It began as a question during an interview with CKWS Morning Show host Bill Welychka. Could I do a drypoint portrait of his co-host Julie Brown? With a laugh I answered, “Of course.” A day or two later, I fell in love with the idea. Julie then graciously agreed to sit for me, and the Julie Brown Project began.
I was inspired by the celebrity portraits by Andy Warhol, whose iconic images use repetition and colour variation to highlight different aspects of his very familiar subjects. Using my own drawings of Julie, rather than photographs, I created a small set of drypoint plates. Then I began the process of printing and overprinting the plates, using different colours and papers to show just a few of the many faces of Julie Brown.
Susan Oomen’s works perfectly express mood; capturing stillness in action. Serene lake-scapes depict a life well lived, paddlers float upon light-dappled water, portraying the double meaning of reflection. Idyllic boathouses and iconic muskoka chairs invite the viewer to take pause. The works suggest moments of solitude as well as intimate pairings, illustrations of what it means to be close to nature and to one another. Each moment depicted invites the viewer to reminisce about their own beloved interactions with the natural world and the joy of living fully.
A Perfect Day is a reminder of the sanctuary of nature and the invaluable gift of tranquility. Featuring ethereal canvases of various shapes and sizes, Oomen’s latest exhibit offers a portal to a meditative state of mind; connecting you to beauty and bringing a moment of contemplative bliss into your home, office, or cottage. As Oomen herself remarks, “It becomes a visual journey, as your eye travels, taking in water, then shoreline, horizon and sky. Perhaps for a few moments, through this journey, we have imagined ourselves there.”
Having grown up in a large Dutch farming family in the Kingston, Ontario area, Oomen remains close to her roots. While she has made her home in Utopia, Ontario, her paintings are often inspired by the landscapes, lakes, and waterways of the Thousand Islands region, Algonquin Park, and the Muskokas.
A graduate of the Fine Arts Program at Queen’s University, Kingston, Susan Oomen is represented by Studio 22 in Kingston, Ontario and Roberts Gallery in Toronto. Susan has shown in galleries throughout Canada for over 30 years and has just completed solo shows in 2016 and 2014 at Roberts Gallery, and at Studio 22 in 2015. She has received various awards and grants over the years and her work can be found in public and private collections throughout Canada and the United States. Her painting titled ‘Annie’s Wake’ was featured in September 2016 on the cover of the American Psychologist.
Very few artists are ever bestowed with diplomatic honours, the keys to the city, or even credited with representing the soul of a place. Robert Blenderman, however, is one of those rare artists. After nearly 60 years capturing the spirit if Kingston in paint, Blenderman hasn’t yet been given the key to the city, but he has amassed a well-deserved following of admirers and collectors. Of his work and the adopted home which continues to inspire him, Blenderman says, “In my paintings I try to capture the essence of Kingston’s urban uniqueness and Canada’s abundant natural beauty.”
Blenderman’s tireless imagination is hardly exhausted by local streetscapes and landscapes. Realistic, classically styled still lives and wildly expressive abstracts have also been the subject of his attention over the years.
Through a lifelong dedication to developing his natural gift, along with his admirably disciplined focus, Blenderman has produced an impressive ouvre during his long career. Studio 22 is extremely fortunate to represent an artist of such vast talent and thrilled to be able to exhibit new paintings from a beloved local icon.
From the Introduction to his book: Kingston, A City in Canada: Paintings by Robert A. Blenderman:
“Robert A. Blenderman has been painting since 1960. His works have been shown in galleries in Kingston, Germany, and the USA. He is a self-taught artist who has painted many kinds of subjects in different media. His painting styles have been varied, to say the least. He has tried them all, mostly successfully. His sailboat paintings in the 1960s and 1990s probably demonstrate this the most clearly, for in these one can see examples of realism, impressionism, cubism, expressionism, and semi-abstractionism. His landscapes can be soft and impressionistic, semi-abstract, or verging on pure abstract expressionism in the progressively less representational works. Blenderman’s still-lifes in oil tend to be hyper-realistic, having something of a Dutch Baroque quality mixed with a kind of orientalism, a quite beautiful combination. And his oil paintings of Kingston storefronts are Hopper-like in their stillness and timelessness-not to mention their style and subject, too.”
