Happy Canada Day! In celebration of the birthday of our home and native land, I had to share one of my favourite Canadian painters with you today. I adore Elizabeth Lennie‘s work for many reasons, but I think it is her subject matter that has most captured my Canadian heart. She understands and expresses our nation at play, capturing the essence of our outdoor pastimes in a way that is beautifully nostalgic. I am easily transported and transposed into her work, back to a younger, more innocent time. Back to a time when “time” seemed to stretch on infinitely. Back to a time when “summer” meant two months off to just play.

My guess is that this Canada Day long weekend, many of you will be spending your days by {or even better, in} the water, just as Lennie imagines you.

I know of few artists who have perfected the art of painting water with such a casual, painterly stroke. As her work has evolved, there appears to me to be an even greater air of expression and “oneness” between Lennie and the water. She has clearly spent many years researching her paintings by plumbing the water’s depths, feeling the pull and drag of it between her fingers as she draws herself through the blue, dappled-light of liquid dreams. From surface to underworld, Lennie captures the azure essence of what draws us all in and allows us to lose countless hours while finding our sense of play again.

Each time I view Lennie’s latest collections I am inspired to simply get outside. I also pine for a pool in the backyard and a weekend cottage retreat. A pool was perhaps the one and only luxury my family had growing up, and it turned me into the water baby I still am today.

Elizabeth Lennie‘s work is available through Art Interiors in Toronto.

How are you spending your Canada Day weekend? I hope it involves some play time, much laughter, and the opportunity to connect with the ones you love.

xo
s.