Opacarophile
Why do we chase the sun when it sets? What is it that makes us an Opacarophile? That instant when everything goes dark and invisible we reminisce on the experience that will never be forgotten. Each of us has experienced the emotion of holding onto the last glimmer of light while keeping our eyes glued to the drop of the sun.
In my unique process and style, I capture the sun sinking all around me in my current series of paintings named Opacarophile – “A person who loves to see the sunset.” When I can, I want to exalt the beauty of how the sun reflects the sculpted terrain. Silence, contemplative and provocative, colourful, bright, and radiant are some reasons why people are lovers of sunsets. The water acts as a stage as the sun flickers off the surfaces, dances and skips in its light.
My strategy is to emphasize the contrast of the sun against its surroundings by using a more simple, vibrant, primary acrylic colour palette. Painted on canvas to contrast the sun’s radiance in its various colours, the sun is the focus and other elements in the compositions are void of great detail. As blue light is eliminated during a sunset I focus on bringing intensity to the hues of yellow, red and
purple against a darkened backdrop.
I’ve always had a very deep passion for freshwater lakes. Due to my upbringing on the Trent Severn Waterway, my love, appreciation, and respect for nature in this region blossomed. My goal has always been to learn, record, and photograph the peaks and valleys of the water levels in the area surrounding Georgian Bay, Ontario.
When I started my first series on water levels in 2014, Nottawasaga Bay had drastically decreased by almost 24″(70cm). The rising amount of land that was revealed where water once covered was the outcome of my research and discoveries. As I strolled along those exposed shorelines, I would view the pebbles and rocks that now served as a road. The ecology, ecosystems, and human interactions with the water are all impacted by this fluctuation in water level. Globally there are 300 million freshwater lakes and Ontario occupies 1/5 of the world with 250,000. Currently today Georgian Bay is back to normal water levels.
These paintings represent the current findings of my research and the beauty that the land has to offer. My goal as an Opacarophile is to document the vistas that are performed for me nightly showing the change in landscape with each sunset.
