Facing Impedimenta by Rosemary Miguez & Gayle Halliwell
Opening Reception: September 30, 7-10pm
Special Events:
First Friday, October 7, 12-9pm
Culture Days, Artist Talk: Saturday, October 1, 1-2pm, Rosemary Miguez, “Tree Teachings”
Culture Days, Artist Talk: Sunday, October 2, 2-3pm, Gayle Halliwell, “Lake Winnipeg, The Art + The Science”
Additional Regular Hours:
Tuesday to Friday, 12-6
Saturday, 12-5
*Special event hours for Sunday, October 2: 1-4pm
Energy surrounds and is ever within us. Yet conscious, historical knowledge impedes flow. Action becomes apathy. Art is opportunity to activate the spirit of vitality… “only then comes the undisputed magic of letting go.”
Rosemary has been painting for the past 15 years, beginning with watercolour and then exploring the acrylic compound gesso beginning in 2005. Rosemary explains:
“The reason I chose white on white was to explore the play of light upon the work that adds an element of movement; each piece has a sense of constant motion. Each painting can be back lit in a window or by artificial light to render the movement of light and shadow across the face of the painting, it is this sense of change and movement with something as still as a painting which fascinates me.”
Raised forms of gesso and sand allow the light to discover the play of shadow in its depths inviting the eye to explore beyond the surface of Rosemary’s canvas.
Recently Rosemary has gone beyond the canvas to bring the gesso & sand onto glass and mirror. Mulit-media projects involving glass, mirror and wood have been a main focus over the past year.
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Gayle Halliwell: Artist’s Statement:
Hey, so what’s the big idea?!
For me, the big idea comes from where I live. I am inspired by the land, lake and skyscapes of Lake Winnipeg. After all, it is the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world. Sunrise, high noon, sunset; winter, summer, fall—they are all stunning at the Lake. I want the viewer see that beauty through my works. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Lake Winnipeg, recently awarded the ignominious title of the most threatened lake in the world, is in danger from nutrient loading. Eutrophication, typically a natural phenomenon, is made deadly by an exponential increase caused by our actions. I work to bring voice to this contradiction of beauty and tragedy, to the juxtaposition of nature and (lack of) nurture, and to the silent cry for help from Lake Winnipeg. That’s my big idea.
Gayle Halliwell embarked on a course set in the sea of visual arts almost a decade ago. She traded desk and pen for palette and brush, and hasn’t looked back. “This is of the most challenging voyages I have ever taken,” Gayle smiles, “and I love every minute of it.”
As only she could, Gayle dove into these waters with energy and enthusiasm. She studied noted Manitoba artists, sought out and created concentric circles of learning, and splashed pigments and clay with wild abandon. Recent interest in learning the Celtic bodhran drum and tin whistle has added new depths to her visual arts.
At Studio 410 in Winnipeg Beach Gayle loses herself in an exploration of the lake, sky, and landscapes that create the visual canvas of the Interlake. Ancestry roots her there; her close connection to Lake Winnipeg comes from decades of experience afloat and a lifetime of admiring from beach and shore. Gayle creates award-winning works in watercolour, acrylic and clay that contrast the incredible beauty with the ecological tragedy of this great prairie ocean.