Gary Michail Dault – Onyx Still Life (with feather)
Hersh Jacob – It Looks Like Rain – SOLD
Holly Dean – Over Men and Horses, Hoops and Garters
Jane Derby – What Remains
Josephine Wren – A Promise
Keight MacLean – Sibyle
Kevin Merritt – Beastie Bots – SOLD
Margaret Hughes – Terra Murata, Procida – SOLD
Osvaldo Gonzalez Herrera – Retrato
Patti Leishman – great big popi
Phillida Hargreaves – Beached
Rebecca Cowan – Aine
Robert Blenderman – Summer Sailing
Rose Stewart – Contingency #1
Sharon Thompson – Fall in Erika’s Studio
Stefan Duerst – Bubbling Spring #8
Su Sheedy – Lichen 4
Susan Oomen – Kitchen Window
Susan Paloschi – The Little Golden Tree
Teresa Mrozicka – Mystical Land
Ulrich Panzer – Untitled 2016
Vadim Vaskovsky – Nancy
Wallace Edwards – Whalephant
Andrew Danson Danushevsky – Intimacy
February 14th to March 25th
Every work of art is unique, created to exist not just for itself, but to be loved. Studio 22 is proud to launch its 2017 Season with the group exhibition, I Love THIS PIECE. The show features singular works from the past collections of 30 artists. Each work has been selected by the artist because it represents a piece which they feel deeply about; works which have yet to find their soulmates.
I Love THIS PIECE is on exhibit at Studio 22 located at 320 King Street East, Kingston from Tuesday, February 14th until March 25th, 2017.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 6pm, Thursdays till 8pm, Fridays till 10pm.
Studio 22 Open Gallery is thrilled to present Fluid Forms, new work by artist Stefan Duerst. The dynamic forms of Stefan Duerst’s steel sculptures emerge as the fluid embodiment of his deeply creative essence. The exhibition will feature new works created exclusively by Duerst as well as new collaborative pieces by Duerst and German graffiti artist Loomit.
The art of collaboration requires a curious nature, a strong sense of experimentalism and an abundance of trust. To find a kindred spirit, especially in the art world, which can often be quite isolating, creates a unique opportunity for openness, artistic development and inspiration. This year Duerst, who is no stranger to collaboration, invited the graffiti artist Loomit to work with him on a new series of steel sculptures. After heating, bending and shaping the steel into his characteristically sensuous and suggestive abstract shapes, Duerst entrusted them to Loomit, who transformed the raw steel finish with his mastery of spray painting. For those who are familiar with Duerst’s work, there are signature favourites; the ribbon-like Soul Gate and the provocative Kommunikation series, to name a few. Yet the results of this artistic collaboration are astonishingly new.
Two early pieces were created in Duerst’s Godfrey studio and shipped to Munich, Germany where Loomit applied his finishing touch. The rest of the collaboration took place during an exceptional week in September, 2016 which Loomit spent in residence at Duerst’s Studio at Godfrey Sculpture Park. No doubt, like Duerst himself, Loomit was inspired by the incredible natural beauty of the Canadian landscape. The juxtaposition of graffiti art applied to three-dimensional sculpture is akin to the very notion of using a material as industrial as steel in shapes as fluid as fabric.
German-born Stefan Duerst has been experimenting with metal since 1992, first as a blacksmith and ultimately as as an abstract sculpture artist. He emigrated to Canada in 2002, inspired by the wilderness of the Canadian Shield, where he lives, creates, and inspires others on the 60 acre property which he has developed into Godfrey Sculpture Park. Munich-based Loomit has been working in the medium of spray paint since 1983, combining creative lettering and imagery, and establishing himself as an internationally recognized graffiti artist for his large wall productions.
FLUID FORMS will be on display from November 15 – December 23.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Thursdays until 8 pm, and Friday Evenings until 10 pm.
Studio 22 Open Gallery is delighted to present Collective Sparks, an exhibition of new work by the Shag Rug Collective.
Composed of some of the most respected and established artists in the Kingston community, the Shag Rug Collective represents an array of diverse styles and varied subject matter. For many years the members of the artists’ collective, which was named after the yellow shag rug which once adorned the studio of founding member, Erika Olson, have gathered together to inspire and nourish each others creativity. Each individual brings their own unique perspective to the treasured experience of working together in a group setting, often around a shared still life, and the collective sparks which these gatherings ignite.
In addition to the animated still lives of Studio 22’s seasoned artists, Erika Olson and Margaret Hughes, the exhibition also includes the vibrant landscapes of Sharon Thompson and Josephine Wren, as well as the imaginative abstraction of Evelyn Rapin, Rose Stewart and Deborah Brown.
Erika Olson finds inspiration working from life—particularly the perishable and delicate nature of food—elevating the domestic sphere into the realm of art.
