Friday, July 17, 2009
Knitting the Landscape
This week I had the privilege of attending a wonderful exhibition of paintings and drawings by my friend, Pamela Swainson, at the Truro Art Society. And to make it even more alluring, the signature piece was on the metaphoric theme of knitting!
"The Figure Made the Landscape" (based on the poem by Canadian Poet, Milton Acorn) is a large oil painting depicting a knitter literally knitting the landscape. Here she is working on the field, bordered by forest.
The original is stunning. You can see the actual stitches forming from the needles, stitchwork representing the trees and grass. The field itself is a chevron motif, so common in knitting. Pam made a study of the knitted stitch, so that she could get it just right.
Pam lives in rural Nova Scotia and has a rich and intimate knowledge of the land. Many of her paintings are landscapes, rendered in her unique style.
The day I went to see the show, Pam was giving a demonstration of some of her special ways with watercolours.
We were so impressed by her ingenious ways with pigment and water.
Her show at the Truro Art Society runs until 30 July 2009 and is definitely worth the visit.
You can read more Pam and her ongoing work at her blog here.
