The installation is complete. I dropped in to Earls Court Gallery today for a sneak preview of Measure of a Year with two friends from Toronto. We had a great visit, and their welcome company helped settle my pre-opening nerves. The show, Measure of a Year, runs until June 13 but the opening party is tomorrow, May 9 from 7–9 pm, 215 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton Ontario. Everyone is welcome!
It’s been busy around here for the last couple of years and now, I’ve got a whole new body of work ready to show. Please join me for my opening on May 9, between 7 and 9 pm, at Earls Court Gallery on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton Ontario. I’ll also be at the gallery for most of the day on Saturday May 11 for those who prefer daytime visits! And while you’re here, stay for a bit. There are all kinds of places where you can eat and explore in the Ottawa Street North neighbourhood.
My 2017 Solo Exhibition, Effects of Weather, opens on Thursday, May 4 at Earls Court Gallery, 215 Ottawa Street N. Hamilton, Ontario. There will be wine and cheese from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Please come! There is parking on the street, or in the municipal parking lot just behind Ottawa Street.
If you can’t make it for Thursday’s wine and cheese, come to Ottawa street for lunch and a gallery visit on May 5 instead. That’s the day that there will be 27 food trucks parked EVERYWHERE on Ottawa Street, cooking up a storm for the Sew Hungry rally. Yum. I’ll be there too. The work remains in the gallery until June 8.
Earls Court Gallery is open Tuesday – Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 905-527-6685 | robert.daniels@sympatico.ca | @earlscourt215
Atlantic Breakers 36″ x 48″
Coat of Many Colours by Aleda O’Connor, 18″ x 24″ Oil Pastel
Coat of Many Colours will be on the block April 8 in the live auction of paintings at the annual art auction at the Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA). The school, a non-profit registered charity, raises a significant part its program funding through the sale and auction of donated work. You can preview the hundreds of paintings, drawings, sculpture and ceramic works between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. April 6 and 7, then from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 8. The sale begins Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 at the door, $35 in advance at the school or https://dvsa.ca/events. DVSA is at 21 Ogilvie Street, Dundas Ontario. And here’s just a little more about the flock this particular sheep belongs to from CBC’s news program, The National.
#Hamilton2Views a two-person show with Barry Coombs, continues until November 14, at Earls Court Gallery, 215 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday.
After focusing mostly on rural and maritime landscape for more than a decade, the shapes and colours of Hamilton’s cityscape are a change of direction for me.
These paintings are all Oil Pastels on panel. My approach is similar to drawing, using every imaginable mark-making technique, from layering and cross hatching, to blending and scratching with tools, my fingers and paint mediums.
Since we moved to Hamilton in May 2012 I have been documenting the city and its inventory of wonderful residential, commercial and industrial locations. But it wasn’t until Barry Coombs began documenting the urban landscape in the city that I fully embraced this project.
The idea of a conversation between two artists’ vision of the same subject, sometimes the very same places, added particular piquance to the idea.
After focusing mostly on rural and maritime landscape for more than a decade, the shapes and colours of Hamilton’s cityscape are a change of direction for me.
All of my work in #Hamilton2Views is done in Oil Pastel on wood panel. My approach is similar to drawing, using every imaginable mark-making technique, from layering and cross hatching, to blending and scratching with tools, my fingers and paint mediums.
I was introduced to the New York Ash Can school of painters when I was still in art school, and always admired Edward Hopper. I didn’t discover the wonderful pastels by Wolf Kahn until I had begun using pastels myself. His landscapes and use of colour made a permanent impression. For many years I have also referenced the compositions, structure and brushwork in paintings by Henri Matisse and Richard Diebenkorn.
I’m looking forward to seeing my work hanging at Earls Court Gallery in Hamilton Ontario, as part of a two-person show with my partner Barry Coombs. We’ve both been painting Hamilton’s urban landscape for quite a while for this show, but because our two approaches are completely different, the outcomes have been fascinating!
Overpass. Oil Pastel on Wood Panel 18″ x 24″
Everyone is invited to the opening on October 9, from 7:00 to 9:30, at the Earls Court Gallery, 215 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday.
Some of you know that Barry Coombs and I moved to Hamilton – 45 minutes west of Toronto – in May. Six months later I can report that we are thrilled by our decision, by our new home that has enough space for both of us to have studios, a guest room, plenty of storage space and a big garden in a lovely neighbourhood, close to the lake and farmers market. What more could anyone want? Barry had many connections here, having taught at the Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA) for some 20 years, and I have been most warmly welcomed by absolutely everyone I have met, from Barry’s former DVSA colleagues and students, to our new neighbours and the folks at the Burlington Art Centre (BAC) where I recently gave a presentation about my oil pastels to the Burlington Fine Art Association. We have become regulars at the James Street North Art Crawl, and last month I attended some of the screenings of the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s World Film Festival. (Heck – all three venues were less than 10 minutes away.)
Bicycle, 3″ x 4″
Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper
To top off this perfect beginning, my little drawing Bicycle was chosen for the Viewers Choice Award at the opening of the Second Annual Miniature Show at Hamilton’s 337 Sketch Gallery. I’m very proud to be part of this show that contains some exquisite works of art – none of which are larger than 3” x 4” or cost more than $200. (I have my eye on a few beauties.) The show runs until October 29 at 337 Ottawa Street, Hamilton.
Aleda O'Connor 