Two artists with a passion for geology will present a dual show at the Brushfire Gallery beginning April 1.

Erosion, by Claude Boocock and Sylvie Pinard, is a collection of works from the two artists that will showcase each artists’ conception of erosion and how it transforms the environment.

Boocock says art infiltrated her life while growing up in Montreal in a family of professional photographers and artists, attending ‘vernissages’, visiting studios, and touring sculpture symposiums and galleries.

After moving to Jasper in 1970, Boocock began her love affair with the “live theatre within the beauty of the mountains.”

Glacial erosion and all the transformations it inflicts on the landscape has been Boocock’s main interest, and through various mediums she has attempted to recreate these changes. 

Since the beginning of November 2010, Boocock says she has been trying to produce a piece each week, even incorporating fabric into some works to create more texture.

“I have also been experimenting with large pieces, which is new for me,” she says. “It has been so challenging and fun. Sometimes the process takes over and it’s like the painting is telling me what to do.”

That thought was echoed by Pinard who was born and raised in Montréal. She studied geology at the Université de Montréal and graduated with a PhD in geology, with a speciality in micropaleontology. During that time she had the opportunity to work in the Northwest Territories, Alberta and Nunavut (Ellesmere Island).  

According to her biography, it was on these travels that Pinard rediscovered the beauty of nature, easily forgotten in the big cities.  Skies, light, mountains, plains, rocks, minerals, animals, vegetation and water took a new place in her life. 

Landscapes are a major source of Pinard’s inspiration, with her geological background influencing the representation and the spacial relationship of the components. In her paintings, colours play a dominant role. 

Pinard, who leads a very busy life, says she often has to force herself to sit down and paint for a solid period of time. At the Erosion show, she says that people can expect to see a range of realistic landscapes with a lot of detail.

Pinard says she didn’t hesitate to say yes when she was approached by Boocock to partner for Erosion.

“Claude [Boocock] felt her work complimented mine, and I could see the process of erosion in her work,” says Pinard. “It was nice to see her approach (to the subject). It is very creative.”

Boocock says she has been inspired by her many backcountry trips.

“I find it fascinating. It’s like I can feel the history of the mountains,” she says of the glacier-filled areas she has travelled to.

Pinard, who obviously draws inspiration from her background, is also inspired by the erosion of glaciers.

“There is a lot of freedom in our approach,” says Pinard of herself and Boocock. “We each did our own work, both with a passion for the same thing.”

“Their brushes disintegrate shapes, their tools alter surfaces. Like nature they add to subtract, remove to give, but also trap movement in an attempt at framing erosion.” 

Check out Erosion on April 1 at the Brushfire Gallery, when Boocock and Pinard will host an opening gala from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.