Fall Still Life – $4500 – 4’x6′ oil on canvas
Asian Pears – $450 – 11″x14″ oil on board
Butter – $500 – 12″x16″ oil on board
Espresso – SOLD
Mussels Open – $275 – 5″x8″ oil on canvas
Mussels Closed – $275 – 5″x8″ oil on canvas
Raspberry Pie – $400 – 9″x12″ – oil on board
Hamburger – $500 – 17.5″x18.5″ photoshop & oil on canvas
Grapefruit – $450 – 12″x16″ – oil on board
Red Pepper – $400 – 9″x12″ oil on board
Stuffed Green Pepper – $400 – 9″x12″ oil on board
Cakes and Pies – $1250 – 24″x30″ oil on canvas
Pomegranate – $800 – 25″x29″ oil on board
Margaret Hughes, an accomplished ceramicist, painter and pastel artist, often bridges the gap between her various media by drawing images of her own ceramic pieces.
Blue Vase Red Teapot – SOLD
Chinese Lanterns – $700 – 19.5″x18.5″ chalk pastel
Daffodils and Two Jugs – $800 – 19″x25″ chalk pastel
Flowers and Blue Bottle – SOLD
Jo’s Studio – SOLD
Potted Plant – $450 19″x11.75″ chalk pastel
Teapot and Mushroom – $600 – 18.5″x19.75″ chalk pastel
Sharon Thompson, an artist of diverse inspiration, creates memorable works from landscapes to abstraction, or whatever happens to catch her well trained eye.
Autumn Along Highway 41 – $675 – 28″x24″ oil/sand on panel
Clouds over Cedar Lake, AP – $700 oil on panel
Light on Cedar Lake – $600 – 21″x29″ oil on panel
Marsh, Cedar Lake, AP – $780 – 26″x30″ oil on panel
Pine Tree Forest, AB – $825 – 32″x26″ Acrylic
Pine Trees #2 CCA – $650 – 24″x27″ oil on panel
Pine Trees in the CCA#1 – SOLD
Sky and Lake, Cedar Lake – $550 – 22″x25″ oil on panel
View Across the Marsh – $600 – 22″x28″ oil on panel
Wind on Cedar Lake – SOLD
Josephine Wren paints the world around her, in part because the act of creation connects her to her own existence, resulting in lush landscapes and still lives.
Lake Calabogie – $735 – 24″x24″ oil on board
Fallen Leaves – $735 – 24″x24″ oil on board
Calabogie Swamp Pond – $735 – 24″x24″ oil on board
Lake Sunward, Calabogie – $735 – 24″x24″ oil on board
Lake Sunward Gazebo – $435 – 16″x19.5″ oil on canvas
Reflection, Shadows – $435 – 16″x19.5″ oil on canvas
Still Life in Sunward Farmhouse – SOLD
Evelyn Rapin frequently bases her intensely colourful imagery on musical themes, creating lively works of abstraction.
Musical Line II $2000 – 36″x23″ Acrylic/chalk pastels on paper
Wheels I – $2000 – 36″x23″ Acrylic/chalk pastels on paper
Wheels II – $2000 – 36″x23″ Acrylic/chalk pastels on paper
Pioneer I – $2000 – 36″x23″ Acrylic/chalk pastels on paper
Free Improvisation I – $980 – 24″x24″ oil on birch panel
Free Improvisation III – $980 – 24″x24″ oil on birch panel
Free Improvisation VI – SOLD
Rose Stewart’s abstract compositions dance with eclectic forms and vibrant colours.
Dance 1 – $1700 – 20″x26″ oil on paper
Dance 3 – $1700 – 26″x20″ oil on paper
Dance 4 – $1700 – 20″x26″ oil on paper
Dance 5 – $1700 – 20″x26″ oil on paper
Play 1 – $400 – 8″x10.5″ pastel
Play 2 – $400 – 8″x10.5″ pastel
Play 3 – $400 – 8″x10.5″ pastel
Play 4 – $400 – 8″x10.5″ pastel
Play 5 – $400 – 8″x10.5″ pastel
Terrain 2 – $1700 – 20″x26″ oil on paper
Deborah Brown creates intricate and organic abstract drawings.
Fluentem- $800 – 30″x22.5″ ink and watercolour on paper
Pacis – $800 – 30″x22.5″ ink and watercolour on paper
Collective Sparks will be on display from November 15 – December 23, 2016.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Thursdays until 8 pm, and Friday Evenings until 10 pm.
This year Studio22 is collaborating with Print Inuit to bring you the Cape Dorset Print Collection. We are housing and displaying remaining pieces from past years as well as presenting the new 2016 Collection. Print Inuit is an online gallery where prints can be ordered and shipped or they can be purchased in person from Studio22’s downtown Kingston location.
