There is something about beauty that demands a response. Hands clenched on the steering wheel, feverishly memorizing tone, texture; vivid hues of sun-streaked sky, wheatfields splashed with cobalt shadow. From panorama to palette to paper, watercolour my voice, a transparent, fluid means of savouring the glory inherent in the spaces surrounding me.
I first picked up a watercolour brush as a shy teenager newly returned to Canada. During my teen years I’d lived with my family in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, and the solitude had cemented a passion for art that I was excited to pursue. In that first class, I quickly realized that watercolour was a perfect fit for me. There is something about the fluidity of pairing paint and water and allowing them to “collaborate” on a page that is so captivating. It’s never boring, and always unexpected.