Inspiration of many forms
- Nicole Fougere
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Esther Oosterbaan’s journey to Newfoundland is as rich and textured as the landscape that now fuels her creativity. Born and raised in Amsterdam, she trained as a classical musician before life brought her to British Columbia—where falling in love with a Newfoundlander changed her course for good. Today, she calls Stephenville home, and her artistic practice continues to evolve in dialogue with the place she now loves.
Esther’s latest exhibition, INSPIRATION, currently on display in the OPEN Gallery at the Rotary Arts Centre until June 11th, is a vibrant testament to the forces that shape her work—landscape, memory, and language. Having taken up painting in her 20s, Esther pursued her passion for art with quiet determination, attending classes wherever and whenever she could. Over the years, her work has appeared in the B.C. Festival of the Arts, the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts & Letters Awards, and exhibitions with the League Of Artists Of Western Newfoundland (LAWN), of which she is an active member.
Her style is intuitive, shifting fluidly between realism and abstraction, always encouraging viewers to bring their own imaginations into play. It is this openness that defines INSPIRATION—not just a collection of paintings, but a heartfelt response to place, poetry, and the enduring emotional terrain of Newfoundland.
The exhibition is also a collaborative conversation with Esther’s friend, writer Alison Dyer. Alison’s collection of poetry,
I’d Write the Sea Like a Parlour Game (Killick Press), serves as a key source of creative fuel. With what she describes as a “painter’s eye,” Alison crafts vivid portraits of Newfoundland through language. In turn, Esther responds to her words visually—sometimes drawing from a full poem, sometimes just a phrase or a title, but always with emotional depth and interpretive freedom.
Esther first glimpsed Newfoundland from the air, and in that moment, fell irrevocably in love with its rugged, magnificent coastline. That awe and reverence have never left her. With INSPIRATION, she invites us to feel it too.