These are beautiful lithographs, stone cuts, etchings and etchings with aquatint. Visit Print Inuit online or come in to Studio22 to see them in person.
ALMOST IN SEINE – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
COURTYARD – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
Andrew Danson Danushevsky – Intimacy
LAST CHARGE – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
MELTDOWN – SOLD
POST – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
SMOKER – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
STRIP MALL – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
WITHOUT SUI (water) – 30″ X 40″ digital fine art print
Renowned photographer Andrew Danson Danushevsky returns to Studio 22 Open Gallery with a new collection.
This fall marks the return of internationally recognized Canadian photographer, educator, author, and curator Andrew Danson Danushevsky to Kingston’s own Studio 22 Open Gallery. Actively exhibiting since 1973, and featured in over 50 exhibitions both in Canada and internationally, Danson Danushevsky is perhaps best known for his remarkable series of iconic portraits of prominent Canadian politicians, which became the national bestseller Unofficial Portraits: Canadian Politicians Photographed by Themselves (1987).
The current exhibition, entitled Illusion, like the artist himself, defies simple description. Andrew Danson Danushevsky is no less a social commentator than an artist. With his latest body of work he proposes a new dialogue with and about the medium of photography itself. The grid photographs are symbolic portrayals of the ubiquity of digital imagery and the way in which we engage, or perhaps disengage, from photography in our modern age.
The interplay between multiplicity and simplicity, distance and clarity is revealed, playfully, as perhaps an illusion. By challenging our perceptions of the limits of what photography is meant to do, Danson Danushevsky invites us to move with him beyond art for art sake, and participate in an invaluable conversation about the uniqueness of perspective in a world bombarded by both mundane and provocative imagery. Ultimately, he reminds us that every view stems from and leads back to a worldview. What we share and what we borrow overlap in unimaginable landscapes.
Illusion is on display at Studio 22, from September 27-Novemember 5, 2016.
PLENTY OF FISH IN THE SEA – 25″ X 19.5″ water-based oils
OODLES OF DOODLES – 36″ X 23.5″ mixed media on board
SWEET DREAMS – 24″ x 18″ mixed media on board
SING ALONG – 23.75″ x 12″ mixed media on board
SUNNY – 13.5 X 10.5″ watercolour
LUCKY DEVIL 1 – 12″ x 11″ mixed media on board
LUCKY DEVIL 2 – 12″ x 11″ mixed media on board
LUCKY DEVIL 3 – 12″ x 12″ mixed media on board
ON A SAD NOTE – SOLD
CAT FISH – SOLD
MISSING YOU – 14.5″ X 14.5″ watercolour
FUNNY GUY – 14″ x 11″ watercolour
GOSSIP – 16″ x 12″ – mixed media on board
CHANGE OF HEART – 9.5″ x 7.5″ watercolour
HAPPY SAM – 12″ x 12″ watercolour
BUTTERFLY FISH – 8″ x 10″ watercolour
COELACANTH – 12″ x 24.25″ acrylic on board
FRESH WATER DRUM – 11″ X 19″ watercolour
STEELHEAD – 11″ x 18″ watercolour
NIGHT WING – 13.5″ X 10.5″ watercolour
NIGHT EYES – 18″ x 12″ watercolour
YIN AND YANG – SOLD
GREEN HERON – SOLD
NIGHT HERON – SOLD
Award-Winning Local Artist brings Ideas to Life at Studio22.
Studio 22 Open Gallery is delighted to present Notionography, an exhibit of new work by Governor General’s Literary Award-winning author and illustrator Wallace Edwards. The Yarker-based artist and beloved children’s book author is a busy man; his paintings and illustrations are found in numerous public and private collections and publications. In addition to his solo exhibition at Studio 22, Edwards will also be launching a new book, What Is Peace?, as part of Kingston’s Writers Fest.
Wallace Edwards loves to play with ideas. The exhibition of new work explores the way our subconscious mind mysteriously manifests and manipulates myriad images, incorporating ideas into imaginative illustrations. “Notionography refers to a deep pool of ideas,”explains the artist. “It’s like snorkeling- I like snorkeling. Things emerge.”
The exhibition, which features pieces Edwards refers to as “found art,” is made up of drawings and collages reworked and reinterpreted from some of his older sketches. The show also features new acrylic paintings on board, which Edwards has dubbed “stark animal portraits,” that represent a bit of a departure for an artist renowned for his elaborately imaginative children’s illustrations. These bold paintings are deceptively simple, inviting the viewer into a thoughtful examination of artistic precision.
