About the Artist
I grew up in farm country just north of Toronto and resided in the Upper Beach in Toronto's east end for more than 30 years. Now I am a recent and happy resident of the City of Stratford in beautiful southwestern Ontario.
Within my new page, HEART OF THE COUNTRY, is a mixed bag of images ranging from broken down barns to vintage vehicles to ever-entertaining farm animals. The open roads are here and I'm on them almost daily.
There is nothing like hopping into your car and just driving - your cameras beside you fully-charged and ready for anything and everything you come across. There is the expected - the CN Tower is still towering and Niagara Falls is still falling - but now there's a brilliant sunset throwing the tower into silhouette and the Maid of the Mist is heading to the base of the Falls under a rainbow.
(see LANDSCAPES)
I take at least one camera everywhere I go, even to the grocery store. (Yes, the grocery store).
I've seen more amazing sunsets and cloud formations from a parking lot than almost anywhere. And I get sidetracked, a lot. On the way home I inevitably end up in a park or by the lake or in some industrial park snapping photos of concrete silos.
Other than the joy of taking photos - and sharing photos - the extensive library of images I now have have become references for my paintings. My original still-life paintings of Yellow Pots and Black and White Pots were from my trips to Arizona. The White Lilies, Crab Apples and
MacIntosh apples were all from recent photos right here in beautiful Ontario.
(see ART)
Lastly, I feel an intense need to photograph things that won't last - everything from Honest Ed's and The El Mocambo to the big, old, weary trees in High Park and the landmarks that stand precariously in an ever-changing city.
(see TORONTO LANDMARKS)
Every photograph on this site was taken by me.
Every painting on this site was painted by me.
I hope you enjoy them.
PaulaWhitlock