As an artist, one is always in search of the next inspiring colour, texture, element. On a recent adventure to Alert Bay on Vancouver Island, Riach found her next creative pursuit as the beauty of the surroundings captured her heart. The weathered boats that once journeyed out to sea in search of fish now sit as reminders of the past. Each has developed its own unique and beautiful patina, and Riach wanted to create that same effect with her paints.
Riach delved into ways of reproducing the beauty time can have on objects. Using a painting technique called “sgraffito”—scratching back into the paint surface to uncover hidden colours and create texture—she has brought to life the atmosphere of the beautiful old boats in Alert Bay, just as time, with the salt of the sea and the force of the sun, has created layers of colours and textures on those boats. Using her trusty palette knife, Riach builds colour and texture, then scratches back into it. She then adds more colour, only to remove more of it again. Repeating this process over and over, she brings to life the history of the boats on her canvas.
The paintings have an aged feeling, as do the boats that inspire Riach. The colours are deep, rich, and vibrant. The textures are rough, imperfect, and mesmerizing. The abstract feeling of the pieces brings forward distant memories of what used to be. Using pictures from her trip and the vivid feeling that Alert Bay has left in her memories, Riach creates beautiful pieces of art that inspire and enchant.
Words | Natalie Findlay
See more of Cindy Riach’s work at this year’s Sunshine Coast Art Crawl or online at cindyriach.com.
