Mairi Budreau
1231 Belair DriveKamloops, BC V2C 5G3
250 299 1238
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Mairi Budreau
12/3/2021 - 12/12/2021
Apsaroke Tipi
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
18 x 24 inches (L x W)
Whenever I saw the photo that inspired this painting I was moved. The drape of the tired, damp skins on the tipi poles, the small burdened woman, this is home, simple and efficient.
Based on a photo by Edward Curtis
The original painting is sold but CANVAS PRINTS IN VARIOUS SIZES ARE AVAILABLE.
Arrowstone Creek
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
40 x 30 inches (L x W)
It’s just water moving down a slope, but I see limitless beauty here, a world of inter connection, struggle and maturation.
Slanting Autumn sunlight often brings brief moments of melancholy that I feel in my chest but its cast aside by the glorious colour checkering of leaves. They are conscious of being deprived of life force, yet through colour they regale toward the end of their days, setting a fine example as I too transition from green to yellow years.
Aware of the Indigenous People’s history with this creek; for thousands of years, it was a source of stone for tools and arrowheads and was traded with coastal groups, the memory of their time spent here, I feel.
Battle Bluff
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches (L x W)
Battle Bluff rises abruptly out of the waters of Kamloops Lake. It's a looming landmark seen for miles around and is the remains of volcanic activity from long ago. I've researched the name and turned up no history of a battle. So either it is an enigma or there was a pre-history battle.
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Beach Hut
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
24 x 18 inches (L x W)
Cooney Bay is a driftwood hotspot west of Kamloops, BC. Each spring floodwaters deposit tens of thousands of driftwood logs on the gravel shore. After the waters recede, visitors build structures for shade, shelter, and fun. This one was particularly tipi-like which speaks to a place in my soul, and I saw a great composition right before my eyes.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
36 x 24 inches (L x W)
I am snowshoeing across Paul Lake in sub-zero temperatures. The sun is just high enough to break over this crevasse where a fir tree makes its living. I love red rock and the sheer wall of it set off the cold blue snow. Those tumbled boulders appear immovable, but obviously the freeze and thaw of the seasons calve them off from above; this place is alive.
I feel compassion for this tree living in a confined space, and where it grows only allows for a little bit of light today. It is between a rock and a hard place, doing whatever it takes to live and makes the best of the food, light and shelter that is available.
If we pay attention, trees are messengers inspiring reflection and adjustment to life’s circumstances. Trees don’t stop growing, nor give up because their path isn’t straight. They innovate and adjust with poise and self-mastery until every last bit of energy has been spent.
Deep Thoughts
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
18 x 24 inches (L x W)
Look into the water, across it and then the sky reflection, and one's thoughts can go deep and quiet.
Fiddlehead Melody
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
24 x 20 inches (L x W)
Playful fiddlehead ferns unfurl above smooth cool water of a slow moving creek. Water captures us with its jewel-like qualities giving pause for reflection.
Creek is at the SW base of Estekwalan Mountain, Falkland, BC.
Forest Trail
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
30 x 20 inches (L x W)
This piece is a personal milestone for me. At last the spiritual connection I feel with forests has come through.
The morning was cool and damp at the start of the hike on the Balmoral Trail out in the Shuswaps.
The 6 km hike passed through awe inspiring stands of tall Douglas fir, red cedars, aspens and a few late summer flowers. I reached the summit and observed a small but intense storm blow across the west end of Shuswap Lake.
With each step downhill back to the trailhead, the sky cleared and that is when I saw the sunlight magically dance; light illuminated the woods transforming the space into a stunning natural cathedral gently vibrating every bit of life with pure spiritual beauty.
Momentarily emotions overcame me, and after the release, I captured a photo or two for future reference to produce this artwork.
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Jewel Among Emeralds - Paul Lake
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
24 x 24 inches (L x W)
This view of Paul Lake has surpassed my painting skills a few times. At first glance it looks simple just a few shapes, not too much detail, various greens and blues. But how ill prepared was I for the challenge.
