The central concept of this series, “Nature’s Refuge,” considers the natural environment as a place to take sanctuary from everything else in life. These works of art investigate the theme that nature is a healer and protector, and a balm for life’s worries. Based on my personal experience of and inspired by the forests of St Lazare, Quebec.

My art reflects my profound connection to nature. I’m moved by the beauty of light streaming through the gaps in the trees and filtering onto the ground; by the textures of the mosses and the fungi, the leaves on the trees. There are so many variations in bark. I love how the trunks and the way branches reach out define each tree’s personality and its place in the forest. I love the image of water flowing in the early summer, then drying up and finally freezing in winter while making intricate patterns with frost and ice.

So many sounds are part of the experience: streams gurgling in the spring; birds calling; chipmunks and squirrels twittering. The sounds of leaves or snow beneath my horse’s hooves; the feel of wind slapping my face when cantering. The muted sounds created by a carpet of falling snow.

I’m in love with the forest smells: cedars, pines, wet leaves, rotting undergrowth, new growth, summer wildflowers in the meadows, a warm honey-like smell I can’t properly describe.

I want to relive these sensations as I am painting, and when I look at my works — I remember autumn in summer, I remember spring in winter.