Alana Boyd displays the painting selected by the South River Festival of the Arts for their 2008 poster.
SOUTH RIVER – Alana Boyd is a relative newcomer to the area, but she has been creating images most of her life.
“I was eight when I finished my first painting,” said the Burk's Falls resident. “I studied with an artist every summer until I was 12, and then I went to central tech.”
Boyd's painting, “Ice Flow,” was recently selected to appear on the poster for this year's Festival of the Arts in South River. The painting depicts a northern highway in spring, with a mass of ice flowing from a rock face. It is based on a photograph Boyd took, but the location is not really important.
“It's typical of any north-central Ontario location,” she said.
As the melted snow flows from the rock, the painting itself seemed to flow from Boyd's imagination to her brush. It began last spring, with a large canvas and a question of just what to do with it. Boyd likes to start by drawing a rough thumbnail to plan the bare-bones composition of a piece. What she drew in this case, was exactly what she wanted, right from the start. After an hour of painting, with just the first colour on the canvas, it was already recognizable.
With such a passion for art, it comes as quite a surprise to learn that Boyd did very little painting after high school.
“I peaked at 18,” she said. “I could do anything.”
But the responsibilities of work, home, family and horse ownership did not leave much room for the sort of all-consuming art Boyd practices. When she paints, she can become absorbed in it for hours. She produced the occasional poster, and found time to paint while expecting her children, but it mostly went on the back burner.
“From 1973 to 2002, I didn't paint,” she said.
Now that she can devote more of her time to painting, Boyd has jumped back in with both feet. As a teen, she would wake up in the middle of the night with a need to paint, having an idea she needed to put on a canvas. Today, she again has ideas that need to come out. Boyd can be painting in her mind at any time, often thinking about more than one painting. When she finally picks up the brush, that state of mind takes over.
“I'm in a different place,” she said, noting that she often doesn't remember exactly how she painted a piece, or where the inspiration came from. “It's an energy from beyond that helps me.”
Boyd tends to paint what she likes, which can include landscapes, horses, flowers and buildings, and she's constantly taking photographs and keeping an archive of images for future reference. But more than simply putting her own ideas on canvas, she likes to do commissions.
“I like to do things for other people, because it has a home and a purpose,” she said. “And I like to do things that people can recognize and identify with.”
Boyd was one of 27 artists who entered the competition this year, according to the festival's new chair, Bob Weaver.
“I think this is the most we've had,” said Weaver. “A lot of artists are coming out of the woodwork, which is good.”
The South River Festival of the Arts will run from Aug. 7 to 10. Boyd and five other artists will be featured at the opening-night gala, to be held at the arena. This will be followed by a weekend of art, live entertainment, workshops and contests. Weaver promises a few new features in 2008, including a talent competition.
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