Loreta Hume
Born and living in Toronto ON, my career path started with editorial illustration, followed by a successful career in graphic design. These past few years I have returned to exploring my passion for producing fine art. Oil on canvas are my preferred media. My art portfolio includes montages inspired by personal experiences travelling the world. I have also produced a broad collection of Canadian themed art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Looking is physical, and overlooking common. Seeing is an involved mental process of perception. I want my art to take my audience deep into scenes that have resonated with me. I encourage my audience to take the time to see, observe, study, connect and their “take away” to be the conscious practice of finding joy and peace in their surroundings, whether travelling or walking through their immediate neighbourhood.
Quick sketches and watercolours are the planning steps before putting oil paint to canvas. Our memories of our fondest experiences, are always exaggerated as being more exciting, more colourful, “more” than the reality. When interpreting my perceptions with my art I use a generous margin of artistic license, exaggerate colours, play of light and shadow, perspective, for the “more than life” result.
Born and living in Toronto ON, my career path started with editorial illustration, followed by a successful career in graphic design. These past few years I have returned to exploring my passion for producing fine art. Oil on canvas are my preferred media. My art portfolio includes montages inspired by personal experiences travelling the world. I have also produced a broad collection of Canadian themed art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Looking is physical, and overlooking common. Seeing is an involved mental process of perception. I want my art to take my audience deep into scenes that have resonated with me. I encourage my audience to take the time to see, observe, study, connect and their “take away” to be the conscious practice of finding joy and peace in their surroundings, whether travelling or walking through their immediate neighbourhood.
Quick sketches and watercolours are the planning steps before putting oil paint to canvas. Our memories of our fondest experiences, are always exaggerated as being more exciting, more colourful, “more” than the reality. When interpreting my perceptions with my art I use a generous margin of artistic license, exaggerate colours, play of light and shadow, perspective, for the “more than life” result.
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas (framed).
24x30"
Avignon, Provence, France
• Quiet, hidden residential courtyard
• Signs of medieval prosperity/affluence
• Located in Avignon’s “Exchange” quarter
• Smoke damage to the porous limestone
• Oxidized bronze bell, beauty with age
The bell has the glow of an emerald in the soft light
$3,500.00
Oil on canvas.
36x36"
Detail of a city home in Lisbon was inspired by the sunny day during a wander in a quiet neighbourhood. The sunny yellow, the well worn entrance to a residence with two well cared for potted trees welcoming any guests.
$5,900.00
Oil on canvas (framed).
72x30"
What hardships and losses has this woman has suffered? And the young girl, are her hopes and dreams as delicate and fleeting as the butterflies? Weaving skills and knowledge have been passed on from generation to generation. Government village weaver projects are a series of initiatives to create economic opportunities for artisans. The patterns and colours of the textiles on display for any tourist traffic are in stark contrast against the dusty dry countryside.
$5,900.00
Oil on canvas.
36x60"
Location: Japan’s Sagano Bamboo Forest on the outskirts of Kyoto
The painting is a montage of elements of Japanese culture:
- Central female figure is an Oiran. These well-dressed women were high-ranking glamorous courtesans in Japanese society. The tradition started in Edo period (1600-1868). At the time Oiran was seen as an entertainer and a superstar. The fashionable Oiran was usurped in the 18th and 19th centuries by Geisha.
- The Japanese zen garden or “dry landscape” garden, creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, pruned trees and bushes, and uses gravel or sand that is raked to represent ripples in water.
- Koi fish symbolize good luck, abundance and perseverance.
- The shimenawa is a special rope tied around or across an object or space to denote its sanctity or purity. This bamboo forest surrounds one soft sounds, light, peace: a spiritual experience.
- Thunder Gate Lamp, Kaminarimon Gate, entrance to Sensoji Temple, Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo. An intricate dragon-shaped wooden carving adorns the base of the gateway’s red lantern. This dragon lived in water and was revered as a god that could save Asakusa from fire with its power over water.
$3,000.00
Oil on canvas.
24x36"
Pre 2023 earthquake this woman going about her daily routine in the Marrakesh medina had no idea of what destruction was to come.
Majorelle Blue is a vibrant, intense shade of blue that captures the essence of the exotic and the artistic. This striking color was named after the French artist Jacques Majorelle, who used it extensively in his works and in the famous Majorelle Garden in Marrakech. This vibrant blue is a much-used accent colour throughout the city.
Ancient Marrakech is a soft, warm pink. The earth is dry, and any breeze kicks up that sparkling pink dust.
The garden spaces are important to the daily lives of this ancient city. The word "riad" is for the traditional home with its enclosed courtyard with orange and olive trees and tinkling fountain.
$3,900.00
Oil on canvas.
48x48"
After a breathless climb up an endless staircase in Cusco this weather worn door stands against the elements. The woman carrying her goods shows the strength of the Inca lineage. From this top level of the city we are looking at the rooftops, mountains and stair access.
$3,900.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
This ancient medieval capital of Morocco is often referred to as “the pink city”. Its buildings have been constructed using red earth from the surrounding hills. Marrakech is magical. Each alleyway exposes hidden gems and stories of the past. Every corner of the medina holds a secret. It is a journey of discovery, a dance between the old and the new, the familiar and the unknown.
The woman in the foreground represents the ancient mysterious but fading past as she rushes into the future.