Joy in Nature | Andrea Slack
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Living close to the Canadian Rockies, Andrea finds the mountains and trees to be a continual source of inspiration for paintings. However she did not always live in Alberta.
Her life was enriched by growing up in Japan. She is a third generation Canadian Japanese, born abroad. Her parents’ work involved travelling between Japan and Canada every five years or so. She grew up by the Japan Sea. Hearing the crash of waves, beach-combing for shells, swimming with jellyfish and climbing rocks on the beach were second nature to her. At a very young age, she absorbed nature: the ocean and rice paddies, forests or the falling snow. This provided the backbone for her deep love of nature which comes out in her paintings. She grew up with a love for music, taking lessons in both piano and voice. As a young adult, Andrea travelled extensively with music groups across Canada and the States, as well as India, Philippines and Japan. It was not until she started playing around with her two year old daughter’s watercolour set that her interest in art was sparked. After being encouraged for over a year by a friend, she finally attended her first lesson in watercolour. That’s all it took. She was hooked. She is thankful for several mentors in her art life that have pushed her to further develop her art. Jean Peterson and Brian Atyeo were both instrumental in significant growth in her art. With a studio set up in her home in Calgary, Alberta, Andrea painted with watercolour for about 6 years then moved on to pastels and Forest Sanctuary 20”x40” finally on to acrylics. The acrylic medium is very versatile, allowing mixed media and many layers of paint. Studying past masters, Andrea was inspired by impressionists, Van Gogh and Claude Monet in particular. She loved their use of colour, brushstrokes and sense of movement. For the past two years, she has been developing a new style that is inspired by kintsugi, which is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold. This practice was rooted in ancient Japanese history. “Kin” means gold and “tsugi” means to mend. It is said that the mended pieces are more valuable and beautiful than the original. Andrea resonated with the concept at a very deep level and wanted to carry that over into her paintings. She began to use gold leaf to create healed fracture lines in her paintings. She discovered an applicator with a very thin nozzle that allowed her create the thin lines with a special glue. Gold leaf is then applied and the excess brushed off. Having experienced a traumatic childhood but also having walked through a healing journey, she wants to convey hope and healing in her work. People from all walks of life have experienced fractures or bumps in their lives, be it a loss, an illness or trauma. Andrea’s hope is that her kintsugi paintings will offer hope and encouragement and reflect the healing that is possible. With daily walks through the trees and being a lover of hiking in the mountains, it is no wonder that trees have been predominant in her pieces. Exploring ways of incorporating kintsugi in new subject matter is challenging but Andrea looks forward to experimenting and is excited about it.
Andrea Slack
Artist Statement In the last couple of years, my artwork has been inspired by kintsugi art which is the art of mending broken pottery with gold. The practice of kintsugi which means to mend with gold originates from ancient Japan. It was based on the thought that strength, beauty and value is found in imperfection. I resonated with this art form as it helps to create a new perspective about the scars we bear and that I have personally experienced as a young child. There are cracks that need filling and scars that need healing in our lives. I wanted to convey hope & healing in my artwork, in spite of fractures. I use gold leaf in the fractures/lines that represent healing. Being a nature lover, I look forward to my daily walks and love hiking in the mountains with my family. I am constantly taking photos while walking or hiking from which I draw my inspiration. I like to paint in series, having just completed a series of tree paintings. I am moving onto sky and water paintings, wanting to apply kintsugi art to that as well. Before I actually apply paint to canvas, I do a quick thumbnail sketch which helps me construct a solid composition and lays down a blueprint for values. I use a photo reference to lay down the foundation of a painting but often move trees and mountains around and use my intuition to paint the skies, taking liberty in changing the hues. Contrast in light and dark, movement and drawing the viewer into the scene are important elements for me. In the last couple of years, my artwork has been inspired by kintsugi art which is the art of mending broken pottery with gold. The practice of kintsugi which means to mend with gold originates from ancient Japan. It was based on the thought that strength, beauty and value is found in imperfection. I resonated with this art form as it helps to create a new perspective about the scars we bear and that I have personally experienced as a young child. There are cracks that need filling and scars that need healing in our lives. I wanted to convey hope & healing in my artwork, in spite of fractures. I use gold leaf in the fractures/lines that represent healing. Being a nature lover, I look forward to my daily walks and love hiking in the mountains with my family. I am constantly taking photos while walking or hiking from which I draw my inspiration. I like to paint in series, having just completed a series of tree paintings. I am moving onto sky and water paintings, wanting to apply kintsugi art to that as well. Before I actually apply paint to canvas, I do a quick thumbnail sketch which helps me construct a solid composition and lays down a blueprint for values. I use a photo reference to lay down the foundation of a painting but often move trees and mountains around and use my intuition to paint the skies, taking liberty in changing the hues. Contrast in light and dark, movement and drawing the viewer into the scene are important elements for me. In the last couple of years, my artwork has been inspired by kintsugi art which is the art of mending broken pottery with gold. The practice of kintsugi which means to mend with gold originates from ancient Japan. It was based on the thought that strength, beauty and value is found in imperfection. I resonated with this art form as it helps to create a new perspective about the scars we bear and that I have personally experienced as a young child. There are cracks that need filling and scars that need healing in our lives. I wanted to convey hope & healing in my artwork, in spite of fractures. I use gold leaf in the fractures/lines that represent healing. Being a nature lover, I look forward to my daily walks and love hiking in the mountains with my family. I am constantly taking photos while walking or hiking from which I draw my inspiration. I like to paint in series, having just completed a series of tree paintings. I am moving onto sky and water paintings, wanting to apply kintsugi art to that as well. Before I actually apply paint to canvas, I do a quick thumbnail sketch which helps me construct a solid composition and lays down a blueprint for values. I use a photo reference to lay down the foundation of a painting but often move trees and mountains around and use my intuition to paint the skies, taking liberty in changing the hues. Contrast in light and dark, movement and drawing the viewer into the scene are important elements for me. |
