Seashore, Nova Scotia 1923

J.E.H. MacDonald made this 'Seashore, Nova Scotia' painting with what looks like very direct, unfussy brushstrokes, like he was just trying to get the feeling down as fast as possible. There’s something great about the way the land and the sea meet, that line of the horizon. The clouds are simple, almost like cotton balls, and the colours are really pushed. Check out the rocks in the foreground, they’re not just brown, there is yellow and a kind of purple-red in there. The paint isn’t trying to hide anything; you can see all the strokes, the way the colours mix right on the canvas. Like he's thinking out loud with the paint. It makes me want to grab some brushes and just go for it, without overthinking. MacDonald was part of the Group of Seven, who really wanted to capture the Canadian landscape in a new, bold way. You can see that spirit here, that desire to get to the heart of a place through colour and form. For me, it's a reminder that art is as much about the process as it is about the final image.