May 2011
“Home”Joy Snihur Wyatt Laking has painted in watercolours for
thirty-eight years and now takes the creative leap into oils and acrylic in her
most recent series of paintings,
Home.
This vibrant, new collection embodies the
challenge to learn something new and to push one’s creative ideas.
“With fresh eyes, I viewed every glorious sunrise or high
tide on my salt marsh.I savoured the
light on window sills and the things that surround me. Instead of searching for
beauty outside of my home, I noticed and painted the beauty that I live with
everyday."
About Joy Snihur
Wyatt Laking
Joy loves to paint. For over thirty years she has painted
Nova Scotia and captured her view of the world on watercolour paper. She is
inspired by the white clapboard houses that are sprinkled along the Bay of
Fundy shore, old rocking chairs on porches, flowered curtains billowing in a
cottage window and children playing on the mud flats.
Joy's studio paintings are developed from on location
paintings, photos and actual objects and flowers. Sometimes an idea is thought
about for a number of years before a painting is started. The actual painting
may take several weeks. In all cases the reality in the painting is Joy's. She
happily changes or moves objects within a painting. Often she goes in search of
the right bed, quilt or flower garden to create the mood. Strong compositions
and a wide range of tonal values making full use of the white of the paper,
help to make all of Joy's paintings "sing".
In addition to her studio paintings and whenever possible
Joy paints on location. It is an exhilarating challenge to set out, find a
subject and complete an entire painting in four to seven hours. These paintings
are loose, spontaneous and depict the tides, the lighting and the moment.
Besides painting on location throughout the Maritimes, Joy loves the flowers,
the houses and the history of England, Italy, Spain, France Greece and Peru.She is an elected member of the Society of
Canadian artists and has had several national solo exhibitions and many
regional exhibitions including one at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 1989.
View the Image Gallery >>
Pictured: Joy Snihur Wyatt Laking, "Geranium and Grapes" Acrylic