Erin Nelson
About Me
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I was born and raised in southern Ontario, lived in Vancouver after university, and moved to Yellowknife 10 years ago. I've always been drawn to the natural world and of all the places I've lived, Yellowknife has the most extreme environment. At 62 degrees northern latitude, there is a dramatic swing from nearly 20 hours of summer sun to a mere five hours of weak winter daylight. The temperatures shift from a balmy 30°C to a brutal −40°C. This landscape is isolated, desolate, and starkly beautiful—it is the primary heartbeat of my work.
My path as an artist began at Queen’s University, where I graduated in 2004 with a degree in Fine Arts, specializing in oil painting and metal sculpture. After several years of creating chainmail art, moving to Yellowknife called me back to oil painting. The north is a place of unique visual nuances and quiet wonders that a newcomer’s eye can’t help but notice. I am fascinated by the wind-swept skies, the chatty ravens, and the trees growing straight out of ancient, cracked rock—sights that might seem normal to locals, but remain endlessly fascinating to me.
The Process
Like many artists, I am a constant observer, and my camera is my notebook. I am particularly captivated by the unique lighting of the North. Because the sun skims the horizon, we are gifted with hours of long sunrises and sunsets that paint the sky in spectacular hues. In the winter, I watch for "sundogs"—ice crystals catching the light—and study the way the extreme cold transforms the atmosphere. I try to capture these fleeting moments before they fade.
My paintings are rarely literal translations of a photograph. Instead, they are compositions pieced together from various references, colors, and memories. Currently, I am moving toward atmospheric abstract landscapes. I find myself returning to the inspiration I first found in the works of J.M.W. Turner during university, focusing on the movement of the wind and the vast, wind-sculpted patterns of our prairie-like skies.
A Note on Originals
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Every piece you see on this website is an original work. I choose not to make prints because I find photographing oil paintings difficult and selling a finished piece encourages me to step back to the easel and create something new.