Artist Fosters Connection to Outdoors

Jessa Gilbert’s single line art champions the wilderness

BY AMY KENNY  JESSA GILBERT Amy Kenny is a writer, curator and runner of mountains based in Whitehorse, YT.

AMYKNY AMYKNY

Everything about Jessa Gilbert’s paintings suggests movement. The sweeping, fluid lines of her mountains; the way her use of colour makes it look like sun and shade are playing over her landscapes in real time; their staggering scale.

It makes sense, considering the Squamish, B.C.-based artist gathers inspiration while she herself is moving through the backcountry. For Gilbert, the experience of outdoor adventure is tied to the experience of artistic expression.

That wasn’t always the case. Growing up in Vermont, the biggest mountains she knew were the 1,000-metre Catskills. If you stepped off any road, someone owned the land under your feet. It was also drilled into her at art school.

“If you wanted to be in galleries, it was abstract, it was contemporary, it was political, it was black and white, it was people,” she says of her education at the University of Vermont. “And I was totally in that. I was like ‘well, landscapes are hokey then. The only thing that’s going to be worth painting is people.’”

It wasn’t until 2013 that she started working on the landscapes she’s now known for—the landscapes that have led to mural projects across North America, and collaborations with companies including Roxy and Burton.

Gilbert, a competitive snowboarder and athlete, had just moved to Vancouver and was recovering from a recent knee surgery. In a new city, in a new country, looking at a potentially new life (she didn’t know if she’d be able to snowboard again), the last thing she wanted to do was paint people in motion. Gilbert started sketching the world around her.

As she regained mobility and was able to explore more, she was blown away by the beauty and scale of the mountains, as well as the outdoor access in British Columbia. She sketched while she moved, on whatever surfaces were available—her pack, her skis, sketchbooks—as a way of holding on to the immediacy and the emotion that reference photos couldn’t provide.

“I wanted to capture how it feels to be in the moments of adventure and joy, and so those quick little sketches that I do, maybe they take five minutes, but they’re really the meat and potatoes of the painting.” Gilbert says it forces her to pause and be present. To take in what’s significant about the moment.

The process of single line art also requires her full attention and presence.

“Using the technique has helped me to loosen up in the studio and lighten up,” she says. “Conceptually, it connects all parts of the piece, which I think is important to consider when approaching environments and our impact. The sky, the land, the paths, the people—life is a sum of its parts.

When she’s commissioned to do a mural in Colorado, or Utah, or Whistler, B.C., she doesn’t roll into town and start painting. She researches the place. She spends time there. She tries to figure out what the people who live there want her work to say. “I think about the personality of landscape and the personality of that place and how do you showcase it?”

Ultimately though, whether she’s painting on buildings, a canvas, or a snowboard, her goal is about platforming the outdoors. About recognizing the privilege she has to get out into some immaculate spaces, and about bringing that back to people in a way she hopes will inspire them to celebrate it in their own way. 

The Marathon returns to RVM 2022

The Royal Victoria Marathon (RVM) will be back in October in all its glory

The Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K and the Kids Run will take place on Thanksgiving Sunday, October 9, the first time that all four distances will be run since the 40th Annual event in 2019.

With the event in 2020 being virtual because of COVID and in 2021 being a modified event with just an in-person Half Marathon and 8K, this year will be very special. “We look forward to hosting the full RVM this year,” says Cathy Noel, RVM Race Director & GM. The event is a popular destination marathon — and a Boston qualifier — known for its scenic course and iconic landmarks. Starting near the BC Legislature in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, the route includes a loop through Beacon Hill Park

We look forward and onto Dallas Road with stunning to hosting the full RVM views of the this year. Olympic mountains.

Cathy Noel – RVM Race Director & GM The picturesque Oak Bay Village is on the route as is Canada’s hero Terry Fox, gazing down on runners as they tackle the last few kilometres.

The 40+ strong race committee is busy gearing up for the event and registrations are going well. If race trends are anything to go by It is anticipated the event will sell out. “The enthusiasm to get out and race again and to be a part of an event is growing stronger and stronger,” says Noel. The official RVM run clinics, operated by Frontrunners Footwear, have over 200 participants training over the summer, which exceeds pre-COVID numbers. The event attracts some of Canada’s top runners including Natasha Wodak who holds the woman’s Half Marathon record (1:11:45, 2018). The men’s record was set in 2002 by Jon Brown (1:02:32). The Marathon record is 2:13:42 (Lamech Mokono in 2013), and the woman’s dates from 2011 (Lucy Njeri, 2:37:56). Both 8K records were recently set, the woman’s just last year by Sarah Inglis (25:36), and Justin Kent in 2019 (23:14). Many charities have benefitted from RVM’s Charity Pledge Program — sponsored by CHEK TV — now in its 18th year. Over $2 million has been raised since its inception raising much needed awareness for worthwhile causes. “By partnering with charities each year, we often attract and inspire new participants to be involved which helps to increase the number of participants, and hopefully impacts more and more people to set goals and work towards a healthier lifestyle,” says Noel.

For more information & to register, go to: runvictoriamarathon.com

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