Tag Archives: Aleda O’Connor

Effects of Weather

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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″

Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction

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Supposing the wreckage of the Fishfluke Light, that used to mark the entrance to Grand Harbour in Grand Manan NB, were to be gathered up and reconstructed? And, what if the abandoned and disintegrating wooden lobster pounds was recycled to build a swing bridge crossing to Ross Island at the end of Thoroughfare Road? To move, the bridge would need some sort of mechanism besides the tide of course.

Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction, 18" x 24" Mixed Media on Panel, by Aleda O'Connor

Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction, Mixed Media 18″ x 24″

There may be others, but the only wooden winch that I’ve ever seen  is kept  in a smoke shed at Seal Cove, where the late Michael Zimmer preserved many historic artifacts of the Atlantic smoked-herring fishery in his Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame. My drawing of it, Winch Herring Shed, is in the permanent collection at the Grand Manan Art Gallery and Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction is in the Island Art Show there from August 8 to 27 2015.

Winch, Herring Shed, Pen and Ink on Toned Paper, 10" x 12" by Aleda O'Connor

Winch, Herring Shed, Pen and Ink on Toned Paper, 10″ x 12″

 

Grand Manan’s Dark Harbour and the Nimis of Ladonia

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Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking South, Mixed Media 12" x 12" by Aleda O'Connor

Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking South, Mixed Media 12″ x 12″ SOLD

Dark Harbour Span Concept looking North, Mixed Media 12"x12", by Aleda O'Connor

Dark Harbour Span Concept looking North, Mixed Media 12″x12″ SOLD

 

My two small mixed media drawings “Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking North”, and “Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking South” are part of this year’s Square Foot Show at the Grand Manan Art Gallery in New Brunswick. My drawings were inspired by the amazing and mysterious tower at the mouth of the outlet to Grand Manan‘s Dark Harbour, the abundant driftwood on its shores and the wonderful driftwood sculptures (Nimis) built by Lars Vilks in the nature reserve Kullaberg, in the northwest corner of county Skåne, in Sweden, in the (similar-to-Grand Manan) micronation of Ladonia. The show continues until July 16, 2015. @Queen_Ladonia, @LadoniaHerald @Ladonia_Info @SeeNewBrunswick

#Hamilton2Views

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Mulberry Red by Aleda O'Connor

#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.

 

A Rocha: dedicated to environmental stewardship

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Three of my paintings in Oil Pastel are included in the show On The Rock – Merging Art and Ecology, at the Carnegie Gallery, in Dundas, from March 7 to 30 2014.

Path and Apple Tree 18" x 24" Oil Pastel on Wood Panel

Path and Apple Tree 18″ x 24″ Oil Pastel on Wood Panel

The gallery is located at 10 King Street West, Dundas, Ontario. The opening is Friday March 7, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Tree and Saplings 18″ x 24″

This exhibition is a project sponsored by the local chapter of A Rocha  an international organization dedicated to environmental stewardship. Ten artists were invited to respond to the landscape at Cedar Haven Farm near Freelton Ontario, where A Rocha volunteers have been very active.  These images are based on the landscape at that farm. 

Fence and Barn 18″ x 24″

Exploring oil pastel with the Markham Group of Artists

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Thanks very much to Maureen Thompson of the Markham Group of Artists who invited me to lead a full-day beginner workshop on how to use oil pastels.

It can be challenging to work in a new medium, but as one participant observed it is also liberating because it is easier and more fun to take risks when you’re a learner. We began by preparing masonite panels with Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastels.  While they were drying, everyone practiced applying and blending colour as well as mark-making on test sheets of tinted paper coated with pastel ground, before turning their attention to their chosen landscape images for the rest of the day.

Most of us recall working with crayons or coloured pencils as children, an experience that gives artists their starting point.  Colours can be stroked gently into the surface and feathered together to create new transparent blends, almost like tweed, or they can be scrubbed firmly into the surface to create dense opaque shapes – and everything in between. Everyone finds their own unique way to apply colour.  

 As part of today’s process we also looked at the work of two very different artists: Canada’s  A.J Casson whose paintings are notable for a strong sense of design that he used to tame complex landscapes. Later, we looked at a number of exquisite works by the American artist  Wolf Kahn, whose brilliant colour and calligraphic approach to landscape suggest a completely different way to tackle the challenge. 

