Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned.... Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Last Minstrel
The topographical and incarnate features of our native landscape permeate our souls. Since emigrating to Canada, I have been charged with a diverse cumulation of inherent ambient sounds, smells and sights which have progressively crept into that consciousness that recognizes ‘home’. Yet I, like the wild Pacific salmon, find the environs of my origins remain deeply etched in my memory. Against this background a series of work TWO LANDS: The Spinney & The Force was spawned.
The Force is emblematic of Canada a vast heroic land of wild and boundless vistas. The Spinney, small and intimate, is indicative of the human scale of the gentle English landscape
In the modernist spirit of “truth to materials” black digital transfers applied to canvas on a clear gel medium base are developed from the photographs that inspired these works and form a patchwork of textures over the canvas.
The Canyon lithographs were inspired by the Lynn Valley Canyon in North Vancouver where I lived for many years.
All images are the property of Gillian Armitage © 2020
landscape
Woodland Track
mixed media on canvas
3 ft x 3 ft
