The nature of art

Photo by Liz Lott

Liz Lott creates work that is easy on the eye and the environment

By Sarah Ryeland

What inspires an artist? Is it love? Life? Family?

For Liz Lott, it’s all of the above and more.

For Lott, there’s no such thing as a typical day. One day you’ll find her taking beautiful wedding photos or family portraits, and the next she’ll be painting futuristic interpretations of her city’s landscape. The day after that, you might find her selling environmentally friendly goods and handcrafted jewellery at Hibou, her boutique in North Bay.

“Every day is completely different,” she says. “I run an eco-shop, but I also do photography. I’m also an art instructor through Learning Through the Arts, I’m a mom, and I do volunteer work for different community groups.”

Obviously, she knows how to keep herself busy. But when you have a passion for art and giving back to both the community and the environment, there’s no such thing as time off.

Lott grew up in Powassan, and began travelling the world once she graduated high school. She visited many different countries and experienced life in various cities around Canada – even studying visual arts at Montreal’s Concordia University for a year – but eventually she returned to her roots.

“I moved back up north because it’s just where I feel most at home and most comfortable,” she says “with all the nature and lakes and trees.”

That love of nature is something that fuels Lott in every project she tackles. As a young girl, the artist became inspired by action the government was taking against issues like acid rain. From there, she involved herself in environmental groups in places like Barrie and Temagami and has continued to incorporate environmental issues into her art.

One of her favourite projects is a photograph of North Bay that she manipulated with paint to include an imaginary scene: giant red pines growing in the middle of the downtown core. To create the piece, Lott printed the image onto canvas and then simply set up her easel on the sidewalk, picked up her paintbrush and got to work.

“I really believe it brings all of my passions together, that painting,” says Lott. “It’s combining two of my favourite mediums, but it also combines my intense passion for the environment and wanting humanity to realize that if we don’t have healthy surroundings we’re not going to get very far. I really believe that we need to get back in touch with nature and bring it back into our lives.”

It’s a positive message, too. Lott’s vision of the future is one where our environment is healthier; where humans respect the land and live within it peacefully.

“That’s one unbelievable thing about Liz,” says Lott’s friend Yan Roberts. “All of her stuff is so positive. That painting in particular gives us the opportunity to choose a better way of doing things, without fear mongering.”

Judging from the reactions she gets, others feel the same way too.

What Lott is creating is a positive future through the power of art. Her photography focuses on capturing the innocence of youth and the simple joys in life, like new families and young love.

In fact, the decision to focus on photography was one that was made with the healthy future of her son in mind. When Lott was pregnant, she realized that her oil paints included toxins that she didn’t want to expose her young child to. So instead of focusing solely on painting, she began to develop her skill for photography.

“I decided to take a break from painting,” says Lott. “I purchased a manual camera for doing slide documentation for applying for grants and juried shows, so once my son was born I started taking pictures of him. Through encouragement from friends and family who said that I could take good pictures, I decided to try doing children’s portraiture and prenatal images.”

By the following summer, Lott had added wedding photography to the mix. Each year her business grew bigger and bigger and now her company – Snapdragon Photography – is a well-respected name in the industry.

“I really love people and I love capturing intimate moments with them,” she says. “That I can apply my artistic knowledge to my work is pretty great, too.”

She also applies her artistic knowledge to the work she does in her eco-shop. The name Hibou is French for owl – Lott sees owls as symbols of nature and wisdom, and encourages her customers to make wise and environmentally friendly decisions when it comes to making purchases.

Customers come into Hibou – located in the F.A.R.M. (fashion art and retail market) collective in North Bay – not only for her environmentally friendly items, but for the artwork as well. Lott has a well-trained artistic eye that offers her customers the opportunity to be gentle with the earth, while still being stylish.

Hibou also has another function – bringing together those who care about the environment.

“It’s such a fabulous addition to our community,” says Roberts. “It’s a place you can go and you’re guaranteed to run into someone that’s likeminded. The fact that this is right on Main Street in North Bay makes it normal and gives us all a sense that we’re not alone with these ideals.”

Lott and her friends are also advocates for the bring-your-own-bag program. Hibou Boutique has a strictly no-plastic-bag policy.

“Plastic bags get airborne and animals consume them,” says Lott. “Loons get them around their necks. That was the inspiration to not have bags. Yan (Roberts) made some great signs for having at point of sale and also at the door reminding people to bring their bags, so that was really great.”

It may seem like Lott has a lot on her plate, but it’s by focusing on what she loves that gives her the fuel she needs to create her art. And she never stops learning, either. She has taken photography courses taught by local photographers David Lewis and Jim Forsythe, and continues to work on being the best photographer, painter, environmental activist and businesswoman she can be.

“Liz is so invested and involved in every single community that we run into her everywhere we go,” says Roberts.

While she continues to grow her eco-business, Lott is also very focused on her photography and art, making sure none of her passions takes the back seat.

“I’ve been a visual artist since the time I could hold a crayon,” she says. “And I would like to pursue my visual art and the urban ecology series a bit more. But I also want to foster and grow both my photography and eco businesses.”

Clearly, Lott shows no signs of slowing down. And for the city of North Bay, the arts community and the environment, that’s a really good thing.