"Return To Farewell"

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“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” ~Marcel Proust

"Return To Farewell", oil on panel, 18"x24" is a play on words. At the top of Newfoundland's north coast there lies Change Islands and Fogo Island. Each of these places have their own unique character and charm. Both destinations can be reached by ferries which leave and return multiple times each day. While in Newfoundland I was staying in Twillingate, an exceptionally beautiful area of the province where most people go to see whales and icebergs. David Blackwood had encouraged me to try to get to Tilting, a beautiful little town on Fogo Island. I knew I couldn't visit Change Islands and Fogo in one day so I opted for Fogo. If you wish to read about my experience there you can read it here, on my Paintings and Musings blog. 

After an exciting and windswept day visiting Fogo Island we jumped on the last ferry back to Farewell. As the ferry crossed the water en route back to Farwell the sun slid behind the horizon. The atmosphere is so clear in Newfoundland that everything was blue, so blue that the world turned quite monochromatic as a result. I remember seeing the large, elongated masses of land moving past us like large, prehistoric creatures and being struck by how almost abstract the scene was. 

It is amazing to me how many colours exist within objects. This might sound trite but really, it blows my mind how no naturally-occurring colour is one hue but a collection of different hues mingling together to form one overall visual effect. This phenomenon becomes more apparent when I am at the easel and really have to deconstruct the different colours within objects, be it eyes, clouds or sheets. So it was with this painting. The water had a different quality than the sky, even though they were quite analogous to one another. It was as though I was back in college, completing an exercise in painting with a limited palette. 

There is a time of day, twilight and dawn specifically, when the sun seems to race to or from the horizon rather than appearing to hang in the sky perpetually during the heat of the day. So it was on this day. It was as though a blue filter had been thrown across my eyes and I knew I wanted to paint it-a simple landscape that was almost abstract in its appearance.

I find that in paintings such as this subtlety is key. In order to reduce the intensity of the blue it is imperative to temper it with its compliment, orange, or some similarly contrasting colour. Otherwise it would just be a riot of cobalt and ultramarine, a visual toothache.

This painting was intended to be an exploration of how abstract the natural word can be. I wanted to work with limits and simplicity, to convey shapes and forms with minimal fuss and yet still achieve perspective and atmosphere. Most importantly it is a memory of that cool, windy ferry ride from Fogo Island to Farewell, in magical Newfoundland. 

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” ~E.E. Cummings

Here again are the details for my solo exhibition about Newfoundland. I have a dozen paintings completed so far and I cannot wait to see them all together in the gallery!

Have a wonderful day and glorify the moment,

Heather

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

"Cyril In The Sea Runner"

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)/ its always ourselves we find in the sea".

~E.E. Cummings

A lifetime can be seen, literally, upon the face of another. Every one of our faces has a story to tell, for within their features are the marks of accumulated experience and wisdom. They are a living chronology, a roadmap of what has brought us to this very moment. They are first impressions, fading memories and lifelong companions. As a painter I could spend a lifetime studying and painting faces, for they are like fingerprints and snowflakes, each one is unlike any other. 

As soon as Cyril stepped out of his house with that fantastic hat on I knew I had to paint him wearing it. Cyril and Jim, two of David's good friends, had agreed to take us out to the small islands surrounding Wesleyville, Newfoundland. This excursion was a short way into my 16 days spend in Newfoundland last September. You can read more about my time spent in Newfoundland here.

 As my good friend Jim (a different Jim from the aforementioned one) firmly states "the only way to really see a place is by water". Indeed, you really see how small a place can be when you view if from a mile out on the water. It was with great enthusiasm that I donned the galoshes that Jim's wife kindly lent me as the ground would be damp where we were headed. Galoshes are as ubiquitous in Newfoundland as moose. They're everywhere. We climbed into Cyril's sturdy Sea Runner boat and headed off to Bennett's High Island and Swain's Island. 

On our way over to Bennett's High Island I took some reference of Cyril piloting his boat. I decided on a pretty heavily cropped study of his face after debating a larger painting with more of the boat visible. I simply wanted to paint that hat and Cyril's great expression. He is a benevolent man, a truly special person who extended such kindness to me while I was in Wesleyville. Jim too, offered his time and friendship, some homemade blueberry jam and a tour of his beautiful house circa 1860. 

While on Bennett's High Island I chuckled when I saw Cyril on his cellphone-a true seafarer thrust into the present moment with cutting edge technology, getting a good signal on this tiny island perched on the easternmost point of Canada. It was a sight I shall never forget.

This painting is one of eight now that I have finished for the show in November. I have said before and I will say again: faces are landscapes, and landscapes, faces. Our faces are small little worlds inhabited by crevasses, creases and eyes like pools or the sea. Just as we spy a face in the clouds, a man on the moon, or smooth mountain range across weathered cheeks, so they are one in the same. 

Take care and have a wonderful evening/day/morning, wherever you may be.

Heather

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

If you are interested in seeing any of these paintings please contact Abbozzo Gallery. They will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Take good care,

Heather