ABOUT CHRISTOPHER GOREY
Christopher Gorey is an accomplished watercolour and oil painter whose art typically depicts the beautiful light and landscape of Northern Cape Breton. A signature member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC), Chris’s paintings can be found in the collections of singer Anne Murray, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Ontario’s Seneca College and Nova Scotia’s Acadia University.
Chris, who lives in Ingonish, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, started painting when he was 10 years old, and began exhibiting and selling his work professionally in his 20s. He’s exhibited his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout North America and has won awards at La Societe canadienne de l’aquarelle, the Watercolor Art Society of Houston and the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolor.
His Open Water 100 exhibition entry, “Avebury” was inspired by a trip he and his wife Lynn took to England in 2023. “I hadn’t been there since 1972,” explains Chris. “My mother was a war bride and I still have many aunts, an uncle and many cousins living there."
“The first day of our trip, we visited the town of Avebury, known for its ancient stone circle that encompasses the whole village. In the centre of the community sits the Red Lion Pub. The age of the thatched roof and adjacent buildings was the motivation for this painting.”
The artist offers, “painting is a very visual and personal thing that is difficult to put into words, so I try to avoid doing this."
”Every person will see my work in a different context; some people will see it as a literal interpretation and others as something else. If it moves the viewer, that’s great. If not, that’s fine with me as well. Most of the time there is no hidden meaning intended. I just paint. That’s my job.”
Weekly until September 9, read about the six Maritime artists featured in the Open Water 2025 exhibition organized by the Canadian Society of Water Colour Painters, on display from September 11 to October 2.