Abstract Landscapes Gallery #1

I am a contemporary Canadian landscape artist. I'm a visual story teller engaged in a mad race against time. recording disappearing pre-urbanized landscapes, as cities swallow land in fertile temperate zones. I use Elemental Texture, Luminous Colour, Symbolic Shapes and Lyrical Line and a process I have developed and call Glazed Acrylic. also see me on instagram @robinbarattaartist

Friday, September 13, 2024

Together

 


Together

8x10, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board, ready to hang. 
$205. CDN Free shipping in Canada

Is it one tree or three? A family or a complex individual?
Does it matter... as long as it's happy.  I'm drawn to old tree's, perhaps my druidic ancestors have left an imprint on my DNA. Like so many ancient peoples they believed that all living things had spirits. The more we learn about the interconnectedness of life the more it seems they may have been right! 




Rainy Day In Camp


4x4, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board, $90. CDN, shipping free in Canada

It seems to be a fact of life, we head to the lake for a few days of rest and relaxation, and invariably it rains.  What a good excuse to kick back with a book, or haul out the board games. Sometimes these are the best days of our holiday! 


 

Dance Like No One's Looking

 


Dance Like No One's Looking

8x10, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board $205. CDN, free shipping in Canada

On this coast too often be set with hurricanes, only the supple survive.
These survivors clustered on the lee side of a row of ancient dunes, show scars and missing limbs. 

 Near a huddle of older trees a lithe young tree dances in the wind. The survivors seem to watch and I wonder what they may be thinking.  

Morning Light

 


Morning Light 

4x4, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board, ready to hang.

Morning light filters through the tree canopy. A new day full of possibilities dawns. 

$90.CDN free shipping in Canada

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Marsh Mystery




Marsh Mystery 12x12 Glazed Acrylic, 
$285.00 CND free shipping in Canada

In these mysterious places where boundaries blur anything seems possible. 
Trees high step in water and muck with roots exposed and twisted into arabesques, 
creating hiding spots for creatures great and small.  

 Being less accessible to humans they are one of the last safe places for many creatures. The marsh is brimming with life. Unfortunately  those bent on "development" only see a place to drain, soil to harvest, and potential for new malls, highways and urban sprawl.

consigned to Westland Gallery















 


Tuesday, April 30, 2024

St Andrews Hollow

 


St Andrews Hollow
A tiny yellow brick country church, one of the last of it's kind, overlooks a shallow winding valley where a glacial river once flowed. Both unfortunately are one land that is zoned for development.
What a lose if they should fall to the developers 'dozers. Our insatiable appetite for  what those in power call development comes at great cost. 
These are some of the most fertile lands in North America, and the world. The question needs to be asked... what legacy are we leaving future generations?  
18x36 inches, glazed acrylic, cradled wooden board, ready to hang, $899. CDN free shipping in Canada





Silent Witness


 The ancient live oaks of the hurricane battered south eastern U.S. bear silent witness to the changes 
wrought by humans through the passing centuries. We can only imagine the  tales they
could tell, if only they could talk.

16x20, glazed acrylic painting on cradled wooden board, ready for hanging, $340.CND free shipping in Canada






Sunday, October 29, 2023

Prevailing Wind




Prevailing Wind

A steady wind acts as a sculptor, directing branches and canopy into elegant shapes.

These creations though can be fragile in the face of the hurricanes that lash this coast more frequently and stronger as the oceans warm. Each year we wonder what changes the winds will bring.

 original painting, glazed acrylic, 12x16, on cradled wooden panel, ready for hanging

$340.00



Sunday, October 22, 2023

Wonderland

 



Wonderland

Along one of the city's busiest thoroughfares there are still remnants of  what was.

Most bear signs 'zoned for development, will build to suit!'

For many the the heavy equipment has already flattened the land and removed the visages of before. 

Here and there though, remnants of the earlier wonderland remain. 

Defiant, young trees reclaim what was forest and field.  

Nature is ever hopeful.  

UPDATE:

this scene is no more, the bulldozers have done their work, and a new strip mall is being built. 

original painting, 12x12, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang, 

 $285.00

consigned to Westland Gallery



















Friday, September 1, 2023

Dancing On The Edge






Dancing On The Edge

 Trees and under story growth dance on the edge of the marsh, toes dipped into the rich moist silt. The supple reeds bow and rustle their approval. Wildlings watch the show from their homes hidden from prying predatory eyes. The marsh is a nourishing safe haven.

Salt marshes on the oceans edge, are called the cradle of the sea. A huge percentage of ocean based life is born or hatched in the marsh. Inland marshes share a similar role of incubator and safe haven.

The worlds marshes, fens and swamps are some of the most misunderstood and therefore endangered habitats in the world.

Drained to farm - they provide rich soil, drained for mosquito control, drained to build on, filled in for all of the above... once gone they are not replaceable. Wetlands the world over teeter on the edge of destruction.

