Take a Peak! Holiday Smalls Show at Tay River Gallery

For your viewing pleasure... a sampling of the festive smalls offered this month. Plenty more available. We welcome you to visit the holiday show. Only 8 more days for this show! We don't want to disappoint you so please note our holiday business hours. Before Christmas, the gallery will be open Sat. Dec 19, Mon. Dec 21, Tues. Dec 22, and Wed. Dec. 23. Gallery will be closed from Dec 24 to 27th and reopens on Mon. Dec. 28, Tues. Dec 29, Wed. Dec. 30, and Thurs. Dec. 31st. Check the website home page for January Hours as we have reduced winter hours.
Have a safe and happy holiday! All the best from Lisa, Dave and Paul at Tay River Gallery.

"Small is Beautiful" - Holiday Gift Show at Tay River Gallery

Tay River Gallery will present a holiday art show, "Small is Beautiful" beginning next week on Thursday November 26 until December 31, 2009. You will find plenty of exquisite artwork in this show that demonstrate that "small is indeed beautiful", with art created in smaller sizes and priced specially for gift giving this season. Works on paper, canvas, mixed media, jewelry and textiles will delight all ages.

Give a gift of art this season to people who are special to you. Original art is a unique and special gift that lasts for generations and is created with soul rather than technology. Original art can enhance our mindful living, and connect us with the essence of human soul through the artist's creation. A single piece of wall art in the intimate surroundings of the place we call home can offer to please, calm, excite, amuse, remind or inspire us as we go about our daily lives.

Featured artists for this show include Shirley Mancino, Monika Seidenbusch, Paulette Sauve,Anne Barkley, Heather Assaf, Hennie Marsh, Kathy Haycock, Tony Cresswell Jones, J. Allison Robichaud, Tricia Savoie, Karen Goetzinger, Cathy Law, Erika Ferarin, Tara Heft,and David Zimmerly. At the gallery apart from our feature show, you will also find new work in larger sizes from many of your favourite artists, including new work from John Alexander Day, John Stevenson and Martha Markowsky.

The theme of this show is influenced by E.F. Schumacher’s well known book ‘Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered’. Schumacher was one of the first economists to question the appropriateness of using GNP to measure well being, and emphasized that “the aim ought to be to obtain the maximum amount of well being with the minimum amount of consumption.” Schumacher's work was published in the 1970's and coincided with the growth of ecological concerns. Artwork featured in this show offers an array of wonderful small works of beauty that we can gift ourselves or others with in a heartfelt way.

The awareness and appreciation of original art has grown dramatically in recent years. Countless media reports in popular magazines and local newspapers the past few years have provided helpful information to the public to demystify the art buying process and help it grow as a mainstream activity. Original Art, large or small, can not only be affordable, and accessible to the average person but also can provide countless benefits of every day enjoyment and inspiration. There is nothing really complicated to buying original art for personal enjoyment and art can be found everywhere - galleries, local art shows and even the internet. Visit many galleries and ask many questions about the art on display if you are just starting to buy art. Gallery staff are happy to answer questions about the art and the artist. Take the time to discover what you truly like, art that moves you on a personal level and also suits your budget, and it will reward every day. Art is truly for everyone. Live artfully!

Image above is Miniature painting by Monika Seidenbusch "Musical Bull".

"Merrymaking by the Tay" Open House Next Saturday

Indulge in some "Merrymaking by the Tay" this month and treat yourself to a visual feast of many upbeat, bright, festive and seasonal paintings by our celebrated artists.

On Saturday November 29th, from 12 - 4 p.m. the public is invited to join us for refreshments at our annual Holiday Open House. Tay River Gallery is located in downtown Perth at 28 Wilson St. W. A few of the featured artists will be on hand periodically during the afternoon.

