Making waves – Artist Joseph Sampson is impassioned with water “Water, Water, every Where . . .”
Such might be the chant that best describes artist Joseph Sampson’s recent body of work. He is devoted to painting water in its infinite variety. Whether painted ebbing and flowing over slick, smooth pebbles or being pierced by granite outcroppings reaching toward a multi-hued sunset, Sampson’s waters are so evocative one can almost hear the whoosh as they lap rock and shore.
Whenever he can, the Ontario artist heads up to the province’s northern lakes to fish with his brother Ken. Fishing, needless to say, is a euphemism for being close to water. “We love to chase muskies,” Sampson says. “But we’re more catch-and-release fishers. Being on the water and taking photos is what it’s about for me.”
Even a cursory overview of Sampson’s oil paintings reveals an expert brush blending exacting detail with the play of reflected light. There remains, too, a touch of Tolkien. Being pinned to a particular style is a matter of indifference to him. Only when pressed, does Sampson admit: “I guess my work is some- where in between realism and impressionism. I’m a realist but I also try to capture the magic of the moment and place in time.”
Among the influences that can be gleaned from Sampson’s work are those of celebrated Canadian landscape painter Ron Bolt and portrait artist Lucian Freud. With Bolt, Sampson shares a passion for Canada’s coast- al and river waterways. His thick layering of oils to create life and movement, however, are reminiscent of the sometimes choppy, impasto style used by the world-renowned British master.
Though they share a common theme, no Sampson waterscape is the same. Each one represents a unique experience of water viewed from either the water or the shore. “In my open-water paintings, I want viewers to feel inside the scene itself, like they are rid- ing the waves,” he says. “You could say these paintings are more alpha. Those that include the shoreline are usually more restful, as though the viewer were taking a gentle walk along the water’s edge.”
