The work of artist Ian MacLeod first appeared on the Coast in a show at the former Artesia Gallery. The faces in the series were not quite recognizable as such - they all wore hats and definitely inclined towards the abstract. In all, he painted over 50 of them, quite a body of work. MacLeod continues this movement this year with a show of new, entirely abstract work at the Westwind Gallery in Gibsons opening Oct. 22 and running until Nov. 5.
The professional graphic designer had allowed himself to venture into this painting style after moving to the Coast almost five years ago. He finds it an antidote to some of his more commercial advertising agency work designing print materials for such clients as Seven Eleven.
"I was always trying to simplify," he said. "Take away what I didn't need, take away colour, then bring the colour back."
After attending fine arts school, MacLeod started his career as an illustrator for a small studio in Manitoba, then moved to Ottawa to design exhibits and eventually to Vancouver to work on design for the UN Conference Habitat. He knew the West Coast was where he wanted to stay.
To MacLeod, one of the attractions of the Sunshine Coast is the chance to hike, which he does at least twice a week.
"I get a sense of nature while hiking," he says. "I see shapes in the landscape and they appear in my paintings." A signature piece, Composition Number 9 (all works are numbered only) reveals wide brush strokes that appear to describe an overcast grimy white sky, above an island of denuded trees spilling into an indigo sea. At least, it appears so to one viewer. That's the joy of abstract ÑÊeveryone will have his or her own interpretation.
Another composition appears to depict a crevice in two slabs of stone. What emerges from between the rock face? Is it a spring, or is it blood? The imagination runs riot.
MacLeod strives for balance: "Where does it need something? Where do I pare it back?"
Westwind Gallery owner Morley Baker, who is noted for his keen appraisal of abstract art, says that balance is essential. "A balance of colour, form and energy, or all three, are needed for a good abstract," he explains. He likes MacLeod's work because it reveals nature without being an obvious landscape.
One other device that delights MacLeod is his use of dripping. The acrylic is mixed with water and dripped on the painting. Then the piece is tilted to see what effects can be achieved. The result is often like looking at a Coast seascape through the rain-spattered windshield of a car. The colours are usually dark: black is a favourite, forest green is popular, sometimes yellows and blues intrude and his latest pieces add shades of pink. In his latest work, the artist favours big canvases with space to spread wide brush strokes. Some of the newer ones are huge, four by six feet paintings that will dominate the small gallery.
Opening reception for the MacLeod show is on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Westwind Gallery, 292 Gower Point Road in Gibsons. See www.westwindgallery.net for more.