I could see a gem in this scene, so I kept trying. First one facet and then another, the old mistakes led to this interpretation. While working with these colours something personal came to mind, when I’m away from British Columbia I miss the colours, the green and blue of this land. The feeling of home, safety, cool, fresh, and calm.
Last of the Snow
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
12 x 16 inches (L x W)
I spent three delightful days and nights at this cabin up north. Such fun and happy memories made there with family.
On the last morning I woke early to get outside and make a plein air painting of this scene. When I was nearly finished my grandsons came running out the door to yell, "Good morning Granny!" to see what I was doing.
In that painting the perspective was off, so to paint the cabin again in the studio, and make it right with the foreknowledge of the first attempt took me back to those cherished days.
The birch and fir forest surrounding it flooded the air with spring scents as the last of the snow lay melting by the door. Seasonal transitions are rich with life and quiet.
Last Supper - a pencil rendition of Da Vinci's
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Graphite Pencil
15 x 30 inches (L x W)
A rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's Last supper in graphite pencil.
PRINTS AVAILABLE in various sizes - Original was a commission.
Martin Creek
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
Creeks are like little symphonies playing soprano and alto to baritone, from forte to soft. Water flows, smacks and tumbles over, under and around rocks, wood, earth and like adding voice, oxygen is mixed in.
I find joy in creeks, I can get in them without worry of being swept away. I find their nature revealed at each descending plateau is a new scene, some messy or chaotic from past floods, others romantic and calm with overhanging greenery where sunlight catches like diamonds.
Martin Creek flows through a deep gravel cut and then onto a flat small wooded plain where I found a spot to set up my easel and make a study for this little painting. The challenge was not the predictable changing light due to the passage of time, but because of the woods, the area was plunged into deep shade, then bright overcast and back to dappled sun all within a minute.
McQueen Lake - Winter
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
12 x 18 inches (L x W)
The long tree shadows on a crisp winter day speak of mid-winter. I find there is great beauty in the patterns and colours of snow transitioning from sunshine to the absence of it.
Morning Kiss
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
18 x 30 inches (L x W)
On a brisk morning hike in search of painting an old ponderosa pine, I was following the Barns Lake Trail. Several grandfather trees survived the beetle kill from 15 years ago and lay just ahead, or so I thought. I had forgotten how far up the hill they were from the trailhead and stopped to catch my breath.
Looking back over my shoulder a rind of light took my breath away. It was so tender and fleeting that I burned it into my memory rather than set up the easel. The brooding mountain fringed with pink light dwarfed the tiny farm buildings and that first splash of morning sun felt quintessential to where
I live in Barnhartvale, BC Canada.
Old Days
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
There are remains of many homesteads and out buildings from the early days of settlement in BC's interior. Present day ranchers just let them and the fences fall away to their own decay. A marmot has made this one his home and while I painted it, he chirped out a warning to others that "she's still here".
Pushing Water, Merganser
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
This was one many mergansers that drew alongside the canoe. He was so close it felt special, like a gift. This little painting began as a demonstration at an art show and I had no intention of finishing it, but it demanded completion.
Rabbit Brush
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
Coming off Mount Mara at the end of a hike, the sun presented a radiance upon these uncelebrated Rabbit Brush plants. Most paintings with rays of light shine on something exalted, but I thought this common shrub was just as worthy of the light and a painting in the greater scheme of things.
Rain Forest River
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
24 x 18 inches (L x W)
Kanaka Creek in southern British Columbia, is where this shale bottomed canyon is smoothly sculpted and beautiful for barefoot exploration which is how I found this spot. Ferns grow on tree branches, everything but the rocks are growing; there is life all around. It is a timeless place.
Rock Face
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
20 x 30 inches (L x W)
On a spring day I was parked on the Hale Vinnie Road between Pinantan and Paul Lake. The sun was quite warm on my back as I set up the easel in a ditch below the road. A small pond teemed with red wing blackbirds uttering their watery calls to prospective mates while spunky wrens busily built nests for their new broods. Bird song filled the air like music while paint spread across a small canvas. That painting did not turn out so well, but later in the year an autumn photo was taken when the light was much better and a delicious glowing aspen now stars in this studio painting of the same scene.
