Original Oil - FENCE RAILS, WATERFORD

Looking for a gorgeous gem for a smaller space? This wonderfully rich piece puts you right into the locale of riding or walking along the serene fence rows. Surrounded by lush, dense forests, one's craving for nature is fulfilled. Enjoy this lovely piece that skillfully portrays the diversity of the land, and the serenity of the spot.

Size: Image, 14" x 11" Framed to 15" x 12" in a natural colour, solid wood float frame. It is available at the gallery only (27 Ainslie St. N, Cambridge, ON).

THE ARTIST: Jake Bouwman, St. George, ON is an oil and pastel artist who was born in the Netherlands. Jake’s parents immigrated with their five-year-old son and younger daughter to Canada, and settled in the lakeside village of Bronte, Ontario.

It was Jake’s grade five teacher that first recognized his gift for drawing and painting (watercolours) and encouraged him to think about art as a career. An eighth grade reader introduced the young boy to works by several Canadian artists. “A.Y. Jackson’s RED MAPLE spoke to me and I have wanted to paint like the Group of Seven ever since.” His mother bought him his first set of oil paints, and Jake was hooked.

Jake holds a Bachelors of Science from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo and a Certificate of Fine Art from Sheridan College in Oakville. The need to “put food on the table” while raising his family often took precedence over his painting, but now Jake is, and has been for a number of years, working full-time at his art. He typically starts a painting in the actual setting to determine colours and values (the lightness or darkness) in natural light before returning to his studio to finish the work.

Jake is a equally comfortable with still life, landscapes and portraiture, showing both his learned technical skills and his innate ability to capture the mood and atmosphere of the subject.

“Painting takes me to a form of expression that speaking or writing cannot. My feelings are like those of Edward Hopper, [one of my favourite artists] who said “If everything could be expressed with words, I wouldn’t have to paint."”