Jul 18, 2025 16 min read art

A Brush With Life - Issue #32 Solo Show and New Paintings

This issue is mostly about an upcoming solo show and new artwork. It has all the vibes of a full on summer on a small west coast island beside the sea. Besides local and regional gallery pod visitors in recent weeks, there has been art lovers dropping in from far flung places such as Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Liverpool England, Calgary Alberta, Chicago Illinois, Clearwater Florida, Denver Colorado, and Gaspeveau Nova Scotia. Some visitors are already art collectors of my work and others are seeing it in person for the first time. Some are coming by specifically to see my new work and how it has shifted and others are happy to come into the home studio to see their favourite and much loved paintings of arbutus trees. Still others tell me how much they appreciate the “Terrill Welch by herself” newsletter or that they had first seen a painting in social media and just had to drop in to browse it in person. Finally, one art collector dropped in to get her commission request first on the books for August 2026 after I have finished my MA in Fine Art. All of these encounters warm my artist and gallery owner heart and inspire me to keep working hard. My thanks to everyone for being you and connecting with me and the paintings as you so often do!

I said “yes” in January when Opulent Art Gallery selected me and my paintings as their choice out of 60 artists for their annual offer a a complimentary 3D Solo Showcase in August. At the time, August seemed like a long way off. Now. the opening of this solo show will be before the next issue is published. Therefore, I must present your chance to view this online show now. Opulent Art Gallery has several online locations supporting their artists with its headquarters located in London, England. It has a unique and forward looking model of online representation that is neither traditional gallery nor vanity gallery nor stand alone online marketplace. If selected by the Opulent Art Gallery and approved by the Artsy platform, artists pay a very modest monthly fee for international online gallery, sales, website and social media art representation. The gallery commission is reasonable and working with the staff is a pleasure. I have been with them for more than a year and half now and I have no hesitation in recommending that my international art collectors consider purchasing my paintings directly online from the art gallery on the Artsy platform (Canadian art collectors will likely still find it more convenient to purchase directly from me since the listings on Opulent Art Gallery are in pounds rather than Canadian dollars.)

For everyone, if you have not yet subscribed to Artsy and followed my profile and the gallery profile there, this would be a good time to do so.

Now more about the show!

TIDES OF EXPRESSION: THE INTIMATE BRUSHWORK OF TERRILL WELCH

Terrill Welch Solo Exhibition

Opulent Art Gallery & Artsy Online Platform

August 8 – August 22, 2025

Opulent Art Gallery is thrilled to announce the upcoming solo exhibition of acclaimed artist Terrill Welch, opening online August 8th through August 22nd, 2025. Presented in collaboration with the Artsy platform, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore Welch’s latest collection of oil and acrylic paintings that delve into the rugged, ever-changing landscapes of the West Coast of Canada.

Terrill Welch’s new Seafloor and Seashell series invites viewers into an intimate and sensory dialogue with nature, drawing inspiration from the shifting shores of Mayne Island. Using loose, expressive brushwork and a harmonious balance between figurative and abstract elements, Welch captures the dynamic interplay between land and sea, illuminating the hidden rhythms that emerge as tides reveal and conceal the ocean’s floor.

This exhibition reveals Welch’s creative process as an immersive conversation with the natural world, where she channels whole-body sensory experiences to convey the quiet resilience, grace, and subtle beauty found along the water’s edge. Stepping into her “child’s view,” audiences are invited to explore “landscapes of the small” and “drop in the ocean landscapes” with these meditations on life’s continuous cycles of change and connection.

Alongside her newest series, the show also features several earlier west coast seascapes, offering a comprehensive view of Welch’s evolving artistic journey and deepening her exploration of place through vibrant and evocative compositions.

Available entirely online through Opulent Art Gallery and Artsy, this exhibition connects art lovers worldwide with Welch’s fluid artistic voice. From more precise figurative renderings to abstract impressions, each work testifies to the boundary-blurring language Welch has mastered in her portrayal of nature’s textures and tides.

We invite you to join us for this immersive visual experience where nature’s quiet stories come alive through Terrill Welch’s masterful brushstrokes. Discover a moving meditation on the intimate and universal in this singular new body of work. Visit the Opulent Art Gallery website starting August 8th to experience the exhibition in full.

