Paintings by Roisin

lovers

2006-07-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is a place in Elora called 'Lovers Leap' where the story of young lovers remain overlooking the gorge. During the war of 1812 a soldier fell in love with a native girl but when she heard the news that he was killed in battle she threw herself off the cliff, unable to live with the loss of him.

eric

2006-07-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

my great old cat

old trunk

2006-07-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

chickens and hens

2006-07-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

bridge

2006-07-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

young faydra

2006-07-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Some Sadness...
Many of you will remember my lucky fate in getting a job last year to be Faydras nanny. She will be four years old in the fall and has suffered through all her years with painful brain cancer and partial blindness. Now as she grows older, so has her illness and her family have been given the sad news that her time here is short. It's not likely she will reach the end of the summer. Remember her sweet face in your prayers and her family too as they spend as much time with her as they can this summer in joy.

~

2005-10-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

o

2005-10-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

"Old Woman"
oil on canvas

******

2005-10-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

"The Pine"
oil on canvas

"Sunset"
oil on canvas

These two paintings were each done at a time when I was overcome by emotion. The first, with the single tree, I painted after I had been hurt very badly and this painting appeared as if by the brush and not my hand, calming me and relieving my heart. The second, with two trees, I did in a state of pure joy! I found myself surprised by happiness and this became a tribute to that in a way. Niether one was planned, but just done when I felt the need to express my emotions and let them out. And to my surprise, the two are so similar in content, colour and style. I thought it was amazing that in two completely different states of mind and heart, I unknowingly expressed myself in the same way. These paintings remind me that dispite the feeling you may have in your heart at any one time, it is a true emotion and it is you. Angry, hurt, lonely or joyful, thankful and happy; these make us us, and to express our hearts' state is the greatest testament to ourselves.

*****

2005-09-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

"Wedding Anniversary"
oil on canvas

This was actually a bit of a laugh to paint after my parents 30th wedding anniversary. They are just crazy about eachother and always joking with eachother, teasing and having fun. There was one moment when my mom was looking very longingly at my dad while he, secretly, was joking about how long the 30 years had been in a way that only my siblings and I could see. It was hilarious and I thought it perfectly captured the relationship they have. They are still so in love and never stop having fun, keeping the sillyness of their youth alive. It's very admirable!

****

2005-09-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

"Church Street"
oil on canvas

This is a fabulous house in Elora that I've always loved. It is on a street named after the fact that the road splits to wind around a massive old church right in the middle of the street. I've always thought that this area was so very uniquely small town and very beautiful. This house was one I used to dream I lived in, when I was a child, while playing in the playground right across the street from where it stands. The trees and the house are so old and they stand at this little corner in a way that almost comands you to admire it when you walk by. It's something about small towns and the old houses in them that really strikes my curiosity about the history and time that past.

***

2005-09-17T15:59:00.003-07:00

"White Sky"
oil on canvas

Oil on Canvas
by Ciaran Myers

Zimmerman's music coasts the air
Harmonizing paintings that plaster the wall:
The wind in the trees and a yellow stone house,
A woman wrapped under a purple shawl.
In the midst of it all a girl waves her brush
And lets the frost settle on pale pine trees.
Above the trees the sky, subtle and full
Supported by an eisle with pleasure and ease.
She pulls out life from the canvas we see
With a dust coloured sky that is calm and strong;
And under the sky stares small little me,
Next to her creation; that's where I belong.

**

2005-09-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

"Red Scene"
watercolour and stained glass

As well as painting I also work quite a bit doing mosiacs in stained glass. This one is from a series when I was mixing glass with a small abstract watercolour. Later I'll adds some of the portraits I've done with stained glass as well. The idea of making mosiacs with glass came to me as an experiment really because I found some glass when I was making wire mobiles. It just so happened that they became really popular and I was asked to make more and more glass pieces. Now I'm working on some larger pieces using coloured galss and mirror. Stay tuned!!!

*

2005-08-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

"Beginning of Night"
oil on canvas

This was the most fabulous sunset that my sister and I watched while driving home from a folk festival one night. We had to pull the car over a few times to watch as it changed constantly right before our eyes. It was a great night, and one that I'll never forget!

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2005-08-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

"Woman 2"
oil on board

I often get questioned about the reasoning behind the titles of my paintings. Perhaps people expect indepth meaningful names to help deliver the ideas or emotions behind a face or scene. However I find that I get annoyed with an artist telling me what to feel when seeing thier work. I like to look at something inocently and decide myself what I am seeing and how a piece affects me. Also I'm afraid that if I did come up with a more specific title I might seem pretentious or cheesy. So I keep it simple and let the painting speak for itself. What can I say?

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2005-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

"Youthful Day"
oil on paper

This is me and my sister in Sault Sainte Marie where my family used to go every summer when we were little. I remember this moment so clearly. This rock was far out into the water and we used it as a rest spot to sit and comfort our weary legs and arms from swimming so much. Looking back now, the rock was actually only a stone throw from the shore and we probably could have walked out to it but it's great how things seem so different through childrens eyes. My sister and I went and sat on that rock all the time, not letting anyone else join us because it was "our rock". We were always very close growing up and still are today and this moment just captures all the joy and great memories I have with my sister. I guess it's an unintentional tribute to our friendship. So there you go Nighma!

