Crafty Canadians
Drawing artistic creativity from the beauty of nature
Last Christmas, I was moved by the bird photos in the Decemberjanuary issue of Our Canada. They inspired me to start painting with acrylics on canvas. My whole life, I have been passionately inspired by nature. I grew up playing in the lush fern and mossy red cedar rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and I would swim in the emerald waters of the Salish Sea. On Vancouver Island,
Steller’s jays, ravens and bald eagles would fill up the sky. In contrast, the drier, more grassy rolling landscapes of the foothills are home to a variety of smaller birds and southern migratory species. Cottonwood forests are divided by the mountain-fed waters of the Sheep River. It is here in these rich river ecosystems that you can find the greatest abundance and variety of western wildlife.
My best friend Pierrette and I have made going for nature walks for artistic inspiration a tradition. She takes along her hightech camera and I bring along a sketch pad and guide books. She takes pictures of deer, ravens, owls and anything we can watch from a close but respectful distance. We also collect river rocks that we later take to the studio and turn into jewellery or mixed media art. And we drink our tea.
My hero is Robert Bateman. I love that his career as an artist has always been finely intertwined with his first love of nature. We also share the same birthday. It would be a dream to study with him. I have never taken classes before and I just
enjoy being in the moment with art, and painting what I see.
My artistic background is as an entertainer working for the cruise lines. My job was to sing and play bass guitar for whomever they would bring on board. Rosie O’donnell, Cyndi Lauper and the New York casts of Evita, Wicked and Les Misérables were some of the people I had the pleasure of working with. I came home to start a family and I haven’t looked back.
When I am alone, the rain and solitude help me become more creative. It is then that I write poems to go with each of my paintings, and then songs out of each poem.
It typically takes me two to three days to create a small to medium-sized bird or animal painting. I like to create complementing wire-twist jewellery sets to represent the essence of my animal subjects. The tools that I use to paint are fairly basic: just a small pack of good-quality acrylic brushes, canvases of varying sizes and paints in the basic primary colours and shades.
My favourite painting is of the cardinal from the December magazine cover. I saw my very first cardinal ever last year. It is their distinctive call on which I have based a poem/song called “The Reddest Coat.”
Nature doesn’t lie. It is vulnerable and real. By painting and documenting these beautiful creatures, I hope to draw more awareness to their conservation and to the forests and ecosystems we all share.
North Raven Studio, which I will operate out of my home, will open its doors to the public in late October.* It is in this setting that I wish to combine music and art in unique ways through expressive, themed shows and original music concerts. The space will also be a place where my students can be creative and perform—a dream come true on so many levels.
My music videos and art can be found on my Facebook gallery pages, North Raven Studio; on my new Youtube channel, Allana Shumka; and on my Instagram page, allanakristine.
*Editor’s note: The time of writing was well in advance of the publication date. We hope the opening of Allana’s studio was a big success!