Welcome to geoterre....the art of Ian de W. Semple:

A Thought For The Month: “Mindful of the vision and artistry of the masters, no artist can ever hope to out-compose nature.”

*** Check EXHIBITS section for forthcoming exhibition


“Geo” is a root word from the Greek that means “earth” or “of the earth” as does its French equivalent “terre.” As such the two words combined and coined as one by the artist reflect the landscape origins of his work, be they classic landscapes, figurative art or abstractions. It is the artist’s belief that there is little in the natural or artistic world that does not qualify to be considered as landscape.

While conventionally, the latter is normally deemed to be that art which depicts the form and geometry of the land comprising the physical world, life forms are also landscapes derived from evolution, each being unique in form, colour and texture.

Those terms also describe that which comprises abstract art. In essence, the canvas, board or paper are starting planes on which are built the landscapes that form our artistic depictions of the natural and abstract worlds. The totality of these realms become landscapes or in this artist’s case, his “geoterre.”

The Working Wilderness Heritage Series portrays in particular the work of geologists, foresters and ranchers within the wilderness environment. Canada’s natural resources industries of mining, forestry, oil and gas and ranching have traditionally underpinned the economic and social fabric of the country. Present and future artwork generated within the Working Wilderness Heritage Series is intended to not only depict the personal recollections of the artist’s fifty years of exposure to the working wilderness as a geologist and briefly, forester, but also hopefully to provide some historical record of an important way of life that is rapidly being lost to modern technologies.

Follow "Tales From The Underbrush" in the artist’s BLOG.