Spontaneity
featuring Candice Leyland, Sharl G. Smith, and Jean Weller.
Runs from Tuesday, January 17th to Sunday, March 19th, 2017.
There will be no opening reception.
UpTown Gallery presents Spontaneity.
Like great improvisational jazz musicians, allowing art to be spontaneous requires a careful study, reflection and respect of the medium. Watercolour and wildlife photography as media lend themselves well to the theme of spontaneity. Artists in these media must give up a certain amount of control and let things flow naturally. They must allow for and embrace the unplanned or unprompted. In doing so, spontaneity in artwork creates pieces that are loose, fresh and exciting, inviting viewers to share a moment in time, a flash of an idea or an emotion or experience.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Candice Leyland is a Watercolour artist. Her work has been described as dreamlike and whimsical. It focuses on light and mood, using bright, vivid colours to explore her subject matter in a loose, impressionistic way.
Sharl G. Smith experiments with bead-stitching. Though there is much planning involved, happy accidents are welcomed with joy. This show features Sharl’s happy accidents.
Jean Weller’s photographic passion is to capture the all-important moment. When photographing animals and birds, Jean loves to catch the fleeting moment of a special look or interaction.
ReArt
featuring Windekind Buteau-Duitschaever, Valerie O'Flynn, Laurie Spieker and Nancy Yule.
Runs from Tuesday, March 21st to Sunday, May 14th, 2017.
Opening reception is Sunday, March 26th, from 2 to 4 pm.
UpTown Gallery presents ReArt. In this new show Windekind Buteau-Duitschaever, Valerie O’Flynn, Laurie Spieker and Nancy Yule regard, reinterpret, recreate, reuse and recycle old and new connections, ideas and configurations in their bodies of art. Found objects, unexpected use of materials, multiple iterations of ideas, and much thought outside of the “box” are the hallmarks of this new show. Visit our show, refresh your spirit and rethink your perception of art.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Windekind Buteau-Duitschaever, owner of Simply Rooted Woodshop, transforms urban trees into functional items and art pieces. He particularly enjoys the challenge associated in using raw wood material that has been affected by insects, animals or ecological process. These natural defects challenge him to explore new ways to highlight the inherent beauty of wood that would otherwise be casted aside. This process allows him to create unique, one-of-a-kind art.
Valerie O’Flynn feels that form and content are inherently linked in art. An idea is given form and the content is delivered; change the form, change the content. In her body of work Valerie has often revisited an idea, altering its form, sometimes in search of greater clarity in conveyance of the idea, sometimes to explore the subtle or blunt impacts different forms have on the interpretation of the idea. Her works demonstrate that manipulation of colour, scale, medium, elements and principles can alter the content and message. Valerie also recycles and combines older forms to convey topical ideas.
Laurie Spieker welcomes the world to her doorstep at Grand River Glassworks, where she creates fresh and imaginative contemporary glass art and eagerly shares the inspiring beauty of glass with her community. In a busy glass studio, a vigorous collection of glass scrap is the reality. Laurie has turned her eye to this colourful treasure trove to recycle and shape a new body of work.
Nancy Yule works intuitively building layers of shape, colour, symbolism and abstract composition. She loves blending the warmth of fibre with the encapsulation of hardened encaustic wax to reveal a unique mergence of mediums. Nancy always challenges herself with reinterpreting tradition and exploring new material combinations. www.nancyyule.com
Natural Beauty
featuring ManChoi Chow, Christine Gagnon & Sophie Drouin, Louise Marée, and Michelle Salter.
The exhibition runs from Tuesday, May 16th to Sunday, July 16th, 2017.
The opening reception is Thursday, May 25th from 6 to 8 pm.
The beauty of nature is used as inspiration showcasing the different disciplines of our featured artists. ManChoi Chow works in photography to bring to us gorgeous and ethereal moments in our surroundings. The new Organics micro-mosaic jewellery collection by Christine Gagnon and Sophie Drouin combines the beauty of finely crafted sterling silver with colourful hand-formed glass elements. Louise Marée's oil paintings are energetic and vibrant recollections of her experiences. Michelle Salter continues to be fascinated by the lusciousness and depth of water interpreted through the medium of encaustics. Each artist approaches our concept in a uniquely individual way. Come be surprised!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ManChoi Chow sees “beauty” in almost anything around him, but especially in the natural environment. He enjoys strolling through brisk winter landscapes in Dumphries County, as much as being enthralled by autumnal spectacles driving through the Hockley Valley. Even closer to home, the “urban woods” he and his wife Bonnie have cultivated at their home (Edenwilde), provide countless inspirations for photo art year round. He admits to be eclectic in style, however, drawn to the power of monochromatic pieces that can be powerful and dramatic while being simple and minimalistic. Or, he is caught off guard by rich, saturated layers of colours in a luminous sunset at Niagara.