PAINTINGS IN THE SPOT LIGHT

Artsy is one of the world's largest online art marketplace. You can browse over 1 million artworks by iconic and emerging artists from 4000+ galleries, art fairs and top auction houses. Artsy averages around 2.3 million unique visitors each month. This is a lot of art, artists, galleries and art collectors in one place. Imagine my surprise then when one of my new small paintings received notice of increased interest!

Now how fun is this!?

In addition, another paintings was singled out for recognition in the Opulent Art Gallery curator’s corner this month.

Showing In Opulent Art Gallery “Sea Floor at Reef Bay” by Terrill Welch, 48 x 40 inch oil.

I just love it when my paintings stand on their own and are acknowledged. Please cheer loudly with me while these two Terrill Welch paintings take a bow!

NEW PAINTINGS

In between reading the work of critical thinker and social constructionist feminist, Donna Haraway and discussing and studying art theory and research, I have still been painting.

A BREATH BETWEEN SEA AND SKY – PAINTING PROCESS

This next painting moves farther over on the abstract end of my figurative/abstract continuum of mark making in paint while maintaining a thin but compelling figurative element with a short horizon line with a small slice of sky and sea. This oil on canvas painting ‘A Breath between Sea and Sky’ is the first exploration of my notion of ‘a drop in the ocean’ landscape composition. In getting to this point, I explored the ‘child’s view’ of the seafloor then shifted my perspective from looking down to looking low and out into the landscape using a vertical orientation to what I call ‘landscapes of the small’. This next risk taking adventure takes a detail or a small portion of one of my ‘landscapes of the small’ below as a starting point for inspiration.

‘Low Tide in the Reefs’ by Terrill Welch 10 x 8 inch acrylic on gessobord Artist notes: Sandwiched between two reefs is a shell bed with fabulous shapes and contours. It won’t last. Tides are like that. Best to savour this landscape featuring seashells in the moment.

I want to do these ‘drop in the ocean landscapes’ fairly large in the future on 48 inches high by 40 inches wide. But for now I settle on testing the process on a 20 inch high by 16 inch wide canvas with an orange acrylic ground. Below are the documented steps in the painting process:

Documented painted steps for ‘A Breath between Sea and Sky’ by Terrill Welch, 20 x 16 inch walnut oil on canvas. Sunday, 23 June 2025.

The painting process was completed between 11:39 am and 1:50 pm. There were the usual moments of standing back from the easel and needing to attend to other tasks outside of the studio but, for the most part, it was a continuous process in that I never let go of where I was in the painting process.

Art studio of Terrill Welch with new 20 x 16 inch walnut oil on canvas on the easel. Sunday, 22 June 2025.

I could feel seafloor, the sounds of the sea and smells and textures of my subject from the first brushstroke to the last.

New oil painting by Terrill Welch resting in the easel. Sunday, 22 June 2025.

‘A Breath between Sea and Sky’ by Terrill Welch 20 x 16 inch walnut oil on canvas. Sunday, 22 June 2025. **Artist notes**: Going as far as I can uncomfortable go with sweeping large brushstrokes of colours that are faded by the sun and washed by the sea. I lean way over into pure sensations anchored by a figurative drop of ocean with a thin slice of horizon pressed lightly into place by a forgiving sky. I hear the crunch of barnacles on sandstone as it whispers expectantly to a gentle wave coming in on the outside of the reef. I get as close and low as possible to the shells while keeping one eye on the sea and sky. This is my first ‘drop in the ocean’ landscape that is smaller in visual scale than previous ‘landscapes of the small’ painting studies.

Room view with resting ‘A Breath between Sea and Sky’ by Terrill Welch 20 x 16 inch walnut oil on canvas.

Reflections: Even today, I look at this painting and still feel that inner pull of the landscape itself. My new approach to move further along the abstract side of the figurative/abstract continuum worked! I still experience a strong whole body and mind sensory sense of place and light with this more abstract expression. The best part is I have a repeatable process to keep exploring this approach further over the coming weeks. There is more to process but this is enough for now.

In addition, let’s see what it might look like if I painted it on a 48 x 40 inch canvas in oils.

Room view mock up of ‘A Breath between Sea and Sky’ by Terrill Welch as if painted 48 inches high by 40 inches wide.

I propose that the strength of place and intimacy of the work will likely hold at this scale.

