Driven to Abstraction: New work from local artists
City gallery hosts exhibit opening Sunday
The show Driven to Abstraction will have its opening reception at the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with refreshments and artists present. The show presents abstract art that features abstracting elements from reality or are non-objective from the start, with colour fields, colour interplay, shape, emotion, energy, texture, create a mood or simplify.
Artist Barbara Reeves’s work will be on display.
“My interest in abstract painting has been evolving over the past 15 years,” says Reeves. “Joining other abstract painters at KAGS has inspired me to honour my inner self and curiosity.”
She works quickly using acrylic paint, various mediums and tools.
“I often start with a limited colour palate that might be inspired by a mood, idea, or a desire to experiment with new materials. Then I let my intuition take over, suspending judgement for awhile,” she says.
Originally from Bobcaygeon, Reeves spent her adult life in Ottawa, Toronto and the Kawarthas. She completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Anthropology at Trent University. Along with her career in retail management, she also studied interior design for a year at Algonquin College and has taken art courses at the Haliburton School of Art + Design.
The show runs until October 21 at the gallery, which is located at 420 O’Connell Rd., open Wednesdays to Sundays, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please call 705-741-2817, visit www.kawarthaartists.org or like them on Facebook.
The Flying Canoe
This is the first year that the Canadian Canoe Museum, 910 Monaghan Rd., will be taking part in Artsweek Peterborough by hosting The Flying Canoe and The Wailing, both on Thursday, September 27, featuring local artists.
Presented by the Peterborough Academy of Circus Arts, The Flying Canoe will be performed at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., depicting this well-known French Canadian folktale, La Chasse-galerie, which will be brought to life through circus theatre and live fiddle music, set atop the Grand Portage at the museum.
The audience will follow the adventures of the coureurs des bois, where they make a deal with the devil to travel home to see their loved ones on New Year’s Eve, conveyed through music, theatre, dance, fire spinning and acrobatics on an aerial canoe.
The Wailing interactive performance of sound and dance takes place at 6:30 p.m. featuring five large ghost whales created by multi-disciplinary artist Laurel Paluck in her downtown studio. The whales come together and mourn because of pollution and humanity’s overconsumption of plastic.
They swim through the audience who are encouraged to take part in the experience by stroking them as they pass.
Local musician and composer Kathleen Adamson created the original music which will be performed by a choir and dancers, and luthier Ray Vincent provides a bass drone through one of the whales which is outfitted with a droning instrument during the ghostly performance. For more information, please visit www.artsweekptbo.com.
St. James Muffin Party
An Anniversary Muffin Party will be held at St. James United Church, 221 Romaine St. on Wednesday, October 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Admission is $4 per person with tickets available at the door. Visitors will be treated to a variety of muffins, scones, and more with jam, jelly and marmalade along with tea or coffee. There will also be a bake table as well as a new-to-you table.
St. James is wheelchair accessible with an elevator. For further information, please contact the church at 705-742-2222.