Guelph Gallery Going

The other day, I had some time to do errands and I ended up taking in some of the wonderful group shows going on in the city right now. My first stop was the Boarding House Arts on Dublin St. and Waterloo Ave. The Art Gallery of Guelph (formerly the Macdonald Steward Art Centre) has a pop up shop group show representing some of the artists in the Art Sales and Rental gallery in the main space until June 27th. 

Some lovely work in the entrance gallery by James Olley, Colin Carney and Alison Judd. Unfortunately for snap shots- all works on paper under glass. The one above was the best I could get, Alison Judd's 'Log Jam Study 1'

Robert Achtemichuk's gouache paintings on silk

The catalogue fire sale where the deals were just too good to pass up.

My etching and washi work on canvas 'looking up is its own reward'

24" x 96" 2015

Ryan Price's 'I mother' graphite on plaster

In the Capacity 3 gallery space (still in Boarding House Arts) there was a fantastic show by artist Ekow Nimako, 'Building Black'

Ekow Nimako's Smiling Doll. All of the works are made from lego pieces. Accompanying the sculptures are written works that are worth reading. I really enjoyed this show.

Over in the New Guelph Civic Museum up on the hill on Cork St. between Norfolk and Dublin there is a wonderful group show by local artists to celebrate John McCrea and his poem, In Flanders Fields. This is the 100th anniversary of the poem. 

Randy Sutherland's photo, Guelph Graffiti Remembering IFF 

Nikki Menzies painting, A Field of Poppies

In Flanders Fields 1915, 2015, 2115: Past, @Present, Future Peace Robot Utopia

by Barbara Cohen and Jay Lefler

                                               

Anne Holman's textile piece, McCrae House Poppies

These are just a few photos of the many lovely works at the various venues. You should probably go visit to see all the works. Also, a great group show at Renann Isaacs Contemporary Art in downtown Guelph until August 1st. Coming up soon for downtown Guelph is the annual Art On The Street event. You can preview the list of artists through the link or on the Downtown Guelph website. Really looking forward to this!

New Edition 'hanging garden'

Just finished putting together a new edition. This work, titled 'hanging garden' is inspired by a monotype that I made for my show 'far from the tree' at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in 2004. The monotype, 'hanging garden' was purchased by the MSACentre for their permanent collection and was out of my life quite quickly. It was one of my favourite pieces from the show and I had always hoped to revisit the work in an edition of some type. The edition is comprised of 10 etchings with chine collé. Each print is made up of 12 etched plates and almost that many different handmade Japanese tissue papers (washi). It has taken some time to press flat and dry out completely, but they 
are now ready to leave the studio. 
If the good driving weather keeps up, we will be delivering one of the first of this edition to Open Studio  and Canvas Gallery in Toronto this Friday afternoon.

Exciting new show at Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

I am excited about this upcoming group show for a number of reasons. The first because I will be showing a new piece that I have been working on for some time, second because of all the wonderful artists who are showing their work as well, third the curator Dawn Owen has been stewing this idea around for some time and it will be so nice to see it in fruition and finally because it will take place in Guelph at our local public gallery.
If you are in town, please join us for the opening September 26th at 7pm.

Here is Dawn's brief introduction to the show:

artefact/artefiction: material culture as medium examines the trend in contemporary practice of using objects of material culture (socially-imbued artefacts, both contemporary and historical) as, or in combination with, traditional artist’s media. Through the work of sculptor/performance artist Susan Detwiler (Vancouver), painter Dana Holst (Winnipeg), sculptor Fiona Kinsella (Hamilton), painter Jay Kronenwald (Toronto), printmaker Tammy Ratcliff (Guelph), and mixed media artist WhiteFeather Hunter (Montreal), among others, the exhibition seeks to explore and identify the significance of the contemporary artist’s tools and media as they relate to social and societal norms. Detwiler uses human hair, secondhand wedding gowns, and prom dresses; Holst uses vintage buttons, costume jewelry, fabric, and antique picture frames; Kinsella uses human and animal bone, teeth, skin, hair, and fur, as well as antique cutlery and other curiosities; Kronenwald builds celebrity portraits from wads of chewing gum; Ratcliff mines her own art in the creation of new work; and WhiteFeather Hunter uses found organic materials, like the bones and detritus of animals. MSAC will produce a fully illustrated catalogue, including an essay by curator Dawn Owen. 

Big Arts weekend in Guelph

 Culture Days time again! We will be missing all the fun in Guelph but will be enjoying some good times with family out of town. Because there is so much going on, I thought I would share some of
the fine events planned with you. Lydia and Gillian will be hosting a hands on print event in the studio (3rd floor of 123 Woolwich St.)on Sunday, check the culturedays.ca website for more information.

 

 This Friday is also a fourth Friday and in Guelph that means lots of wonderful free events are going on. Click here for all the details.

 I am very sad to miss the wonderful and talented Janet Morton's opening at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Friday night at 7pm. Front page of the Guelph Mercury today has all the information. But will be happy to take in the show after the weekend, it runs until November 11th. Click here and here to read a couple interesting articles about Janet. Here are a couple examples of her work that I love but you should look her up yourself as she has done so many amazing things with wool that really need to be seen to be believed.
This is one of Janet's installations at the Paul Petro gallery in 2010

This image is from her exhibit at Museum London, last September.

 


Graffiti Fest is happening in downtown Guelph this Saturday, September 29th!
Here are a few good street art examples I noticed outside the RedBrick cafe the other day.  The fox is by an Australian artist, Andrew Frazer and Elizabeth Taylor is by a highschool student who did most of their projects this way and then submitted the
photos to their art teacher.

a visit to the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

Yesterday, Pam and I went up to the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre to drop off work for the Framed auction.  The gallery was getting ready for the kick off of the Guelph Jazz Festival but had a moment to ooh and ah over the work that has been coming in for the auction.  The work I had submitted is a new piece that I have not yet shown and is titled, 'falling roses'.  I will post more details about the auction as it gets a bit closer, it is in November.

While we were there, we popped into the Art Sales and Rental gallery and checked out the fresh new look and took a few photos.  This is a photo of one of my mixed media works on canvas (mainly etching) and on the red wall, a work by my husband, Chris Ahlers.

Before heading out, director Judith Nasby took us in to a new installation to see an absolutely beautiful new collaborative piece by Jessica Steinhauser and Ryan Price.  Jessica is a local potter who has been making ceramic ovens and stoves for a few years now in addition to her wonderful pots.  Ryan Price is a local artist (printmaker!) who created the image on the furnace, drawing directly on the clay tiles. I think the combination of talents works well in this project.
Such an elegant furnace/ artwork!