Throughout human history, nature has been a profound source of artistic inspiration. In this ongoing Art & Nature series, we talk with artists whose work is inspired by, created in, or connected to the brilliant nature in the Nature Trust’s care.

Allyson Simmie is a goldsmith whose work with stone and metal reflects a close observation of the natural world. She grew up in Halifax and attended NSCAD University, graduating with a BFA (Jewellery) in 1989. She worked as a goldsmith in Ottawa and in 1994 was offered an opportunity to teach jewellery at Nunavut Arctic College and her adventurous spirit jumped at the chance. By 1997 it was time to start her own business; but before leaving Iqaluit, Allyson created her second solo show, Arctic Landscapes, featuring jewellery and sculpture combining precious metals with stone from Canada’s Arctic.

The new Legislative Mace.

Since then Allyson has participated in three Northern group projects including the Northwest Territories Legislative Mace and the Official Symbols of Nunavut Project. She has provided work for the Offices of the Prime Minister and Governor General of Canada, and has exhibited in numerous shows across Canada and the USA.

In 2016, Allyson was inducted as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

In 2000, Allyson moved back to Nova Scotia and began work on Seal Rock Studios. She is currently living with her family on Nova Scotia’s scenic south shore, where she continues to work as a professional artist, still exploring and celebrating the theme of the Canadian and Arctic landscapes and sharing her experiences both North and South.

She has supported the Nature Trust for almost a decade, most recently contributing a pendant for the silent auction Inspiration Gallery at our 30th anniversary gala.

What draws you to nature as inspiration for your art?

One of the reasons I keep working in this theme is because I didn’t grow up in the natural world. In order to capture a sense of it, you really have to look. If you’re going to try to capture the essence of a baby maple leaf, in those little clusters like a hand with fingers closed, inside there’s a perfectly formed miniature maple leaf – I’m still doing this because it still amazes me and there’s still so much to see.

Your work is deeply grounded in your connection with the Arctic. How did that relationship develop?

Allyson Simmie in 1996 just outside of town in Kingait, Nunavut.

I grew up in Halifax, but I really came of age as an artist in the company of Inuit artists in the North; that very much influenced how I see the world and the work itself. Before I started working as a full-time artist in 1998, I spent three years teaching jewelry-making on Baffin Island. Before I left, I wanted to give a thank you to the community because I’d learned a lot about the connections between the land and the stone that I never noticed before; I grew up in downtown everywhere – Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa – and when you’re in Iqaluit there’s no buildings, trees, there’s nothing but land and sky and this amazing tundra. I wanted to do a solo jewelry show as an example for my students, and I thought I’d base it on the theme of the Arctic landscape, using stone from Baffin Island. There can be a stereotype of the young white person who comes up, complains about the barren wasteland, and takes off. That’s not me! People had been so generous with their observations and things. So I thought, if I can capture a sense of the landscape in my work then the community will know that I appreciate it. That show was jewelry scale but also included some sculpture, like brooches in frames as wall pieces. The roots of some of my production line started with that show, like the Frozen Moon line.

How does Nova Scotia’s nature (very different from the tundra!) figure into the art you make now?

“Afternoon Sun” pendant, one of Allyson’s transitional pieces from the North to the South Shore. It has the rolling hills of the landscape on South Baffin Island but also the strong ocean horizon line of Nova Scotia’s South Shore.

I moved back here and particularly to the South Shore very deliberately, to shift focus a little bit onto building family and community, which I hadn’t really had growing up. But of course it’s the South Shore so it’s so beautiful, and the ocean is such a strong visual.

In fact, some of my favourite pieces are the ones I made when I first moved here, because they’re kind of an amalgam of the Arctic and Nova Scotia. I find those very interesting in hindsight. The ocean is such a huge presence so that took up a lot of space for a long time.

Changing my environment opened up a whole new and different natural world to discover. I drove up and down the Aspotogan peninsula every day for eight years and there was this one beach that sort of opened up into a huge horizon line with the islands and I thought, I have to make a ring of that! I slammed on the brakes, did up a quick sketch and that became the Shoreline Ring. I had really looked, every day for almost ten years – then suddenly, it was the time.

“Shoreline Ring” by Allyson Simmie.

In the last couple of years I’m sort of coming around to forests. I was always kind of freaked out by forests. First of all, I’d get lost in half a second by myself – a city girl kind of uncertainty of how to survive in that world, even on a path. I have a horrible sense of direction. And also it felt very closed in, and I preferred the wide open spaces of the seaside or the prairies. But because I’m quietly looking and being open to these things, now I’m discovering that forests are awesome! Trees are awesome. It sounds so stupid, but there’s always something to learn about and be amazed about. I’d like to do a series on the Acadian forest. Recently, I was driving and looking at the silhouettes of these trees, I think they were aspen, and there was this pattern of the leaves shimmering back and forth.

