Celia Sage’s canvases offer insight into the Prince Edward County she calls home. Her work uses settings that are cinematic in composition, while her artist’s vision merges subject, perspective, shadow and hue to translate her experiences into single narrative images. Celia finds that when she is inspired to paint something well, she tends to fall in love with it at the same time. “On the Millennium Trail near my house, the sumacs are a subject I’ve painted in many seasons,” she says. “It’s a different kind of glorious each time.”
Her scenes can be broad or intimate. In one work an espresso cup and saucer are captured against the backdrop of a bar setting; in another a vignette of peonies invites the viewer to take a time-out. “It’s their lush richness shot through with light that I love… the mystery of life,” the artist says. “It’s like a visual psalm.”
Celia’s instincts respond to what her eye sees, varying the frame with renewed focus. Once at a book launch, the event took on a different form from the upper mezzanine: “The overhead perspective was irresistible. The way people arrange themselves in a room is fascinating choreography.” Through the alchemy of paint and brush, Celia’s images often take her beyond the canvas.
“Sometimes I feel like I just want to be the landscape, and painting it is as close as I can get.”
Story by:
Conrad Beaubien
