Inspiration

I must say that if I waited for a bright shaft of light to awaken my artistic senses and stir me to create, I would probably have created all of nothing. What initially inspired me to paint was how we all see the world differently. I wanted to strike my own visual language that could be used to portray the Canadian landscape in all of its rugged subtleties. The mountains at dusk, a lake with the sunlight gleaming on it, a fishing village with all of its quaint colours, all of these scenes affords ample inspiration. It is these scenes coupled with the creative process and the physical qualities of paint on canvas that bring all of this to a fulfilling aesthetic resolve.

I think if you were to ask most painters they would say that at times the process of painting is really all the inspiration required. For myself, many a painting has taken me on a wild goose chase far from where I thought the destination would be. Sometimes these pieces turn out to be the best expessions of all.

ROD CHARLESWORTH
March 15, 2001