There’s a new art gallery in the region, and it’s opening this Sunday with an awesome lineup of artists… and me too.

What better way to open a brand new art gallery than to have a show featuring some of Eastern Ontario’s top artists… that’s kind of a rhetorical question, because I can’t think of a better way. At least not one that’s legal.

The Dalkeith Historical Society recently purchased an old chapel, and is in the process of renovating it into a museum / gallery they’re calling the ‘Robertson-Clark Building’, click here to find it on Google Maps.

The one-day show, on Sunday, June 29, between 10am and 4pm, is called “Local Legends, Landmarks & Memories”, and will feature local artist, including Doreen Russell, Jean Hodson, Janet Harris Timms, Brunhild Shierding, Mary Ferguson, Susan Jephcott, Eva Hoderman, Maggie Dean, Wendy Tillett, Vivianne Lariviere, Rita Irarte, Barbara Robertson and Michael E. Cartwright.

For some reason they’ve also asked me to participate. This will be my first show, and I couldn’t dream of a better group to show with.

Rita Iriarte

“Rita paints big, bold and beautiful. The works of this Pointe-Fortune resident artist, do not discreetly sneak up on the viewer: they draw you closer to discover hidden meanings, strong brush strokes, shadings, nuances, variations, darkness and luminosity. Strident and brilliant colour combinations integrate her never-ending creative list of works. After 50 years painting and 110 exhibitions, she still is not ready to retire her brushes.”

Maggie Dean

“Maggie was born in Montreal in 1944 and now resides in St. Eugene Ontario. Maggie studied art in high school and attended Sir George Williams Art School in Montreal, John Abbott College in Ste.Anne de Bellevue, and the Santa Raparta Graphics Studio in Florence, Italy. Her time is divided between painting and creating unique stained glass. She also does stained glass repairs and, recently, has started creating mosaics.”

Doreen Russell

Janet Harris Timms

“All Creatures great and small, all types of wildlife – this is what Janet likes to portray, through oil on canvas, primarily. She also endeavours to bring awareness to endangered species through her paintings. Living in the countryside in Alexandria really gives great inspiration for a variety of nature subjects!

“Janet started painting only two years ago, finally following through on a calling, and likes to make her subjects as realistic as possible, focusing on facial expressions and body language. She recently participated in the ‘Opus 9’ exhibition in Glen Nevis at the Abbey for the Arts, with 19 other artists, and was awarded 1st Place, for favourite painting, by public vote, of her British Otter. Very exciting for her first-ever exhibition!”

Susan Jephcott

“A pivotal hub in her regional artistic community, Sue Jephcott has been active as a full time artist since 1956. Born in Hudson, Quebec, Jephcott’s career has spanned nearly five decades, passing through notable evolutions of style and content. Ranging from highly textured figure and portrait studies, to bold, hard edged symbolism, Jephcott has absorbed and personalized classical techniques, re-directing them into the stark storytelling of her content laden work.”

Eva Hoedeman

Barbara Robertson

Vivianne La Riviere

“I work mostly with acrylic but sometimes mix-and –match mediums. Painting is becoming a deepening passion and so it is time to take some risks and share, as painting becomes another pathway to peace of mind.”

Also showing are John Sims, Jean Hodgson, Brunhild Schierding, Bruce Toombs, and Michael E. Cartwright…

…and me, Gabriel Landriault:

This is my first show. I’ve lived in fifty-four places. I’ve been paid to pick stones out of fields, take backstage photos of Britney Spears, and report on Internet privacy issues. My photos have been published in several newspapers, and a couple of magazines.

I’m currently the Communications Director for the Arbor Gallery, once I graduated from college, and I’ve received two awards for reporting — one I deserved, and one from people who probably should have known better.

Just to add to the festivities, there’s going to be a lunch at noon, and a blessing of the pets at 2pm.

What: “Local Legends, Landmarks & Memories”, a one day art exhibition, lunch and blessing of the pets.
When: Sunday, June 29 — 10am until 4pm
Where: Robertson-Clark Building, 1841 Dalkeith Road, Dalkeith, Ontario
Who: Everybody is invited
Why: Because art is AWESOME!

