THERE I WAS... HERE WE ARE

August 22 - September 05
Opening Reception: August 22, 1-3 PM

In "There I Was… Here We Are", Lesley Finlayson immerses the viewer in lush painterly landscapes that combine a deft hand honed over decades of painting with her distinct perspective, where paintings are equally expressions of self and documents of place. Trees take form from clusters of rhythmic brushstrokes, while horizon lines emerge and dissolve in the layered surface. With their gestural, organic forms and spaces, the paintings give way to an experience of visual immersion and rhapsodic connection. Finlayson describes this experience as visual empathy.

Yellow Point - Winter - 48 x 96 Inches - Acrylic on Canvas - $11,500

Lesley Finlayson

Winter Trees - Saanich
40 x 40
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 6100

Elk Lake - Summertime
54 x 54
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 9000

Elk Lake - Winter Light
54 x 54
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 9000

Plein air drawing is the root of this collection, moving into the freedom and improvisation of studio painting. During her childhood in Scotland, Finlayson was encouraged to spend whole days drawing outside; now, she combines this practice with frequent walks, seeking order in repetition. For Finlayson, the discipline of drawing “offers a structure to provide for the painting to morph and evolve.” But this evolution can be intense and unpredictable. These strategies are played out in lively variations throughout the exhibition, where moments of precarious harmony lead the eye through a topography of experimentation and adjustment.

Looking Out to Valdez - 40 x 80 Inches - Acrylic on Canvas - **SOLD**

Lesley Finlayson

Mount Tolmie
24 x 30
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 4250

Looking Toward Valdez Island
24 x 30
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 4250

Sooke Woodland - Near French Beach
36 x 48
Acrylic on Canvas
$ 6350

There is a persuasive integrity to Finlayson’s commitment to follow the line of close observation into the wilds of intuitive painting, and in it, a respect for the connection she seeks with the land. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, and based in Victoria, British Columbia, Finlayson has developed her distinct perspective over decades of painting. Her works have been exhibited in Canada and the United Kingdom and are included in private collections in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In “There I Was… Here We Are”, she extends this connection to the viewer with all of its uncertainty and discovery.