BLUE CLIFF PART II

New Paintings by Wally Shishkov

This collection continues Wally Shishkov's Blue Cliff Series, which debuted in 2023 at the Emma Butler Gallery. These paintings bring the essence of Newfoundland and Labrador's rugged topography, turbulent waters, and mercurial skies to life.

Using palette knives, mixed media, and layered textures, the artist conjures the sheer force of coastal elements—a world where landforms melt, shorelines blur, and traditional structures dissolve into vibrant color blocks. Through minimalist geometric forms and elusive perspectives, the artist captures the internal, meditative, and physical energy of the island's wind, sea, and rock.

The Blue Cliff Record, a thousand-year-old Zen text, opens with a preface (translated by Thomas Cleary) that vividly evokes Newfoundland's landscape and character. It is this same majesty that continues to inspire the Blue Cliff Series.

"Boundless wind and moon, the eye within eyes, inexhaustible heaven and earth, the light beyond light, the willow dark, the flower bright, Ten thousand houses: knock at any door and there's one who will respond."

ARTIST STATEMENT

My best paintings come from a struggle and end with the feeling that I did not paint them but that I became the instrument for something greater than myself. Whether it is a plein air landscape or an abstract, getting to work with paint is the only thing that matters. Then, each painting develops a life of its own and comes alive on its own terms. In this process, landscapes become abstracts and abstracts become landscapes, where colours define forms and shapes. For me, this enables a reconnection with the mystery of the world.

– Wally Shishkov

Artist Bio

Wally Shishkov is a painter born in Montreal, Quebec who now divides his time painting in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He explored the mysterious world of painting since his early twenties when it was a necessary release from the pressures of medical school.

While practising medicine Shishkov studied the craft, painted, and sold his work in Ontario. In 2004, at age 47, he left medicine to return to his home in Bear River to paint. He currently exhibits in Halifax and St. John's.

Shishkov paints plein air landscapes and abstracts in oil. Both approaches inform and transform each other.

Having never put down roots in any city he's lived in, Shishkov now considers rural Nova Scotia and rural Newfoundland equally as home, the more so for having built a freestanding studio in Amherst Cove, Newfoundland in 2025.

Blue Cliff #39: Spring Break-Up oil on paper mounted on board, 17 x 21	Blue Cliff #40: Barachois Melt oil on linen mounted on board, 25.5 x 27.5	Blue Cliff #41: Pond Melt oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 36
Blue Cliff #42: Bonavista Greening oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #43: Sunset Runoff oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #44: Stalwart Runoff oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 36
Blue Cliff #45: Outport Runoff oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #46: The Dungeons oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #48: Root Cellar I oil on wood, 29 x 38
Blue Cliff #53: Seafoam oil on wood, 29 x 33	Blue Cliff #55: Reflections oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #58: Ascent oil on canvas, 36 x 36
Blue Cliff #62: Capelin Weather oil on wood, 33 x 30	Blue Cliff #64: Autumn oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #66: Gold Cove oil on canvas, 36 x 36
Blue Cliff #69: Iceberg Cove oil and collage on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #73: Valley oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #77: Harbinger oil on canvas, 36 x 36
Blue Cliff #79: Terra Nova oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #81: Dusk oil on canvas, 36 x 36	Blue Cliff #82: February oil on canvas, 36 x 36