submitted by the North Grenville Arts Guild
With this final article, the NGAG presents the last two canvases of a project started in the last days of winter while still locked down and unable to mingle with the public. Each of the artists involved enjoyed the challenge of a novel experience blending their impressions with others to try to complete ten completely original pieces. Each, while staying true to their own disciplines, accommodated the others’ talents and visions. Now at the end, the finished pieces will be readied for mounting for an exhibit at the North Grenville Public Library prior to the charity auction.
The first of the two paintings was completed by: Ann Gruchy, Mary Moore, Rose David, Aleta Karstd, Leahbeth Harding and Tammy Keith.
Anne Gruchy was the first artist to establish the work by adding a loose ambiguous background. That was added to by Mary Moore, who brought in a soft, “atmospheric background.”
Rose David was the third artist to add to the canvas and added a cardinal to the scene, “and tried to define the stream and grasses.”
Aleta Karstad, as the fourth artist, received what she described as a mysterious and magical work: “I put the sky in, made some of the tree’s birches, and darkened the forest on the right-hand side. I felt I made it even more magical, and I wondered what would happen next!”
Leahbeth Harding said she wanted to give the painting a bit of grounding, and added in grasses and reeds along the stream. Tammy Keith in the end added, “Once I received this piece, I felt it was already fairly complete. All it needed was a little squirrel to keep the Cardinal company. I really like the whimsy of this piece.”
The final canvas in the Project was the product of the following NGAG artists: Tammy Keith, Meredith Luce, Barb Buchanan, Ann Gruchy, Caroline Marshall and Mary Moore.
The blank canvas was started by Tammy Keith, who used three colours of various shapes, “leaning towards abstract. In the end, I’m shocked, but thrilled with what the following artists added to this piece. It’s a wonderful piece.”
Then, Meredith Luce started building on the abstract geometric shapes in the foreground, adding blue tree shaped shadows falling along the white central space.
When Barb Buchanan received it, she said, “For this painting, I added a little raccoon popping out of his home in a tree to see who was looking at him.”
Next, Anne Gruchy added the negative tree suggestion in the multi coloured background.
Caroline Marshall decided to soften the shadows and make more billowy snow drifts and bumps, along with evergreens and a couple of twigs poking through the snow.
Finally, Mary Moore says, “I was last on this fun little piece. I used my knowledge of composition and balance to slightly modify some of the elements to integrate them visually. I softened some of the textures, added a little more ‘movement’ to the base of the mid-canvas fir trees to help draw the eye through and around the canvas. I added the little branches in the foreground for the same purpose, and added the berries to inject a little more red into that side of the piece. Finally, I added just a hint of the snowy background moving off into the forest to give the illusion of continuance. “
This brings to a close the Co-Operative Canvas Project. The NGAG hope you have enjoyed the process and the results. Coming soon, there will be one last update on the date, time and place of auction to benefit the North Grenville Public Library outreach programs.
At this time, the Guild would like to sincerely thank The Times for their constant support, NGPL for their participation, and the public for their many kind words and support. They look forward to seeing everyone as soon as Public Health allows.
