‘New Paintings’ exhibit opening in Bear River
Bear River artist Flora Doehler has a new exhibit coming to the village.
Her exhibit called ‘New Paintings’ featuring her floral and landscape artworks will be at Sissiboo Coffee Bar and Gallery in Bear River for the month of September until Oct. 14.
Doehler paints from inspiration. After noticing the gladiolus and zinnia flowers in her garden were in full bloom, she grabbed her canvas and went to work.
“This way of painting is a paradox. In order to make it look spontaneous, I painted it in a slow, deliberate manner with an intensity of concentration. Why? The fewer the brush strokes on the canvas, the better the results,” Doehler said in a post about a painting in her show called Floral Awakening. “In my opinion, this painting is the star of the show. The energy and vibration that goes through the flowers is captured on this canvas.”
Some of her paintings in the show were inspired by a recent week-long trip she took to Brier Island, where she spent time exploring the Island and painting whatever she saw.
“Brier Island is truly a painter’s paradise,” she said. “This summer I’ve been painting flowers and experimenting with transparent acrylics. Brier Island gave me the chance to take this one step further and to interpret the landscape this way.”
She enjoys working with colours, textures and the natural world through her paintings.
In the late 1960s Doehler studied fine arts and craft at the Art Centre at Central Technical School in Toronto. She graduated with a love for painting, printmaking and weaving.
In the early 1970s she lived in Berlin, Germany where she studied painting and drawing at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art.
In the 1990s she painted exclusively with watercolours and gradually moved to fluid acrylics. Since moving to Nova Scotia in 2007 she’s been experimenting with oil sticks and monoprinting.
Doehler moved to Bear River 11 years ago from Ontario and she’s taken part in many art shows throughout the years, including the Bear River Artworks Gallery that was on display at the Oakdene Center in the village all summer.
Doehler writes in her own blog about the adventures she takes while painting. Read more about her journeys here: https:// floradoehler.ca/my-art-journey/