My studio mate, Lorin Hesse and I, decided to do a show together in 2023. We often found that our proximity to each other had a profound effect on the direction the work in each studio was taking form. Lorin was creating beautiful and evocative art jewelry that referenced Nova Scotia landforms, often incorporating twigs, stones and other objects found while strolling on the beach or hiking on trails.

Simultaneously on the other side of the studio my paintings focused on the ever changing coastal landscape where salt marsh blends into the ocean; where land is shaped and reshaped by the movement of tides. Weathered cliff and rock face disappear downward into dark water and simultaneously push upward to meet the sky in this locale. The textures, colours, shapes and lines that define the land itself are ever changing depending on time of day, weather and season. The small paintings (mostly 5” squares) I worked on blended many of these elements and paired perfectly with the work being made next door.

For me these abstractions based on the land suggest movement and moments in time; elements more often based on memories of place and feelings, both visceral and emotional. They are a bridge between what is formed and the formless, all evoked by place: Terra Nova Scotia.