Fur, Fins & Feathers
featuring Jane Bayne, Mary Guillaume, Mary Lou Hiller, and Jean Weller
UpTown Gallery presents Fur, Fins and Feathers, exhibiting a fascinating variety of creatures both fanciful and real as interpreted in professional photographs, acrylic, oil, watercolour paintings and mixed media works by four local artists.
This exhibit will delight you with the paintings and photos our artists have captured or created of the creatures with whom we share our world and our lives.
Exhibition runs from Thursday, January 23rd to Wednesday, March 19th, 2014.
The Opening Reception is on Sunday, January 26th from 2 to 4 pm in the UpTown Gallery in the Waterloo Town Square. Come in and enjoy the art and meet the artists. Refreshments will be served.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jane Bayne works with watercolours and acrylics. She often carries her camera in order to capture the unexpected encounter with creatures in the desire that she can share these moments with the viewers of her work.
Mary Guillaume has shared her life with many furry companions and enjoys the delightful antics of the feathered creatures who visit her garden feeders. However, although she appreciates the beauty of the finned ones, she prefers them on a platter with a lemon-butter sauce. Nature has graced us with many beautiful creatures and when those beauties interact with us, it's a joy.
Mary Lou Hiller paints in acrylics and watercolours and enjoys the challenge of mixed media. Her skillful use of colour and design is applied to a wide variety of subjects and interpretations. Animals are a frequent and much- loved subject.
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.
Going on - Green
featuring Diana Erb, Julie Krahule, Carolyn Sharp, and Laurie Spieker
UpTown Gallery presents Going on – Green! In this new show each artist uniquely interprets the vibrancy of green in our reawakening Spring-time world and examines our shared efforts in preserving our precious Earth. Please visit and revel in all our show has to offer – painterly brushstrokes in both representational and non-representational styles, lively fused glass and stained glass designs, and calming, beautiful botanicals.
The exhibit runs from Thursday, March 20th until Tuesday, May 6th.
The environmentally-friendly Opening Reception will be held on Sunday, March 23rd, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at UpTown Gallery, in Waterloo Town Square. You are cordially invited to attend, enjoy the art, and meet the artists. Light refreshments will be served.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Diana Erb: With respect for our earth and mindfulness for the fragility of our natural environment, Diana has created acrylic paintings reflective of the current challenges we face due to a changing climate. Extreme weather, disappearing species, as well as geologic and climatic change, are some of the themes she explores in this series, Going On-Green!
Julie Krahule: The theme, Going On – Green!, encompasses Earth Day on April 22nd and Horticultural Therapy Awareness Week in Canada from April 20th to April 26th (visit: www.chta.ca). By including organic and recycled materials in her botanical art, Julie will highlight the wonders of nature and the power of horticulture as a therapeutic modality.
Carolyn Sharp: Carolyn creates colourful abstractions of life using pallet knives and acrylic paint. Her series of work concentrates on celebrating the inherent beauty of our environment and makes reference to ways individuals can contribute to preserving our world.
Laurie Spieker: With the arrival of spring, Laurie anticipates the rush of green and the miracle of new growth that quickens with the lengthening and brightening of our shared days. The grace and simplicity found in this recharging world inspires her creative life, as she examines small and unnoticed natural marvels through her glass art.
Expressions of Warmth
Featuring Sophie Drouin, Diane Eastham and Melissa Kristensen-Smith.
Expressions of Warmth's opening reception is Friday, May 9th from 5 to 7 pm.
The show runs from May 7th to July 15th, 2014.
This new show allows each artist to present her unique take on warmth, be it expressed through colour, texture or context. Perfect timing as the temperature rises and the heat of summer approaches! Enjoy all this show has to offer including colourful mosaics, photographic wonders on reclaimed wood and abstract landscapes constructed in hand-painted fibre art.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Sophie Drouin creates mosaic pieces are centred around the seasons. Focusing on the aspect of organic change, as well as cycles of life and decay. The fragmentation of mosaic and the smoothness of encaustic are used for this portrayal.
Diane Eastham is a multimedia artist who explores metaphoric and metaphysical landscapes. She works with acrylics and stitch on cotton and canvas to share her joy in colour and texture. Though abstract, her work often reflects environmental concerns such as global warming and the melting of the polar ice-caps.
Melissa Kristensen-Smith is a photographic artist who seeks to capture people and cultures from unique perspectives. The warmth and vibrancy of these images is enhanced by the texture of the reclaimed wood on which she prints her work.