And here are the results of today’s labour:

Markham Group of Artists Pastel paintings

A chat with the Markham Group of Artists

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I'm with Karen Grimshaw, president of the MGA following my presentation and brief demonstration.

I’m with Karen Grimshaw, president of the MGA following my presentation and demonstration.

I recently visited the Markham Group of Artists (MGA) to talk about the joy of working in oil pastel.  Many people tell me that they have oil pastels in their kit but never use them because they’re not quite sure what support to use or how to preserve them. I’m always happy to talk about my process. Oil pastels are a very simple medium to use, require no special techniques, yet can be manipulated in many ways, have no smell, create no dust, are portable and can be applied to any surface. I concluded the morning by showing them the first steps I take to start a painting in oil pastel. Many thanks to Maureen Thompson for the invitation.

Summer on the road

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Stone Table and Benches, Gould Farm Carbon Pencil on Paper 18" x 24"

Stone Table and Benches, Gould Farm Carbon Pencil on Paper 18″ x 24″

We travelled a lot this spring and summer, in North America and later in Britain. Here are some of the highlights of our trip as recorded in my sketchbooks. In June, I visited Gould Farm, in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts where my friend Rose is a volunteer. She wrote and edited a wonderful cookbook to celebrate the farm’s 100th anniversary as a healing and rehabilitation centre – and to raise money for this marvelous organization.

Barry planned three workshops for the summer: Toronto was first, in July.

12" x 16" Watercolour

Doctor’s House Pioneer Village 12″ x 16″ Watercolour

8.5 " x 11" Pen and Ink

Gate, University College U of T 8.5 ” x 11″ Pen and Ink

Next, we travelled to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, in the Bay of Fundy.

Light keepers House Swallowtail Light, Grand Manan 8.5" x 11" Pen and Ink

Light keepers House Swallowtail Light, Grand Manan 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink

Seal Cove Sheds and Spools 18" x 24 "Charcoal with Watercolour

Seal Cove Sheds and Spools 18″ x 24 “Charcoal with Watercolour

Early in August, we moved on to the Cotswold District in England.

Broadway Village, Cotswolds England 9" x 12" Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper

Broadway Village, Cotswolds England 9″ x 12″ Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper

Stanway House, Cotswold District England 9" x 12" Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper

Stanway House, Cotswolds England 9″ x 12″ Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper

When the workshops were over, we visited Cornwall for 10 days.

Porthgwarra Village View 8.5" x 11" Pen and Ink

Porthgwarra Village View 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink

Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall 8.5" x 11" Pen and Ink

Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink

Low Tide, Mevagissey Cornwall 8.5" x 11" Pen and Ink

Low Tide, Mevagissey Cornwall 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink

Drawn Together

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I was included in a profile of two University of Guelph graduates in the May 2013 issue of the University Alumni magazine, Portico. Author Andrew Vowles connected us after meeting each of us in open life drawing sessions here in Hamilton. Ward Shipman, the photographer for the Portico piece, is another regular in the same life drawing circles. I really look forward to any opportunity to spend time drawing from life. The experience keeps my hand and eyes tuned, but I love the state of mind that can be achieved by focusing entirely on the process of observing something carefully through drawing: a meditation when it’s going well. 

I’ve been participating in two life drawing circles in Hamilton since we arrived in 2012. On Sundays you can draw from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the top floor of the Vasco Da Gama building on Hamilton’s James Street North, between Cannon and Mulberry streets. Look for the sandwich board on the street outside. It costs $10 and is run by artist John Martin. Anne Becker, the owner of 337 Sketch Gallery (located at 337 Ottawa Street near Barton Street in Hamilton,) opens up her own studio above the gallery for life drawing from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Mondays. The fee is $12.50. Make sure to be a little early. The street door gets locked promptly. 

Represented by Art Etc.Gallery

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Split Rail Fence, Dufferin County 20″ x 28″

Some of my pastel paintings and pen and ink drawings are available to rent or purchase through the Art Etc. Gallery Shop, at the Burlington Art Centre, 1333, Lakeshore Road, Burlington. I’m pleased to be included in a collection of original works by established and emerging Canadian artists.

My subject here is a split rail or snake fence, that I found just outside Orangeville, in Dufferin County, Ontario. These picturesque and durable fences are constructed of white cedar that grows in swampy areas throughout Ontario, especially where there is limestone under the soil.

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