Rehabilitating into the Wild
A Letter from Christopher Cape

​Dear friends of Westland Gallery,

Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Christopher Cape, and I am an artist.

During the latter part of May I will be showing a new series of paintings at Westland Gallery in Wortley Village.

I’ve wanted to explore/paint London proper for many years and thoughts have already begun to percolate.

As a painter, who primarily paints out of doors (en plein air), spring is always a reintroduction back into the world. After a long winter hibernation painting outdoors becomes a planned sortie or attack. The changing of the season melts away many things besides snow and ice, my boundaries melt as well.

After the recent years of restrictions and lock downs I feel more tentative than ever about loosening up my internal restrictions. Quickly spring approaches and the physical and emotional boundaries within me feel very much frozen in place.

The thought that, this spring my rehabilitation back into the wild begins, keeps reoccurring. Whether the wild is the sand cliffs along the shores of Lake Erie, a busy downtown street at lunch, or my favourite restaurant.  The world seems new and wild again.

As I am a stranger in London, well not exactly a stranger, but I am definitely not a local, I need the inside scoop. I want to see London the way you see it. I need the breath of familiarity.  The places that have gone from mundane to wild over the past two years.
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The places that make you feel something:
A sunset bathed parking lot.
A grouping of telephone poles.
A street corner.
An alleyway where the wind always howls.
A church parking lot.
A nature reserve.
A park bench where you feel at peace.
Or perhaps the old part of downtown that rarely sees people anymore.

I want a crash course on the hidden wonder and wildness of your home

I’m excited to explore your streets and to have you see the city, where you live, in my paintings this May.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to meeting this spring at the gallery to discuss how our rehabilitation is going.

Christopher Cape