Among the 200 plus paintings on exhibit this month and next, view the festive selection of new works from Normand Baril, Margaret Chwialkowska, Deborah Czernecky, Leah Dockrill, Ernest Labelle, Shirley Mancino, Martha Markowsky, J. Allison Robichaud, Tricia Savoie, Charles Spratt, Paulette-Marie Sauve, James E. Pay, Rosemary Randell, and France Tremblay. Plenty of small gems at affordable prices from your favourite artists.


A special feature this month is a selection of oil paintings in an impressionist style with a strong focus on light, colour and contrast by guest artist, Ernest F. Labelle. Scenes featured in Labelle's paintings include an Ottawa backyard in Winter, rural Wakefield, a Hull streetscape and a Montebello country home. Ernest Labelle Ottawa area artist,captures in vibrant colour and vitality, the old and new architecture of his surroundings from travels around the world and from his favourite locales in Canada. Among his artistic accomplishments, Labelle has organized art shows and fundraisers, participated in Automn Art, and Images sur Toile and directed workshops in Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal an Baie St Paul. Labelle's works are in collections in Canada and abroad.

In Watercolours, we are pleased to present a number of small festive works for gift giving by Rosemary Randell. Displayed in the holiday show from Rosemary are a number of tiny treasures with still life paintings in high realism created in watercolour and also watercolour and pastel. Luscious groupings of fruit perfect for the festive season are "Navel Gathering" and Sunday Shadows and favourite dishes with "Bowl from Perth", "A Seasonal Visitor" depicting a nostalgic winter scene and Storm Warning", a seascape set in Scotland. Rosemary Randell is an award winning Ottawa area watercolourist Ottawa who has created over 400 commissioned works during her professional career including 14 paintings for the City of Kanata. She has a Fine arts degree from Concordia University and is an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour (CSPWC). Rosemary offers watercolour and drawing classes afternoons and evenings for adults in Kanata year round.

Local Perth area artists John Shea and Bill Veale added new work to the festive mix at Tay River Gallery this past week. (not in time to be mentioned on our flyer for the event). From John Shea, we have displayed a number of small "gift giving" paintings of local scenes and architecture as well as some larger winter rural scenes in watercolour. Bill Veale captures winter with a Westport barn,(acrylic on canvas)as well as a new format watercolour (on paper/canvas varnished) of a nearby waterway. Avec les couleurs tres brillantes!

Take some time away from your busy routine to experience the joie de vivre and celebration expressed by gallery artists at Tay River Gallery.
More exciting works to come in December as the holiday show continues !

Merrymaking by the Tay

"Merrymaking by the Tay", the annual holiday show at Tay River Gallery opens this week.
Tay River Gallery will present a festive mix of small original paintings by area artists at gift giving prices during November and December.
Also featured are a number of grand artworks of a festive flavor from our celebrated artists.


Rich in palette, joyful in theme and with a sense of everyday wonder , the upcoming season is embraced in the most delightful of creative interpretations.

"Merrymaking" - is celebration, festivity, lively enjoyment , joyous diversion, jolly, entertaining, revelry , cheer and more...

Join us at the Open House on Sat. Nov 29th from 12 - 5 pm at 28 Wilson St. W. for holiday refreshments during the Festival of Good Cheer in Perth. See the show and by chance meet an exhibiting artist. There is no artist reception scheduled for this show but a few artists do plan to stop in and visit.

New paintings are arriving over the next week from gallery artists for this show from as far west as Victoria, BC and east to Halifax NS.

Enjoy the new festive selection of paintings by talented area artists Normand Baril, Margaret Chwialkowska, Deborah Czernecky, Leah Dockrill, Ernest Labelle, Shirley Mancino, Martha Markowsky, J. Allison Robichaud, Tricia Savoie, Charles Spratt, Paulette-Marie Sauve, James E. Pay, Rosemary Randell, and France Tremblay. Plenty of small gems at affordable prices from your favourite artists.

As a special added attraction in Merrymaking , we are very pleased to introduce oil paintings by Ernest F. Labelle and watercolours by Rosemary Randell. Welcome to you both. More about the artists soon in an upcoming blog.. need to run and finish hanging this show.
Lisa B.