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A conversation with Heather Dubreuil… stitching art together with needle and thread

Heather Dubreuil’s solo show, ‘Cityscapes: Collages in Cloth & Stitch’, opened at the Arbor Gallery on Sunday, and she was kind enough to sit down for an interview.

Heather, who has been living and working in Hudson, Quebec, for almost three decades, works primarily with textiles. She takes her own photos of cityscapes and landscapes, and recreates the scenes in quilt form by cutting and dying fabric in her home studio, which is then stitched back together into a multi-layered, textured linear art.

Heather learned how to knit and crochet when she was very young, and spent most of her childhood making her own clothes. Now she uses the skylines of Montreal and New York City as her primary sources of inspiration.

According to Shanna Steals, who is curating Heather’s show, “we are invited to view what would appear as modern perspectives of repetitive architecture but through the lens of a long tradition of women’s work, stitching. With each line that is sewn and each square of fabric that is collaged together, Heather uses the technique of quilting to piece together parts of our mechanical landscape as well as our heritage.”

Heather and I also discussed the role of social media in getting her work to an audience, her love of Montreal, Quebec art politics, her mentors, and the process she went through to get her first shows.

…just a quick note: any audio problems are my fault — I mumble. I’d like to personally thank Heather for taking part in our continuing series of artist interviews.

Heather’s solo show at the Arbor Gallery continues until August 17. The photos below are from the show’s opening, just click on one to get the carousel started.

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Arbor Gallery’s “ART For Art’sake” fund raising auction a tremendous success… here’s how you can do it too

The Arbor Gallery is, for the most part, run by volunteers. Actually, our curator is the only paid employee. We meet four or five times a year, to discuss things like paying for the lighting and phone bills, deciding on how to negotiate a better lease, how to bring in more visitors, the usual day-to-day stuff when it comes to running a small contemporary gallery.

Recently, finding new ways to raise money for operating the Gallery has become a major focus for us, because government cutbacks to arts programs means our operating expenses are paid for solely through fund raising events and donations.

It’s not something unique to the Arbor, or even to art galleries. Not-for-profits, and charities, are always scrounging for cash. That’s how it works out there. The problems are just exacerbated in small villages like Vankleek Hill, where there are so many groups and organizations looking for donations of time and money from the same people over and over again. So the trick becomes making the events exciting, memorable and worthy of attention.

And, with our latest event, an arts auction we called “Art For Art’sake”, I think we’ve hit on something special.

The idea, proposed by Reenie Marx (above, beside the bartender), a director on the Arbor Board, back in February, was to simply ask people to donate works of art they had stored away to the Arbor. Then we’d auction it off. Simple. Except, of course, for all of the hard work Reenie put into gathering and cataloguing the art, collectibles and antiques.

It actually seems so obvious in retrospect. There are people here who have been buying and storing artwork for decades. Basically the event was an art swap, with most of the buyers being people who also donated.

And the people of Vankleek Hill did come through for us… by the end of the event, the Arbor had raised almost $4,000 in one afternoon — actually, in only two hours. Which is close to a third of the total annual operating costs for the gallery.

Each ticket sold for $10 — and came with a free glass of wine, plus all the non-alcoholic punch and munchies you could consume. There was a silent auction, where anyone could participate. Most of the items started in the $10-$20 range (I picked up a signed Michael Cartwright print for $20). The steal of the show, in my opinion, was the John Ikeda ceramic tea pot and mugs, which (I think) went for $50… they would have been worth at least double that.

Then there was the ‘live auction’ for the more ‘unique’ items, like a violin signed by Bobby Lalonde, and blues legend Terry Gillespie and his band. There was also a one of a kind illustration by Marvel Comic artist, and Vankleek Hill resident, Dale Eaglesham.

This is the second major fund raising event in the past six months for Vankleek Hill’s Arbor Gallery. Called the ‘Arts Scramble’, the idea behind that event was also deceptively simple. People donated artwork, each of which was placed on a wall. Tickets were sold, and randomly drawn at the event. When someone’s number was called, they had one minute to chose a piece of art.