Rhythms of Earth
Featuring Brad Sherk and Carolyn Sharp.
This show runs from Wednesday, July 16th to Tuesday, September 23th, 2014.
In this exhibit you will be overwhelmed by the presence of the natural world as expressed in the impressionistic paintings from Carolyn Sharp and the realistic drawings and prints of Brad Sherk. Our artists have created art that celebrates the natural world as an expression of our role on the planet we share with many other beings. Whether its a beautiful reflection in the waters of the Grand River in Elora or in the reflection of a snowy owl’s eyes, we hope this exhibit helps you see the natural world in a new rhythm.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Carolyn Sharp is known for her impressionistic landscape paintings, as well as her non-objective abstract paintings. For this show, Rhythms of Earth, her art is inspired by the beautiful scenery of the Elora Gorge, and her exploration over the past 15 years of the historic limestone cliffs and caves along the Grand and Irvine rivers.
Brad Sherk is an artist from Waterloo, Ontario specializing in drawing, printmaking, and photography. He is a recent graduate of the University of Guelph and has won awards in printmaking and drawing. All his artwork deals with wildlife and nature and how we as humans relate to it. His drawings and prints are time consuming and detailed, working in realism, but still using the elements of design within the details and rhythms of nature.
Reclamation
featuring Barbara Di Renzo, Melissa Kristensen-Smith and Michelle Salter.
Opening reception is Sunday, September 21st from 2 to 4 pm.
Reclamation runs from Wednesday, September 17th to Tuesday, November 18th, 2014.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
UpTown Gallery Waterloo presents Reclamation. An intriguing and thought provoking art exhibit, focused on our environment and global issues. Our new show features artwork incorporating reclaimed, recycled and upcycled materials by Barbara Di Renzo, Melissa Kristensen-Smith and Michelle Salter.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Barbara Di Renzo creates eco-friendly, mixed media art based on recycled metal. She creates unique metal sculptures that she incorporates in her contemporary paintings. Barbara is inspired by colour, shapes and re-using everyday objects. www.leftaligndesign.ca
Melissa Kristensen-Smith is a photographic artist who seeks to capture people and cultures from unique perspectives. The warmth and vibrancy of these images is enhanced by the texture of the reclaimed wood on which she prints her work. www.kristensen-smith.com
Michelle Salter is a multidisciplinary artist working in found object sculpture and mixed media drawing. She includes unexpected objects in her artwork to both encourage the viewer to draw nearer and to evoke a feeling of fun and surprise. www.michellesalter.ca
re/collections
featuring Christine Gagnon, Jim Heldmann, William Mullin, and Laurie Spieker.
The Opening Reception for re/collections and Patron Appreciation will be held on Sunday, November 23rd, from 2 to 4 pm.
Runs from Wednesday, November 19th to Tuesday, January 20th, 2015.
UpTown Gallery presents Re/Collections. In this new show Christine Gagnon, Jim Heldmann, William Mullin and Laurie Spieker interpret the acts of collecting and recollecting. In this fast paced and ever-changing world our memories, treasured times, and assembled precious objects gather importance as they sooth and comfort, educate or illuminate, or simply foretell future fates.
As the earth rolls into Winter Darkness and Christmas preparations are made, please visit the sparkling gallery and explore the artists’ work. Study the colourful cut and raw gemstones set into precious sterling silver and gold forms; peer into the suspended and graphic wonder of glass art, and marvel at the stories delivered by charming and painterly brush strokes.
Uptown Gallery will also be celebrating its “Diamond – Favourite Art Gallery” win in the Record Reader Awards. In honour of this achievement, The Gallery will hold a Patron Appreciation Prize Draw as a way of saying Thanks to valued Supporters.
You are invited to attend an Opening Reception to meet the Artists, sample Celebratory Cake, enter the Prize Draw, and nibble on a variety of sweets and treats.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Christine Gagnon fashions jewellery that commemorates life events, places or objects of importance, transforming each piece into a belonging of treasured personal significance. Christine Gagnon Design
Jim Heldmann is surrounded by so many inspiring subjects in the Region of Waterloo. In this show he continues his soft and delicate recollections of picturesque winter scenes along the rivers and roads of the countryside.
William Mullin paints with multiple transparent layers to create his realistic images. His oil paintings depict a wide diversity of subjects.
Laurie Spieker creates original designs in glass that reflect her passion for the natural world and its collections of mysteries. Laurie seeks those small and unnoticed marvels of natural grace and simplicity and encapsulates these views in the colourful cosmos of glass. www.grandriverglassworks.com