Gwen Warrington WHAT Drawing and Painting WHERE Community Support Services, Carleton Place WHY Her art is her most effective means of communication.       Previous Artist Trading Cards

Gwen Warrington - Art Says It Best
By Sally Hansen

This month's profiled artist is an exceptional woman for whom art plays an exceptional role. Gwen Warrington uses her artistic talents to convey her emotional experiences in ways that are not possible for her using more conventional modes of communication. theHumm feels honoured to have this opportunity to assist this special person in achieving her personal goals of continuing and expanding her artistic endeavours.

Gwen spends much of her days at the Community Support Services facility in Carleton Place intensely absorbed in creating colourful pictures of the things that are important to her. When I arrived at the CSS centre to interview her, Gwen was just completing an intricate pencil and crayon drawing of "Lizzie Vacuuming the Green Van". Later in the day, Gwen was going to help one of her Activity Workers, Lizzie Brunton, do exactly that.

Gwenny - She's a Nice Girl

With encouragement from CSS Worker Cathy Leroux, Gwen gave me a guided tour through her portfolio of drawings, created during her ten years at CSS. Her pictures reflect the events, activities and things that hold special meaning for her. Born on Valentine's Day, Gwen loves special holidays like Halloween, Christmas and Easter. Many of her works are portrayals of familiar symbols such as Santa Claus and Jack-'O'-Lanterns, but some are Gwen originals, like her "Christmas Penguins".

Working in pastels, crayons, coloured pencils, markers and water colours, Gwen records upcoming events such as doing her banking and enjoying the horses at the Lanark County Therapeutic Riding Program she visits. She likes to sing, play the drums and help in the kitchen, and again, her portfolio includes pictures of musical instruments and food!

The most heart-warming moment of the interview occurred when Gwen pulled out a drawing of a woman's face and identified it as a self-portrait by saying, "Gwenny - She's a nice girl". She certainly is.

Say It With Art

Art is a hugely important component of human life, existing from the first known period of prehistoric human culture. Every month on our Artist Trading Card we print a quote from our featured artist explaining "WHY" he or she creates art. Gwen cannot articulate why her art is so important to her, but she remembers that she received coloured pencils and crayons for Christmas when she was five years old. She knows that she would be very upset if she couldn't pursue her art.

Gwen hasn't had any formal training, but a highlight of her life is the weekly art class that she attends at Carleton Place Beckwith Community Support with seniors and challenged adults who share her love of art. There she is recognized for her flair for colour, and her great love of flowers.

That winning combination is very evident in the art that made up Gwen Warrington's 2001 calendar produced with the sponsorship of the Civitan Club. This project was a major milestone in helping Gwen achieve her artistic ambitions. She would love to produce another calendar, or perhaps greeting cards, if a sponsor could be found.

The Gift of Art

We're glad that Support Worker Cathy Leroux contacted theHumm to invite us to give Gwen a hand in fulfilling her goal of having her art seen by the public. Cathy also mentioned that another way to enable this nice girl to enjoy and benefit from her artistic flair would be to provide her with art supplies. One way to do that is to drop in at the CSS Annual Barbecue on Friday, August 15, from 10:00am to 2:00pm in their big tent at Riverside Park in Carleton Place. For only $6.00 you get a great lunch, and help support Gwen and her companions with their activities at CSS.

I contacted Sylvia (Charlie) McCabe, Executive Director at Carleton Place Beckwith CS, to find out more about the art program that Gwen enjoys so much. They have a volunteer art teacher in place for the start-up of their fourth year of weekly art classes this fall, and they too would greatly welcome the donation of any materials (water colours, art paper, brushes, pastels, etc.).

We hope you enjoy the art of Gwen Warrington featured in this edition of theHumm and we hope it pleases Gwen to see her work displayed. And we would really enjoy learning that Gwen's two support centres (Carleton Place Community Support Services, 253-7873, and Carleton Place Beckwith Community Support, 253-0733) were inundated with art supplies!