Port Artist’s exhibit examines
‘Which Way the Wind Blows’
Doug Carter works on display this month at Arts Place Gallery
By Bill Robinson Staff
Arts & Entertainment
Jul 10, 2009
Woodsprites is one of 10 works by Port Colborne artist Doug Carter on display at Arts Place Gallery
A love of outdoor landscape painting along with elements of abstract impressionism and traditional Chinese brush painting combine to give Doug Carter’s monotones an emotional energy uncommon to many art shows.
“With Chinese brush painting it’s all about composition and space,” Carter said, adding the small, sometimes severe brushstrokes of abstract impressionism that build and structure the painting exert control on the larger, open areas. “I found monotyping to be the best way to express myself, as the paintings are often spontaneously executed.”
The work of Port Colborne artist Doug Carter will be on display at the Arts Place Gallery until July 26.
The exhibit, entitled Which Way the Wind Blows, features 10 of Carter’s monotypes.
Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface, and then pressing the image onto a sheet of special watercolour paper. The resulting monotype is a unique print because, unlike monoprinting, most of the ink or paint is removed during the initial pressing.
“I actually used the front of an old television screen,” Carter said. “I’d paint my feelings about nature onto the glass, place a big piece of archival paper over it, then you have your print. Essentially, the glass is the (printing) plate.”
A longtime active member of the visual art scene in the Hamilton area, Carter participated in more than 30 group exhibitions, and from 1973-2004 held several solo exhibitions. He was the administrator of the non-profit Carnegie Gallery in Dundas from 1995-2004.
Born in Hamilton, Carter is fairly new to Port Colborne, having moved here after living in Wainfleet for a couple of years. Tiring of the quiet, country life, he and partner Patti Stirling, opted for more urban surroundings and moved to Port Colborne in 2007.
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Arts & Entertainment
Jan 09, 2009
FIRE & ICE COLLIDE IN EXHIBIT
By Amanda Street, Niagara This Week Staff
Warm reds and oranges collide with whites and blues for an exhibit of hot and cold at Arts Place Gallery.
Fire and Ice is the new members' exhibit at the King Street gallery and the excitement begins Saturday. "In winter there is so much ice and cold," said gallery co-ordinator Joyce Honsberger. "Fire brings that warmth that everyone looks for in the cold." \The two extremes collide in a showcase of art from gallery members.
Honsberger has only seen one piece so far, a fiery depiction from member Cathy Peters. "It's quite wonderful," said Honsberger, who will be showcasing sculpture, leaf work and frame work in the exhibit. "It really makes you feel good to look at it."
George Saunders will feature a few pieces of art in the exhibit. Fresh from a trip to Australia, Saunders created Fire Curtain, a bold and colourful painting inspired by the Aboriginal art he viewed in Australia. To contrast the fiery red piece, Saunders also created Winter Morning, a view of ice-covered Lake Erie. "Fire and Ice is different for everyone," said Saunders. "It's so cold outside, this is a good theme for winter."
Honsberger is never sure how the exhibit will look until the artwork comes in. "Fire and Ice can mean different things to different people," she said. "Everyone adapts to a theme differently."
Fire and Ice opens Saturday with a reception on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. The exhibit runs until Feb. 22 at Arts Place Gallery, 714 King St. For more information, call 905-834-9060.
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Arts & Entertainment
Dec 26, 2008
FINDING HER SOLACE IN VESSELS
Artist Joyce Honsberger fascinated by dynamics of space
By Alison Bell, Niagara This Week Staff
Joyce Honsberger challenges herself to spark the psyche using space.
The Wainfleet artist is fascinated by the potential dynamics of space and by twisting metal rods and intertwining them with pigment coloured paper pulp, she plays with space and light. "My work is very much connected with space, for space is the ultimate receptacle -- its potential dynamic absorbs me," she while gently spinning one of her hanging pieces in Arts Place Gallery in Port Colborne. The lightweight sculptures move slowly with small currents of air, and in doing so bring energy to the environment they are in, says Honsberger.
