Cape Breton artist Phyllis Adams was a photographer who decided, upon her retirement, to re-interpret her photographs in paint. The exhibition displays her recent landscapes and portraits, inspired by her photographs of Cape Breton. Serenity is at the Corridor Gallery March 3 – 30.

Describing her process and the work on view, Adams explains:

This collection of paintings are an expression of my love of the natural surroundings and the calm I derive from it. A photographer in my younger years, I would seize every opportunity to wander through wooded trails, coastal beaches, and grassy fields, capturing the beauty surrounding me through my camera lens. Still today, I take comfort in the feel of soft mossy landscape beneath my feet as the moons’ soft glow lights the worn paths that spread across the landscape like outstretched fingers locked in perfect calm. My attempt with this collection is to portray that feeling of serenity and calm to the viewer. Also, I like to paint with bright vibrant colors to bring out even the smallest details of the landscape that sometimes easily escape our senses through the naked eye or camera lens.

Upon retirement my desire was to live by the sea and transfer all that I’ve captured with my lens onto canvas. Subsequently, Serenity is the first fragment of many varied themes I wish to unveil and depict. I invite the viewer to enjoy this collection as just simply a portrayal of the beauty in the natural world, and of the real meaning in even the simplest things in life, without any hidden agenda or complicated messages.

Phyllis Adams was born and lived most of her life in Cape Breton, where breathtaking scenery can be found around every turn in the road. She owned a photography gallery displaying her Cape Breton scenes, which have been mostly purchased by tourists and now enjoy homes around the world. However, her specialty was Wedding Photography and Child Portraiture. Painting is a new media to Adams, who is basically self-taught, having just delved into in the last year and giving away her first ‘trials’ as gifts. She is captivated by nature and people, so she always planned that when she retired, and had time on her hands, she would depict her photographic collection through painting on canvas.

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Located inside the Visual Arts Nova Scotia office at the Halifax Seaport since 2000, the Corridor Gallery is complimented by a historical legacy of Nova Scotia culture, simple yet modern architectural elements and an array of current cultural activity in the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia office. The Corridor Gallery is located at 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia and is open Monday through Friday, 9:30am – 5pm.

Visual Arts Nova Scotia advances the visual arts through leadership, education, and communication.

High resolution image for press available via Dropbox.

For further information regarding the exhibition contact:

Carri MacKay
Programming Coordinator
902.423.4694 | 1.866.225.8267 | f: 902.422.0881
vans@visualarts.ns.ca | www.visualarts.ns.ca