Artist News Item

John Topelko was in the news in the past week as well. John has donated bronze relief artworks originally commissioned by A.Y. Jackson years ago, to an Ottawa park in Manotick and a school named after the famous painter. The CBC interviewed Ottawa artist, John Topelko last week.
From CBC News online. Friday March 23,2007.
"Ottawa artist donates portraits commissioned by A. Y. Jackson" .
"Two portraits of A.Y. Jackson commissioned by the famous painter decades ago will soon be on public display in Ottawa after a 50-year journey into existence and a subsequent struggle to find a home."
See full story covered by the CBC online at the following link:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/03/23/ayjackson-070323.html


Another news tidbit while still on the topic of John Topelko. Topelko has taken on the task of teaching art to residents at the Royal Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa once weekly on Saturdays. This recreational art program is a new initiative created by John as he was surprised to find there was no program of its kind in place for the residents.
Bravo John! Let's hope other artists will follow his lead and pitch in to contribute some time to this worthwhile program.

John Topelko's oil paintings can be seen year round displayed in Tay River Gallery in Perth, Ontario.

Artist News Item

Gallery artist, Karen Phillips Curran was in the news this week in an article posted in the Bermuda Sun on March 23, 2007. The article recounts an interesting story of the artist's first trip to Bermuda in 1987 and how Bermuda became a reference point for Curran's work and forever changed the direction of her art.
Works by Karen Phillips Curran can be seen on display at Tay River Gallery in Perth, Canada.
The article is reprinted below with permission from Bermuda Sun.

3/23/2007 12:10:00 PM

'Bermuda's the reference point for all my work' Twenty years ago Karen Phillips-Curran was a struggling artist in Ottawa. Today, one of her full-sheet watercolours can cost you up to $1,500. Ms Phillips-Curran looks back over two decades of painting and at one moment in 1987 that she says forever changed the direction of her art - coming to Bermuda. Inspired by a book she was reading which encouraged young artists to travel, Ms Phillips-Curran decided to visit Bermuda in the hope of finding her muse. There was only one problem - she was broke. After several weeks of careful negotiating, she persuaded some close friends to fund her trip to Bermuda. Ten friends paid $100 each and, in return, they asked that she paint them each a different portrait of the island. "What happened then, in hindsight, was a pivotal moment. It manipulated the whole direction of my art" Ms Phillips-Curran explained. Inspired by the landscape, colours and traditional architecture of the island's buildings, she says that her trip to Bermuda was when she really 'came into her own' artistically. Her long-time friend and fellow-artist, Emma Ingham Dounouk, a Bermuda resident, first met Ms Phillips-Curran on that pioneering trip in 1987 and says that she has been amazed at the transformation of her friend's work ever since that first visit. Ms Dounock said: "There is something magnetic about the colours for her here in Bermuda. The shapes, the textures, how one line breaks over the other, her eye has become so well-trained to the nuances that are so distinctly Bermuda." The trip put her artwork on the walls of the Windjammer Gallery - where she's been showing for 17 years. Her paintings could also be seen in the 'Pretty in Pink' exhibition which recently showed in Dockyard. She now paints all over the world. Last spring she set down her easel to paint the churches of Venice, the mountains of Sicily and the olive-orchards of Greece, but says her mind was always somewhere else: "Bermuda's my reference point for all my artwork. I see Bermuda everywhere." Her greatest career hurdle came two years ago when she was diagnosed with cancer of the iris. She was devastated at first and noticed it was beginning to affect her work. Despite radiation surgery the tumour still remains in her eye. But she remains optimistic and still runs her own business in Ottawa called Ferrytale Studio. And, on the side, she helps paint the sets at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, which she has been doing for ten years. She has more plans to travel overseas but says she always knows there is a place for her in Bermuda. Link to original article in online edition of the Bermuda Sun is http://www.bermudasun.org/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=230&ArticleID=33092

News Update at Tay River Gallery

Only two weeks left to catch the art show, Passions of the Heart. It's definitely worth a visit! The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 - 5 during March.

Welcome back Shirley!
Shirley Mancino has just returned from her 3 1/2 month trip to Thailand and Myanmar. Shirley's work will be featured in a solo show in June. We can't wait to see her dramatic new inspirations.

