I fell in love with painting landscape

I fell in love with painting landscape oil paintings nearly twenty years ago. Over the years, most of what I paint comes from the streets and scenery near my home in York Region, including Unionville and Markham, Ontario. My soul often wanders through these familiar landscapes. While people usually drive past in a hurry, I find myself holding onto those fleeting moments that quietly move me. Sometimes I am able to stop and capture them with my camera; later, when I have time and my heart feels calm, I paint them on canvas.

Whenever I paint a landscape, I feel as though God is guiding my hand. With every brushstroke, I am filled with wonder—it no longer feels like I am the one painting, but that it is God’s own touch moving through the brush. This feeling often fills me with joy, lifting my spirit and bringing a smile to my face. It is from this joy that my desire to paint is born, again and again.

————Alva Gao