Time to “Fall” in Love with the Autumn Art Scene!

Time to “Fall” in Love with the Autumn Art Scene! - theHumm September 2019

By Miss Cellaneous

REVERIE in Almonte

From August 23 to October 6, Almonte’s Sivarulrasa Gallery is pleased to present REVERIE, a duo show featuring ethereal, dreamlike works by Ottawa-based artists Gayle Kells and Catherine Gutsche.

Gayle Kells uses a variety of media to examine issues relating to identity and environment. Her ink drawings incorporate rhythmic and repetitive patterning reminiscent of tapestry, lace work, crochet and other needlework techniques. These pensive drawings evolve organically and, ultimately, offer a meditation on the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Her largest work in the show, The Long Journey, over 14-feet long, is the result of many months of focused drawing. The work is an homage by the artist to the history of women’s needlework. She notes, “the many tedious hours spent creating this drawing mirror the time and energy expended by many, mostly women, working with embroidery, needlework and other textiles in factories and in the home.”

Catherine Gutsche creates intricate non-representational compositions, often alluding to forms in nature but highly abstracted. The two largest paintings in this show, Spring Flurry and Lake Waves Breaking, were completed by the artist during her recent artist residency on Toronto Island. “I allowed myself to respond to my environment, taking daily walks to the southern beach,” she notes. Her paintings are largely process-driven, using a variety of tools in the studio including brushes, palette knives, skewer sticks, tree branches and even metal spikes to sometimes gouge the surface she is working on. She works with acrylics as well as oils combined with cold wax.

Everyone is invited to the vernissage/artists reception on Saturday, September 7 from 3–6pm. The gallery is located at 34 Mill Street Almonte, and you can find more information at sivarulrasa.com .

Another Side of Us — Art at MERA

On Saturday, September 7, the vernissage for the latest art exhibition at MERA will be held at 2pm. Another Side of Us features the work of MERA’s administrator Trina Conboy and the organization’s maintenance team of David and Patti Jo Wilson.

Trina Conboy has been creating pottery for ten years. Starting out as a thrower on the wheel, her work has branched out from functional to the more artistic side and now includes hand building. In need of a change in her work, she took up sketching and painting, initially to apply the skill to clay, but she now works on canvas as well. Her lifelong passion, however, is photography. “I wasn’t born with a camera in my hand, but it wasn’t long after that that I started to take pictures of everything and anything,” she explains. Samples of all of these media will be featured at the month-long exhibition. Some pieces will be for sale, and others are just to share — for your viewing pleasure.

A lifetime resident of McDonalds Corners, Dave Wilson has only been away for four years when he attended Sheridan College, studying art fundamentals, illustration advertising and book arts. Graduating in 1991, Dave came back home and ended up employed by Lindsay Duncan and Sons Sawmill/Farm for 18 years. Along the way he married Patti-Jo Williams and they had three kids. Dave started working at MERA in 2011 and continues to do freelance artwork, in particular airbrushing. Dave’s t-shirt art is inspired by his love of comics. He enjoys various media including coloured pencils, markers, acrylics and watercolour. Dave continues to paint and draw when time and sleep allow, and just lately designed the logo for Lanark’s upcoming 200th celebration.

Patti-Jo Wilson is a lifelong resident of the area who even married the boy next door. Her craft work started over twenty years ago with simple plastic tree ornaments and wreath decorations. PJ now works with intricate wire, crystals and gemstones. At the moment she is making trees of life — both as wearable pendants and in larger formats. She is part of the local farmers’ market and sits on the board of directors for both MERA and the McDonalds Corners Agricultural Society.

MERA is located at 974 Concession 9A in McDonalds Corners. For details about this show and other events, please visit meraschoolhouse.org or email meraschoolhouse@gmail.com .

Japanese Art Tour Showcases Works by Five Prominent Artists

The Go-Somewhere! Japanese Art Tour is a series of exhibitions and events showcasing the works of five female Japanese artists. The featured artists work in different media and have their own unique styles, and for all of them, this tour marks their North American début.

