In the summer of 2016 I unsettled myself. I hoped to find an answer to the question “What is home?”

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I left behind the things that are the foundation of home for me – my kitchen, teapot, bed, books, plants, and even my cat.

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My journey began with a 4500 km road trip between Winnipeg and Corner Brook, followed by three months on the remote, re-settled Exploits Islands where I worked on most of the paintings for this show.

 

I spent time with family in places I knew intimately and made temporary homes with unfamiliar people in unfamiliar places. I lived in a tiny camper trailer, my family’s cottage, my childhood home, a light keepers' residence, and in a 140 year-old wooden house on the edge of the North Atlantic.

 

On Exploits Island, I lived part of the time without many of the creature comforts of home – electric lights, a washing machine, a fridge, running hot water, or drinkable water right from the tap.

This unsettling caused me to pay attention to the places where I felt most at home: where I was content, at ease, safe, and comfortable in my own skin. I observed commonalities and similarities within my experiences in these home-like places.

 

The images in this show were drawn from what I came to understand about what can make a place feel like home: comforting familiarity.