Christopher Reid Flock
Friday Feb 10th 7-9 pm
Wine reception with exhibition of work
Artists talk & slide presentation
Free Admisssion – Everyone welcome
Demonstration style throwing & forming workshop (Registration in advance required)
Sate Feb. 11th 9-4 pm
$75.00 members
$90.00 non-members
No registration required

While attending the fireworks this Friday December 16th 7 p.m. at the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum, check out our Christmas Sale in the Gallery. The Centre will be open from 6-8p.m. for Christmas Shoppers. If your coming to see the fireworks, you have to walk right by the Centre, so drop in and see the amazing display of scarfs, paintings, pottery, jewellery, photography-all great for gift giving. And no tax!

A wonderful ‘pARTner-ship’

By TARA BOWIE Sentinel-Review

Posted 20 days ago

By pairing emerging artists with established artists, a unique exhibit has been created that will find a home in the Woodstock Art Gallery for the next eight weeks.

This year marks the 140th anniversary of the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA), and to celebrate this monumental year, a partnership between the Woodstock gallery and the society emerged.

“Both have a mandate, the art gallery and the society, to try to encourage and assist new graduates,” OSA member Cathy Groulx said. “We want to help so they don’t have to float along and try to make their way in the world on their own.”

Maria Ricker, curator of the gallery, approached OSA to see if a partnership could be developed several years ago.

And it finally has. In fact, the name of the show is pARTners.

Eleven established artists, like Groulx, who is an oil painter, were partnered with 11 recent art program graduates from across the province.

“We work with new art graduates to help mentor them and answer questions they might have and they show us new skills,” Groulx said.

For about three months Groulx and her partner, Laura Bydlowska, a Woodstock native living in Toronto, worked together to develop their collaborative piece.

Each artist submits a piece of their own. For Groulx, it will be an oil painting, and for Bydlowska, she will submit a print she etched. Then the two artists work together to create something.

“Totally different way of working for me. It’s exciting. The graduates come with such vibrancy and enthusiasm and we get to learn a new art form,” she said.

A larger friendship has blossomed between Groulx and Bydlowska. Groulx helped the emerging artist get her first commercial show venue, which resulted in the sale of her work. Groulx also helped Byldowska find a spot in a show last spring in Ingersoll and the two have even talked about business cards.

“I had nothing – no help when I started. So it’s totally different. I enjoy helping. It’s tricky getting your foot in the door,” she said.

The exhibition is travelling to six galleries across Ontario with Woodstock being its first stop. The grand opening of the exhibit takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday and it will run until Jan. 14.

This 2 hour class instructed by Heather MacIntosh was offered to non-members at member prices.  The watercolour paper used was Currys brand 200lb 9no stretching involved).  The watercolour paints used were Winsor Newton ultra marine blue, burnt sienna and quinacridone gold.  Almost everyone in the class were new to watercolours and they did a fantastic job.

Deck the Halls
Now that the grand sale has come and gone, the Mini version of the Deck the Halls Christmas Sale takes place in the exhibition gallery until Dec. 21st. Come and browse the luscious creations made by members of the Ingersoll Creative Arts Centre, perfect for Christmas gift giving. Treat yourself to beautiful scarf’s, original paintings, pottery, quilted wall hangings, photography from Oxford County and much more. Hours are Monday to Friday from 9-12 & 1-4 and on Saturdays and Sundays from 2-4 p.m. The centre is located at 125 Centennial Lane in Victoria Park, Ingersoll. 519 485-4691

Oxford Quilters Guild
The Oxford Quilters Guild meets on Wed. Nov. 30th from 7-9:30 pm and thurs. Dec. 1st from 9:30 am – noon. Membership to the ICAC is required to join the Quilters Guild, although guests may attend Guild Meetings for $10 at the door. For this program members of the guild who are engaged in the commerce of quilting or are Quilt Shop owners have been invited to speak. These folks will be presenting 3 items in a range of values, that members may want to put on their Christmas lists. It’s always fun to see what is the latest gadget, book, fabric line or ruler that might find its way under the tree. Cynthia from Cherished Pieces, Deb from Country Patchworks, Heather from the Quilt Place and Gail Robertson, representing J.N. Harper have all agreed to make presentations. Also the representatives of Vitoria’s Quilt will outline the work of this charity that supports people who are dealing with cancer.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The House Under Water series was created with drawn marks
and painted veils on layers of plexiglass. Partially hidden under the
layers is the image of a house.
Perhaps this symbolizes a discovery of myself in the layers of my work.
On the other hand I know I have internalized the disaster stories in
recent times of tsunamis, hurricanes, meltings, flood predictions, oil spills,
our sick planet waters and even market crashes. In following the work
I feel it has lead me to an expression of deep concern for our future
as a species on the planet.

The house image is repeated in the series of photography on mylar. The house symbolizes my being as I am immersed in the surrounding atmosphere.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

AMISH INSPIRATIONS – A COLOUR STUDY

CAROL McLEAN

I first saw antique Amish Quilts at Esprit d’Corps’ head office in San Francisco when I was taken there by Roberta Horton in 1979 on my way to a conference in Hawaii. I was completely overwhelmed by their strong, graphic beauty. I was so impressed and affected by their powerful visual impact that I knew I had to make some and emulate the feelings that were in those original, powerful pieces viewed that day. For many years I was captivated to make “just one more”. For the most part, I made smaller quilts, because it gave me the opportunity to work with different colour and value interactions without spending an entire year on one quilt. Jewel tones are an important, prevalent part of  many antique Amish quilts and I loved working with them. 

And so the journey and love affair with colours, values, contrast and placement began.  I studied as much as I could find on these beautiful, graphic works of art.  I was fortunate to have taken classes from Roberta Horton. She took me to a second viewing of the Esprit Quilts in San Francisco, when I stopped there on my way to teach in Australia in 1989.  Again, I was spurred on to make more. The more I learned, the more I wanted to emulate them.  I also taught many classes, passing  this knowledge and love affair on to others.

I enjoyed the visual paths that were possible; leading the viewer’s eyes to different parts of the quilt. That is where the colour study came into play.

Where do you look when you first see one of the quilts??? Where does your eye go???

You look at a clear, light valued colour……. Look again and see how the clear light colours stand out and provide a sparkle and dance to the quilt. Careful placement of these powerful elements is important, since they attract the eye immediately. Their distribution can make or break a quilt. Also note the high and low contrasts in values throughout the quilts. In some cases, I have worked with identical patterns, using different colours and values to see the effect of their placements. Look and compare.

I experimented with Miniature Amish quilts as well and have included some of them here for you to see. Precision is very important in these little pieces, since one or two thread deviations can make a difference to the accuracy of the pattern.

The names of their quilt patterns are taken from their everyday life, such as Straight Furrows, Bars, Diamond in a Square, Sunshine and Shadow and the humble 9 Patch. The quilting designs also reflect their lifestyle… Flowers, Cables, Vines and Plain Grids to mention a few. They lavish much beautiful hand quilting on their works and use primarily dark thread with their plain, solid coloured fabric.

The Peacock’s Tale of Jewelled Skies was developed out of a challenge to use a traditional Amish pattern and palette, yet create a contemporary quilt.

I do not try to copy their quilts with identical colours or placements of values but rather to emulate the feeling that is in the combined essence of their quilts. I select the part of their palette that appeals to me and work with that.

I continue to enjoy their strength and graphic beauty and every now and then they “call to me” and I feel compelled to make “just one more”. I hope you enjoy viewing these quilts and spending some time with their powerful, graphic beauty.