MARCH 14 – MAY 13, 2022
The University of Saskatchewan’s Community Arts and Artisanship Program offers an extensive array of non-degree art classes and workshops in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, metalwork, glass art and textiles. We are pleased to present this group exhibition of small scale works by nine of the program instructors, each with a unique approach to art instruction and a busy studio practice of their own.
ROBIN ADAIR
Robin is a visual artist and art educator who has been teaching in Saskatoon for over 15 years. In his art practice, Robin primarily explores figurative subject matter and specializes in pen and ink drawings, acrylic paintings, and digital works. Along with teaching adult and youth classes in painting, drawing, and art journaling for the Community Arts and Artisanship Program, he also facilitates school workshops and community outreach programs at the Remai Modern in Saskatoon.
Robin completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005, a Masters of Arts in 2010, and a PhD in English literature in 2021.
When we ask, “why the long face?,” we draw attention to a moment of apparent emotional or psychological imbalance in another and imply that it is more acceptable to find a solution to this condition than to persist in its outward expression. As a response to this sentiment, this current series of self-portraits makes space for some of the internal states I encounter daily but rarely feel the freedom to express openly. I work under the assumption that the process of painting a self-portrait is at its core an objective form of introspection — that through close observation and depiction of the external planes and nuances of the face a kind of psychical/emotional schematic emerges. For me, this process brings catharsis and understanding; and I hope on some level my paintings facilitate a similar experience for the viewer.
Visit Robin on Facebook, Instagram or his website: https://liddedcups.com/
Why the long face? No. 2
2022
acrylic on board
12” x 9”
NFS
Why the long face? No. 1
2022
acrylic on board
12” x 9”
NFS
ADRIAN GOLBAN
Adrian Golban was born in Dragalina, Romania. He works predominantly in the medium of sculpture, but also includes painting, photography, video installation and performance within his practice. In 1997, he graduated with a BFA in Sculpture from Ioan Andreescu Academy of Visual Arts in Romania. He also graduated with a Master Degree in Educational Management in 2004. His MFA exhibition, Interstice was held at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery in September 2021 and featured a series of literal and metaphorical self portraits, exploring memories and experiences of Golban’s life within Romania and Canada. His works were prominently exhibited in many places in Romania, as well as all across Europe, in countries such as Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Ukraine, Belgium, and Holland and were awarded numerous prizes and diplomas. Private collections with Adrian’s art can be found in Romania, Holland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Slovakia, Ukraine, Malaysia, Philippines, and Canada.
Visit Adrian on Instagram: artgolban
Abstract Objects II
2020
stoneware, stain and slip
5” x 8 ½” x 7”
$350.00
Abstract Objects I
2019
stoneware, stain and slip
10” x 12” x 4”
$350.00
SHONA IVERSON
Shona Iverson (B. Ed, U of S) is a nature photographer and high school photography teacher. She encourages her students to recognize that photography is a creative endeavour, not simply a documentary process. Along with the fundamentals of exposure and composition, she teaches her students to see potential photographs everywhere they look.
Shona has rarely been without a camera in hand since her uncle gifted her one at the age of eight. Growing up on a farm surrounded with animals – both domestic and wild – inspired a love of nature which ultimately merged with the joy she found from photography, and a nature photographer emerged. She has since photographed everything from monitor lizards sunning themselves in Singapore to bison wandering through Grasslands National Park, with a few Scottish castles thrown in along the way.
I teach to share my enthusiasm for photography. My goal for my students is to build the skills necessary to make, not simply take, photographs. Whether they have the latest model of DSLR or a hand me down mobile phone, students can learn to wield it like a paint brush and create beautiful scenes. The key is to get out and use whatever you have and keep working to make the next image better than the last.
Visit Shona on Instagram: akaseonaid
Wapiti
2020
Photograph print on Velvet Fine Art Paper
8” x 8” NFS
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
2020
Photograph print on Velvet Fine Art Paper
8” x 8” NFS
MIRANDA JONES
Miranda enjoys working in a wide variety of media from paper to steel, but a foundation in drawing and a love of colour are central to her work. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills through teaching as she believes creativity at all levels helps to empower us as individuals.
