2011: International Women Celebrate!

March 8 - April 10, 2011
In response to a call by AyrSpace in Ayr Ontario for original works to celebrate International Women's Day, I painted saltfish on a flake as a symbol for the traditional hard work by women in Newfoundland. This traditional and monotonous work was added to all the other demands of family, farming and home and appealed to me as a different symbol to celebrate Newfoundland women. Information about the exhibition can be found at

ayrspace.ca

The link above will open a new page

2010: Art Commission for Deer Lake Airport

Since getting back from Costa Rica I have been working on a commission for Deer Lake Airport in Newfoundland. The 2 linen paintings are each 5.5 by 13.5 feet in size and are being painted in Stephenson's acrylic paint. They are displayed on a giant easel in my studio, take up most of the space and are quite a challenge to paint. The top edge has to be worked from the top of a ladder which I have to move as I go along.

The first painting, which is nearing completion, is of the many species of wild orchids I found when working as an artist-in-residence in Gros Morne National Park near Deer Lake, set against a backdrop of Gros Morne mountain and the Lonely Mountain Range.

The second panel, which I have only just started to block in, is of life under the sea along the shore of the island. I am working from maquette designs, but find that things are changing a bit as the designs are scaled up to the large size.

2010: Costa Rica

In March 2010 I was an Artist-in-residence at an art Colony in Colon, Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a smallish, Central American country sandwiched between Panama and Nicaragua. Several years ago a painting friend had been there and recommended the facility and location. Colon is in the central valley and is a Spanish speaking, non-tourist town about an hour outside the capital, San Jose. Along the spine of mountains that run from north-west to south-east, are a string of active volcanoes. The people are very friendly but don’t speak much English. You can buy most of what you need in local stores but need to take your art supplies with you.

It was so stimulating to spend a month, painting in a totally different environment – what could be more different from the short days, cold fogs, snow and ice of March in Newfoundland! Compare this to the perpetual warmth, open sky and 12 hour tropical day. This took me back to my first 24 years growing up in tropical Zimbabwe. It felt so familiar – just like going back home. Apart from a 3 day excursion to Monteverdi Cloud Forest and Arenal Volcano, I made two 1-day excursions, firstly to Irazu Volcano and Lankester Gardens and, secondly, to Manuel Antonio Park and its beaches on the Pacific Coast.

Although I do work “on location” at times, the inclement Atlantic climate has made me into a predominantly studio artist. It would have been wonderful to have spent two weeks in the Cloud Forest or in Lankester Garden, but would have been quite expensive. This encouraged me to use my new Canon camera very liberally, and to work in my Colony studio from images on my laptop -- something I have been wanting to try for a while. At the end of the month I had a substantial body of work – 9 full sheet watercolours, 2 half sheets, some small studies of orchids painted on location and a series of eighth sheet, semi-abstracted shadow paintings.

The “For Julia and David White Artist Colony” was set up by Bill White in memory of his two children who both committed suicide. The seven artist studios are self-contained although basic, but spacious and comfortable, and set in 12 acres of forest and garden with a swimming pool. The other artists could be musicians, writers and painters. We did go out to communal dinners at a nearby restaurant (walking through the forest) although most of the time you cooked your own food and could socialize as much as you wished. At the end of the month we had an afternoon round of studio visits to see and hear some of what had been accomplished. This was a great experience, so great that I have booked to go back next year! For more information please email me or look at their website www.forjuliaanddavid.org

2009: Migration

Exploring the personal experiences of friends who migrated from places they loved became a challenge. Returning to the fibre-based medium I enjoyed so much in Contours, these works use hidden areas or containers to hide the personal roots inspired by these friends. The interiors contain the feelings and longings that we all store as memories, hidden beneath the surface of our lives. Quilted, handpainted pieces are embellished with computer-printed images and text.

2009: Shorelines

Since my artist residency at Gros Morne Park in 2001, I have become more and more interested in the geological structures that are so prominent in the Newfoundland landscape. My focus has been on the movement of water in relationship to geological structures along the shore, the patterning of rock formations and their natural decoration through the embellishment of plant forms over the surface. In these works I returned to working in traditional oil paint on linen or canvas – the medium in which I studied at Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town, South Africa.

