Still Lake - Dusky

About Still Lake - Dusky

This minimalist oil abstract landscape painting of a lake at dusk is by Pat Service.

In the Canadian art world, the name Pat Service has long resonated as one of the country’s finest landscape painters. Over the course of an impressive, decades-long career, she has had the courage to explore a range of genres, evolving from traditional landscapes to more abstract and minimalist expressions. The Still Lake Paintings series, begun in 2005, showcases her masterful use of colour, line, and pared-down form to create striking, contemplative compositions. These paintings were created while Pat Service attended the famous Emma Lake Workshops for professional artists run by the University of Saskatchewan. She was inspired by the remarkable depth and colour of the nearby lake which visibly changed as the light shifted from day to night. Here, a soft gray ground achieved through carefully layered glazes establishes a tranquil atmosphere that merges water and sky. The canvas is bisected by a simple, darker band of gray suggesting the shoreline.
Against this restrained palette pops of yellow, orange, blue and white emerge from the neutral colour field, illuminating a few quiet elements: a setting sun and its reflection, a cabin, and a solitary canoe. The overall effect is one of profound serenity.

“During late afternoon, early evening and then at night, the colour of the water slowly changed. Earlier, when the sun hit the lake there could be sparkling turquoises or surprisingly bright whites; concurrently you would see burgundy and dark green below the water. With the mystery of the lower depths, from daylight to early evening, each time I came to the beach the lake had changed.
It was a puzzle. How did that happen? How had the colour become so interesting and mysterious?” Pat Service

“Like Cezanne, she is able to describe an object with one simple brush stroke and her strokes are some of the most intriguing: soft but rough, energetic yet still.” Anya Georgijevic, artist and curator

Pat Service acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of B.C. and later studied art at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Service’s work is held in private collections in North America, Britain, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Pat Service is represented exclusively by the Oeno Gallery.