At the tender age of 25, Miranda Jones immigrated from Australia to Canada into the teeth of her first Canadian winter. More than thirty five years later, she has acquired the skills needed to live in Saskatchewan, pursue a successful art career and to become a qualified art and yoga instructor. These include Nordic skiing, year round cycling, sub-arctic swimming, an MFA from the U of S (1989) and Iyengar International yoga teacher certification (1998).
Miranda currently exhibits her work through a shared artist work space Studio on 20th in downtown Saskatoon, at Nouveau Gallery in Regina and The Parker Gallery in Nelson, NZ. Her work is represented in public and private collections in Canada and Internationally and she has been awarded a number of grants and artist residencies both in Canada and abroad. Most recently this included an artist residency at the Saskatchewan Legislature Building in Regina for Centenary celebrations and resource artist for CollaboratioNZ, in Whangerai, NZ in 2015.
Both of these paintings began as demonstration pieces for a Fearless Mixed Media class I taught for the USask’ Community Arts and Artisanship Program. I quickly became lost in the process of painting these and decided to leave them as abstract images rather than develop them towards my more familiar subject matter. They were originally intended as underpaintings only, to encourage exploration over outcome in my students, yet I myself was so excited by a new and endless world of possibility these opened up for me. I feel they offer infinite space for my imagination to roam in new directions each time I look at them.
DELUGE
Mixed media on birch panel
2022
10″ x 10″
$480 (plus tax) SOLD
Proceeds to be donated to fellow artist, Taras Polataiko for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
NO FLY ZONE
Mixed media on birch panel
2022
10″ x 10″
$480 (plus tax)
Proceeds to be donated to fellow artist, Taras Polataiko for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
PATRICIA KATZ
Patricia Katz of Saskatoon began her adventures in watercolor in 2002. Brush, paint and paper quickly laid claim to her heart. Her artwork is known for its lively colors and lyrical lines. Sketchbook and paints are constant companions on Pat’s travels. She is a huge fan of sketching both indoors and outdoors – intrigued by whatever is in front of her at the moment from streetscapes and table scapes to seascapes and landscapes. Pat published her paintings featuring the sights and scenes of her hometown in the best-selling book, Sketches of Saskatoon.
Over the years, Pat has studied with a variety of watercolor artists including: Charles Reid, Judi Whitton, John Lovett, Karlyn Holman, Brenda Swenson, Brian Atyeo, Barry Coombs, Robert Sinclair, Eleanor Lowden, Brent Laycock, Isabelle Hunt Johnson, Cecelia Jurgens, Anne McElroy, and Alison Montgomery. She has participated in three artists’ trips to Europe, painting in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
In June of 2020, I participated in a 30×30 Direct Watercolor Challenge and set about creating thirty watercolor paintings in thirty days. Part of the challenge was to paint as directly as possible with minimal under drawing. That was a stretch for me as I often sketch with ink and partner the line work with watercolor. Without the strength of line, I was forced to work with color and values to define the shapes.
In those early months of the pandemic, I was not doing any travelling. That created another challenge for me as many of my sketches are created on the go as part of our travels. And so, I travelled our backyard garden and used what I found there as inspiration.
Purple Irises
2020
watercolour on paper
6” x 6”
$225.00
Purple Clematis
2020
watercolour on paper
6” x 6”
$225.00
Visit Patricia at Pauseworks Studio www.patkatzart.com or via email: pat@patkatzart.com
ALISON R MONTGOMERY
Alison R Montgomery’s plein air landscape paintings have been showcased in many solo and group exhibitions, and her work is represented in many corporate and private collections. The riverbank, prairie and fields near and around Saskatoon, and the shores of Waskesiu Lake and area in Prince Albert National Park are Alison Montgomery’s preferred outdoor studios.
Alison taught Secondary Visual Arts in the Saskatoon Public School District for thirty-one years, superannuating in June of 2015. She studied at the University of Saskatchewan, graduating with a Bachelor of Education in 1984 with majors in both Art and History, and recently earned a Masters in Adult Education/Lifelong Learning (2017). Alison continues to teach art and music as a substitute teacher, is an art instructor in the University of Saskatchewan College of Arts and Sciences Community Arts Program and at Hues Art Supply in Saskatoon.
