Judy McLaren is a painter in the classical, realist tradition. Her education at the Ontario College of Art and subsequent training at the Royal Ontario Museum set her on this path. We met almost 30 years ago, and even then I could see this was an artist聽who knew what she was about.
Life has taken her through ups and downs, but McLaren has remained true to her calling. Her latest oil paintings will be on show this summer in back-to-back exhibitions, showing her considerable abilities in two different subject areas.
The first, Shorelines, is at Dales Gallery (537 Fisgard St., 250-383-1552, June 2-29) and presents ocean waves rushing onto the shore in a dramatically realist manner; the second, Summer Heat, at Eclectic Gallery (2170 Oak Bay Ave., 250-590-8095, July 13-Aug. 15), presents smaller, more expressionist figurative compositions of people on the beach.
You might have met McLaren while she was artist-in-residence at the Empress Hotel in 2011. This time, we met at McLaren鈥檚 tranquil home in North Saanich. While her husband continued to work on the neatly groomed garden, we toured her studio at the back of the property, and then settled in with a cup of tea in their comfortable living room.
鈥淏asically, I think I鈥檓 a late bloomer,鈥� she began. 鈥淚 worked and explored, and keep exploring.鈥� For many years McLaren has pursued commissioned portraiture and also explores more complex presentations of people.
鈥淏ut basically,鈥� she continued, 鈥淚 think things have kind of coalesced in the last five years. I鈥檝e had cancer, so that has put an urgency into my painting.鈥� This month marks three years since her diagnosis, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 always been in my head, too.鈥�
In addition to her career as a portrait painter, she has done a lot of painting in both her own studio and at our local co-operative, XChanges.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really important to me. You have to keep working at it, honing your skills 鈥� or what鈥檚 the point? You have to keep challenging yourself to get better.鈥�
The practice has paid off.
鈥淚 have no trouble doing a painting from start to finish in four hours 鈥� I like to work really fast,鈥� she insisted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the key things, that is to work from your gut, so that you鈥檙e 鈥榩ainting faster than you can think.鈥� This is a quotation from a book by Eric Fischl. He鈥檚 one of my heroes, and I think that about sums it up.鈥�
On her website, judymclaren.com, you can see stop-action videos that show the evolution of her four-by-eight-foot canvas of waves rushing toward the viewer. With only the slightest regard for the photo in her hand, she washes rippling streaks across the canvas with expressive abandon, and it runs and drips down in front of her.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important to me. I like to be loose as much as I can. It has to be my own energy and personality that I put into a scene,鈥� she commented. 鈥淚 never faithfully reproduce anything.鈥�
Working with her basic palette 鈥� ultramarine blue, burnt umber, raw sienna, viridian and quinacridone crimson 鈥� she forges ahead. As the image resolves before your eyes, the precision she achieves comes as a surprise.
Up close, her brush work is quite loose, though from a distance the image is highly resolved. The power of her imagery comes from the freedom with which she begins.
鈥淚鈥檓 being moved by all the movement in the painting,鈥� she told me. 鈥淚鈥檓 channelling it through me and it鈥檚 splashing up there on the canvas.鈥� Losing one鈥檚 self in the energy of the universe is certainly a form of meditation.
鈥淚t was extremely helpful to me in the course of going through cancer,鈥� she reflected. She spoke of the 鈥済rounded interaction between solid and fluid.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 drawn to stormy scenes more than quiet, contemplative, reflective ones. I really love the energy. I feel incredibly strong when I am doing them,鈥� she went on. 鈥淚 feel I am losing myself in that ocean. And in the energy, the movement, the twists and turns, the reflections and refractions 鈥� all the complexity of it has been a tremendously liberating experience.鈥�
She indicated the retreating rivulets of the retreating waves: 鈥淭he tentacles of the water coming down there. I love that.鈥� This connection of land and water is a necessary part of each image.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the show is called Shorelines,鈥� McLaren said. 鈥淚 want to be standing there and feel it on my feet, almost.鈥�
McLaren鈥檚 figurative subjects on the beach, which will make up her July show, are products of a different game. For those smaller pictures, she chose to work with bold colours and shapes, revelling in the interplay between flat and modelled.
鈥淲ith a person as the subject, the artist is not lost in the image. It鈥檚 a two-way thought there, between subject and painter. I like to present the complexity of the human character. People who think 鈥� that鈥檚 kind of where I鈥檓 at.鈥�
McLaren is not the type of person who likes to sit and be calm.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to get up and hike up the hill every day 鈥� do something! I want to be making something beautiful. Otherwise, I don鈥檛 feel I deserve a place on the planet.鈥�
Speaking of the planet, the Shorelines show coincides with World Oceans Day, June 8, and 20聽per cent of all sales will go to the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.
