Carol Reynolds - Painting the Town
Oil Paintings Capture Unorthodox View of Nelson BC Heritage
Jun 25, 2009
Rich and intense chroma oil colours in complimentary or simultaneous contrasts draw museum-goers into Carol Reynolds' latest paintings of houses and street scenes in Nelson, BC. People become so absorbed by the colour and meticulous craftsmanship, it takes a couple of beats before they cry out in surprise, "Hey, you painted my house!"
Dozens of Reynolds' paintings, all made over the past two years, are presently on display at Nelson's Touchstone's Museum.
"I walk down these streets everyday, and I notice that each house is unique." Reynolds explains. "You won't come across two in a row that are the same shape or colour. Try finding that in a city suburb. To me, the individual qualities of the houses are reflected in the people of Nelson, itself. That's why I love living here.
"Sometimes I get people from other parts of BC who swear I painted their street in some other place, like the Yukon, or out on the coast, but the paintings are all from Nelson. Still, they identify with the paintings."
Anti-Thomas Kinkade Approach of Backyard Scenes, old Vehicles, Woodpiles, Alleys & Lanes Faithfully Rendered to Reality
Reynold's work is not informed by calendar or magazine graphic aesthetics. Although elements of story appear in Reynold's paintings, such as the door-side arrangement of potted plants in the mid-winter scene of Waiting for Spring, she is not an illustrator trying to lure a viewer into an unfocused, altered state by introducing extraneous narrative elements.
Items might grab her fancy, like the styrofoam floats which fishermen use to keep their nets from sinking in the water in Fish Floats on a Fence—"I come from the coast, so I recognized them and what they are for"—and she is attracted to settings that are tidy and well-organized, but she doesn't focus on a dreamy or idealized urban landscape. Disassembled vehicles on blocks sometimes show up—"I really like that bright yellow Saab, and I swear I painted it a few years ago in front of a bright yellow house"—as well as weedy alleyways, and 'gerry-rigged' glass hothouses. Winter streets are filled with slush and ice.
Reynolds doesn't paint magic realism. What appears on her canvasses are pretty much what appears materially:
- The colours are slightly expressionistic, but they also often appear that bold in reality, especially during autumn.
- The lines seem especially clear and precise, but when asked if she paints en plein air or alla prima, Reynolds is adamant, "No, it's too messy and I don't get the results I want. I paint from photos." So her reference material shares that precision.
- The angles of perspective on the homes may seem dramatic, but Nelson is a mountain city with steep inclines; the streets are often skewed and the houses tend to rise like sets of antique blocks off the bedrock.
Reynold's approach makes her work regionally important, clear representations which present a visual commentary on the local homeowners, their community and the natural environment surrounding them at this period.
Precise Balances of Line, Shape, Value, and Colour Design Elements
"The first thing that draws me into a painting is the composition," she states clearly. "I look for interesting and challenging perspectives, where the lines flow well, and there's a good balance of dark and light, shapes, colours and temperatures."
Reynold's draughtsmanship skills are formidable. She likes to paint stairs set against walls with wooden shiplap siding, or houses that have had multiple home-project additions over the years. Most of the houses in the city of Nelson were constructed during the 1905 to 1949 period, and have retained that arts-&-crafts sensibility.
The underpainting is primarily in a dioxinine purple or phthalo blue, which sometimes causes the colours to have a floating effect, especially about the leaves. Even so, the paintings don't share the dynamic action of work by, say, Emily Carr or Tom Thompson—other Canadian painters who used this technique—produced. In fact, they are marked by their stillness and tidyness. Just as Reynolds is drawn to paint certain homes because they are very neat and well-organized, her pictures have that quality about them. Even the fallen leaves are in their right place. Her work is not impressionistic.
The Painter's Connection to her Community
"I'm drawn to homes that have signs of children, like tricycles or scooters on the front porch. They remind me of my grandson. You see a lot of these small homes in Nelson. They don't have a lot of space, so they carefully rig things up to organize what little they have well."
Reynold's was originally from Campbell River on Vancouver Island. She has lived in the south-central region of BC for over twenty years, first in the villages of Slocan City and Salmo, where she taught school, mostly grade one. When she retired in 1999, she moved to Nelson and has worked as a full-time painter ever since. She is prolific and her work has increased in maturity and confidence.
"I've noticed that her recent work has developed something extra," says Deb Thompson, curator of Touchstones Museum, without being specific. "These images are important to Nelson."
Reynold's paintings are marked most strongly by her love of this small city and the images which define its neighbourhoods.
Carol Reynolds' show, Painting the Town, proceeds June 19th to September 7th, 2009 at the Touchstones' Museum Exhibition at 502 Vernon Street, Nelson BC, Canada.
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