Go-Somewhere! offers a unique opportunity for Canadians to see a diverse collection of art from halfway around the world, while also highlighting the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan. The tour is making a stop in Almonte at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, and admission is free on September 28. The exhibit continues from September 29 to October 12 (when admission is $7). For complete details, please visit gosomewhere.ca . The Textile Museum is located at 3 Rosamond Street East in Almonte mvtm.ca .

Autumn Gold in Perth

As the summer slowly fades, the time comes to welcome a new season — and a new art show in the Strévé Design Studio Boutique Gallery in Perth. Autumn Gold is a solo show for Ottawa artist Hawa Kaba, who works in the popular form of multi-media collage.

Hawa Kaba is a professional artist who has previously exhibited in fine art shows in New York, Michigan, Ghana, Miami, Montreal and Toronto. Closer to home she has exhibited in numerous galleries in Ottawa and at the National War Museum. Her work is also in the public collection of the City of Ottawa.

Born in Sierra Leone, Hawa spent her childhood in many West African countries including the Ivory Coast and Guinea, where she became fluent in Mandingo, English and French. She moved to the U.S. when she was eighteen and subsequently to Canada where she has remained for almost twenty years. Ottawa is where Hawa developed her passion for painting.

Hawa uses art to express her inner sense of being an African woman, using mixed-media and the visual language of western art. She incorporates design elements that she learned when dyeing textiles with her older sister, as well as the suggestions of forms that she observed in locally-produced sculptures and masks from her village. These elements are interwoven with layers of texture, a rich variety of collage materials, acrylic paint, modelling gels, and sometimes mementos and images that hold special meaning.

Many of Hawa’s paintings are pictorial metaphors — visual poetry. Her artwork comes from an inner spring that delights in the patchwork interplay of colours, shapes, textures and symbols.

The show runs from September 5–30, and you can meet this talented artist on Sunday, September 15 from 2–4pm in the gallery at 64 Gore Street in Perth.

This will be an inspiring show for creators and collectors alike! For more information, please visit strevedesign.com

Art Along the Back Roads

September is an exciting month for the artists of North Frontenac Township, as they prepare for the sixth annual North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour. This year it will be held on the weekend of September 28 and 29, from 10am to 4pm each day. This popular tour covers the whole of North Frontenac Township, with the participation this year of 21 artists exhibiting in a dozen different studios. Most of the artists whose art has been enjoyed in the past will be returning to the tour with new works.

Although the tour is quite spread out, there are three clusters of studios that are easily visited together. One cluster north of Sharbot Lake features the popular Back Forty Artisan Cheese, Silent Valley Alpaca, and two fibre artists. Nearer the Cloyne end of the tour are several painters, a photographer and a stained glass artist. More centrally, quite a number of studios are clustered in the Ardoch/Plevna area, where a wide variety of art forms can be appreciated. Works from most of the exhibiting artists can also be seen at The Free Spirit. This art gallery is located in Plevna and is open year-round with a lovely variety of work by local artists and artisans.

One reason for the popularity of the tour is the spectacular landscape in the North Frontenac area, with its numerous lakes tucked between picturesque hills. The last weekend in September is typically the best one for fall colours!

Visit northfrontenacbackroadsstudiotour.com to find a map for the tour as well as more information about participating artists. There is food available at a number of restaurants in Plevna, Sharbot Lake, Northbrook and Cloyne, as well as at several of the studio locations. Washroom facilities are quite numerous, and are indicated on the downloadable map.

The artists of North Frontenac are excited about the opportunity to meet you and to show their work — perhaps even to sell you a gift item or a treat for yourself. They look forward to seeing you on the last weekend in September.

Monica Viola — The Sweet Music of Creativity - theHumm September 2019

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

The idea of a solo artist gallery is one of those challenging concepts that requires a very special combination of ingredients to produce a gourmet feast instead of an overdose of variations on the same theme.

At MonSky Creations Gallery, located in the heart of Merrickville’s blooming arts enclave, Monica Viola succeeds in serving up a delicious banquet of originality. Her eclectic art works are constantly displayed and refreshed as she continues her unfinished symphony of ......

Time to “Fall” in Love with the Autumn Art Scene! - theHumm September 2019