If you missed seeing the show, there's still a bit of time to catch it, as we are re-hanging the gallery today and keeping the remaining works on the walls until the end of February because there are just too many wonderful works to still be loved and purchased! So don't delay!
A few weeks ago we held a meet and greet at the gallery for many of the artists and the public to say hi and learn about all the varied styles and mediums represented in these small works. It was so much fun to see everyone chatting and having a great time! We also held an online vote of a pre-selected grouping of artworks from the show by staff and awarded our very first Pre-Shrunk Award of Awesomeness. The response was overwhelming!
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| Our miniature trophy held in front of the winning painting for 2020 by Brigitte St-Arnaud |
The winner of the award with over 100 votes for her work alone was Brigitte St-Arnaud. Here she is with her little trophy for her unique woodburned artworks- still available for purchase!
We met Brigitte because of the show which is another reason we love hosting this show so much, since we meet new talents in our community that we may not have known about otherwise. Brigitte's day job is a very creative one indeed. She works as a designer at Ikea- so the next time you walk through the Ikea showrooms, think of Brigitte arranging things just so. She even won an award at work last year where she was tasked with making a sculpture out of Ikea bags. It was a great way to remind people to use reusable bags when shopping but once they are old, to remember that you can up-cycle almost anything into art. The imagination is a wonderful thing!
Here's a little bit about Brigitte in her own words:
Over the years I have
focused most of my creative expression through work. I’ve done floral
design, window dressing, murals, product design, event decorating,
interior design, commercial retail planning and store solutions. The
past 16 years left me with little time for personal projects, but now
I’m scaling back and concentrating on my own creations. My
artistic approach is to think outside the box and do things differently
than what is traditional and expected. Nature inspires me and I often
transform my subjects in a stylized manner with organic lines.Creativity is forever evolving- right now I’m
experimenting with wood burning.
Brigitte also shared a few words and pictures of the award in it's new home for the year:
"I wanted to show my award next to something
relatable to show its size and proportion. My cat only wanted to see if it was
made out of real gold."
"The dog didn’t seem too impressed since it wasn’t full
of treats."
"I ended up putting it in a safe place... next to the coin that the captain of the Bluenose 2 gave me last summer. I also have my fathers train collection in my display cabinet"
Remember all the artworks measure 4" x 5" and are just $175. A great price to begin your art collection with original artworks and also great for gifts later in the year, such as graduations, new homes and babies, and weddings! Art is a great way to celebrate and commemorate extraordinary occasions!
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| A small oil painting by Jack Ross |
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| A small ALL PAPER collage by Andrea Crouse |
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| A small modern take on the still life by Anna Whalen |
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| And even small print making by Amanda Nicholson |
