"What impact does one's internalized childhood scenery have on an artists mature work in a different landscape?" I attempted to explore this idea by returning to Georgian Bay, Ontario for two weeks of painting. It's been thirty-five years since I moved to Nova Scotia and several years before that since I last painted in Grey County with my mother.
Going "Home" is always fraught with emotion- especially since "Home" is really childhood family. With both my Mom and Dad gone and no relatives in the area, my childhood home is missing an essential ingredient. Luckily, I have a bunch of wonderful friends that although I don"t see often, I still feel very close to. They stood in as family.
Going "Home" is always fraught with emotion- especially since "Home" is really childhood family. With both my Mom and Dad gone and no relatives in the area, my childhood home is missing an essential ingredient. Luckily, I have a bunch of wonderful friends that although I don"t see often, I still feel very close to. They stood in as family.Also this trip was a chance to paint and to be alone and to think about Georgian Bay and Grey County and Owen Sound and it's continued influences on my life and work in Nova Scotia. At first I was worried that nothing would call out to be painted. I took the pressure off myself by accepting that if this indeed were to be the case, then that in itself would provide clues to my initial question.
Of course once I relaxed and took the pressure off to find brilliant subjects and do perfect paintings, there was lots that I wanted to try to capture. The water of Georgian Bay was so blue and so clear that I really enjoyed watching, painting in it, and with it and swimming in it.
The trees and rocks were lush and green and everyday was sunny
It was this dappled light and shadow that caught my eye every time.
Yesterday after almost a week back in Nova Scotia getting caught up I was back in the studio and the first idea I wanted to explore was curved cedar trunks with Georgian Bay in behind.