Flowers, impressionism, realism and more at the gallery this month
Despite some warmer than seasonal weather, it is still spring for a little bit longer. The Gwen Fox Gallery is honouring that this month with a show full of colour featuring work by artists Mary Louise Chown, Mark Kosatsky, Bernice Phillips, and Arlene Rattai.
The group’s artists reception, where you can meet all four artists in person, will take place May 9 from 2 to 5 p.m. If you can’t make it then, however, you can see their work up all month in the gallery until May 30.
The Gwen Fox Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. and later on Thursdays until 8 p.m. It is free to visit the gallery and all are welcome.
Mary Louise Chown
The best way to describe Chown’s art is varied. She likes to shake it up whether it be by changing subjects or by changing mediums.
“I like to experiment with different art mediums. So I might do two or three in one medium, and I’ll have a second one on the go that’s completely different, and I go back and forth between them,” she said.
Chown works in acrylic, oil, beeswax, oil pastel, pens, or whatever else the artwork calls for.
Her main goal with her art is to get people to look longer than the few seconds that people normally do when looking at art.
“I think (I’m inspired by) colour and line and shape and just that emotional feeling you get when you’re either looking at something or seeing—Oh, I don’t know—a beautiful reflection. There’s so much beauty around, people are beautiful, animals are (beautiful), plus, there’s the joy of just working with art materials. Like a musician wants to play their instrument, it’s really nice to just work with your art materials,” said Chown.
She explained that though she wanted to start her journey as an artist sooner, Chown was discouraged from going to art school in favour of a career that was perceived to be more practical. She eventually made a change and went to art school at 40.
Though she is from east of Beausejour, she has been part of the Gwen Fox Gallery for about eight years now after some artists up that way recommended she check out our local gallery.
Since then, Chown has enjoyed being a member of the gallery.
“I really like working with other artists. For the most part, other artists are very communal. We all cooperate, help each other out. And, I like the space. I think Selkirk is a really neat town, the more I learn about it,” said Chown.
She explained that every art gallery is different and the Gwen Fox Gallery has a very inclusive vibe, showing art from traditional to experimental all in the same space.
Chown also encourages people who want to take up art in our community to give creativity a go.
“Look at a lot of art, and if you can speak to the artists, like coming to these shows especially. There’s always an artist available (at the Gwen Fox Gallery) because it’s a volunteer, artist run, art Gallery, and ask, ‘Well, how do they do that?’ or ‘What’s that? How’s that done?’ and most artists will tell you,” she said.
Chown encourages residents to check out the gallery this month.
“Just come to expand your mind. Don’t even worry if you’re not going to buy anything. Of course, we want to sell our art, but most of all, we want people to see it and to go, ‘Oh, I feel really good when I look at that painting with all that green in it,’ or ‘I love the blue,’ or just to experience it,” she said.
Mark Kosatsky
Kosatsky’s work has been described as bold and expressive being influenced by surrealism and expressionism.
He says that he’s inspired by “just things that spring up in my mind.
A viewer will see that Kosatsky’s work is not as humble as he describes it however, as he uses bold colours and expressive brushstrokes to show our world through a different lens. From global issues to the current political climate, Kosatsky isn’t shy in showing it like it is.
“The sea worm (pictures are) because the stuff interests me, all the ocean creatures in the ocean, as does the political stuff. With the Israel-Gaza War that bothers me. So, I paint something like that,” he said.
Kosatsky says that he started his artistic journey in 1985 with drawing when a friend encouraged him to start and since then he’s been driven to create.
He said that he’s been part of the Gwen Fox Gallery for a few years now and despite coming in from Winnipeg he enjoys taking part in our local gallery.
“This is a good way to get your stuff shown. Other places it’s much harder to get in and get shows done. The Gwen Fox (Gallery) is good,” he said.
Of the 16 pieces that Kosatsky has in the gallery this month, all are acrylic pieces except for one that is a pencil drawing.
For artists who want to take the next step in their art journey, Kosatsky suggests looking back.
“People like to learn the techniques, but there’s a lack of people following art history. I took art history in university. I think people should get into that more than they do,” he said.
