Saturday, September 26, 2020

The Significance of Purple: Paulette Melanson

We're just re-hung the gallery in beautiful colours....so many colours and positive vibes coming from the walls all around us today. Today we launch the new show of abstract paintings by Paulette Melanson, where every stoke of colour and mark making has meaning and intention. Each painting has a story to tell, and we hope to share a few of these with you throughout the duration of this show.

This painting is called "The Significance of Purple" and below it we have included the writings of Paulette as she shared them with us today. Enjoy! How has certain colours affected your life over the years?....something neat to think about as you read this. 


Purple has always been my favorite colour.  I had not realized how colours in my early years still have influence on me today.  I grew up in the village of Scoudouc, New Brunswick in an apartment my father built in my paternal grandparents' large house surrounded by farmland and forest.  By that point 9 of their 13 children were moved out.  My grandparents and my aunts and uncle who were still living with them gave my siblings and me lots of attention.  They had grape Kool-Aid, we always had red Kool-Aid at home.   They had grapes and plums; we had good old apples and oranges.  

I have fond memories of my uncle, 12 years older than me, sharing his purple Kool-Aid when I was just a toddler on many occasions. He would play games and tease me to no end but in a good way.  I have memories picking the first mayflowers, the first blueberries, the first lilacs, the first purple violets and bringing them to my grandmother first, then my mother (poor her she must have felt second best).  My grandmother would give us candies.  My mother might give us cookies.  My grandfather loved to garden. In his flower garden there were beautiful dahlias, gladiolas and purple pansies which I liked best because they looked velvety and seemed to have faces.  Then there were the wild purple iris flowers everywhere in the ditches.  How we tried and tried to get to them without getting wet.  

I have memories of a beautiful tall purple metallic-paper cone hat that I made with my aunts for some school event.  I felt like a princess.  And the time I sewed myself a dark purple corduroy jumper and purple paisley blouse and feeling especially good on those days when I was wearing that outfit to school.  And I still can't believe this one; when I was a teenager I suggested to my parents that they paint the kitchen cabinets light purple and to my surprise they did!  They kept the kitchen that colour for the longest time and then I began to not like light purple.

My mother was a very devoted catholic and I was too in my younger years. We lived close to the large imposing church which was located halfway between home and the two room school (grade 1-6). During lent my friend Phyllis and I would drop by and enter the church on our way home from school to play for a while on the premise of doing "le chemin de la croix" - the way of the cross.  I'm surprised no one kicked us out.  There were so many things to see and admire.  The fabulous stained glass windows had a lot of purple which made the other colours glow.  Purple seemed to be a dominant colour everywhere in the church on these occasions.

For me, purple has happy, peaceful and beautiful adjectives associated with it.  To this day it makes me feel good.  On the other hand, pretty sure I will never ever be tempted to paint any walls light purple or lilac.

Make sure to check out Paulette's entire new show, called "In Search of Meaning" HERE.

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Art for Hurricane Days

It's hurricane season here in Nova Scotia and as we write this blog the wind and rain are just beginning to really get started with us. So before the power goes out and we still have the internet, we thought we'd put a few works of art here for you to enjoy and help you weather the storm whether literally or figuratively ....and be grateful for our creature comforts.

For starters,let's celebrate LIGHT!  Horray! We still have light and this gouache painting by Miyoshi Kondo is mesmerizing! 



Or maybe you don't have electricity, and you just have to make your own. Behold! The candle! This acrylic painting by Isobel Hamilton feels like it could warm up any room in the house! So much WARMTH.


Another creature comfort is BEING COZY and curling up in your favourite chair or couch, like this beauty of a couch painted by Megan LeForte.


Perhaps hug your cat or dog and curl up with them too! This small painting by Jessica Gay is so adorable!!


Of course a BIG part of weathering out the storm is FOOD. Having lots of munchies on hand and eating delicious comforting food is the best. Here's a painting by George Spencer that is more about the food you may have to eat if the power goes out...but it still looks mighty delicious! 


 Or perhaps this is more your speed today...and that's ok too. This painting by Diana Rogers is called "In the Interest of Self Care". 


Watching your favourite old movies or listening to some music makes the days happier too! This print by Hannah Emmett is of the character Jules Winnfield. Do you know what movie it's from? 


Here's some real ROCK music inspiration! Freddie Mercury would approve of this portrait painted on rock by Kerry Hodgson! 


Whatever you do today to make yourself feel better and in the days to come, remember to take care and share lots of LOVE.  This hand-beaded pin by Chelsea Legge is a beautiful sparkly reminder.



Saturday, September 12, 2020

Claws for Celebration- 20 Years Folks!

 Nothing like starting off a Saturday blog post with a good visual pun  and a new coloured pencil drawing by Dusan Postolovic that just crawled in the doors today! So life-like and amazing!


Good afternoon...we are writing to you from a sunny but cool Fall-ish day here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Today and for the last few weeks we have been quietly celebrating our 20th Year in Business and have extended our SALE (20% off works created before 2020 excluding already reduced works)  AND PROMO to WIN $100 until the end of day this Sunday, September 13th, so get looking around on our blog and see what you can see. 

There really is so so much to see online! Through the major part of the lockdown we tried to photograph as much as we could, but there are always new works arriving so it's an on-going beautiful battle.

 Here area  few beauties that are still looking for homes by our very talented roster of artists!

Poppy and Small Pot, 16" x 20", Oil on Board, Briana Corr Scott

Slow Century, 20" x 24", Acrylic on Board, Andrew MacDonald


Hopeful, 10" x 10", Acrylic and Mixed Media, Catherine Bagnell Styles

I Go Out of Sight, 11" x 14" Gouache on Paper, Amy Ordoveza

The Old Apothecary, 20" x 24", Acrylic on Board, Jan Davison


 

Monday, September 7, 2020

William Rudolph Brings New Life To Re-Purposed Bike Parts!

We're thrilled to bring you new works from the creative mind of William Rudolph.  These incredible  sculptures are made from assembled found objects.  Re-purposed bicycled parts are prominently featured and re-imagined as figures, animals, and even a tribute to a famous Cubist painter!
William Rudolph, Roller Man, 16" x 13" x 5", assembled found objects


William Rudolph, Lizard, 6" x 14" x 4.5", assembled found objects

William Rudolph, Corky, 13" x 3.5" x 3.5", assembled found objects

William Rudolph, If Picasso Had Been A Metal Worker, 4" x 5" x 2.5", assembled found objects



To see more of William's work, you can follow the link to our FLICKR page HERE



Artworks available for purchase, for purchasing inquiries contact the gallery 
(902) 425-9456 or via email; gallery@argylefa.com