With an ‘in kind’ donation from Vankleek Hill’s ScotiaBank, the Arts Scramble also raised roughly $4,000. So, keeping a contemporary gallery open entirely on donations and fund raising is possible… at least so far — we do have another six months to go in this fiscal year.

We also used this event as an excuse to have our very first online contest. The winner, Jennifer Gibbs, a local artist, won two tickets to the event. But, just as important, we received more than fifty people and businesses entered, and over 2,000 views on our Facebook page and blog.

The basic rules were simple, every Like or Share on our Facebook updates got people one entry. They could do it as many times as they wanted. The result was to have our event updates shown to hundreds of people who, otherwise, would not have seen our Facebook page.

…so, let us know if you have any fund raising ideas you’d like to share, or if you’re interested in using some of ours. In the meantime, here are some photos from the “2014 Art for Art’sake” event — just click on one to get the carousel going.

…if you see any advertising on this blog, they’re put there by WordPress. Click, or don’t, it’s up to you. We receive no money or reward of any kind from the ads.

Our very first contest… which means you could be our very first winner

*CONTEST *ALERT *CONTEST *ALERT *CONTEST *ALERT *CONTEST *ALERT: Yes, it’s our very first online contest… it’s easy to enter, it could be easy to win, and the prize is pretty cool.

First, the prize: the winner gets two free (FREE) tickets to our upcoming, ‘Art For Art’sake’ fund raising auction, on June 14, when you’ll have the chance to bid on some incredible items — including a piece of original art by comic book illustrator, Dale Eaglesham, a 125-year old fiddle donated by Bobby Lalonde, and signed by blues legend Terry Gillespie, ceramic tea cups by John Ikeda, a pair of tickets to Beau’s Oktoberfest and tonnes more great stuff.

The Arbor Gallery has spent the past two months collecting fine works of art and collectibles from families and individuals in and around Vankleek Hill, most of which will be auctioned off in a silent auction, followed by a live (and lively) auction at the experienced hands of Robin and Josee Pridham.

Second, the rules: simple… over the next week, we’ll be posting several updates about the event here on our blog, and on our Facebook page. ‘Share’ the Facebook updates directly, or share the link to this blog post, or even just leave a comment here with an email address so we can get a hold of you, and you’ll be entered into a draw. On June 12, we’ll randomly select the winner.

Start with sharing this blog update on your Facebook / Twitter account, and you’ll be entered twice. Just because (but you have to leave a comment letting us know).

Easy. Because making this hard would be no fun at all.

Here are some of the incredible items that could be yours (click on an image to get the carousel going)…

If you don’t gamble, but would still like to take part, tickets for the two-hour event cost $10, and are available for sale at Vankleek Hill’s ScotiaBank, as well as the Vankleek Hill Cottage Gift Shoppe, and also at Vankleek Hill’s Arbor Gallery, on Home Avenue… if you can find one, individual members of the Arbor’s ‘Board of Directors’ are also selling tickets. Ask one, they’re very friendly.

Vankleek Hill’s ‘Arbor Gallery’ is hosting ‘Art For Art’sake’, an art auction fund raiser, on June 14, from 2pm until 4pm.

Each ticket comes with a free glass of wine, lots of snacks, and non-alcoholic refreshments. All of the proceeds from the event will go towards the Gallery which, because of government cuts, now relies solely on community support to pay for its day-to-day expenses.

For more information:

thereview.ca
arborgallery.org
beaus.ca
…and the Arbor Gallery’s Facebook page.

…if you see any advertising on this blog, they’re put there by WordPress. Click, or don’t, it’s up to you. We receive no money or reward of any kind from the ads.

Fine Art, Collectibles, and Antiques Up For Bids In ‘Art For Art’sake’ Public Auction In Support Of Vankleek Hill’s Art Gallery

Vankleek Hill’s ‘Arbor Gallery’ is hosting ‘Art For Art’sake’, an art auction fund raiser, on June 14, from 2pm until 4pm.