Notionography, the wonderful and whimsical world of Wallace Edwards is on display at Studio 22 Open Gallery, from September 27-November 5, 2016.
Local press about Wallace Edward’s upcoming exhibit…
Patti Leishman (formerly Emmerson) embraces the unexpected and celebrates the rhythms and patterns of life. Whether out on the trails or strolling the city with her newlywed husband and beloved dog,
Leishman draws inspiration for her art from her observations of the world around her.
Since her return to her hometown roots in Kingston and her artistic debut in 2013, Leishman has produced an astonishing body of work and amassed an enthusiastic following. Her paintings speak to the beauty and abstract rhythms of life—in them she captures the artistry of the everyday, as she sees it.
To produce these images, Leishman likes to say she “throws caution to the wind.” Through her riotous painting techniques—rollers, knives, squeegees, and a fair dose of whimsy, surprising results unfold. By following the paint where it leads, Leishman’s abstract canvasses erupt with colour and texture, expressing her unique interpretation of beauty and her zest for life.
The new series of paintings in acrylics represents more than a mere change of medium for Mrozicka. By following the energy of her subjects — the people, places, and nature she experiences—the artist allows herself to become the medium, transferring and capturing their energy in her work. This transference requires her to both “tune in” and “let go.” The result is a magical image that captures the spirit and emotion of her subjects and invites the viewer to participate in the very essence of her process, from inspiration to transformation.
The work in her current series, Sunday Mornings with Matisse,draws particular inspiration from old masters such as Matisse, Van Gogh, and O’Keefe. On a recent trip to her native Poland, Teresa rediscovered the work of Polish painter Nikifor, whose life story deeply inspired her to follow her heart.
In his observations of daily life, Rob Niezen explores the effects of light and reflections on contrast and colour harmony. He views the ordinary from extraordinary angles or at extraordinary moments. In his still-life and (urban) landscape oil paintings, he seeks the drama, the exaggerated and the surprising in objects and places. His style is grounded in classic and impressionistic oil painting practice, yet influenced by European graphic novels and Dutch graphic tradition. To share his observations, Niezen views and interprets; he then isolates and emphasizes his subjects.
His nightscapes show the dream world of our cities created by artificial lights. Rainy night reflections create bursts of colour, and reveal our theatrical surroundings. These paintings are a testament to the vibrancy of the city, and vary from broader contextual city views, to close-ups that render more abstract compositions, as the artificial lights create magic on small and large scale.
Biography
Rob Niezen paints mostly in oils. As a boy it were comics that inspired him to draw, and art has been his passion ever since. Rob is an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists, and has participated in over 30 juried exhibitions. His work is in private and corporate collections across Europe and North America. He teaches oil painting at the Art School of Peterborough.
Rob Niezen was born in The Hague, the Netherlands, and lives and works in Douro, Ontario, Canada. He studied art at Vrije Akademies in The Hague and Delft, the Netherlands, and at the Art School of Peterborough.
ICE PAINTINGS – Medium: 1) Non-toxic pigments on natural ice 2) Photographic print on aluminum acrylic face mount (Diasec)
1-Masculin-Feminin-Diptich-8×8-$550
2-Feminin-Masculin-Diptich-8×8-$550
Butterfly-Effect—8×8-$550
Frozen-Beginning-8×8-$550
Frozen-Embrace-8×8-$550
Frozen-Wave-8×8-$550
laraignée-cosmique-8×8-$550
Les-Fleurs-du-mal–8×8-$550
Lunar-8×8-$550
Premiere-vision-8×8-$550
Rembrandt–Nebula-8×8-$550
Solar-8×8-$550
Suspended-Heart-8×8-$550
The-Last-Butterfly-8×8-$550
The-Sky-of-Your-Childhood-8×8-$550
Time-and-Space-in-Infinit-Embrace-8×8-$550
Very-Determinate-Bonsai-Tree-8×8-$550
Where-No-One-Has-Gone-Before-10×10-$850
Galaxy–Shiver-10×10-$850
Garden-of-Eden-13×10-$950
Head-First-16×16-$1200
Vincents-Sun-Fields-10×10-$850
last-colony-diptych-25.5×44.25-$4200
Upper-Middle-Lower-Green-triptych-41×30.25-$4200
Vision-de-la-solitude-16×21-$1400
Circulatory-System-of-Green-32×48-$2200
Where-No-One-Has-Gone-Before-32×48-$2200
Feminin-Masculin–Diptich-II-39×26-$1500
Masculin-Feminin-Diptich-I-39×26-$1500
Framed-Moonlight-42×32-$3600
Paradise-That-Never-Was-68×52-$7000
Trapped-Heart-36×36-$3600
Winter-Vegitation-Boxed-In-16×24-$3600
ICE CARBON – Medium: 1) Non-toxic pigments on natural ice 2) Photographic print, pencil drawing on paper, acrylic paint on wood box
Ice-Carbon-catalog-1-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-1A-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-2-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-2-A-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-3-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-3-A-16×16-$500
