Gaye Adams, SFCA, MPAC

I have been privileged to work as a painter for all of my adult life. It is the only career I have ever known. I started drawing and painting as a child, and never really stopped. My journey as a painter started in the medium of soft pastel, having fallen in love with the work of Degas and Mary Cassatt. From there I did a foray into acrylics for a number of years and these days my primary medium is oil paint.

My greatest joy is going out in the landscape and painting field studies – I love being in nature and working from life hones my skills and informs my larger studio paintings. It also furnishes me with some wonderful painting adventures, taking me to places I may have never otherwise experienced. All of this serves as a springboard for my studio practice.

What engages me most as a painter is rendering the effects of light and atmosphere as it is always challenging and deeply satisfying. I am ever the learner and push myself to paint in situations that put me into the deep end of the swimming pool. My favourite saying is “Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment”, an eastern saying that best describes me as I stand before my easel with a question around what will work, what won't work, and what might be possible. My goal at the easel is to recreate the light, atmosphere and sense of place in whatever environment I find myself. In so doing, it is my fond hope to create an experience for the viewer that transports them to these wild places in order to share my experience and create a deeper awareness and reverence of our amazing natural heritage, particularly here in BC.

In 2003 I became a senior signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and served many years as Standards Chair. Shortly after that I earned my Master Pastellist designation with the Pastel Artists of Canada. I am a member of the Oil Painters of America and Artists for Conservation.

My journey as a painter reflects my journey as a citizen of the planet. It is one of awe, bewilderment, learning, successes, failures and of being ever a student. My subject matter is most often the effects of light. It is always a fascinating process to see light appear in a painting. I find it challenging and stimulating to paint in this way....I don't think I will every grow tired of it.

In my painting I strive convey what inspires me and what makes my pulse quicken. I paint representationally , but I am very engaged in letting the paint speak, and I am happy for those moments when the paint itself takes on a voice and a life of its own, when the unexpected and unplanned emerges.

At that point the energy and magic of the artistic process is at it's best. I am humbled and elated when it occurs. It's what keeps me painting.

I paint on location often, as I love the experience and the practice it affords, and I also love being in nature, painting an experience with all the nuances of the calls of sea birds, the smell in the air, and all else that comes with it. In addition, I teach workshops in Canada and abroad, and it brings me joy to share with my students what I have learned in more than 30 years at the easel.

GAYE ADAMS