Pilot’s Monument #2, 16”x20” acrylic
I painted this in March and I sold it at a show a few months later. I really enjoy the view from Pilot’s Monument — the vast expanse of Great Slave Lake and the colourful houseboats are all idiosyncratically Yellowknife and what I identify as being Northern. In this piece I wanted to capture the startling expanses of white and the extreme sunlight that emerges during February, March and April.
When I paint I want to share the beauty I see in the world, the beauty that always surrounds us but can often go unnoticed. I have always been passionate about art, and love to paint en plein (in the open air), but when the weather is too inclement, I work from a photograph. I have been painting in acrylics for almost 10 years, because they are quick-drying and great for outside. Before that I dabbled in all sorts of media and became proficient in watercolor, inks, block printing and graphic novel type work.
I grew up in Nelson, B.C. and decided I would move up to Yellowknife for a summer just to check things out. I had a good friend, Jazmine Gardner, who lived here and regaled me about her adventures, watching a film festival from the confines of a canoe, what the snow sounded like in winter… I thought the place sounded fascinating.
After one summer I went back to Alberta, finished my schooling and came back up. I’ve been here for over five years now.