Ice-Carbon-catalog-1-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-1A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-2-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-2A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-3A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-4-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-4A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-5-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-5A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-6-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-6A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-7-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-7A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-8-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-catalog-8A-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-Catalog-#9-12×12-$350
Ice-Carbon-Catalog-9A-12×12-$350
Carbon-Based-Forms1-30×30-$2000
Ice-Carbon-Forms-2-30×30-$2000
Carbon-Based-Forms-3-46×60-$3600
Vibrant Disappearance 2016
Vibrant Disappearance is an amalgam of ephemeral art, painting, and photography. The miniature abstract paintings measuring 2 to 4 inches in diameter are painted with pigments on patches of ice found in forests and gardens. Their life span depends on the temperature. The paintings are photographed at their visual peak, before they melt away. Finally the photographs are face mounted with acrylic glass, suggestive of ice. In the series Ice-Carbon, I added another medium. The fragmented photographs of ice-paintings are fused with pencil drawings. Graphite is a form of carbon, which is also a key component of all Earth’s life forms, myself included, hence “Carbon” in the title.
Initially, the ice-paintings were an expression of an aesthetic impulse. Although I used non-toxic materials, I brought man-made pigments, industrialized human culture, into the forest. The paintings projected the baggage of centuries of civilisation. They were an odd imposition on nature, not unlike the imposition of human populations on the natural environment. In the end, however, the paintings last only a moment; they melt and disappear, heralding perhaps the self-inflicted disappearance of humankind.
I photograph the paintings. Turning this ephemeral process into an object made me realise that any transformation is due to the interconnectedness of everything. What we call reality is a mesh of societal, psychological, chemical, atomic, and quantum relationships. There is no separateness between the economy and ecology, culture and nature, a plastic bag and a piece of broccoli. Embedded in thick plastic are the images formed by pigments freezing on the surface of ice formed in the forest. This artwork is the result of human and non-human activity. The temperature of the environment and the properties of the ice are as much agents of creation as the artist.
Vibrant Disappearance is about beauty, creation and the paradox of possessing the power to transform matter and energy without the knowledge of where this power can lead. Ice-paintings point to nature, but are eventually, hypocritically one could say, made of metal, plastic, paints and varnishes. And yet, Vibrant Disappearance is an ecological artwork. It is just as everything else entangled in the stream of the interactions that make us and what we call our environment.
Wolfe Island architect creates large abstract landscapes that turn interior walls into horizons.
Studio 22 is very pleased to announce the launch of our 2016 solo season with a new body of large works from local artist Debra Krakow opening Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
All it takes is the subtlest hint of a horizon line for our minds to see landscape in an abstract painting. We’re drawn to wide-open spaces and expansive views, and landscape paintings connect us to these places. The concept of abstract landscape allows me incredible artistic freedom and yet grounds the work in visual experience. – Debra Krakow
Horizons is Krakow’s third show with Studio22. Evolving Surfaces (Spring 2014), acrylic and mixed media, explored abstracts from a textural perspective and Crows (Summer 2015), acrylics on paper, was created watching crows from a mountaintop in the south of India.
Debra Krakow is a Canadian artist and architect. Her luminous and evocative abstract paintings express her deeply felt connection to the natural world.
Debra was born a free spirit in 1965 and took the women’s movement and the do-your-own-thing motto to heart. Torn between her two loves – art and physics — she decided to study architecture. She graduated from McGill University where she had the privilege of studying life drawing under educator and artist Gentile Tondino. Since then she has developed her artistic practice through courses in painting, printmaking, sculpture, fibre arts and ceramics. Recent workshops with artist Lila Lewis Irving have had a strong influence. She works out of her Wolfe Island studio, overlooking acres of fields and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Debra has exhibited in her native city of Montreal as well as in Ottawa, Kingston, Halifax and New York State. Her works are fondly displayed in living rooms and offices throughout North America. www.debrakrakow.com
Horizons is on exhibit at Studio 22 from Tuesday, April 12 until Sunday May 15, 2016.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Sunday – 11 to 5 pm & Thursday and Friday evenings to 8pm and 10pm
The Open Gallery is open again.
