Drawn to the ocean: Painter floods living rooms and galleries with waves

LAWRENCETOWN, N.S. -

Whether it's the salty air or crash of waves, the ocean has always mesmerized Katharine Burns.

And for the past four years, the oil painter has dedicated her time exclusively to painting it.

It's a labour of love.

"Every time I look at the ocean, I'm studying it almost, every time I'm on the water," Burns said. "And you know I'll see a little glimmer of light and that will spark my interest."

Despite sticking to one theme, the landscape that inspires her is ever-changing. Her paintings rely on photos she uses as reference materials. But even when she brings her camera to same spot along Nova Scotia's coastline, no photo is ever the same. 

"You can go on a calm day and it's like glass and it's just really calming. Or you can go after a storm and the waves are wild and it's really exhilarating," she said. "It's constantly changing, so I never see the same thing twice."

She works from her studio in her house in Dartmouth.

Much like her subject, her work carries momentum. 

Her paintings hang in the James Baird Gallery in Pouch Cove Newfoundland and the Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto. This year, she attended a two-month residency program in Pouch Cove through the Pouch Cove foundation. And also teaches workshop on oil painting through the Chester Art Centre.

Growing up in Prospect, N.S., her connection to the water is personal. She loves sea kayaking, paddling boarding or hiking or walking along the coastline. But she believes that connection is universal.

"The ocean offers us something, it's a life force. And people just love being on the ocean and watching it," Burns said.

When COVID-19 hit, Burns didn't expect people to buy art, but the opposite happened. Since people couldn't travel to the ocean they asked her to bring the ocean to them.

"People are wanting art in their homes. They're spending a lot of time in their homes," she said."I'm trying to bring the ocean into people's living rooms."

And so she concentrates on her canvas, adding waves, surf and ripples on large canvasses, with a tight focus on the ocean. Her goal is to make the experience intimate and capture what people find so captivating about waves and water itself.

"People will often say I hear the waves or I smell the salt air and that is my favourite thing to hear cause that's what I'm trying to convey," she said.

While her work has been sold across the country and the United States, a lot of displaced Bluenosers are frequent clients.

"A lot of people who moved to Toronto, they're very interested in having a piece of Nova Scotia in their home," she said.