This work is part of a new series of studio paintings entitled “Encounters”. While still fundamentally grounded in the elements of landscape, the works document many encounters with mostly non domesticated creatures whose paths, to my great good luck, have crossed mine. My encounter with this inquisitive, docile but persistent juvenile Mute Swan took place one afternoon this past November, along the shore of Lake Zurich, in the city of Zurich, Switzerland.
Cy (Cygnet Swan)
2022
24” x 12”
watercolour and acrylic interference on canvas
NFS
Visit Alison on Facebook or via Instagram: armont_art
KARA PERPELITZ
Kara is a Master Spinner (Olds College, AB 2017) and Fibre Artist from Saskatchewan. When she first discovered handspun yarns over a decade ago, she certainly didn’t see it becoming a passion. This passion has led to writing, teaching and creating art out of yarn. As the recipient of multiple grants through the Sask Arts Board she has been able to spread her love of yarn and fibre to many communities in Northern Saskatchewan.
This Boucle is a LIE
2022
handspun yarn, handstitched
dimensions variable
NFS
Coco Chanel brought fine boucle yarns into fashion in the 1950’s. Created with the finest fibres like silk, her coats were sought out as the epitome of femininity and perfection. As women we are expected to always present our perfect selves, but the level of effort leading to exhaustion and resentment that comes with it create often invisible and rarely shared boundaries that only those that get close will ever feel the effects of.
This Boucle is and LIE is a fibre sculpture created with handspun bouclé using the one of the most coarse, prickly wool fibres -Border Leicester. The feminine loops and the goddess silhouette in a 360 view represent the female experience – the expectation to always be perfect. The off white, demure colour adds a subtle nod to the requirement that women not be ‘too much’.
Out the Window
2022
embroidery applique, thread painting and blackwork
$750.00
A piece that started off simply as an exercise in applique embroidery that evolved into a serene still life that many of us can relate to and others long for. The ideal view out the window on an August afternoon transports the viewer to the calm prairie landscape, the yard immaculate and lush, the fields and hills a little thirsty with a large lone tree, leaves starting to turn.
I often let the yarns and threads speak to me and allow the piece to evolve on its own. Inspired mainly by experience and emotion, my art is a reflection of my past, present and future dreams.
Follow Kara on Instagram or visit her website: https://www.spinheartspin.ca/
MAIA STARK
Maia Stark is an artist of settler ancestry based out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Treaty 6. She holds an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. Stark primarily works in figurative painting in oil, acrylic, and gouache. Since 2017, Maia has also worked in decorative and functional ceramics after completing the CARFAC Mentorship program with ceramic artist Paula Cooley. She is represented by Slate Gallery in Regina, SK.
These last few years it feels like there’s a steady trickle of feelings, a consistent rush- filling up, swelling, leaking, escaping. Sometimes it feels that letting it out just allows it to further surround me, and there isn’t any relief. This is less of a criticism of strong emotions or vulnerability, but more of an acknowledgment of its existence, and learning to exist with it.
Too Much Water
2022
12” x 9”
Gouache on paper, cold wax varnish
$240.00 SOLD
Visit Maia online: https://www.maiastark.com/ or via Instagram: maiastarkk
CHERYL TUCK-TALLON
Cheryl Tuck-Tallon is a graduate of the USCAD program, and former owner of the Black Spruce Gallery. She works in acrylics, oils and watercolour, and her subject matter includes landscape, abstracted landscape, florals, and abstraction inspired from nature. Cheryl has pursued an in-depth study of composition, design elements, and perspective. While she truly believes we all have an innate sense of these elements, increasing her conscious awareness has allowed her art to elevate to a new level. Cheryl is represented by the Black Spruce Gallery in Waskesiu.
These two pieces illustrate the importance of composition as the basis my work. In the small 6×6 the composition is the dominant feature. As the size is increased, elements of texture, colour, neutrals and tone are introduced or expanded, however, the underlying structure of the composition should not be jeopardized by these elements. Therein lies the challenge.
Spruce River Study
2022
oil on canvas
12” x 12”
$450.00 Available at Black Spruce Gallery
Spruce River Study
2022
oil on canvas
6” x 6”
$180.00 framed. Available at Black Spruce Gallery
Visit Cheryl on Facebook cheryltucktallonart/ or Instagram ctucktallon