Annie Seaton write-up in the Toronto Sun

Entertainment
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
By Linda Massarella, Sun Media



Dear Toronto: Canadian/Los Angeles artist Annie Seaton (she was born in Toronto but moved here at the age of 12) has been making a successful living taking photographs of California’s big skies and sunsets and selling them at various galleries. It wasn’t until she went back to Toronto last year to visit family that a kind of odd epiphany hit her: “I became overwhelmed by Toronto’s beauty and I felt overwhelmed by a compulsion to capture it.” Seaton spent days taking photos of Toronto streets and landmarks such as Honest Ed’s and the Redpath Sugar plant. “I know I’m seeing beauty where others may not. The sky in L.A. is filtered through smog. The sky in Toronto is magical; the sun is golden and Lake Ontario sparkles with the purest of blues.”

Seaton, 42, took the photos back to her studio and played with them, adding in painted swirls here and stripes of colour there. The works debuted at the DNJ Gallery in Hollywood last month. The Canadian consulate here passed the word and a load of ex-pats showed up for the opening. “At the opening, people who grew up in Toronto became very emotional. They were saying, ‘Oh, that’s near where I grew up, I forgot how beautiful it was’.” Seaton calls the exhibit, on until Jan. 14, her “love letter to Toronto.”

But she’s not done with the city yet. “These photos I took in May. I’m going back this winter for the next series.”


massarellalinda@yahoo.com
Linda Massarella, a Canadian writer in Los Angeles, writes every Sunday about notable Canadians living in L.A.