Healing Forest: In honour of what forests give us.
I am truly grateful to have two of my large oil paintings accepted into this art show. This will be a great community driven event that celebrates our forests here in the West Kootenays. A good chance to meet our local artists and foresters, at the opening on September 18th, from 5 to 7 pm.
It’s an honour indeed to show my work at the Tilted Brick gallery in Creston, BC. It’s a beautiful professional gallery, located at the Visitor Information Centre.
artist’s statement
Rooted in Ash and No Turning Back are part of my ongoing painting series, Under Unknown Skies. Both works were inspired by photographs I made while walking in Summit Creek Park near Creston.
These paintings focus on the remarkable presence of old-growth cedar stumps that remain after fire. Standing among living trees and new growth, these fire-killed giants endure like totems within the forest, carrying visible traces of time, loss, resilience, and renewal.
In Rooted in Ash, the enduring form of the cedar becomes a symbol of persistence and continuity. In No Turning Back, a bear embraces a massive stump within a moonlit flooded forest while salmon push upstream through a tangle of branches. Together, these elements evoke resilience, upheaval, and the instinct to endure through times of change.
Working in a palette of deep indigos and atmospheric light, I am drawn to the ancient and mythical qualities of the forest. These works reflect my appreciation for forests as places of refuge, transformation, and wonder. They remind us that even after disturbance, forests continue to nurture life, hold memory, and offer enduring gifts to those who enter them.
Pamela Liske-Sims
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