2008/9: Contours

As part of a group of artists working with media and techniques traditionally associated with craft production, it was my desire to create works for Contours that reflected my experiences on journeys through the environment, where edges, surfaces, elevations and form inspired a very personal response. These environmental, experiential fibre pieces with richly decorated surfaces show stencilled and hand-painted maps that include computer-printed paintings, drawings and photographs on quilts. These works combine maps that show geological zoning and trails with text and visual images, in an attempt to record personal journeys made over the past 10 years to the Amazon River in Peru, canoeing down the Churchill River in Labrador, Western Australia, Gros Morne Park in Newfoundland and searching for the lost city of Atlantis north of Crete.

2007: Etheral

In these works the focus moves from the rocks and land of Newfoundland to the ever present weather, clouds and sky.  The swirling brush strokes of the egg tempera medium attempt to capture the movement of the air as the light penetrates through.

2006: Rocks-capes

Through both watercolour and egg tempera these works explore and contrast the unique, geological formations in Newfoundland and Labrador to those in New Zealand and Australia. They attempt to define the surface textures and structures of the rocks, as well as to explore their extreme age and significance. The combination of fine detail and the immediacy of emotional colour of watercolour forms a strong contrast to the intricacy and subtle overlaying of colour in egg tempera.

2005: Light-Stream

These works show the beauty of traditional egg tempera as a translucent medium and enjoy similar qualities in the more familiar watercolour. The earthy grinding of colour pigments and egg yolk medium resonated with the geological formations in the paintings. Many of the works show the contouring and shaping of rock by water yet glisten in the light and air.

October 2004, Internal Landscapes

In October 2004 “Internal Landscapes” will open in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. It is a group of watercolours, silk hangings, garments with masks and a dbook that were made as a response to a cancer diagnosis, and use symbols of threat, life, healing and meaning in personal, natural and universal contexts.

April 2004, From Away

In April 2004 “From Away”, a solo exhibition of works made while travelling or in response to the experiences, opened at Christina Parker Fine Art in St John’s Newfoundland. There were silk hangings of creatures and plants of the Peruvian Amazon, watercolours from France, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

March 2003, Fibre Connections

In March 2003 I was part of a four-person show, “Fibre Connections,” at Argyle Fine Art in Halifax. This series of silk paintings show specific places in Newfoundland and in Labrador that set focal elements—plants, icicles, artefacts—against the landscape. Work created for this show was also displayed during January and February, 2004, in “Currents,” an exhibition at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

May 2002, Groundcover

As Artist-in-Residence in Gros Morne National Park, a World Heritage Site on the west coast of Newfoundland, I spent four weeks in the park during the summer of 2001. During this time I created watercolours on location that were shown in May, 2002, at an exhibition at Christina Parker Gallery in St. John’s. Called “Groundcover,” the exhibition featured works created from a variety of up-close perspectives.

June-October 2000, Labrador Health Centre

From June to October 2000 I designed and painted 26 silk hangings of Labrador’s natural heritage for the Labrador Health Centre, in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Hung in groups of two to seven 8 x 3- or 4-foot panels depict a herd of caribou on the tundra, creatures and plants of the forests and rivers, and a run of arctic char down river and into the ocean with its own sea birds and fish.

May 2000, Icebergs; Castles in the Sea

In May 2000 my solo exhibition “Icebergs – Castles in the Sea” opened at the Christina Parker Gallery in St John’s. A children’s book of the same name, written by Lawrence Jackson and using my full-colour illustrations on the cover and throughout the pages, was launched at the same event. The same month, I was elected to the board of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour at their annual general meeting.

1998-1999, Artist in the Community, Hopedale, Labrador

During 1998 and 1999 I travelled to Hopedale, Labrador—a vibrantly warm Inuit community in an exposed and bleak setting on the north coast—to work with students from all grades to create silk hangings and acrylic panels to decorate the corridors of their school. Local artists were commissioned for sculptures, craft work and murals; groups of students worked on murals for the foyer and public areas of the school. We depicted natural elements, and, using photographic references, images related to historical Hopedale, and traditional activities. We all found the experience truly enriching. Our thanks to the “Artist in the Community” grant program from the Canada Council and the Labrador School Board for making this experience possible.

1999 (and 1996), Community Hospital, Monterey Peninsula, California, USA

In 1999 (and 1996) I painted a series of works for the Birthing Centre and the Cancer Centre of the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in California, USA. These works reflected favourite and familiar places from the surrounding community—the beach at Carmel, for example—and were intended to bring the brightness, colour, and life of the outside world inside the hospital walls.