Archive for the ‘artists’ Category
If you are driving on the 401 between Toronto and Kingston, consider making a pit stop at the Wondrous Textiles Art Show at the Scotts Barn Cultural Center. This is a showing of Textile Art Works by a trio of artists – Susan MacDonald, Sheree Rasmussen and Judith Tinkl.
Each artist works in textiles, a family favorite; but each in diverse ways captured well in the shows ad brochure. Some PixofCanada goers will remember Sheree Rasmussen’s wonderfully colorful dancing color applique’ quilts from our coverage of the Spirit of the Hills Art Show at the Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival.
Check the color analysis found here of a superbly bountiful piece.
Susan MacDonald creates wearable art that is most refreshing in design and concept:
Here is just but one of over a dozen designs which can be viewed here.
Judith Tinkl, former head of the textiles section of the Ontario College of Art Design, shows a great creative spirit in her textile and quilt designs. The following quilt shows the great sense of design and color transparency and accumulation in Judith’s works.
Look for great inventiveness in the designs and layouts of Tinkl’s textile works.
In sum be prepared for some color and design delights in cloth and fabric at the Wondrous Textile exhibition – well named, indeed.
When you come up to the Warkworth Golf Course on Route 29 just east of town there is a big barn that features all sorts of paintings, sculptures and Garden arts for sale – its Windebank’s on Route 29. Well this year I did not have to wait until Summertime to find out what is to be on sale this year. There is always some fabulous outdoor art at Windebank’s Garden Art barn[I suspect the name could easily be changed to Windebank's House & Garden Art for the robust artworks could easily add cheer to an extended porch or breakfast room].
The horse pictures are typical – very bold in form and sketched with line +strokes equally brash in style:
The colors are bright and say open greetings to you and guests.
Yes the steeds suggest a proud, regal bearing; but that is a horse’s defining trait. The painting use mineral based paints so they will last the scourges of sunlight supercharged with Global Warming rays.
The following is a bouquet of flowers that one could have in the kitchen or bathroom to add color and cheer to each day – like a smile or a kind word or two:
However, I must admit I have a place in my heart for roosters and chickens – maybe because eggs at breakfast animate my days. Also, Mom had chickens at home and they were always animated and never dull. But you had to protect them against the foxes and weasels and other varmints. Mom tells some amusing stories about raising chickens on her dad’s farm and her sitting on the eggs to try to hatch them. Maybe that is what these chickens are fleeing from:
My earliest memories of home are the imperious roosters and their morning calls – and Windebank’s has not failed to provide Roosters in grandiloquent form:
I was pleased to see at the Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival’s Craft Show what Windebank’s is going to have for sale this Summer. So the next time you plan a golfing trip to Warkworth, be sure to stop by at Windebank’s for your House and Garden Art as well.
As noted in our previous posting, WWMSF-Warkworth’s Maple Syrup Festival has a lot of attractions beyond March break fun for the kids in the Sugar Bush. Here is one of the great finds this year – The Spirit of the Hills Art Show. The Spirit of the Hills Art Association put on an Art Show at the Percy Heritage Centre that was a delight for the range and often witty style of the art work on display.  Here is our Whitman Sampler of the Goodies to be found at the show.
Bronson Smith 
I have driven from Warkworth to Hastings dozens of times and have noted in mind – “this a beautiful farmscape, I should take a picture”. Well Bronson Smith has given a  remarkable wood and paint collage of what is to be found along the Hastings  Road. It just pops into your head  ”ahah”  like a well turned phrase.
E.Montgomery
Stained Glass work has a fascination that endures. Its like a mosaic  with back light that nature  and the artist get to play with. Certainly Eagle Spirit has this sense of color, light and ground. The eagle motif rides  shafts through arcs of the day.
Clive Russell
There is a Roman Bacchanalia wit in this multi-layered look at the annual summer Long Lunch Feast along Main Street in downtown Warkworth. The many, almost-tossed canvases at helter-skelter angles; the overhead jet spiriting its white contrailed way out of the feast scene; the thick, oil-luscious lunch loungers; the green pines waving on hillside; plus the three piece orchestra on the side tooting away – these are just a few of the many elements that Warkworth residents came to chuckle and enjoy in this popular favorite at the Art Show. Good wit and great artistry enjoyed by all.
Jacqueline Staikos
I was never sure that I dreamed in color [or at best a muted sepia tone] until one night the colors roiled and swerved in sparkling, bristling hues like Jacqueline’s Untitled #3. Now I also happen to use a Photoshop Plugin from Canadian firm Flaming Pear called Swerve, that suggest this pulsing amoeboid world of color … but the shifts in hue, form and messaging is so subtly delightful – its a new world that one can possibly find in your dreams.
