Kristina Boardman « O' Canada

Pebbles along Hampton Wharf Beach, N.S.

“Oh, but I can hear you, loud in the center / Aren’t we made to be crowded together . . .”

~ Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes), “Third of May”

More pebbles on Hampton Wharf Beach, N.S.

Notes:

1. Kristina Boardman’s wonderful pebble paintings, which I highlighted in a post last year, inspired me to take these photos along the shore. Her paintings show why even with the amazing capabilities of digital photography, masterful paintings by talented artists of a given subject capture an expressive element that photos can’t match.

2. Fleet Foxes, one of my favorite folk-rock groups, after a several years’ hiatus released the album “Crack-Up” earlier this year, which contains the song from which the above quote is taken. While the song is principally about Pecknold’s challenging relationship (like most!) with a close friend, like many Fleet Foxes songs it also contains some thoughtful ruminations on life. For me, the line quoted above conveys nicely how we as people are meant to be social and connected, in varying degrees, and how goodness and purpose flow from that. Song video below.

Kristina Boardman, “Cara’s Pebbles”

Photo-realistic paintings, such as these by BC-based artist Kristina Boardman, easily fool the casual observer as well as the more-studied eye. That’s amazing enough! But in addition, these works of pain-staking exactitude nicely capture the whimsy and pleasure of surveying a shoreline adorned with swaths of smooth-faced multi-colored stones and pebbles that have been thrown together randomly over long periods.

Although the realism of these paintings dictate a dominant blue-gray hue, Boardman wonderfully conveys nuance within that muted palette and complements this with perfect pops of other earth tones and pleasing juxtapositions of size and shape. The compositions of some of these images, such as “Cara’s Pebbles” (above), suggest small jewels just underfoot.

Among other venues, her work is available at the Ian Tan Gallery in Vancouver and can also be viewed on Boardman’s website here.