Artist Sheila Lewis, 88, launches A Long Trail

“The name,” notes the prolific 88-year-old artist, refers to “long in distance, and long in time.”

Her visual autobiography visits memorable places and recollections in the UK, Europe, Cayman, New Zealand, USA, the Rockies, Ontario and the Maritimes. In less than two years, Lewis has painted over 40 new pieces for the show including one of her earliest homes, captured by photograph in 1925.

Her painting of the same has an appealing air of innocence. Long Trail gives us famed monuments such as the Acropolis, city skylines of the 1950s, memorable mountains, powerful rivers and varied saltwater scenes.

Nova Scotia is featured in 15 paintings.

The show's wealth of source material includes sketches, photographs, and a lovely pen and ink drawing, circa 1910, by her uncle Frederick Tom Skinner.

Lewis, the-then high school student, carved a 1935 lino block, Paris Medley after returning from a class trip. She then printed 350 copies by hand for the school annual and all these decades later, the block can still be used to turn out prints.

Lewis lives and works in Rose Bay. She has studied extensively in England and Canada and is an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. Her works are in private collections in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Hong Kong in addition to Parks Canada and several public art galleries.

She enjoys an enthusiastic local following and participates in the Annual Green Bay and Beyond show in Petite Riviere and members' exhibits in the Lunenburg Art Gallery.

She is captivated by a quote from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. It sums up her Long Trail vision: “These memories, which are my life – for we possess nothing certainly except the past.”

A Long Trail opens 3 p.m. on Sept. 2. At that time, Lewis will also launch her second calendar, this one featuring paintings from her latest show. Although she doesn't have a computer, she has a website and e-mail. The choice of calendar paintings was voted on by invitation, sent by e-mail with a link to a private vote page on her site.

Bridgewater artist Ruth Wilton will open the show. She is known for representational watercolours - architectural and landscapes.

In 1999, she had a solo show of 35 paintings at Lunenburg Art Gallery. She has participated in various group shows – including the Annual Green Bay and Beyond Show as well as an exhibit of Nova Scotia art in France.

Ruth recently returned from her ninth trip to Cuba. She with Jane Smith and Eliza Schurman brought a Nova Scotia art exhibition to the country, also a five day workshop.

Ruth is presently exploring the possibility of presenting a Cuban art show in Halifax in 2010.