We are back to business.
After a good long break, we are ready to serve you up some of the finest artwork to be found in the Kingston area.
Our Open Collection will run until our season of solo shows begins in April. With the work of over 40 artist from across Canada we present a wide range of styles in a multitude of media.
We have original artwork for all budgets. Visit us today and we will help you find exactly what you are looking for to bring depth and beauty to your world.
Almost Gone – 48×28 – oil on linen – 2015 – $7,200
Last One – 18×24 – oil on canvas – 2010 – $2,400
SOLD Gasp – oil on canvas – 15″ x 15″
Torso – oil on board – 12.5″ x 8.5″
Torso 2 – SOLD
Jammer – oil on canvas – 48″ x 48″
Annie – oil on canvas – 40″ x 20″
SOLD Pas de Deux – oil on canvas – 48″ x 48″
My River Tis of Thee – oil on linen – 20″ x 40″
SOLD Peace – oil on canvas – 48″ x 30″
SOLD Good (Blue) Government – oil on canvas – 36″ x 48″
We began carrying the work of Margaret Sutherland in the summer of 2014. Since that time, there is not another artist in our collection whose work elicits the degree of attention and admiration that Margaret’s does. Her work is political, humourous and deeply thought provoking. Her work is significant and we are thrilled to be presenting this collection of her most recent oil paintings. Studio22 and Kingston are privileged to have access to these works.
Artist Statement
We are besieged with ever more images but less awareness of what we are doing to ourselves and our world. Basically my work is sociological and biographical, from the viewpoint of a feminist who grew up in the end of one century, trying to make sense of life in the next one by witnessing and allegorizing what intrigues and concerns me, wondering where the pendulum of history is taking us next.
– Margaret Sutherland
Biography
A decade after graduating from Queen’s University in Arts and then Education, Margaret Sutherland formalized her professional art pursuit with a Master of Fine Arts (Cum Laude) in 2001 from The Graduate School of Figurative Art of The New York Academy of Art. Her path to fine art was organic, yet circuitous, having spent time teaching at home and abroad in Hong Kong with her husband — and realizing that her passion lay in something else. Sutherland grew her skill in community groups and high school art courses open to adults through NDSS before pursuing her degree.
It is interesting to note what is not formally cited in her resume, that her post secondary education began with the Foundation Year Program (FYP) at the University of King’s College in Halifax. This unique, highly intense course of study is the epitome of liberal arts – exploring only original classic texts outlining the evolution of the thoughts of mankind. Perhaps it is, in part, this education that has fuelled the deep questioning and philosophical commentary that is so integral to Margaret’s work.
Sutherland is an observer. Her unique and deeply compelling work is comprised of her multi faceted self. Technically sound and unwaveringly thought provoking. She is a painter and a thinker.
Fleur Pied et Fesses – mixed media on jute – 49″ x 35.5″
Fleur Pied – mixed media on jute – 49″ x 35.5″
Fleur Pourquoi – mixed media on jute – 49″ x 35.5″
Fleur Puissant – mixed media on jute – 49″ x 35.5″
Fleur X-1 – mixed media on jute – 49″ x 35.5″
Fleur Homme Femme Enfant – acrylic on jute – 39″ x 39″
Fleur X-2 – mixed media on jute – 34″ x 27″
Fleur Jaune – mixed media on jute – 34″ x 27″
A series of 12 mixed media paintings on jute (the backs of recycled carpets).
I was at the public garbage dump in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland) to deposit household waste with my ex-girlfriend when I saw an old dirty and smelly roll of carpet. When I saw that the back of the carpet was actually lined with burlap cloth, I thought the carpets would be perfect for painting. This series of paintings illustrates part of our love and passion story.
– Ndaté Sylla
Biography
As a French and Senegalese citizen, I graduated from Dakar National Fine Arts School, in Senegal. I have lived and worked in 4 different countries, on 3 continents (Canada, France, Switzerland and Senegal). I have now been living in Kingston for 11 months with my son Thierno and my dear wife Mélanie, to whom I dedicate this work.
