Jenny Kastner

My paintings are an expression of the Kawarthas, a dynamic physical meeting place in Ontario where the granite rock of the Canadian Shield meets the limestone of the Lowlands; it is magically termed ‘The Land Between.’ I love the power of this landscape, and my paintings act as a portal into that experience of awe and wonder.  Gestural and graphic in nature, my work is centred around communicating a particular  experience of place by capturing the subtle and apparent movements and gestures found in the physical environment.  I seek to animate my subject matter in an attempt to play up the vibrance of the landscape as I see it.

The landscapes of the Kawarthas suggest endless compositions and expressions of mood and movement that inspire me everyday, and it is out in the landscape that I begin to construct paintings in my head.  On my paddleboard, kayak, out wakeskating or on a hike—it is through these soulful experiences I take with me a memory of particular light and colour, a reflective quality of the lake, or the movement and buzz of a white pine stand full of cicadas.  By combining these collected experiences with my own photographs and sketches, I come up with my compositions and conceptual expressions of place.  From there, my paintings become reactions and expressions of those moments in time. To share this with people and have them access part of that experience is the most rewarding part of my work.  

Jenny currently paints from her Boathouse Studio where Clear Lake and Stoney Lake meet, with her sons Finn and Ozzy with her much of the time. Being immersed in the dynamic landscapes of her home she finds inspiration daily; her sons allow a porthole to a magical way of seeing the world and interpreting the landscape.  Her work can now be found across Canada, and the US, as well as France, the UK, South Africa, Barbados and Australia.