Katharine Burns, “Perfect Day”
Capturing in a painting the emotion of the coastal landscape is a tricky thing and something that Halifax-based artist, Katharine Burns, has managed to do perfectly. Inspired by the serenity of Nova Scotia’s beautiful shores (one of my favorite places!), she skillfully renders the movement of ocean waves, with varying shades of light dancing across the water’s constantly shifting surface beneath vast expanses of cloud-covered skies. This past August, Burns had her first (of what I’m sure will many other) well-deserved solo show, this one entitled “Sea Level” and held at Argyle Fine Art in Halifax, which showcased many of her seascapes.
On her artist site she notes: “Preparing for my first solo show was one of the hardest things I’ve done. For six months I went through periods of serious self doubt and frustration along with some moments of sudden realization and inspiration. It was a bit of a rollercoaster for me emotionally but I learned a lot and grew as an artist.” You have to root for that sort of spirit and candor!
In addition to Burns’ evocative seaside paintings, her other work is also terrific. I especially like the painterly style of her series of bicycle paintings, a few of which are below. More of her art can be seen on Burns’ artist site here.
[As an side, much like the Ian Tan Gallery on Canada’s West Coast, Argyle Fine Art on the East Coast has a stellar roster of emerging and established Canadian artists and both are among my favorite independent art galleries. As I’ve done with some Ian Tan Gallery artists, this is the first of several posts I’ll be doing on a few artists represented by Argyle whose work deserves greater attention.]
Katharine Burns, “Diffused Light”
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Katharine Burns, “Glisten”
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Katharine Burns, “Lawrencetown”
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Katharine Burns, “Road Racer”
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Katharine Burns, “Linus”
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Katharine Burns, “Bicycle Series 2”
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Katharine Burns, “Marginal Road”
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Related Posts on O’Canada Blog:
Lyssa Kayra’s Inspired Tree Ring Art
Intricate Pebble Paintings by Kristina Boardman
David Pirrie: Mapping Western Terrains and Our Sense of Place
Andrea Kastner and Rejected Things
Artist to Appreciate: Richard Ahnert
O' Canada 
Amazing paintings.
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Waoooooooo so beautiful. ……
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Fabulous! The water scenes are stunning.
Yes, they’re quite well done!
Very talented lady. She certainly captured the feel of the sea.
Wish I was there to see the show, absolutely fabulous! Thanks for posting.
I wish I had been there as well!
lovely
Glisten makes me want to take out my watercolours again today!
Inspiration is always great!
Spectacular paintings that inspire immensely. I’m proud to be a Nova Scotian.
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Those seascapes are just wonderful!
Very much so!
These are excellent paintings. A talented artist!
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A lovely surprise upon returning from Nova Scotia. We were able to watch surfing at Lawrencetown shown in one painting.
Sounds like it was a nice trip! 🙂
What splendid paintings, not only the manner in which she captures water and skies, but those bikes, too!
The bikes are quite nice!
Impressive. Beautiful. A rare talent. Her paintings look so real!
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Great paintings, I took a look at the artist’s site and I’m amazed at the reasonable price of these sort of works.
That was my sense too.
She is sensational, so glad you’re bringing her to wider attention. I’m amazed that the same person could capture diffused skies, glistening sunlight on water, and the crisp perfection of those bicycle frames. The luminosity, the ability to make the hyper-real also surreal, makes me think, just a tiny bit, of the virtuosity of Mary Pratt — another Maritimer.
Penny, I was thinking the same thing about Katharine Burns’ versatility. Mary Partt is a high compliment!
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix.
Magnificent work. Thank you so much for the intro, and showing the beautiful works!!
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Loving the textures here !!!!
Yes, great use of texture! 🙂
I completely agree that Burns is worthy of appreciation! She truly understands the magical interplay of light and shadow.
nice style.
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Such a special feeling in each of these. Love the glisten and the last bike.
Those are both quite good!
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Incredible style of work, really appreciated.
🙂
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This was a great post. Thank you.
Thanks! 🙂
I like her work.
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