“Winter Blues” at ArtsPlace
Today Larry and I attended 3 art openings in Annapolis Royal at ArtsPlace. The sun was shining and it was a great day for soaking in the work of other painters and talking to them about their paintings and their processes.
The theme in the main gallery is ‘Winter Blues’ All the paintings had to be blue and abstract.
I was stopped dead in my tracks by this painting from my friend Helen Opie who has taken me on many painting adventures. Helen usually paints from life so this work was a huge departure for her.
“Up from the Deep” ©Helen Opie, 2015 “24” x 36″
The painting moves and dances and is like a painted fabric, but also like water. It reminded me of some patterns I’ve photographed in our Bear River tidal river as it moves toward the Bay of Fundy.
Bear River patterns.
Abstract work demands that the viewer overlay her own interpretation. It’s like taking a Rorschach test. What do you see in Helen’s painting?
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Charlott Zimmermann had an opening of landscape paintings. I loved them all, but this one in particular.
Lake at Kejimkujik
©Charlott Zimmermann
Charlott paints local landscape and is influenced by Canada’s Group of Seven as well as German Expressionism. She is my kind of painter. ;)
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The third show one at ArtsPlace is a retrospective of 50 years of paintings by Gene Samson. His landscapes often involve the ocean’s edge and he is a master of water crashing onto rocks.
©Gene Samson
Gene lived for many years in Bear River and was a big promoter of the village and of the artists.
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I have a few more “Winter Blues” paintings to share with you.
One of my current favorite NS abstract artists, Donna Boyko, was at the opening and we talked about her large painting that has so much movement in it. The strokes dance.
Detail from “Dark Diviners”
©Donna Boyko, 2015
“Ode to Wayne Boucher” ©Maxine Marshall, 2015
“Dark Diviners” ©Donna Boyko, 2015
“Blues 11″ ©Jeannie Allen, 2015
Blue
©Ted Lind
“Weather Bomb”
©Sophie Paskins, 2015
“Thalo Blue”
©Maxine Marshall, 2015
Going to an opening is a chance to meet the artist and to hear the story behind the painting. What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon, especially after the weeks of snow storms that we’ve gone through.
Wherever you are, drop into a gallery or a museum. It is guaranteed to lift your spirits when you see the energy, love and passion that people paint into their work.
And if you are in Annapolis Royal, these paintings are on display until the end of the month..which means they will carry us to spring!
“Study in Blue”
©Micheline Gushue, 2015
“Urban Series 5″
©Vicky Turner, 2015
Susannah is a writer and photographer who has some great ideas about journaling, blogging and planning. Last year I used her (free) workbook to help organize my thoughts about my own art path and last night I looked at it again and know that it has helped me this year. In January I blogged about her workbook and other 
The first occupiers in this part of the world were the French in the 1600’s. Their settlers were innovative farmers who reclaimed salt marshland and transformed it into fertile growing lands. Their relationships with First Nation groups was more harmonious than the British would be. Eventually the British – French wars meant that Acadians were thrown off their lands by the British and shipped to various outposts including Louisiana where ‘Acadian’ became ‘Cajun’.
