paintings - icebergs |
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On Ice I am enchanted by icebergs. Waiting to see if they will appear in the spring awakes my senses after the long Newfoundland winter. Glacial ice appears along our coast as pack ice, bergie bits, and icebergs. The white forms are enticingly beautiful and dangerously unpredictable, drifting into shore, blowing back out to sea. Formed in layers over thousands of years, the ice contains a record of time revealed only as it melts and breaks, its mysteries disappearing into the ocean. Some years the ice is close for months, some years we only have a glimpse of white on the horizon, reflecting sunlight on a clear day. In 2008, after observing and photographing the numerous icebergs along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula, I decided to concentrate on them for my next body of work. From January through March 2010, I was resident artist at The Rooms Art Gallery. When Bruce Johnson, Curator of Contemporary Art, showed me the studio, he told me that my exhibition would be in the 4th floor gallery rather than the third. Both galleries have a view of the harbour, but the 4th floor gallery is lighter and more spacious. Looking at the space, I decided to make a large painting for the wall adjacent to the window, using that view as the basis. With a floorplan of the gallery, I planned the work to suit the space. My original idea was to hang the sculptural piece on the wall above the stairs, but when that proved too difficult, the technical staff suggested hanging it on a wall high above the gallery. Since I had wanted it to be a surprise, this seemed like a good option. For the three bird's-eye view paintings, I used photographs form the observation archives of PAL, to which Pip Rudkin was kind enough to give me access. The close-up of the side of a large, flat iceberg was inspired by photographs of several huge, flat bergs that spent the summer of 1991 around St. Michael's on the Southern Shore. This work could not have been created without the help of many people and funding from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. I am grateful to them all. |
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 Visitation (moving marble) oil on linen 96" x 156" 2010 |  Aftermath (cracking up) oil on linen 48" x 60" 2010 |
Pool (no lifeguard) oil on linen 48" x 48" 2010 |
 Repose (chilled to the bone) oil on linen 48" x 60" 2010 |
 Ice Wall oil on linen 36" x 72" 2010 |
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