VISUAL ARTS AT THE FACULTY OF EXTENSION PRESENTS
Living next to a cemetery is a constant reminder of our inescapable mortality. Nevertheless, the cycle of life continues, with new growth flourishing amidst the remains of the old. Among the monuments and memorials to our deceased loved ones, a cemetery is also a place where trees, shrubs, and wildlife make their home.
This series of work focuses on the cemetery as an urban landscape, or green space, suggesting a mini ecosystem. As humans we tend to emphasize our own control, considering nature as something to fight against. Rather, I would like to suggest a more irreverent tone, finding beauty in organic life cycles.
In keeping with this theme, these paintings and drawings juxtapose and contrast the natural and manmade, animate and inanimate, the hard, stark edges of stones versus the more complex, curvilinear forms of organic life. In my paintings I explore the atmospheric qualities of subjective colour and a limited colour palette, and the interplay of light and shadow. In my ink drawings I explore the rough, high contrast qualities of ink applied with a stick rather than the usual brush.
These works evolved from a series of plein air sketches and photographs done at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Edmonton, during the summer of 2017. In the weeks I spent there sketching, I found myself particularly drawn to old, weathered gravestones with their long history, and the resident animal life with their everyday dramas.
“We have nature in our cities and homes. It may not be the same nature that was there
hundreds of years ago, but it can provide important habitat. There are hundreds of
species that will share our space, if we provide room for them."
(Nature Conservancy of Canada, Newsletter Spring 2017)
Feb. 11–27, 2019
7 am–11 pm Opening reception:
Saturday, Feb. 16
2–4 pm Location:
Extension Gallery
Enterprise Square
10230 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Margaret Harris was raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She received her university education in biology, after which she spent some years participating in field research in the Kananaskis area, drawing upon a keen observation of wildlife. Her later experience in librarianship encouraged an ability to plan and execute projects.
Margaret works with acrylic paints and a variety of drawing media, including ink and charcoal. She is greatly influenced by colour and light found in her observed subject matter. Her most recent body of work focuses on urban landscapes, juxtaposing architectural elements and green spaces. Now a retiree, Margaret is pleased to have been able to pursue her childhood love of art
through the Visual Arts Certificate program at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension.
March 25–April 10 Student exhibition
Laura Foster
Student exhibition
Judy Weisse
A Painting Dialogue:
An Introduction to Acrylic Painting and wahkohtowin
What does acrylic painting have to do with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)? The goal of this course is to engage in intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual awareness and growth through understanding the TRC calls to action, while building and practising basic acrylic painting skills.
Participants will create a series of paintings based on self-reflections on their relationship with iniyiwak (people of this land) and their understanding of wahkohtowin (everything is related).
4-day course:
Feb 25 (evening) +
Feb 27 (evening) +
March 1 (daytime) +
March 2 (daytime)
Fee: $545
Instructor:
Lana Whiskeyjack
You Don’t Have to Be Good at Art to Benefit from an Artistic Hobby
by Casey Lesser
(Excerpt)
Author and Columbia University law professor Tim Wu... noted that he was surprised by how few people he meets have hobbies. “We’re afraid of being bad at them,” he wrote. “Our ‘hobbies,’ if that’s even the word for them anymore, have become too serious, too demanding, too much an occasion to become anxious about whether you are really the person you claim to be.”
... A plethora of research studies have shown that expressing ourselves through art can help to ease a wide range of illnesses and afflictions, from anxiety and depression to dementia and cancer. More broadly, making art—be that sketching, writing poetry, dancing, or playing with clay—can make us feel happier and more relaxed, and can also help to improve our observation, motor, and problem-solving skills, as well as memory retention and hand-eye coordination. But how do we get over the hurdles of finding time for hobbies and feeling comfortable about making mediocre art?
...The lack of expectations and judgement is key. By letting your mind wander freely, or in other words, letting yourself play, you can reap the positive benefits of hobbies, like enhanced creativity and mood regulation.
Full article at Artsy.net »
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