MUSSELS DRAPED IN SEAWEED – PAINTING PROCESS

Wednesday, 2 July 2025

Taking risk - what if I directly pushed over to the abstracted shapes of shells right from the beginning? I could possibly start with my references and work my way forward with a drop of ocean and a slice of sky.

The moment that comes to mind to test this idea is not Reef Bay but a little farther around the island at Izabella Point. It had been an extremely low tide and there were mussels sticking out tall and plump on the sandstone. I had managed to get low enough to play with mussels, sea and sky similar to how I want to develop the competition.

Today, the afternoon studio is warm but not unpleasant with the windows open to a breeze through the trees. I quickly pencil in a few rough lines and begin with the sea.

A satisfying drop of sea in oils on a 12 x 10 inch red acrylic canvas ground by Terrill Welch. Wednesday, 2 July 2025, 1:04 pm.

I imagine a fog bank in front of the mountains across the Strait of Georgia and roll them into place. These will be the strongest connections between sky, sea and land and I want to put them in place right at the beginning of my painting process.

Getting a few of the lights in place - oils on a 12 x 10 inch red acrylic canvas ground by Terrill Welch. Wednesday, 2 July 2025, 1:15 pm.

Following this comes some of the darkest darks and I am off moving freely between the curves of memory and the forms of the shells as if touching them with my eyes partially closed. The seaweed drapes down the side like spilled paint. I leave it. I leave it all. I trust my whole body and mind sensory system and brush to carry me forward in this new painting language.

Feeling my way into the sensation of shapes using a soft focus as if touching the muscles with slightly closed eyes - oils on a 12 x 10 inch red acrylic canvas ground by Terrill Welch. Wednesday, 2 July 2025, 1:25 pm.

The final effort is to add in the naked sandstone in flat swaths of colour.

Painting the sandstone too bright - oils on a 12 x 10 inch red acrylic canvas ground by Terrill Welch. Wednesday, 2 July 2025, 1:40 pm.

Too bright! It is pressing forward and I want it to move back next to the sea. I adjust the value. I then decided to take away some of the brushmarks offering more of a connection between the foreground and background. It works.

By this time the paint is thick and soft and I have done what I set out to test in this small study. I sign it and wait until the next day to try and get a photograph.

‘Mussels Draped in Seaweed’ by Terrill Welch 12 x 10 inch walnut oil on canvas. Wednesday, 2 July 2025. **Artist notes:** The tide at Izabella Point is so low that I could almost walk over to Georgeson Island. The fat mussels draped in seaweed break the horizon line. Some are dark blue while a few are bright orange, purple and red. The barnacles have no preference. Leaning into the movement of the sea I follow the breeze with my brush imagining shapes of smells and textures as I work. Figurative and abstract elements layer up on the canvas until I come to a full stop. This is what is left behind.

I place it in a digital viewing room to scale get some distance.

Room view - Mussels Draped in Seaweed by Terrill Welch 12 x 10 inch walnut oil on canvas.

Reflections: Again, I was able to keep the connection to place while leaning hard into expressive shapes and colours. The painting reads as a landscape in only a softly descriptive way with that drop of sea and slice of sky. This light connection to figurative elements has a powerful impact on the composition without overwhelming and being prescriptive. I sense possibilities here for moving forward. What if I took my child’s view and tipped it towards the sky offering two perspectives at one time? Could I still hold my conversation with this shore and our interconnectedness as living beings?

What is not visible in this record of the painting study is the hours of mulling over how to attempt a figurative/abstract positioning that is much farther over on the abstract end of the continuum. It appears in the record of mark making as straightforward and simplistic. It is not. I think slowly, deliberately and incessantly about solving painting problems in my head, much like a mathematician might work out formulas in their head. I do this in a preoccupied manner while hiking, while cooking and while sleeping. I share this because, if it appears that this painting came easily, I want to assure you that I have worked hard to get to this place. The painting process itself might seem fast, wet into wet. But the planning for my considered brush marks takes days, weeks, months and even years sometimes.

SETTLED FRASER RIVER SILT IN REEF BAY – PAINTING PROCESS

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

The pleasure in the tactile substance of paint and its materialness is undeniable in my making practice. Recently listening to a recorded lecture with Dr. Tom Palin reminded me of the importance of this element in my mark making. Also, Palin revisiting his influences in the work of Maurice Utrillo and Nicolas De Staël greatly assisted me in solving a painting problem I had been mulling over. The intimateness of materials on a smaller scale, the use and power of various whites of Utrillo and figurative/abstract tension in De Staël’s later work are all resting at my shoulder as I begin this new painting study.

