Making waves

One-woman art show dips into love of water

For many artists, the creative process is often a solitary one where the need to design, create and make must be achieved in a quiet environment apart from others and tempting distractions. The artist must be at one with their medium, their thoughts and vision in order to make the magic happen. Most artists also crave interaction with others: strangers, artists, contemporaries, mentors, whoever it may be. The face-to-face connection with others is paramount to the creativity and is a vital energetic part of the whole process, where the completed work must be presented to the viewing public, and is a final step in an engaging process. Take just one ingredient away from the complex artistic formula and the imagination, the inventiveness, the vision, and even the validation, is compromised.

With major art shows and exhibitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, visual artist Karole Marois knew she needed to showcase her current work in a space that would work for her art, all while keeping everyone safe due to COVID-19 safety protocols. She found a vacant space in downtown Picton and has set-up shop for a few weeks. For the Love of Water explores Marois’ deep connection to water in its many forms and follows last year’s exhibition at The Armoury, In Osmosis. Interspersed through the mostly large-scale art works, some of which can take up to a week to complete, is a small collection of poetry each relating back to the theme of water. Most are by Lindsay Brant, a 28-year-old Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory artist. One special poem, One, was written by Hillier artist Conrad Beaubien. “Karole’s work points to how our humanity is integrated within every aspect of water,” explains Beaubien. “When invited to respond in words to that central idea, I sought out the perspective of how moment-by-moment we are no greater than the life force that water is. The poem is designed so that we are encouraged to look above and then follow to below.”

Marois describes the bright white space as having a nautical feel. “It’s like a boat almost to me,” she says. The mostly new works for this exhibition are all based in and around the Prince Edward County, whether it’s West Lake or Point Petre. “Cressy Lakeside is a big one for me because I live on Adolphus Reach, but on the other side is Cressy Lakeside which is like ocean. I really like that feeling of freshwater and the big limestone jagged edges,” says Marois. “I am using this surrounding to speak a little bit about our connection to it, how it is therapeutic, so my work includes looking at water, in the water, on the water; I am trying to combine them.” Marois is especially enjoying the interaction with people the exhibition brings, something she’s missed since the lockdown. “I am really enjoying that interaction and that’s why I paint, but you have something to share and that’s why it was important to me to do this,” she says. “I love the experience; it’s not just putting paintings on walls for sale. The water is often an attraction for people to come in, and with the poetry they find it different.”

Having landed in Prince Edward County seven years ago from Ottawa, she and husband Mike were attracted by the arts and also the water. “He is an avid sailor and we did come here for the water, so the water is a big deal in our life, we are both water lovers and I am a swimmer and I was a lifeguard and it’s always been part of my life,” she says. “Now I am looking at it different.” Living on the waterfront on the Adolphus Reach, she explains how water has become so important, along with the importance of protecting it. “I put it all together and said, really who am I, what is my current trend in my work because I love a lot of water. It’s like I love a lot of music and scenery and I am a figurative painter; I really love to draw figures, so I said the water and figures I am branding myself, so basically to say, I am getting older, this is my essence, this is who I am, so I am focusing on that.” She said the path she is on is leading her to many new things, such as the collaboration with Brant. “Her views on water and nature are really cool.” Marois says the idea to combine poetry and paintings isn’t a new one, even though many people haven’t experienced it before. “I wrote poetry when I was a kid, and a lot” she says, “Now the pandemic made me write again. I do love Lindsay’s poetry; it is very to the point.” While Brant did have some of the poems already written, including one she wrote when she was just 14 years old, most were written specifically for the show, but not with a particular painting in mind. “She knows now the type of work I do and she just wrote a series of water poems,” explains Marois.

Many of the paintings are based on photographs taken a few years ago, before the first flood, exposing the beautiful limestones that have since disappeared under the higher water level.

Marois’ exhibit includes some paintings on birch wood, bust most are oversized canvases, where the propensity for large-scale comes from the days when she painted murals for museums in Ottawa. “I found that with murals you can create an environment because you can get into it,” she says. “When I was young, I was more into watercolour before the big murals launched me into acrylics: I like the liquid, I like the water effect, I like drips, I like the way it dries fast.” Karole Marois’ solo art exhibition, For the Love of Water, is located at 223 Main Street, Picton (opposite The Regent Theatre) and runs daily (except Mondays) from noon to 5 p.m. until August 9. Karole Marois can be reached at karolem.com.