LESLEY FINLAYSON
“REFLECT”
SEPTEMBER 15 – OCTOBER 8, 2022
These drawings and paintings were developed during the spring of 2022. They began with a trip to Yellow Point on Vancouver Island in February. Drawing conditions were not ideal for sustained periods, but the cold and logistical awkwardness contributed to a focus and intensity I really enjoy. – LF
Beginning with exploratory walks I develop a feel for the place, the complexity of colour, the changing light and the textures of foliage. This gives me the time to focus on what defines the place for me, and that becomes the starting point for the drawings.
The action of drawing from life is like a meditation; sustained observation allows the pertinent to come to the surface and the superfluous to fall away. While my drawings often become compositions for paintings, they are resolved works in their own right.
In the studio, colour is further developed to suggest the memory of the place, what I am left with when I reflect on being there.
I have continued with Reflect as a title as I develop my work. During the Covid years, restricted activities allowed a great deal of time to reflect on my own life and work, while solitary immersion in landscape continues to be a perfect sorting ground for both drawing and reflection.
Reflect drawings #6 – 9, 15 x 20 inches (image size), $1600 each
Reflect drawings #10 – 11, 15 x 15 inches (image size), $1100 each
Lesley Finlayson was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She received her BFA from the Glasgow School of Art. She moved to Canada in 1987 and continued her studies at the University of Calgary, where she graduated with a Master in Fine Arts. For 20 years, she was an educator in the Fine Arts Department at Langara College in British Columbia, Canada. Finlayson exhibits in Canada and the United Kingdom. She has won numerous awards, including the Alberta Art Foundation Scholarship, the Elizabeth Greenshields Scholarship and the Hospitalfield School of Art Scholarship. Her work is in public and private collections in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Finlayson currently resides in Victoria, BC where she continues to paint.
