Ode to Tom

Ode to Tom: Point of View, Waskesiu

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2012

available exclusively at Lifestyles by Darrell Bell Gallery
sold

My love for Tom Thomson's work continues. My fingers are crossed that one of my goals for this year will come true which is to return to the east to see more of his work in person. I'd love to go back to the AGO in Toronto and I also want to find the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound. I have never been to the McMichael Gallery, so I would love to hit it too. It gives me butterflies just to think about it!

I often wonder how Tom would have seen and recorded the prairies and Saskatchewan if he had ever made it out this way. He would have loved the trees in our northern Boreal forest, that is for sure. There is an autumn sketch of his that I adore with a gorgeous, yellow Tamarack powerfully set against the dark greens of the forest. Whenever I am up north and see the dead Spruce trees which have been infected by the Spruce budworms, I want to try to create that same strong impression. These dead trees have turned a beautiful, rusty colour and are quite dramatic, and ironically complementary, to the rest of the living forest. This is an initial attempt to play with colours for the dead Spruce in the forest. Not the full-on drama I hope to eventually reach, but I am pleased with the way it turned out.