Still Lake - Novena

About Still Lake - Novena

This minimalist abstract landscape painting of a lake 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. A life spent immersed in the breathtaking beauty of sea, forest, and shoreline has continually nourished her vision. In this series, Service turns her attention to the lake. A sky-blue 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 golden brown suggesting the shoreline. Against this restrained palette pops of yellow, red, and blue emerge from the neutral colour field, illuminating a few quiet elements: a sun, a cabin, and a solitary canoe. The overall effect is one of profound serenity.

“They were all evening paintings with the hazy colours as day turns into evening and then into night. The paint blends similarly as the evening light blends, and small dabs of colour give hints of what was more distinct in the daytime.”
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.