Christine Gagnon and Sophie Drouin's love of organic, nature-derived themes and shapes is at the heart of their continued collaboration. Christine has created a series of beautiful, one-of-a-kind jewellery in sterling silver, which Sophie has filled with intricate, vibrant micro-mosaic using hand-pulled "filati" (threads) of antique and contemporary Venetian glass.
Louise Marée lets intuition and interpretation inform her oil paintings. Observing nature for light, wind and air, she layers close range and large vistas in her work. Using palette knives and brushes, she is always trying to move further into abstraction.
Michelle Salter explores her love of water in nature through the medium of encaustic waxes. This medium lends itself to capturing the subtleties, the depths and the light of bodies of water. Encaustic is made from beeswax that gives her work both an implied depth and an actual sculptural qualit
Colour Spectrum
featuring Jane Bayne, Cathy Pascoe, and Adrienne Zoe.
Exhibition runs from Tuesday, July 18th to Sunday, September 17th.
Adrienne and Jane will be hosting an opening reception on Thursday July 20th from 6 to 8 pm.
In today's world, it would seem that we need colour more than ever. Colour is like spice...it can induce a euphoric state where for a moment the viewer can be transported into a world of pure enjoyment, freedom and awe. These three award-winning artists invite guests to experience the Colour Spectrum through photography, coloured pencil and acrylic paintings. Adrienne Zoe, a celebrated photographer, uses her camera, filters and computer to escalate the beauty of glass, flowers and skies. Coloured pencil crayon is what moves Cathy Pascoe to produce detailed and unforgettable works of art. Jane Bayne finds acrylic paint essential to capture local landscapes with unparalleled brilliance. The colour spectrum is a powerful tool in the hands of an artist...it gives a painting its full force and encourages artistic licence to soar.
Attitude
featuring Sanela Dizdar, Mary Guillaume, and Mary Lou Hiller
Exhibition runs from Tuesday, September 18th to Sunday, November 12th.
Sanela, Mary and Mary Lou will be hosting an opening reception on Saturday, September 23rd from 2 to 4 pm.
Attitude, the defining response to life, is the soul of creativity. Itʼs that expression of feeling and appreciation of feeling that animates art. It can be humorous, satiric, joyful, critical, sentimental, shocking and, above all, thought-provoking. Attitude is the message.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Emotions are Sanela Dizdarʼs special challenge in art that, captured with strokes of pencils or brushes, allow portraits to become alive and tell their own stories.
Mary Guillaume has drawn and painted since childhood, and her one rule has been ʻno rulesʼ. She loves to bring an idea or a special place to life visually - a difficult yet fun bit of non-verbal communication - rather like an attitude!
Everything can be a subject for painting. Mary Lou Hiller responds to the people and environment around her to bring them to new attention and paint them with a unique insight.
80 Years; 80% to Heart & Stroke
solo show featuring Mary Guillaume
Opens Sunday, September 10th, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 23rd, from 2 to 4 pm - with the regular Gallery Opening Reception for the new show 'Attitude'
This September, Mary Guillaume, a long-time member of UpTown Gallery is having her last solo show at the Gallery: '80 years and 80% to Heart and Stroke Foundation'.
Mary has celebrated her 80th year, and her 11th year at UpTown Gallery. She is thankful to have survived a heart attack in January of 2016, and in early 2017, she had a series of hemorrhagic strokes. Having survived these events, Mary has decided that 80% of proceeds for her final solo show would be donated to the Heart and Stroke Foundation—a group that is dedicated to educating and raising funds for research into these health concerns. The Foundation has effectively helped to reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes nationally by funding research and educating about how to recognize, prevent and survive these incidents.
All work will be reduced in price by 50% to 75% off her regular Gallery prices.
8th Annual Show & Sale of Student Works
Once again, the BackSpace at UpTown Gallery hosts a show and sale of student works.
Meet the artists and their mentor, Sanela Dizdar, on Saturday, November 18 while enjoying live music.
Opening Receptions: Kids and Teens from 2 till 3
Adults from 4 till 6
Exhibition runs from November 18 through December 31.
Light up the Season
featuring the Uptown Gallery artists.
Award winning gallery, award winning artists light up the season with an all new exhibition. Whether you come to appreciate or to purchase, we'd love to share the holiday spirit with you.
Our Christmas show opens November 14 with an opening reception on Sunday, November 19. from 2 till 5 pm. Please join us for treats, dessert, and draw for door prizes.