Alberta Always In Motion (Near Waterton Lakes National Park)

Christine Othitis

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(20th/21st century)

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ALBERTA ALWAYS IN MOTION (NEAR WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK); 2011

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acrylic

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30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)

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ARTIST STATEMENT

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At first Alberta Always in Motion (Near Waterton Lakes National Park) must seem cliched. However, the painting uses traditional, symbolic meanings of Alberta as a way of acknowledging the past while indicating Alberta's present and future. The painting is 30x40" and rendered in Golden acrylic paint on canvas.

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Horses have a long and fine tradition in art as spirited symbols of power, grace and freedom. This colourful herd is a nod to Alberta's pioneer past, yet at the same time represents the individuality, progressiveness and diversity of Albertans. The horses gallop off to the right against a landscape that is also in motion. The grass and hills are fluid. The mountains, from the Clark Range in the Canadian Rockies, appear to be rumbling in the background.

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Alberta Always in Motion (Near Waterton Lakes National Park) is colourful and optimistic, much like Albertans. Only a small amount of black was used in the painting. Dioxazine purple, Prussian blue and pthalo green serve as dark colours while a mix of cadmium yellow dark and dioxazine purple make up the base for almost all the yellow areas. A pure orange mixed from cadmium red light and cadmium yellow medium was not only the base for the orange horse, but several of the rich greens in the background.

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Over 30 hours were invested in painting as my colour choices shifted in response to the work. As a lifelong Albertan, I realized the fine line I walked between cliches and metaphors. Conceptualizing the painting took two weeks. It was important to me to pick the right setting from my extensive trips around Alberta. I finally settled on an area close to Waterton Lakes National Park, where the prairies meet the mountains. My original idea was a tighter rendering of the landscape. After blocking in the initial colours, I realized that something livelier was happening. From the land to the people, Albertan is never static.