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2005-08-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

"Old Man"
oil on canvas

This painting was a bit of an experiment in mixing two techniques. I painted the mans face with a palate knife, which gives more texture and depth to a picture. For the rest I used a brush and long movements that bring all the focus right onto his actual facial expression. It's an interesting painting I've learned because every person who has seen it, sees a different emotion in him. Another interesting thing about paintings...you never know how it will effect people. No matter what intentions I may have, interpretation is always different for every person.

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2005-08-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

"Trees and Sky"
oil on board

This view is of a friends back yard looking out over the cornfields. I actually painted this one to vent out some frustration and try to find some consolation in a happy memory. We had spent a lot of time walking through those fields and watching bald eagles fly about looking for food. There were many good moments with those fields in the background and so in an effort to calm myself in the midst of sadness, this appeared on my eisle.

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2005-08-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

"Smoke Woman"
oil on canvas

Interesting story. I actually painted this the first time about six or seven years ago for a school project. In school my friends and I spent far too much time in a small Irish pub in Elora, reading books, drinking coffee, and talking about rediculous mind boggling things which then were hugely important, but now I forget. That's the way it goes though. All of my dear friends smoked like chimneys and I did not. We often romanticized about unknown wonders of life and one day began discussing what in fact, is in smoke. Of course we know the facts, but that's no fun for anyone! So my friend posed his hand just so and the next thing I knew I had a painting of a woman coming out of the smoke. In all honesty, I don't really like this painting so much. It doesn't say anything important, as some have imagined some statement on smoking or deep rooted myth, but just reminds me of some good times. It is nothing like anything I had ever done before and yet it is a favourite of many people and I have repainted it to sell three times already. What can I say? You never know what people see when they look at a painting, but I suppose that's what makes it all so great!!

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2005-08-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

"Apprehensive Man"
oil on canvas

The idea for this man came roughly from a photo in a magazine of an old guy looking away at something undefined. I thought the idea of looking over his shoulders gave a nice setting for my thoughts on this generation having seen so much in thier lives. I always thought of this man as someone who perhaps had sorrow or fear and now instinctively pauses to look behind him when passing through unknown places. As if he unconciously second guesses dark corners and quiet walls. It's not meant to be a sad or unfortunate thing, but simply a fact and part of his life as we all have habits learned from the experiences in our lives.

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2005-08-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

"Skyscape"
oil on canvas

On my sisters 10th wedding anniversary I drove with a friend to the celebration dinner at my family home in Elora. It was very cold and the sky was striped with clouds until a grey storm cloud grew out of the horizon. It was a great drive, spent mostly with me ingnoring conversation to watch the setting sun and the impending storm compete with the sky. A beautiful day to celebrate love and family!! Congratulations!

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2005-08-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

"Hands"
oil on canvas

I am of Ireland,
And the Holy Land of Ireland,
And time runs on,’ cried she.
‘Come out of charity,
Come dance with me in Ireland.

When I was little I had a favourite book of Irish poems and my favourite was this one written sometime in the 14th century. It had a fabulous photo beside it of a pair of ancient hands wrapped in prayer. I used to stare at it for ages and when I began to paint I had my mom pose her hands in the same way for a painting. It's one I'll never sell because it's full of memory.

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2005-08-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

"In Forty Years"
oil on canvas

I had the idea of this painting after knowing someone with a lot of sadness. He was so resigned to the idea of spending a life alone focusing his days on work and was content to give up on his once failed search for joy.
A couple of years ago while volunteering in a retirement home I had the opportunity to speak with a man about 90 years old who said his life had been one long mistake. His only love left him and he never knew his children. Before I left he looked at me right in the eyes and said words I'll never forget:
"Fight for your life. Search for love and when you find it don't let it ever go because loneliness is the highest sentence."
I imagine my friend in forty years sitting alone like that old man, wishing for the chance to go back and do things right. It makes me sad to know that anyone can give up at such a young age. I hope that may be one day he'll find some serendipity that will bring him happiness. This painting remindes me to find joy in everything and to look forward to laugh lines instead of frowns and sad eyes.

.

2005-08-01T13:23:00.001-07:00

As the middle of seven children Roisin Myers grew up in Elora, Ontario, a small town where the Grand and Irvine rivers meet. In her youth most days were spent playing outside with her brothers and sisters and exploring the landscape of old trees, stone cliffs, rivers and waterfalls throughout the village. In the summers her family often took trips to the East coast of Canada where she grew to love the landscape and learned about the great Canadian artists who captured its diversities. Through travels and days in her home town, Roisin became mesmerized by all the faces of land and skyscapes and grew to love the movement, colour and mannerisms of the environment in which we live.
As well as landscapes, many of her paintings are portraits of the elderly. She is enthralled by the times that older generations have seen and try to capture the weight of their memories in portraits of their characteristic faces. So often in young generations, we forget the changes the world has seen, both horrific and awesome. We overlook the people around us who saw a lifetime of wars, new inventions, families living and dying, heartaches and joys. Through her portraits she strives to bring new appreciation to those with such remarkable life experience.