Watershed >>> Click here to view Anne's art

I think for me the title of our show” watershed” is more about the scientific definition rather than the emotional one. This summer I had the opportunity to drive across this amazing country from Winnipeg to Prince Edward Island and back again. Over 8000 kilometres in a V.W. camper van. What a trip.! And enroute, whenever we stopped I would leap out with my camera and sketchbook.

As you are probably aware the watershed that flows into the Hudson’s bay is immense. From the west we are looking at the B.C /Alberta border, the south as far down as the border of South Dakota, and to the east – all the way to the far east of the province of Quebec. An immense area! We drove around huge lakes, camped by still ponds that beavers had damned up, had picnics by waterfalls, paddled in streams, and followed rivers that, at times, were moving as fast as we were. And finally I got my toes into the ATLANTIC OCEAN!

I seem to be drawn to images of water and especially the sea! For many years of my life I have lived near various oceans of the world. I still have a home on the south coast of England and my father is buried at sea. Whenever I am standing on the shoreline looking out across the ocean I always feel at home, at peace. My father once told me that during the war the best sailors were the boys from the prairies, because they were used to looking out across fields to the far horizon.

The images I have made for this show are as a result of my travels this summer. One of the friends I traveled with said” you must do something with maple leaves in your art”. On the way back- in early September, by the north shore of Lake Superior I found some maple leaves that had started to change colour, so I brought them back with me. The painting entitled “the lake” is in fact Victoria Beach, from a sketch I had made in early summer. It fits in with “WATERSHED” as that body of water drains into the Hudson’s bay. 

Enjoy the show! Ann Rallison