A view from all sides
with Bobbie Smith

Most people like to have a view, often paying extra to be able to see an ocean or a beach from their cottage or hotel window. The inside of a factory ceiling doesn't usually fall into that category.

Marcia Lea has painted oceans and beaches and other pleasurable landscapes that constitute that beautiful side of life, but this time she has come across beauty in the oddest places.

None of this is odd to her because of her uncanny fascinating and mastery of light and shadows.

"I am intrigued by light's ability to express form and for its creation of atmosphere," she says.

She can sometimes spend 10-12 hours a day, depending on how many courses she teaches and how many entrepreneurial duties find their consuming way into her schedule.

"I paint 10 hours a day not because I have to, it's because I just love it," says Lea about her vocation, one that needs only minimal inspiration.

Lea's latest work was inspired by the interior of an old paper mill in Quebec now used to make maple baseball bats. This factory wasn't just any factory, it was where her father worked around the '30s or '40s, she can't remember precisely, doing his first real job. In fact, as she writes in her exhibit notes, she thrived on finding memorable moments in a purely functional environment.

"My artistic reaction was to look for the human among the vast interior and the warmth amidst the metal and concrete," she writes. Her search led her to other workplaces of a similar functional nature such as the experimental farm where she photographed two red wagons to paint later.

She showed the resulting series of paintings called "The Industrials" at her most recent open studio, or self generated art show, in late September at the old Medical Arts Building on Metcalfe at Lisgar. The inside ceiling of a factory, which is the painting on Thursday Night Café's homepage, is a gem through the eyes of this painter.

"I love it," she says, "You don't even need to know what they [the industrials] are, in fact, it's more interesting if you don't." She warns that people used to seeing the inside of factories, or red wagons, like in the above piece, may not find the pieces as meditative.

One of the other interesting views on display in Lea's collection is the series she calls "The Aerials." Drawn to the ancient art of archaeology from her university years, Lea found herself in low-flying planes in a quest to reveal ancient sites, and in hot-air balloons taking photographs of the natural geometry that she late painted in watercolour.

Keep your eyes open for her studio showings. Once you see them, there's no turning back.

Finally, there is good news and bad news. The good news is:this talented painter is teaching courses starting in October. The bad news is, they are filling up fast. www.marcialea.com