Sanctuary

-Sanctuary, Port Joli, Nova Scotia-

The French knew what they were doing when they named Port Joli. Lining a shallow ocean inlet, this is one of the prettiest little beaches on the South Shore. Sheltered by scrubby, windswept evergreens and quartz mottled granite boulders, a soft, white, glittery sand beach is revealed at low tide. This place deserves every one of those adjectives. Port Joli isn't just pretty, it is also home to tidal flats, bogs and salt marshes that create the perfect summer getaway for thousands of migrating birds. My favorite feathered friends are the tiny, endangered Piping Plovers that nest in the sand. Be very mindful of your step when you visit.

Driving past the sanctuary you will come across a stunning view of the salt marshes. Many times, over the years, I've pulled over to take photos. Last fall, on our way to hike at Keji Seaside there were clouds in the sky and the October sun was sitting low, throwing a warm light across the marsh. I take a lot of photos of a lot of places to use as reference for paintings but the light had a bit of magic in it that day, making the marsh seem to glow. I promised myself that this would become one of my next paintings.

I know that I am blessed to be working as an artist and equally blessed to be living on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. As an artist you are constantly looking for inspiration. Here, we are surrounded by it. I find it hard to stay put in my studio, so how lucky am I that driving and hiking around with my camera, experiencing this spectacular place is part of my job. I don't think anyone could possibly question why I feel inspired to paint here. I realized I had a dilemma though. I'm sure a lot of you can relate. We seem to have 24/7 access to a camera these days. What I found myself doing, because I'm a photographer at heart, was concentrating on capturing the perfect photo and I was forgetting to actually experience the place. This realization really hit home when I was learning to practice a mindfullness technique with my friend Shannon Sponagle, a wonderful teacher. The technique is called See Hear Feel. I now make it a point to take a few minutes to stop and really absorb the beautiful sites, sounds, feelings and even the smells around me. My title for this painting, Sanctuary, now has a multifaceted meaning.

I would love to try to paint on site someday but for now I use my photos for inspiration. I found myself getting, I don't know, bored, with copying them directly into paintings because they never seem to capture my whole experience, so I decided that I needed to translate them instead. I have an interesting memory for details and combining that with my mindfullness techiques I can sit down and evoke what I was seeing, hearing and feeling. I started to do this while I edit my photos. I will pump up colours or soften them and I'll blur areas or enhance the light. This is all to translate what is in my minds eye. This part of the process feels incredibly creative and fun to me. So now I'm looking at a photo that has been transformed into a memory that triggers my senses. That feels like a much better place to start a painting from. Then comes the hard part. Translating the photo into paint. I still don't copy my edited photo directly. I use it to inspire colors, shapes and light. If a blob of pink happens to look like a glow behind a tree then I'll call that a happy accident and try to protect it while I move the paint around it.

This oil painting ended up with a lovely pink glow, entirely a result of letting the paint and brushes do their thing with my nudging. A frustrating part is when you get a little too protective of those happy accidents. It can actually keep you a little stuck when it comes to finishing a painting. That's where instinct and faith in your vision come into play. That few seconds it takes to call it done comes after days or even weeks of second guessing yourself. So when you hear an artist tell you that they put their heart and soul into their work, you can believe them. I love this painting! It really does seem to evoke the glow that I felt the day I stopped to connect with this beautiful place.

Sanctuary

36X24 inches

Oil on birch panel

This painting is now available on my website for a short time and will head to one of my galleries. Please get in touch if you are drawn to this beautiful place as much as I am and would love to see it every day, hanging in your space.

Find the painting in my shop here:

https://www.nancymacdonaldart.com/product-page/sanctuary

Here s a little bit of information about the Port Joli Bird Sanctuary for you.

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/port-joli.html

https://nsnt.ca/focus-areas/port-joli/