JOEL SINCLAIR and ROBERT SINCLAIR: CounterPoint, April 21 to May 8, 2012, Scott Gallery, Edmonton

April 21 to May 8 2012, Scott Gallery, Edmonton

By Margaret Bessai

Joel Sinclair remembers growing up in his father, Robert W. Sinclair's studio, watching him paint. “My work is definitely inspired by his — and that's most evident in how we're both continually exploring the figure/ground relationship.” Both are elected members of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour and often travel on sketching trips together, but this exhibition, CounterPoint, is the first time their work has been shown together. The title is derived from music, and refers to harmonious difference. Joel explains, “My exploration and journey is primarily expressed through texture and brush stroke, while his is expressed through more subtle value shifts and masterful gradations of tone.” Both Sinclairs are part of a strong Alberta watercolour landscape tradition which writer Terry Fenton attributes to the legacy of artists who came to paint the Rockies: A. C. Leighton, Walter Phillips, and Illingworth Kerr. Joel Sinclair also paints with acrylic, “but watercolour is still my primary love as it embodies the dance…you have to be completely open and present to it — it's an ‘in the moment’ and fairly unforgiving medium. Unexpected things happen with watercolour, and you have to be willing to move with it and allow it to have it's own life and breathing space.”