Photorealism « O' Canada

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.

Kristina Boardman, “Communication”

Kristina Boardman, “Saltspring Sunday”

Richard Thomas Davis, “65 Volvo” (2012-13)

I truly love so many styles of art, but photo-like realism in painting is a style that often leaves me speechless by the skill and patience required of the artist to achieve such exceptional detail and still add that extra emotional touch to a scene that painting brings to the table. I recently came upon the work of Richard Thomas Davis, an American born artist who is now a Canadian citizen living in Nova Scotia. Davis’s choice of subject matter is terrific and captures bits and pieces of life in small town Canada. I particularly like that while his images are nicely composed and perfectly rendered many of them incorporate elements of wear and tear and slight decay, each suggesting the passage and ravages of time and the living of life.

More of his works can be seen at Davis’s website here and at Toronto’s Odon Wagner Gallery and Halifax’s Studio 21 Gallery.