As an artist, I count myself blessed to live in Canada where we celebrate four distinct seasons.
A Canadian winter is special. It’s a time for Mother Nature to pause and gather energy for the renewal that begins each spring. When temperatures plunge, it provides artists, like myself, the opportunity to retreat to our studios to paint, to reflect on the direction of our work and to make plans for the coming year.
And winter landscape has its own special beauty of course. Picture sun’s rays dancing through a snow-laden forest, blue purple shadows stretching out as the shortened days retreat to evening glow and chimney smoke from snow-covered houses rising straight up into a clear Cerulean sky.
That is reason why I keep returning to Algonquin Park each winter: To experience winter in all its beauty surrounded by the silence and solitude. But it’s more than that. It’s a time for introspection and renewal - to rediscover my place in that frozen landscape, as an artist, and to rekindle the sense of wonder and peace that I find there.
Hopefully, my paintings reflect this creative journey that lasts a lifetime.
Charles Spratt
January 2009
Charles Spratt is an award winning painter whose best loved subjects are rural Ontario and Quebec. The ships and harbours of the East Coast, cityscapes and portraits are also a passion for him. With over twenty-five solo exhibitions in Toronto and Ottawa since 1980, his masterful works are in high demand.The artist has taught portrait and landscape painting for Ontario colleges and appeared on television numerous times. He is author of the book "From Oils to Watercolour". Charles Spratt's new works will be featured in a major solo exhibition at Tay River Gallery in June 2009.
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