Artist-in-residence found for Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Parks Canada has found its artist-in-residence for the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

A competition was held earlier this fall, in concert with the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, to find an artist in any discipline who would be interested in spending several weeks creating art in the park.

• Artist sought for Cape Breton Highlands National Park

AmlieJrme of Montreal is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and York University's fine arts program.

She's been living in a park-owned bungalow for three weeks already, "painting, hiking, that's about it."

"It's quiet," she said."I feel like I have the whole park to myself. It's great. I'm getting a lot done."

The bungalow Jrme is staying in is right at the foot of one of the park's best known hikes, the Franey Trail, which she calls "absolutely stunning."

Shape, form, colour

She's been ona couple of other trails as well, watching as the seasons change from autumn to winter.

"I'm really drawn to the rock formations in Nova Scotia," she said. "The shapes and forms are really great and there's this beautiful pink granite, so there's lot of pink in my paintings.

"Basically, the colours that are seen here in the area, such as the rocks, the greens, the greys, the blue of the ocean, all that comes through in my work."

Jrme says as an abstract painter, she's interested in the landscape, "but I try to express it in a different way that's not so descriptive.

"It's more evocative, so I'm interested in all the senses, the experience, the feeling of being in nature and how that could be expressed in maybe a less conventional way."

Jrme will live in the park until Dec. 15.

Anyone interested in seeing the work inspired by her time therecan stop by her bungalow in IngonishBeach on the afternoon of Dec. 8 for an open studioevent.