"It could be said that Reid looks skyward through his subject's eyes for understanding and Rebecca seeks the earth's energy and knowledge through the roots of her trees."

Rebecca Mason and Reid McLachlan, 2009.

Becky Mason and Reid McLachlan's paintings profiled in the hard cover fine art book Indelible Souls.

This hard cover, 11" x 8 1/2",  44 page full-colour catalogue celebrates Mason and McLachlan's duo art exhibition Indelible Souls that took place August, 2009 at the Cube Gallery, Ottawa, Canada.  

We printed only 20 books using a print-on-demand Canadian company that specializes is high quality inks and environmental paper www.photobookcanada.com (off-site link). We only have a limited amount left.

Each linen covered book is individually bound by hand, using a side-stitch binding method that provides exceptional bind strength and comes with a hand painted original painting and a woodcut print attached to the end pages. The books will also be signed by both artists.

To purchase our Indelible Souls full colour hard cover catalogue please go to our giftstore.

Rebecca Mason, watercolour on paper, 2" by 11",  2009

Reid McLachlan, woodcut, 6" by 5 1/4",  2009

Book Foreword by Paul Gessell

At first blush, Rebecca Mason and Reid McLachlan seem to have little in common beyond the home they share in rural Chelsea, Quebec. Upon closer examination, we soon realize that both of these artists deal in secrets from their separate studios in that home. Mason’s secrets are those of the natural world. McLachlan’s secrets involve people.

Mason’s paintings of forests, rivers and hills can be deceptively gentle. But all is not bliss. Inspiration for these works often comes from disasters. There are natural ones like the infamous 1998 ice storm. There are man-made ones that cause environmental degradation. And there are disasters of a more spiritual nature that await those who penetrate a metaphorical forest of dark secrets.

In this body of Mason’s work, we see in the foreground trees with personality. They are proud and assertive. They are also intent upon crowding out everything around them. In the barely visible background, we see forests filled with the ghostly cries and whispers of other trees, other plant and animal life, with stories more muted, their secrets still hidden.

McLachlan’s paintings are more blunt. They are filled with conflict and tension. Dark thoughts like smoke emanate from them.

In many, a man and woman sit side-by-side, staring in opposite directions, like Prince Charles and Diana in the last days of their troubled marriage. Like the royals, McLachlan’s characters are simply not connecting. They are unable to forget last night’s quarrel. We do not know the cause of the quarrel. But we guess. And we all place upon these paintings the memory of our own lover’s quarrel.

I have known Mason and McLachlan and closely followed their careers for 13 years. I have slowly been unpeeling the layers of secrets in their work. There are still many fascinating layers to uncover. 

Paul Gessell, 2009
Former arts critic with the Ottawa Citizen.

To purchase our Indelible Souls book please go to our giftstore