Susan Tooke at Long Branch Studios

When I was in Goose Bay, Labrador, at the Arts Festival, I did get out briefly into the country.  The red canoe, stashed above the tideline, the driftwood angled against the solitary stone, the November snow and far shore made a lasting impression.  The silence of winter.

Richard and I were driving on the highway, when we decided to take the back roads.  The land was covered with snow, the stubble poking through the icy crust.  An isolated farmhouse stood on the hill against a late afternoon grey sky.  There was something iconic about it as it stood on its pedestal of last summer's cornrows. As I painted, the feeling of the land and enormous sky enveloped me.  I was drawn into the universe by the mystery surrounding the old homestead.