Secwepemc Hide Stretcher
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrytlc
16 x 20 inches (L x W)
The Secwepemc Museum in Kamloops asked me to paint this from a Circa 1900 B/W photo in their archives - I was honoured and delighted to do so.
A woman prepares a hide for use with a backdrop of the bare southern hills of Kamloops in the days before houses of white settlement were built.
Slot Canyon
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
30 x 30 inches (L x W)
I think canyons are mysterious for they hide and keep private their wildness. Only by nimbly stepping along precipitous ledges, peering into steep gorges, or picking my way down to the water then twisting my face up at spires and other nameless shapes, can I get close to what is wild and mysterious about the Tranquille River Canyon.
Snow Show
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Oil
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
To be in the presence of a fleeting light event such as this one brings one right into the exact moment and the rest of the world falls away. As the sun climbs, minute by minute the temperature rises causing the snow to drip and fall from the trees and with it falls that magical glow.
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Snow Showers
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
18 x 24 inches (L x W)
A steep ascent up Mt. Paul opens up the view of Mt. Peter. It was a golden autumn day and all around isolated storms were spitting hail or dropping snow, while to my amazement, I remained in sunlight.
Spring Sing
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches (L x W)
My fingers and toes were numb while waiting for the sun to break over a mountain and light up this farmers field. On Campbell Creek road I expected the creek to be the focus of a painting but nature was going to show me something else. After dashing up and down the road to get
warm so I could properly hold a brush, sunlight spilled across the field and lit up this family of alders. Heavy with pre-bud emanations, they seemed to be vibrating in warmth and eager for more sunny days. The plein air sketch was used to produce this melodic little painting.
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Summer Time Dream
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
20 x 20 inches (L x W)
A walk in the woods brought me to this little creek burbling along. I was drawn to its edge and found myself enchanted not only by the trees reflected in the water, but the little whirlpools set in motion by a protruding log.
Tap the Stellar Jay
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
12 x 9 inches (L x W)
Tap the Stellar Jay is wonderful friend and frequent visitor to our house. She has raised two families since I've come to know her. I'm amazed how she makes a living in temperatures above 40C and below 20C, of course helping her with a few peanuts eases my mind and most likely hers too.
The Bather - after Ingres
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Oil
15.5 x 11 inches (L x W)
Jean-August-Dominique Ingres lived in France from 1780–1867. When I was painting a lot of portraits in 2012-2013 I was influenced by his work and painted this rendition to understand it at more than an intellectual level. Considering the supplies and tools available for artists from long ago, what they were able to produce is nothing short of remarkable. My real fake is the same size as his original.
Tourmaline Pool
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
30 x 30 inches (L x W)
Some of us squirm at the thought of being alone in the quiet of the woods, and for others it’s like nature’s warming embers soothing a cold and weary body, I am the latter.
On a warm afternoon in early spring, I weave my way along this little creek. Taking note of plinking sounds, the pungent aroma of damp earth, a shushing from upper cedar limbs sweeping a blue hole in the sky.
Whenever I see a certain shade of green I salivate, I want to drink it for it looks absolutely thirst quenching. That green appears in tourmaline gemstones, and in the pool of this creek.
Twinkling River
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Acrylic
24 x 36 inches (L x W)
Weaving along the river's edge between small bushes and rocks I came upon this sunlit place one morning. Quiet and intimate, the sun shone through the water and the smooth cool green flow relaxed after its little tumble through shaded rocks. The reflections and the tree screen made it all come together. I couldn't get it out of my mind so I had to paint it.
Winter Canyon
Mairi Budreau, AFCA
Oil
20 x 20 inches (L x W)
Looking outside I saw a beautiful fresh blanket of snow had fallen overnight–how delightful! I was awake at 4 am to arrive on location for a sunrise plein air painting session. The uphill trail being icy underfoot drew focus to each step. Reaching the crest of the hill I felt like something truly special was about to happen, so I quickly set up the easel and squeezed out some paint. Waiting and watching, my inkling of glory came true. Warm light enveloped all that was in sight intensifying the cold blue that remained from night, but it would be short lived. Before leaving I was chilled to the bone, the snow was dripping off the trees, and the show was over.