Sheree Rasmussen
Now just on the other side of the wall was another hueful study in forms and colors, City of Light by Sheree Rasmussen. This work takes color facades to a new space with a wall of city colors that shimmer and outline such incredible tone possibilities, like Josef Albers on quilts. I was so intrigued by the palette possibilities a test of the image produced the following palette starting points at a Web Palette-from-Image Analyzer:
Just as the textile work suggests, there is a city of many breathing color, each advancing and then hiding again – there was a wealth of hues and palettes to be found therein.
Brenda Sullivan
Another bit of sly sleight of hand, Brenda Sullivan’s Gossip, provoked both howls of mirth and silent chuckles. There is a naughty cleverness as the same waves that connect the ears also occupy the eyes and surround as throttling necklaces. Good humor was certainly to be found at this art show.
Paul Portelli
As is to be shown in the next three artists, good sculpting arts were to be found at the show. Summers Sleep by Paul Portelli had the look of a tall, thin, 1930’s flapper girl – immediately bringing viewers to closer inspection of the terracotta and embossed metal work. There is spare loveliness that had this photographer looking for an angle. And the subject reminded me of the Navaho Indian women seen a decade ago bedecked in a New Mexico ochre sunset tracking spirits with their closed eyes.
Viviani-Finch
Dominating the second room of the show was the glass sculpture by Gundi Viviani-Finch, Blue Forest Tree. Standing on a circular wire mesh, the DNA-helix like design carries your eyes up and around in two transparent spirals. And the glass crafting pieces adhere together themselves in surprising ways – a mind’s delight.
Claus Heinecke
The third sculpture on show was a large wood piece, Four Figures by Claus Heinecke. It is really only one but its twisting form and shape is really four or more points of view. I should have taken at least 3 or 5 more pictures and composited them together [Clive Russell's Long Lunch work was already saying "hint, hint"]. But unfortunately brightness failed to shine on mind – so you will have to follow this twisting shot and check Claus’ website for some much better renderings of his sculptures.
Mary Lou Burnside
I love good ceramics and pottery. So when I saw Mary Lous Burnside’s tongue-in-cheek Pot of Gold
Harvest of Tantalizing Talent
As can be seen from the examples above the show had an ample supply of really pleasing art. And there was more. Unfortunately I ran out of space on my SD card so I had to double up on some shots, Also unknown to me at the time – the shots of the photography images failed to turn up because of glare and reflections off the glass as seen below:
I hope to be able to get some of the photo images as they were very innovative and polished. I also have a group shot of some of the other paintings works to indicate the quality of the art on show.
The colours and stylings in the paintings here certainly catch the eye.
In sum, I am glad that a very busy schedule allowed some time to take in the Spirit of the Hills Art Show. True, it had to be tucked into coverage of the Maple Syrup Festival. But that is the very synergy here – the Maple Syrup Festival provides the opportunity to see Arts and Crafts at a high caliber as part of a fun weekend.
Normally I stay away from touting TV shows. And Lord knows CTV is doing everything heavy handed it can with its promotions and website coverage of So You Think You Can Dance Canada [hint you don't have to cave to your sponsors every whim]. And the Lord and everybody else knows the judges on the US version of So You Think You Can Dance are SO BADLY OVER-THE-TOP that, despite very talented dancers, I have been unable to watch the program for more than 5 minutes [and I have tried over half a dozen times].Yet despite these downsides I watched So You Think You Can Dance Canada’s second season’s first performances show – the top 20 Dance Off. And here is a hint of why:
The dancers are very, very good. Okay, there is great athleticism, but also top showmanship as well. And as last year, the choreography is also a pleasure to watch. The pro choreographers are certainly a)using the enormous talents they have on stage and b)are also using the So You Think … situation with a puckish wryness.So the dancers are outstanding. The choreographers are very very good. The judges are not way over the top … and the staging and commercialization by CTV? Well, not so good. But the first two are so good … I will endure the rest to see some fabulous dancing performances.
Alicia Surveyer, Montreal artist, is now represented by a gallery in Toronto’s Queen St. art district. The gallery, Precious Eklektik, located at 201 Queen St. East, features her work in the store and online, and just held their opening party yesterday. Precious Eklektik represents many different artists using different media, including painting and drawing, but also sculpture, jewelry, furniture making and many other styles. They sold one of Alicia’s major pieces before the opening. See the full range of works at AliciaSurveyer.com.
Alana Kapell is a Kingston Ontario area Artist who works in some of the traditional but also exotic areas of painting and craft. In the latter category she has done Encaustic paintings which she describes on her website as:
“Encaustic paintings are usually done with purified beeswax and pigment or oil paint.
The wax and pigment are heated and applied molten to an absorbent surface.“
As you can see along the left flank it also allows Alana the opportunity to do some mosaic work as well. The result is a styling that is hue and texture rich – a taste of Herculeneum Modern.
The above detail shows the lively styling opportunities available. Alana also does rug hooking works with a whole series featuring nautical knots along with the fish that might be ensnared by such knot makers. You can find a selection of here works at The Gallery Raymond in Kingston Ontario. You can also contact Alana by email directly.
