Painting is like meditation for me. My mind turns off, it stops its spinning, and colour and shapes take their place. I have always been in awe of the beauty that surrounds us at every corner. I often find myself stopping in mid-step to admire the graphic nature of the angle of a bridge, a landscape, or a cluster of objects.
My paintings translate these emotions I feel at a given moment, stopping it in time so that all can see it. But more than that, I paint because it feeds my soul. It calms my somewhat nervous being. It stops time and allows me to drink in every line, every shape, and every brilliant colour of some fantastic scene. My work is impressionistic in style, inspired by the greats such as Van Gogh and The Group of Seven. I feel this style allows me to blend the realism of the moment with the emotions that go along with it. I often describe my work like memories, cloudy in nature, without all the sharp edges of reality. Bright colours are often used to demonstrate my enthusiasm for what is before my eyes.
Texture and lines accompany colour to create movement, for although I attempt to stop time, time never does. Whether it is the movement of the sky, water, falling leaves, etc, I attempt to place my audience in the place where I stood, watching the river flow and the clouds drift across the sky.
Bridget was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. A stunning city full of inspiration from its great museums, to its tailored landscapes. This was the beginning.
Battling mental illness, she found coping mechanisms. One of these was painting, in which she is self taught and began in her mid 20’s. She focused on her favourite things, nature. Its intense beauty allowed her to focus on the good, amazing things in this world. It allowed serenity, peace in a turmoiled mind. The essence of her work being vibrant colours, moving textures, and respect for the landscapes as they are: perfect moments in time. She documents cities, forests, parks, etc. places of inspiring beauty. Adding an emotional response. Wanting to hold the place tight, make time stop, and show a place as it is, or was. Emotions and all.
Another was photography. This time she captures the exact moment. Stopping its beauty in time and holding it forever. Pure, unaltered, perfection.
These things brought her hope in times of darkness. To see the light. To see the beauty. To see what to hold on to when all else seems lost.
Her journey and inspiration has traveled through many cities, countries, and finally resting at a homestead in Hamilton Ontario.
It is my hope that this statement has given you an idea behind the thought process of my work. It is a deep love affair with colour and natural beauty that drives my creativity. Every scene I pick has some connection to me. Whether that might be the view from my window, the flowers in my garden, or simply a scene I stumbled upon during daily life, they are all personal experiences. It is with this my work becomes autobiographical. I tell my story in bright vivid colours as I see them in my own head. With memories and emotions altering the forms for the complete feeling of a moment.