  This drama is captured in what is temporarily left behind, only to be erased and rearranged with the next wave.

Fundy Tidal is included in Terroir: A Nova Scotia Survey

Swash Zone III
9" x 5.5 "graphite on 300 lb Fabriano watercolour paper

Swash Zone I
9" x 5.5 "graphite on 300 lb Fabriano watercolour paper

Fundy Tidal
48" x 72", acrylic on canvas
2016

detail Fundy Tidal

                             

detail Fundy Tidal

                             

Trees and Tides

My focus is on Nova Scotia’s environment and the challenges faced in a time of dwindling resources and environmental shift.

With Trees and Tides, I continue to develop ideas concerning these issues.

The old growth forests, sometimes protected, often only existing because of their inaccessibility, provide a glimpse into the past.  New growth and the surrounding resurgence of life offer a sense of what our forests will become.  These patterns of growth reflect difficulties faced with the choice between development and sustainability.

The series Tidewrack is inspired by what is left behind by the tide, a recording of the movement of waves in the swash zone. Small stones, marine animals, plants and debris leave imprints or tracks on the sand, cyphers of activity that remain until the next tide erases, rearranges and replaces them.  I am interested in these temporary placements as a time-lapse recording of the activity of the shoreline.

Gallery Page and Strange, Halifax, will be hosting the exhibition, opening at 6p.m. on October 30. 

Piggy Mountain, Backlands, acrylic on canvas 36" x 48"

Red stream forest floor, acrylic on canvas 36" x 60"

In the dark wood, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 36"

Tidewrack, Starrat Beach, acrylic on wood, 20" x 20"

Tidewrack II, Starrat Beach, acrylic on wood, 20" x 20"

Tidewrack III, Starrat Beach, acrylic on wood, 20" x 20"

Tidewrack IV, Starrat Beach, acrylic on wood, 20" x 20"

Tidewrack V, Starrat Beach, acrylic on wood, 20" x 20"

The Backlands


Continuing with my interest in the subject of woodlands, I discovered the Backlands last year. With artist Richard Rudnicki and David Patriquin, professor of Biology, environmentalist, and member of the Backlands Coalition, I came to understand this area as a rare and unique ecosystem just a few kilometres from peninsular Halifax.

works on paper: India ink and acrylic on Fabriano hot press water colour paper, 300 lb.

Tree bones, the Backlands

Golden stream, the Backlands