Featured Artist Brenda LaRose

Acrylic palette knife painter Brenda LaRose presents a portfolio that captures the serenity of the northern Ontario landscape and the warmth of the sun. See more by visiting her website.

 

 

I grew up in rural Ontario and started painting in my twenties as a hobby. I have now been painting for over 30 years, in a variety of mediums, subject matter and surfaces.

 

 

I’ve become drawn to landscapes above all other subject matter. The spirit of northern Ontario pulls me into splendour of the lake scenes, especially, and I now have a place where I regularly experience the tranquility of kayaking on a peaceful lake.

 

 

I capture most of my reference photos for my art while I’m out in my kayak on the lake. Getting up early to catch the sunrise can be a challenge sometimes, but the reward is often breathtaking views, as I kayak around the little islands and inlets of the lake. Capturing the early morning light is alluring for me. Sometimes I even come across loons, beavers and otters.

 

 

Heading out as the sun sets and the water is calm once again is gratifying. This time of day, for me, offers the opportunity for quiet reflection on the day, as the colours in the sky change from moment to moment.

 

 

When I’m back in my studio, I take the reference photos and create compositions that allow the viewer to feel like they are in the scene. I look for ways to illustrate how the light effects everything in the scene. How the sun shines through between the trees, how it changes the colours of the foliage, and how it reflects on the water.

 

 

I apply layers of acrylic paint with a palette knife to the canvas, sometimes blending wet into wet, and sometimes adding multiple layers on top of dry layers, to get the result I want. The actual painting of the scene gives me the same sense of peace and calm I felt when I decided to take the reference photo, and so I strive to evoke that in the viewer when they experience my art.

 

 

I hope the viewer sees the scene from afar as a combination of all its parts, and then experiences it anew up close, with all the nuances of details and layers.

 

 

I hope when you see my art, it prompts you to take a deep, calming breath, as if you were in the scene itself. Perhaps it reminds you of idyllic summer days at the cottage, time spent out on the water, or the connection with nature while camping. I strive to express the serenity of the lake with my art in the hopes that it provides viewers with the same tranquillity that I feel when I’m out on the lake experiencing its breathtaking beauty.

 

Brenda LaRose invites you to follow on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Want to stay current on cutting edge business articles from Artsy Shark, plus artist features, and an invitation to the next Call for Artists? Click below to sign up for our twice-monthly email. You’ll get all this plus opportunities and special offers that you can’t get anywhere else!