Comparing Coasts – Painting Canada’s East and West

When I set out to paint stories of Canada, I knew I couldn’t do it without eventually comparing my west coast home with the east coast of this country. Over the years, I have painted the prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and the North, but it wasn’t until 2023 that I found myself standing on the easternmost point of Canada, looking out toward the Atlantic from the rugged cliffs of Newfoundland, and painting Canada’s East and West coasts.

An artist residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation allowed me to immerse myself for a month in rural Newfoundland, exploring the Avalon Peninsula and painting where the sun first rises in the country. It was exactly what I needed to complete a vision nearly two decades in the making – to fill the missing piece in my ongoing portrait of Canada.

What I discovered on the east coast is that, despite our vast distance, both coasts share a deep affinity for the ocean. We live surrounded by it, shaped by it, and inspired by it. Yet, the Atlantic feels more fierce, more exposed, an endless expanse that pulls you outward. Here on Vancouver Island, the ocean is often framed by islands or the distant outline of the United States. It’s tamer at first glance, but venture north and you’ll find wild, uninhabited shores every bit as raw and powerful as Newfoundland’s cliffs. The cliffs there are their Rocky Mountains – ancient, resilient, and endlessly humbling.

Both coasts share a rugged individualism that sets them apart from the rest of Canada. We are, in many ways, outsiders – shaped by isolation and by a closeness to the elements. For years, I’ve been trying to reconcile my ideas of Canada and what it truly means to be Canadian. In that process, I often felt like an observer on my own coast, always looking for a way in. Newfoundland changed that. Painting there deepened my understanding of my home on Vancouver Island, and in turn, made me love it even more.

Now, as I paint from my new studio further up the Island, shifting from a southern to a mid-Island perspective, I find myself turning inward. My daily walks by the ocean have become quiet meditations. The beaches, the light, and the rhythms of the tides are slowly revealing themselves as new subjects in my work. It’s an introspective time, one that feels like a natural continuation of everything I’ve been exploring across the country.

This fall, I’ll be showing many of these new works, alongside paintings from across Canada, in my upcoming solo exhibition “The Wild Life” at the Miller Art Gallery in Edmonton, opening November 13, 2025. The show reflects a journey that has taken me from coast to coast, from one edge of the continent to the other. It’s a wild life indeed, and the journey continues.

Read more about Brandy Saturley’s time painting in Newfoundland here.