A never-ending practice

Teresa Knight paints in cycles.

Instead of focusing on a sole subject throughout the year, the acrylic and oil artist puts her brush to several of them — often returning to the same few threads for decades.

“It’s all over the map,” she said.

Her current exhibit at the Galley @ Qualicum Art Supply, however, only showcases two of those series. The first, and most obvious, is florals.

Knight said that she only paints these colourful images once a year in the spring when roses and peonies start to bloom.

“They’re a symbol of spring,” she said of the latter. “When I was a kid I just thought they were the most beautiful thing in the world.”

For the past 20 years, the painter said she has attempted to capture the essence of these flowers: the beauty, the smell and the feeling of summer.

“I don’t feel I’ve gotten there yet,” she said, adding that she doesn’t plan on stopping until she does.

Alongside the peonies and roses, Knight’s exhibition includes a few of her landscapes.

“I try to paint the feeling that I get at that time and place,” she said.

The images are mostly of places the artist is familiar with, which these days is often around her home in Union Bay. The landscapes are also usually set at twilight or at night. Knight said that she finds the light at high noon too harsh, and instead prefers the “magic” and “mystery” of the evening.

“Everything turns around,” she said.