De la Rivière Gatineau

From December 2025 to May 2026, I am undertaking a self-directed art residency, residing along the Gatineau River, in the small village of Chelsea, Quebec, spending several months observing and working through ideas in the studio. Building on my still life practice, I am still painting florals and botanicals from an intimate vantage point, but working on fine linen and muslin, softer, more porous fabrics than traditional canvas, which echo a quiet, domestic history that allow the images to hold both immediacy and memory.

During this time, my work has moved beyond the tabletop. While vessels, fruit, and heirloom plants remain, I am carrying my florals outward into the surrounding landscape, translating close observation into larger, more immersive compositions. The river’s shifting light, dense growth, and quiet rhythms sharpened my attention to pattern, repetition, and the space between wildness and arrangement.

Some of the resulting work is below. It moves between interior and exterior, where cultivated forms meet untamed growth, and close looking becomes a reflection on place and continuity.

This collection is currently on exhibition, courtesy of Culture Toronto, as a part of 3rd Voice at Assembly Hall Gallery in Etobicoke, ON, from February 17 - March 26, 2026. Email christie@christiebakerart.com for information or to purchase.