The Arbor Gallery has spent the past two months collecting fine works of art and collectibles from families and individuals in and around Vankleek Hill, most of which will be auctioned off in a silent auction, followed by a live (and lively) auction at the experienced hands of Robin and Josee Pridham.

Tickets for the two-hour event cost $10, and are available for sale at Vankleek Hill’s ScotiaBank, as well as the Vankleek Hill Cottage Gift Shoppe, and also at Vankleek Hill’s Arbor Gallery, on Home Avenue… if you can find one, individual members of the Arbor’s ‘Board of Directors’ are also selling tickets. Ask one, they’re very friendly.

Each ticket comes with a free glass of wine, lots of snacks, and non-alcoholic refreshments. All of the proceeds from the event will go towards the Gallery which, because of government cuts, now relies solely on community support to pay for its day-to-day expenses.

So far the donations up for sale to the highest bidder include a unique, one of a kind Dale Eaglesham illustration; gift certificates to Beau’s Oktoberfest; oil paintings; an antique, 125-year old fiddle donated by Bobby Lalonde, and signed by members of blues legend, Terry Gillespie’s band; as well as three ceramic mugs, and a ceramic tea pot, designed and created by local artist, John Ikeda…

…there’s also a Royal Stafford gold edged cup and saucer; cranberry glass fruit bowl; gold edged cigarette holder, ashtray and candy dish; bone china dish…

…a hand carved Balinese mask, and antique kaleidoscope:

…a four piece set of Limoges china, edged with 22k gold:

…a leather bag with Egyptian motifs from the 1950s, still in remarkably excellent condition:

…there has also been a donation of extremely valuable china from the Harden family, including Royal Dolton plates, still in their 1960’s and 70’s boxes, as well as a set of 4 antique demi-tasse cups and saucers:

…there are many, many more pieces, artifacts and art up for auction. As the event draws closer, we’ll be posting more photos and information here, on our ‘Upcoming Events’ page, and on the Arbor Gallery Facebook page.

This is the second major fund raising event in the past six months for Vankleek Hill’s Arbor Gallery. Recently the Gallery also held an ‘Arts Scramble’ that was described as its ‘most successful fund raising event ever.’

For more information:

thereview.ca
arborgallery.org
beaus.ca
…and the Arbor Gallery’s Facebook page.

…if you see any advertising on this blog, they’re put there by WordPress. Click, or don’t, it’s up to you. We receive no money or reward of any kind from the ads.

What’s happening during the ‘Victoria Day Weekend in Vankleek Hill’ event? Much like the chances of the Boston Bruin’s winning The Cup, it’s history… and cannon fire

For the first time during Vankleek Hill’s thirty-something year history of Victoria Day festivities, there will be live cannons and muskets firing… and it won’t have anything to do with Montreal Canadiens fans celebrating beating Boston in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals.

We’ve already posted about the ‘Soup‘ and the ‘Beer, Tea, BBQ, and Belly Dancing Events’, and the Arts Events’… now, finally, ‘The Historical Events’:

Vankleek Hill is a village of roughly 2,100 eccentric and interesting people, roughly one hour’s drive from Montreal, Cornwall and Ottawa… so that pretty much makes us the centre of the largest concentration of Canadians anywhere in the world, which is perfect because we throw a lot of annual festivals, so they all have something to do.

This year, in addition to showcasing the work of more than twenty artists and artisans, plus the excellent food in our restaurants and bistros, we’re celebrating our history.

The largest (and definitely loudest) events during our ‘Victoria Day Weekend in Vankleek Hill’ festival will be a celebration of the Higginson family, one of the foundering families of Vankleek Hill, as well as an acknowledgement of the importance of the 18th Prescott Militia to this region.

The fact we’re doing it with live musket and cannon fire, just makes it that much cooler.

…just a side note: all of this years events are weather proof. Everything except the re-enactment will be indoors, but the re-enactors promise they are ‘all-weather machines’. There will be no cancellations due to rain, sleet, or dragon’s fire.