My annual exhibition was 4 weeks ago, and it feels like I am just now getting myself organized after the intensity and work involved in the show as well as visiting with out of town guests, family and friends. I am still surprised and delighted when people travel from afar to Edmonton in November for the show. It has often been suggested that I move the date to a nicer time of year, but my logic is that it is a bit of warmth and light in the cool grey of early winter.
Another surprising thing to me is how my year’s work looks installed in one space. While I am making the paintings throughout the year, they get stored in plan chests or stacked against walls, waiting to be completely finished, signed and framed, all of which happens the few weeks before the show. We then fit them in frames, package and store them until taking them to the exhibition space on exhibition day. It is like Christmas, opening the packages and deciding where they will hang. When it’s all done and everything has been properly lit and labelled, I have a few quiet minutes to walk around and appreciate the work in its entirety for the first time. When the doors open, the invited guests also see the paintings for the first time and I love seeing their reactions. The paintings only hang in the space for the evening, and everything gets re-packaged and whisked back to my studio the next day.
I am interested in people’s perception of the body of work as a whole as I am often too close to the paintings to notice changes. Some people felt that there was a certain “openness” or “lightness” in the paintings, others commented on the intense detail and even more intense sense of light. Someone else noticed that the roundness of sun doesn’t have to be specifically rendered but rather is suggested by the dissolution of form and the geometry of rays around it. It is rewarding and somehow affirming when people notice and understand those details. I love getting comments on the door prize entry forms and read every one, so thank you for leaving those. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!
“Fire Island” | Watercolour | 31 x 24” framed | Private Collection
We just returned from the annual holiday party and exhibition at Canada House Gallery in Banff, Canada. This was our 10th year attending, and I am grateful for the opportunity to meet or reconnect with fellow artists, catch up with the staff, and just be in the company of mountains. We squeezed in two days of ski touring to clear our heads & stretch our legs while processing the very busy past few weeks. It was also time to contemplate the next crescendo, that of holiday festivities, and planning our longer annual trip to the mountains at new year’s. Fingers (or skis) crossed for good light, fresh snow and dramatic vistas to inform my next exhibition, scheduled in April at Canada House.
“Wayfinding” Watercolour on Board | 24 x 24” framed | Private Collection