12x16, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board, ready to hang $340.





Friday, July 28, 2023

The Road Home


The Road Home

In the not too distant past most people had a family connection to the land. 
The family farm whether it was in the care of parents, grandparents or aunts/uncles was the gathering point for families. 
I think having lost that  touch stone of tradition has created a vacuum where a lack of understanding of the importance of sustainability has grown. 
Is this ripe for development, or the source of sustenance for a hungry world?  

12x12, glazed Acrylic, on cradled wooden board, ready to hang, $285.







 

Monday, May 22, 2023

Saw Palmetto and Old Oak

 



Spread your arms and dance with the wind. Sometimes swaying gently, other times appearing ready to leap from the ground.  Elegant partners dancing through the decades, creating their own music. 

Live Oaks are a icon for durability, centuries old they have endured much change and  hopefully will continue the dance into the future with their lithe companions the Saw Palmetto.

8x8, glazed acrylic on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang, $190.





Monday, March 27, 2023

March Scarcely Here

 


March Scarcely Here

After a winter that hung around far too long, the first faint colours of spring are a very welcome sight. The gold of the willows and the faint blush of the maple blossoms promise warmer days and gentler weather to come.

glazed acrylic on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang, 12x24, $460.00





Still Standing


Still Standing

The Live Oaks of the South Eastern US fascinate me and whisper to my muse paint me - paint me!
 and so I do. 
This tree in particular is an old friend, she stretches her arms over our favorite campsite at Edisto SP, SC. We're treated to a constant parade of racoons, opossums and other critters that live in her many hollows, many a time I've made supper to an avid audience! 
6x6, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden board. ready to hang $125













Monday, September 5, 2022

Marsh Highway





Marsh Highway

''For centuries, the marsh has served as a natural passageway for both humans and animals, offering a route that has been utilized since ancient times.'''
 glazed acrylic, 12x12, ready to hang on cradled wooden panel
 $285.00




 

 

Rising Ground


 Rising Ground

Sinuous curves, follow the contours of the landscape creating patterns of colour and texture, agricultural art.

Glazed Acrylic, 12x24, ready to hang on cradled wooden board, 
$460.00


















Friday, June 24, 2022

Treasured Memories

Treasured Memories,

For many Ontarians the near north is the place to spend lazy summer days.

A place of lakes, forest, and peace, in our hearts and memories there is no more treasured place to spend a holiday.

 8x10 on cradled board ready to hang,  

glazed acrylic, $215. available






Sunday, April 24, 2022

Elegant Oak

 




Elegant Oak, 
Live Oaks, survivors of century's of human occupation.  
From the first peoples, to successive waves of European settlers, the oaks have endured , watching no doubt bemused with arboreal wisdom at the short range lives we live.

8x8, glazed acrylic, on cradled wood panel

ready to hang, $190.


                                                                                       




Friday, August 27, 2021

Treeline

 


Treeline

At a gentle separation, of field and field, or crop and crop,  a treeline waves. Far friendlier than a fence, and a place for the wildlings to travel to, from and along, these poplars, maple, and sometimes evergreens are green punctuation marks upon the landscape.  

6x6, glazed acrylic, cradled wooden board, ready to hang $145.00

                                                           

                                                                      


Swirls




Swirls

Across undulating hills the tractors dance, in their wake the soil swirls with lines and rhythms that catch the artists eye.  Patterns in the earth like visual music accentuate the landscape 
6x6, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang, $145.00







Monday, June 28, 2021

Tor

 

                                                                           Tor

 Tor, Celtic hill fort, an ancient place of safety, now a place of peace and dreams, surrounded by fields of wild daffodils, and grazing sheep.  If only all battle grounds could be this way. 

16x12, glazed acrylic, on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang, 

$340.00 

Thank you to my amazing Welsh cousin Deb Tilley for the reference photo see more of her photography here







Saturday, May 29, 2021

Across the Field

 

Across The Field

Distant silos beckon the weary farmer home, not just  storage, but a beacon too, standing tall amongst the trees and crops, a guide at the end on a long hard day. 
12x6 Glazed Acrylic, on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang.

$215.00 plus shipping, calculated at checkout






Monday, April 26, 2021

Road To The Lake

 

Road To The Lake

Taking the back roads to Tobermory to catch the Chi-cheemaun is for many Ontarians a summer tradition. All roads lead to the lake, and good memories.  

12x36, Glazed Acrylic on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang
$630.00  plus shipping, calculated at checkout
                                                                     
















Friday, April 23, 2021

Pastoral


 




Pastoral

Mamas and babies, caught my eye, laying together, but separately, in the warm early fall sunshine.
This peaceful scene is just minutes from the 401, a busy multi lane highway and zoned for commercial development... 

glazed acrylic, 24x30, on cradled wooden panel, ready to hang
$999.00  plus shipping