We welcome Mary Schofield, Perth area artist formerly of Montreal to the gallery this month. A group of Mary's oil paintings of flower arrangements are currently on exhibit. These works are exemplary of her unique style of palette knife rendered, texturized works using a bold colour palette.

Our spring art show Blooms opens April 1st and features the floral paintings by four dynamic artists: Leah Dockrill, Bill Keast, Andrew Neil Olscher and Gilda Pontbriand. The Reception for Blooms will be held mid-show, on Saturday April 28th from 2 - 4 p.m during the Festival of the Maples in Perth. The show runs until May 3oth.

Leah Dockrill, Toronto area artist, is an elected member of both the Society of Canadian Artists (since 2000) and the Ontario based Colour and Form Society (2007). She has participated in many juried, group and invitational exhibitions since 1997 and a solo show in 1998. Leah 's acrylic florals presented in this show are realistic renderings demonstrating her technical brilliance and the poignant physical beauty of her subject matter.

Bill Keast, Belleville area artist and former art teacher exhibited rural landscapes in acrylics in the winter exhibit, Snow Defines at Tay River Gallery. In Blooms Bill brings an exciting mix of florals, up close and personal in his unique style using the "cloisonné technique" of outlining forms. The artist finds his inspiration for these works in his own backyard garden paradise.

Andrew Neil Olscher, Lakefield area professional artist brings his version of blooms in bold thickly textured acrylic paintings of vivid flowers in mass. His free flowing style of impressionistic floral images provide a dynamic presentation of colour and texture. Over the past fourteen years his work has been exhibited in a variety of group shows and purchased by private and corporate collectors and galleries locally and internationally.

Gilda Pontbriand, Ottawa area artist studied art in Mexico, Canada and France and has had over 75 solo and group shows in Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the United States. She has won twelve national and international awards for her work in oil, acrylics and mixed media. Gilda's soulful images " travel between the mundane and a magical world without making the illusion of reality its main objective".

Spring is in the air and the blossoms at Tay River Gallery beckon.

Gallery News at Tay River Gallery

March 2007
Passions of the Heart continues this month with works by ten Ottawa area artists : Dave Acton, Karen Phillips Curran, Catherine Kelly, Sandra Hawkins, Catharina Breedyk Law, Martha Markowsky, Gilda Pontbriand, Vivien Tytor, Gary Webster, and David Zimmerly.
A wide range of subject matter is represented in emotive art that covers the spectrum from endearing sentiment to high drama. Evocative works are presented in watercolours, mixed media, acrylics, photography and textile art. The show continues until March 31st. For more information about the show and featured artists, see the online newsletter the Tay River Tattler at http://tayrivergallery.com,

Upcoming shows at the Gallery

April/May 2007 . Blooms will feature acrylic floral paintings from four Ontario artists: Leah Dockrill, Bill Keast, Andrew Neil Olscher, and Gilda Pontbriand. Florals take on a whole new meaning in this show. ‘Hypnotic’, ‘Exotic’, ‘Vivacious’, ‘Soulful’ are just a few adjectives that come to mind. May will feature a continuation of Blooms with Blooms II.

For June 2007 watch for the solo exhibition featuring new works by Shirley Mancino in Towards Abstraction.

Our Summer Show extravaganza will feature the works of many dynamic artists featured throughout the gallery.

Two more solo exhibitions are planned for Fall 2007, with J. Allison Robichaud featured in September and John Alexander Day in October.

Petition to Restore Funding to Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Dear Friends of the Arts,

I have just read and signed the online petition:
"Restore Funding to Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)"
hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/DFAIT07/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.

You may view a copy of Margaret Atwood's article from Straight Goods on the subject of cuts to Canadian arts promotion abroad
Conservatives cut every cent from culture-abroad program
Dateline: Friday, February 02, 2007 printed in the Globe and Mail
by Margaret Atwood , from Straight Goods.
And no Flowers Bloomed. Why did the Conservatives take the weed whacker to Canadian arts promotion abroad? asks MARGARET ATWOOD

posted also at Kingston Arts Council website, http://www.artskingston.com/index_arts.htm

Best wishes,
Lisa Brown