When I moved back to Nova Scotia, I also introduced stones from other parts of Canada. All of the lines that I created from that point on are under a series called “Connections,” in which I very deliberately combined stone and metals from different parts of the country. Gold from Nunavut with jade from British Columbia to make “Summer Mountain Sun” – it kind of shrinks the country in the one piece, and I love that idea.

How do the different media you use shape the way you reflect nature?

I’m generally trying to create forms to hold and showcase these elements in a way that lets them do their thing.

With the stone, I either have an idea and go looking for the stone, or I see the stone and it reminds me of something I’ve observed. The stone itself is kind of like cheating. It just is. It’s fully formed and gorgeous and amazing on its own, so it’s mostly about looking closely and keeping your eyes open to find the right one. It speaks for itself if you’re looking for those kinds of things.

It was formed from the earth so it’s not surprising that it looks like the earth. There’s a black serpentine that I use, and when you really look at it, it has these tiny flecks of brown, maybe yellow, maybe a little mica. At first it just looks like black but then you look closer and it has some depth, these little sparkles; to me they look like stars in the night sky. So that worked into the Winter Sky line, based on that observation. And there’s green jade from British Columbia – you know if you’re looking up toward the tree and the sun is shining through and the leaves get this incredible bright green colour? Well, high quality jade is translucent, and it’s the same colour. So I want to do a series with metal cutouts with a leaf silhouette of that aspen treeline I drove by, with the jade behind it – the feeling of the forest in the sun.

When we had that solar eclipse a couple years ago, I was like, oh my gosh! It’s IN Nova Scotia, let’s go! Cynthia [the Nature Trust’s donor relations coordinator and friend of Allyson] and I drove up to Meat Cove and of course it was mind-blowing. It’s too much to take in in the split second you have. On our way back we stopped at a beach and there was this rock there, it was kind of shimmery-looking. I thought, that’s kind of the vibe of the eclipse we just saw, and the moon, I think it’s a shale of some kind with mica or something. So I collected a little bit to maybe work into another eclipse piece someday.

Impression of stone texture.

The metal is not at all natural to work into these themes. I tend to go for a simplicity of design and let the materials speak for themselves. I also often work with texture, and I try to reference things directly as much as possible. For example, I use a couple of different rock textures – I created a special mixture of wax and plastic that I heat up and pour onto the rock to make an impression. I also have a process to make an impression on high-karat gold using pieces of the tundra that I have; it gives it an intangible organic feeling.

About 90% of my designs are round – the earth is round, the sun is round, the moon is round, life is circular, literally the circle of life. There’s a lot of variation on round around here! If you contain something it’s also easier to see it; it focuses your eye.

I’m always keeping my eye open for different techniques, too, looking for ways to capture a sense of something I’ve witnessed. I have to see it with my own eyes, I have to experience it or I can’t do it. There has to be some real connection there.

How does this natural inspiration relate to your support of the Nature Trust’s work?

I can’t think of much that’s more important than preserving the natural world, especially as someone who grew up not appreciating it. We just have to do what we can. It’s a responsibility to preserve it.

The natural world just keeps doing its thing. It’s been billions of years in the making, so just leave it alone! Let it do its thing! I think that’s so important.

As a self-employed artist I don’t ever have a lot of extra cash, but at some point I saw that the Nature Trust had a campaign where donations were quadrupled with matching funds. So I took one of my rings and I did an online auction and it sold for something like $750 and I donated it and that got quadrupled. I was so happy! Something that I created just put almost four thousand dollars into nature conservation! I’m always happy to do anything I can – money, awareness, appreciation. I also want to give a big thank you to the Nature Trust and all of its supporters – it’s an important job and it doesn’t happen in isolation.

You have a show opening in October to bring together all of your work with lapidary artist Dan MacLellan, who is retiring. How are you feeling, going into that?

Select Canadian stones

I’ve been working with the same stone cutter for 28 years, since I started as a full-time artist. I just want to see all the work together, because I never have, so I’m remaking every one of my production line pieces that will be retired. It all revolves around the stone itself so it’s going to be a big change and I figured it deserved a send-off – 28 years of focus and commitment and effort.

How it feels quite surprises me. I knew it was going to be a lot, intellectually. I’ve had a lot of loss in the last five years, and a lot to face down – so I get through all of that and now I’m losing this? But at the same time, I know from experience that it’s so rare in life to have these moments where space opens up that isn’t spoken for in advance. It only happens a handful of times, if you’re lucky. I love those spaces, because who knows what will fill it? So I’m definitely feeling the loss but mostly it’s like, wow, where’s this going to go?

And in that full circle way, I recently received a random text from one of my old students and friend of mine who’s an amazing artist and I told him about what was going on and he just responded – “Yep. Time to make art.” So maybe that’s what’s happening.

Thank you to Allyson for sharing her inspiration and story! Her upcoming show, Upon Reflection, will be exhibited at the Peer Gallery in Lunenburg from October 3-11. Make sure to visit the gallery website for hours and location.

Learn more about her work at allysonsimmie.com.

If you are an artist and would like to share the story of how nature influences your art, please reach out to us at nature@nsnt.ca!