MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2018

72 MLCM FALL/WINTER 2018 In art class, the “single line” technique requires the artist to draw without lifting pen from paper until the piece is complete. Jessa found that looking at the mountains in a similar, continuous manner helped her tell a greater story with each canvas. With exaggerated colours and dramatic lines, each of her works brings nature to the viewer in a way that’s more daydream than photorealistic. “There’s an honesty to them,” she explains, “a shakiness in the line, and a human element that can sometimes be lacking in highly-doctored photographs of the same scenes.” These lucid characteristics of Jessa’s work–the pink in the clouds, the exaggerated shadows on the ridges–act as a well-intentioned inflation of what we actually see, but they also represent how these places can make us feel. Her style is relatable for anyone who has toured through a snow-laden old growth forest, stood on top of a windswept ridge, or plunged into an alpine lake. Jessa’s love for the outdoors and her ability to comfortably shred in the mountains (she’s a tail guide at Baldface Lodge in the winter) gives her access to unfiltered beauty, which helps make her work more alive and unique. And while she always has a camera on hand, for her it can never capture the feelings of being in the moment. Watching the sun sink behind a snowy ridge, the weightless of a pow turn… Jessa wants her art to do more than to simply recreate how those experiences appear. “I hope that these moments are felt by the viewer, and that they can feel a sense of joy towards the wilderness and an endless curiosity for the adventure ahead.” jessagilbert.com “Your skin track up the mountain becomes complete as you create your own line down the mountain back to your starting point.”