Materials used are treated cotton, abaca paper pulp, painted metal and wire. The paper pulp is coloured with stable and light fast pigments and coated with an acrylic varnish for protection. Honsberger discovered the form of sculpture while studying at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Years of teaching piano combined with artistic techniques she learned formally have helped Honsberger find balance in her work. In addition to hanging pieces, Honsberger creates sculptures which hang on the wall. She has a name for them --- vessels -- but she doesn't know why she is fixated with them.
"Vessels intrigue me -- is it because of their care and thought in execution, their dignity of purpose, the mystery that makes them more than just a container, or is it the relationship of the outer form to inner space?" Honsberger says her vessels speak a language not of the head, but the heart.
"The vessel image creates a solace for me. My creations are unconscious, conscious partnerships. The marks I make vibrate in my psyche and to see the images materialize is a joy." Unlike most hanging works, Honsberger's pieces are never inside frames.
Honsberger established Arts Place and is a partner in the Jordan Art Gallery. The Wainfleet resident is a member of the Society of Canadian Artists, the Sculptors Society of Canada and the Arts Council of Fort Erie, among others. Her work hangs in Windpoppy Studio behind Arts Place in Port Colborne and she has exhibited in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan and the Mexican Cultural Centre Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, Mexico.
Throughout January, her work is on display at the Arts Council of Fort Erie's gallery at 238 Ridge Rd. N., next to From Cover to Cover bookstore. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and is closed Sundays and Mondays. Admission is fr
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November 13, 2008
BIG ART IN SMALL WORKS
By Lynn Peppas, Tribune Staff
Looking for artwork of a local theme? Arts Place on Port Colborne's King Street is one of the first area galleries that come to mind.its latest exhibit, Smaller Works, captures even more local artists' work, as the all-member gallery opens its doors to welcome works by non-member artists in the community.
Familiar names including Putzy Madronich, Esther McWatters, John North, Liz Reid and Dori Schooley grace the walls for this exhibit of smaller pieces affordably priced for the gift-giving season.
Many of the non-member names featured in this show are prize-winning artists whose works have taken home first place in past Roselawn Juried Art Show competitions. Many are also members of the Port Colborne Art Club. North teaches watercolour painting classes within the community. His watercolour series of local scenes are featured prominently on the third floor of Port Colborne's city hall. These artists' works share space with the collective of artists that includes George Sanders, Raymond Martin, Diana Hinman and others.
Madronich is one of those prizewinning artists whose painting, Mumbai, took home first place in the juried art show. For this show she's still working in an East Indian vein, which can be found in her multimedia collage Gold Egyptian. Done in decadent golds with royal blues, purples and reds, this piece is a combination of hieroglyphics and lovely ancient patterns and texts. Coin stamps provide a textured, framed work of art. Of a more domestic nature are her series of chickens -two in this show -painted against bold, bright colours.
McWatters is another award-winning artist who has taken on chickens in one of her works titled Barnyard Roosters. This watercolour is one of the larger works in this exhibit, and captures a rural scene of roosters in natural poses and colours. Also of note is her Ragged Falls (Algonquin Falls) watercolour. McWatters is known for her floral watercolours but these new directions in theme are marvellous additions to her painting repertoire. North's scenes range from tied-up boats in a quaint East Coast port to a scene of a local business on Port Colborne's West Street. Working in watercolour as well, North's work is painstakingly precise with careful attention to detail. You're going to be disappointed if you're shopping for North's work. As wonderful as they are, none of these paintings are for sale. Also check out Reid's Poinsettias, a vibrant work in seasonal colours of arresting reds and greens tinged with golds. Dori Schooley's Untitled is a majestic northern scene.
Members' work includes a seasonal swirl of autumn colours in Fall Abstract by Ridgeway artist
Bob Twidle.
Arts Place curator Joyce Honsberger is, as always, creating outside of the box with her Reverie series that includes wall sculpture as well as a very different direction of framed handmade collages in neutral colours. Artist Doug Carter, who always thinks outside the box, is showing some very traditional paintings for this show, with seasonal paintings that include End of Season.
Bigger isn't always better, as proven by Art's Place's recent networked show of local artists' work.
This collection of Smaller Works (and smaller prices) really widens the net of local artwork. Admission to the exhibit is free. The gallery located at 714 King St. is open Thursday to Sunday, from noon to 5 p. m.
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