Exhibitions
I had the great joy and opportunity to share my work with the public in these different places:
2009 Painting exhibition at Café le 5e, Vevey, Switzerland
2005 Painting exhibition at Café Luna, Lausanne, Switzerland
2004-2005 Painting and sculpture exhibition at Gallery Nelly l’Eplattenier in Lausanne, Switzerland
2004 Group painting exhibition at the Mansion Gallery in la Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
1999 Illustration exhibition at Lausanne’s City Hall, Switzerland
1998 Illustration and poster exhibition at Blaise Senghor Cultural Center in Dakar, Senegal
1998-1998 Participation to the 10th and 11th fairs in Fontenay-sous-Bois, Switzerland
1997 Group painting exhibition «ARTS HORIZON» at the residence of the United States’ Ambassador in Dakar, Senegal
–The idea behind Ab Uno (all from one) is the creation of beings and entities from one source; all the same, yet none alike the other.
It is an ongoing series that I have begun in the spring of 2014. These round paintings evolved from previous works called “spheres” into individual objects.
The character of Ab Uno is to give complete freedom to the collector to create a site- specific installation in any order and possible number.
These small painted objects work as a single piece as well as in small groupings (e.g. 3, 9 or 12 pieces) but also in larger numbers when they almost appear as a galaxy of planets.–
Ab Uno 6e – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 6d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 6c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 6b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 6a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 5e – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 5d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 5c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 5b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 5a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 4e – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 4d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 4c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 4b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 4a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 3e – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 3d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 3c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 3b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 3a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 2d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 2c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 2b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 2a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 1e – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 1d – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 1c – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 1b – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Ab Uno 1a – 5″ acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
Untitled (41-15-1) – 41″ diameter, acrylic on mylar mounted on aluminum
Untitled 2015 – 21″ x 18″, pastel on mylar, framed
untitled (14-41-7) – 41″ diameter, acrylic on mylar, mounted on aluminum
COLLECTION OF LOCAL ARTISTS DISPLAY POLITICAL WORK LEADING UP TO FEDERAL ELECTION.
Citizen VOX
A collection of Mixed Media Political Expressions
September 15 to October 19, 2015
With the election fast approaching, each citizen now wields the most dangerous of weapons — their opinion. Whether striving for change or holding true to the current climate, Canadians are offered a chance to make their choice count on October 19th, 2015.
In the hopes of promoting the importance of voting and highlighting relevant personal and community issues, Studio22 has gathered a collection of mixed media political expressions.
Running from September 15 to the eve of the election, the exhibit incorporates visual art, music and the written word culminating in an open and interactive forum for political thought amongst known local artists and their community members.
Participating Artists include:
Rebecca Cowan, Ben Darrah, Robbie Darling, Jane Derby, Robin Field, Claire Grady-Smith, Phillida Hargreaves, Margaret Hughes, Hersh Jacob, Molly McClung, Teresa Mrozicka, Cameron Schaefer, Ewa Scheer, Rebecca Soudant, Margaret Sutherland, Larry Thompson, and others.
Citizen VOX was formed from submissions to our CALL TO ARTISTS / CALL TO ACTION posted in June 2015.
Anyone who strolls down Princess and King street and through the back courtyards of downtown Kingston is already familiar with the works of Barry Blunden. Without realizing it, residents and visitors alike have been delighted by the hanging laundry and grasshopper in the Brock Street Commons, the pelican and gargoyle along King street on the Whig and Masonic buildings and the rooster standing outside the Golden Rooster itself. Even the beautiful detailing along many of downtown’s most iconic buildings belongs to Blunden. Born in, and named for Barryfield, Blunden is a part of Kingston’s history not only in legacy but in his longstanding contributions to the aesthetic of the town.
For the first time in years, a collection (spanning decades) of Blunden’s work will be shown and offered for sale at Studio 22, Open Gallery. His time as a working copper and tinsmith has led to a stunning collection of architectural detailing, practical pieces for the home and decorative sculptures.
Blunden himself describes the durability and longstanding nature of the material used in his work. Joking that his pieces will one day be seen on the antique roadshow, the serious longevity of his craft becomes clear. Just like Kingston itself, Barry Blunden’s pieces have a long standing history behind them and a new history waiting ahead of them.
For decades before and ever creating still, there is always more to come…
“I just want to rush out every morning and get my hands dirty. This is what I do.” – Barry Blunden
Round Table
Lizard (small)
Beer Stein and Bowls
Covered Bowl
Watch
Regular Polytope
Light Bulb
Fish
Curling Stone
Paint Brush
Tall Mailbag
Mailbox
Hat and Saddle Bag
Hat in Hand
Dragon
Self-Portrait
Zipper
Tortoise
Three Roses
Square Bowl
Single Roses
Scale Scoop
Quill
Regular Mail Bag
Jumbo Mail Bag
Lizard (large)
Hanging Sculpture
Glass Table
Fort Henry Lantern
Finial
Finial for 8 / 12 Roof
20 Point Star
Wine Bucket
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