Up Close from a Distance

     This series of paintings on log cookies reflect the natural world around me and my spiritual connections to it. This collection of wooden ‘canvases’ are painted with abstract shapes and colour palettes directly influenced by nature’s vibrancy. 

A log cookie is a cross section of wood cut from a tree where you can see all the tree’s rings. These were cut and harvested by my brother in law who is a logger. I like to think of this as a collaborative process between a tree, a logger, and an artist. In this body of work, I want to reflect upon the material’s importance by highlighting its patterns and textures through abstract marks and shapes. The various colour schemes in each of the paintings reflect the magic of the natural world.

     I am deeply inspired by the changing seasons, local flora and fauna, and the magic within the forest. I had moved back to my hometown, Lundbreck, for a year while creating these pieces and this informed their materiality and process. Because it is a rural location in Alberta, (nestled at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies) I was surrounded by so many different types of landscapes that I had grown up seeing. 

The colour scheme is pulled from magic that surrounds me within nature and is a way to show the native plants, elements, and animals through abstract marks and shapes. I feel very connected to my spirituality when I explore nature. I found that by creating these pieces, I was able to connect with natural elements and spirituality in a different way than just experiencing these settings firsthand. When making this series I found out more about myself, my spiritual journey, and meditative states by creating with nature.