The bright colours and evocative outstretched branches of windswept trees characterize the latest exhibit in the main gallery of the Station House Gallery.
150 Mile’s Georgia Lesley is the latest artist to grace the walls of the Station House, with her exhibit, Is that Tree Dancing?
Trees, she says, have been her obsession the past few years.
“I’ve always loved colour, always, but it’s trees and movement and colour and depth,” she says.
Her trees come in a variety of shapes, textured over swirling rainbow skies, and the occasional gold leaf or sparkle.
“One of my passions at the moment is negative space. Trees are fabulous for that, the spaces between everything and the mood and character of them.”
Lesley says she looks for trees when she is driving, and while she first started painting trees in Lytton, most are from the area where she relocated to a year and a half ago.
“Where I live there are a lot of these trees. Inspiration is right outside my door,” she says. “My daughter-in-law used to live where I am now and she said it’s just like a painting, it is a moving painting.”
Lesley works off of photographs and sometimes uses a program to shift colours and accentuate the spaces between the leaves.
She’s influenced by the world around her.
“When I am outside, or even just driving down the road, it seems that certain spaces catch my eye, trees, lakes, the sky, the birds. I see the beauty, the shape, the negative spaces, the colors, the symmetry, and the movement I can feel my heart pumping and then when I am home, I attempt to capture that feeling on a canvas with colors, gels, foils, tiny jewels and other things to give texture and dimension. It is an ever-evolving process and learning, which I never tire of and I love very much,” she said.
“The inspiration for most of my paintings, is like all painters and artists, deeply personal. I have come to realize through my faith, that all things in creation are like mirrors for us, of the spiritual world that surrounds and is within us. Trees for example, begin as a tiny seed. Who would think, that tiny seed had the potential to become that huge spruce? Though not intentional, I believe one of my passions for the past few years, of painting trees, is rooted in these kinds of thoughts. Some trees are misshapen, bent by the winds and storms, but they keep growing and are beautiful non the less, just like us humans. Everything in nature can teach us something. If we look deeply we will see it. This is inspirational.”
This won’t be the only time Lesley’s art will be on display in the community. She’s hoping to open a small gallery in 150 Mile House in the spring.
While Lesley’s paintings will be on display in the gallery until Feb. 24, alongside Alexa Black’s Wild Like Moonlight display in the upstair’s gallery.