I start with the darkest darks this time and then add in the lightest lights with a commitment to stay as much as possible with the feel of shapes rather than the literalness of form of the subject. Below is a summary of the process with images that indicate the introduction of a two inch handmade hog brush and the use of the hard back end of another brush.

Painting process images 1 for Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas board.

Painting process images 2 for Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas board.

The power of white, particularly Paris white or Fraser River silt white on white clamshells, seems to demand a kind of physical engagement on a painting surface. I have painted Paris before, following a three month independent painting and travelling trip by regional train through Europe in 2014. I had forgotten about this painting in relation to the river silt until Palin presented the work of Utrillo.

‘Morning in Paris’ by Terrill Welch, 24 x 20 inch walnut oil on canvas, 2023. **Artist notes**: I have been up to The Basilica of Sacré Coeur for sunrise. It is mid June so sunrise is early. On my way back I stop just before I get to the top of Rue Drevet Stairs and crunch real low to get my reference image. As soon as I framed the view, I knew I was going to paint it. That was June 15, 2014. I have now painted it and it is June 14, 2023. Nine years later and I can still feel the pleasure of these champagne buildings catching the soft morning light.

For this new painting, I leaned into the whites from my Paris experience that were reignited by the work of Utrillo but I also wanted some of the physicalness and materiality of paint that De Staël and Palin offered in their paintings.

‘Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay’ by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas. Tuesday, 8 July 2025. **Artist notes**: The movement of Fraser River silt out into and across the Strait of Georgia is an annual summer event. The waters travel from the mountains far up into the northern interior of British Columbia. This is the area I am from and I always find it fascinating to be at the beginning of this river that forges its way to the sea gathering volume and silt along the way. The shells and sandstone becomes a chalky warm grey for a short while with everything muted as if behind a dirty sheer curtain. It is a perfect experience to render a child’s view ripped up into ‘drop in the ocean landscape’. I couldn’t quite let goes of the shapes of the shells and shadows though they become more abstracted in a crushing or breaking apart of forms that are organized in new ways. Using the hard end of brush for deliberate mark making there is an impression of detail without being exact or predictable. Much of the work is completed loosely with a two inch handmade brush that offers limited control for the painter. I strived to keep the tension between figurative and abstract mark making without making a commitment to either and still be able to stay connected to my sense of place. Then it was over. I could find no way in to make even one more mark, except to sign it. So I thought. The next morning, to my surprise , I made one small change.

I am going to include three details below as well.

detail 1 - Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas.

Detail 2 - Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas.

Detail 3 - Settled Fraser River Silt in Reef Bay by Terrill Welch, 16 x 12 inch walnut oil on canvas.

Reflection: I have been reading text and watching video lectures by Donna Haraway for several days now and her notion of staying with the trouble or staying with our monster seems appropriate at this juncture. As an earthly or terrestrial cyborg human being, what is it I am responsible and accountable for in this making practice that is about specific conversations with nature, in the painting of river silt settled on shells, within a specific historical context? We shall see.

I hope that you have been enjoying this continual deep dive into my painting practice as much as I have been enjoying sharing it with you. The first of these three paintings is available but the other two haven’t been released yet. Soon!

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Now that summer has arrived, gallery visitors are a regular part of my day again. There are returning art collectors, new art lovers visiting for the first time and paintings being considered to view in person once art enthusiasts arrive on the Mayne Island during a west coast of Canada adventure. The mood is relaxed, engaging and appreciative. I often tell people that I have the best art collectors and fans of my artwork in the world! And I do! In an uncertain and frequently nasty political and economic environment, this is no small measure for thriving through our interconnectedness.

Do enjoy things like the morning light on a far hill, the evening sunset at a lighthouse, lunch with friends in a local haunt, sleepovers with noisy family, a long walk in the woods, reading poetry in the shade of tree and wading in a sun-warmed sea. There is time. There is always time for living our best lives with equal amounts of passion and accountability.

Warm regards and an abundance of determined joy in the face of adversity! May my paintings and writing contribute in a positive way to our our collective resilienc!

Terrill 👩‍🎨❤️🎨

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