Kissing the Ground: Barbara Dametto
January 6, 2017 Barbara (Eva) Dametto is a visual artist, dancer, actor/playwright, expressive arts practitioner and educator. She received her formal education at the University of Waterloo (B.A. dance, kinesiology, theatre), York University (B.Ed. fine arts education), and Fleming College (expressive arts). Over the years she has worked in Toronto, Port Hope, Peterborough and Bancroft as a dancer, choreographer, painter, actor, clown, teacher and yoga/meditation instructor. What inspires and motivates Barbara to create visual art is her desire to allow spirit to move through her without judging, directing or predetermining the outcome. Her bold and colorful images flow onto the canvas with the use of acrylic paint and mixed media- mostly found in nature. Her work can be described as intuitive expressions of personal impressions, experiences and dreams. Her paintings are not a destination but rather a journey inward. Barbara’s work illuminates her belief that when one is in alignment…
The Works of Guelph’s own Lewis Melville
For the past year I’ve been preoccupied with the subtle interaction of light, shadow, and colour in closely-viewed subjects. I’ve chosen to work in oils on a variety of surfaces, including canvas, hardboard, cedar panels, and bas-relief wood constructs. Working in a small size augments the details of brushwork (and other implements) in thickly applied oil paint. The smaller the painting, the closer one approaches the image, the greater the relative effect of depth and texture. Close viewing also has the added consequence of causing the surrounding environment to disappear from the viewers field of vision, thus potentially minimizing visual and other distractions in a physical space.Over one hundred small paintings and several large images were created and mounted in carefully selected frames. The visual content is rather more evocative than subjective. No attempt has been made to accurately describe a particular narrative or visual event, but rather to use…
The Works of Donald Chrétien, First Nations Artist
Art Exhibition and Sale The unique style and impact of Aboriginal fine artist Donald Chrétien springs from his combined passion for colour and woodland-style expression. His ongoing exploration of his heritage has him concentrating on distinct features of Ojibwe clans acrylic on canvas.His works are exhibited in some of the most interesting corners of North America. His Vancouver Olympics installation piece, titled: Ngashi Nijii Bineshiinh or Mother, Friend, Small Bird, is on permanent display in Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum and stands 12 feet high by 80 feet long. Over his 30-year career, Donald has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to giving back to his community. For the Union of Ontario Indians, he produced artwork for a package of educational resources dealing with Indian Residential Schools. “Little Butterfly Girl”, tells the story of a child who was taken from her First Nation and brought to a Residential School. The illustrations depict the harsh reality of losing…
“Water·Earth·Sky·Spirit” – Pieter Zantinge
March-April 2016 Born in the Netherlands, Pieter immigrated to Canada as a young child and came to love Northern Ontario through regular camping trips with his family. Almost immediately he began to express his love of water, sky and flatland through drawing and painting. Pieter’s main artistic work expresses his love and respect for the north with colourful abstracts.