Kosatsky encourages residents to check out not only the gallery this month but to also see if there’s a class at the Gwen Fox Gallery that you might enjoy.
“Have a look around at the work and see if it’s interesting to you,” he said.
Bernice Phillips
Phillips is another artist that doesn’t confine herself by the medium that she works in. This month she’s brought some of her painted glassware, as well as some new needle felting work, and some beautiful pressed flower pieces.
Residents will likely know Phillips from her painting but an unfortunate injury which required recovery time, has meant that she expanded into mediums that don’t require as much motion.
“Right now, I’ve expanded into pressed flowers a bit because I’m growing flowers all the time, so it’s another way to utilize them and I just think they’re so beautiful,” said Phillips.
As for needle felting, like gardening it involves another part of Phillips’s life, she is also part of the Manitoba Living History Society and her preservation of our province’s history led her to people who have wool and she was inspired to use this wool for art.
As for her inspiration, she says that she’s always going back to nature.
“Walking along the river and trees. Trees are always the centre of my life. I have a huge garden and like six flower beds, and now I have a year-round greenhouse. So, working with nature and plants has always been a huge part of my life. So I try to use nature in my work, whether I’m painting it, or using dried flowers, or felting with natural fibres. It’s all lovely being in touch with and grounded,” Philips explained.
Her art journey started from wanting to be creative. She wanted to create art, and while working her career she decided she didn’t have to wait until retirement to start.
Phillips explained that she started with acrylic painting.
“I took a workshop and then just started playing around. And then I did that with almost every medium that I’ve gone into. I’ve either done a workshop or I’ve just started researching it in a trial and error way,” she said.
For people who want to start their art journey, she advises that they follow their intuition.
“Go with your gut feeling. For starters, don’t be afraid to put it out there. Because, I had art for years that I never put out there because I just thought it wasn’t good enough, or you’re kind of scared of criticism. Also, join the gallery, there’s lots of groups that will help you out and let you know where you can show your work, if that’s what you want to do,” she said.
Though Phillips lives in the Powerview area she’s been a part of the Gwen Fox Gallery for over ten years.
“The gallery is a wonderful place for people to show their work, meet other artists, do workshops, and be involved in the art community. And, you can be as involved as you want. It is a great community of dedicated people that are willing to help. It’s really good. When I meet a new artist, I tell them about the gallery. For someone new, it’s a great starting place, as well as for the seasoned artists, I always tell people to check it out,” said Phillips
She welcomes anyone who wants to stop by the gallery to do so.
“The gallery has a very diverse group of artists. It’s a very welcoming place. There’s no fee to come in and support your local artists so that they can continue to do what they do,” she said.
Arlene Rattai
Rattai is an artist with a more realistic style. She also shows how the use of colour, in a thoughtful way, can really add to works.
“I’m a very (big) nature lover, and so much of my painting reflects what’s going on in nature, any kind of nature, whether it’s trees, animals, flowers, water, people even,” she said.
Since Rattai has been creating art for many years she’s tried different mediums and uses the skills from each of them in her work. She started with painting on porcelain which is a very time intensive medium to work with. From there, she tried watercolour painting which, like painting on porcelain requires you to preserve whites. Next, she decided to try something new and did a little bit of acrylic painting before moving on to oil painting.
“I didn’t do so much animals then at the time (that I was starting in oils), and then I started wanting to paint animals. And so, I met a lady who was doing pastels. She did lots of animals. I thought this looks like it could be a good medium to try. So that’s what I did. My animals, I often do in pastels, because they’re furry, they’re hairy, and it’s so much easier to do, although I have done animals, some animals, in oils,” explained Rattai.
She has over 25 pieces in this month’s exhibit and they are watercolour, oil and pastel works.
Rattai said that her journey as an artist started in school.
“I always liked art, and we had a grade eight teacher who taught us perspective, really intense perspective, and I enjoyed drawing and stuff like that. However, I grew up in a family where, you know, paper and pencils were not in ready supply,” she said.
Once she got out of high school Rattai decided to go to design school and with that education in her back pocket, she opened a business. From there, her creativity flourished but it wasn’t until she was a few years from her retirement that she decided that she didn’t want to retire out of something but into something. Rattai took up creating art before her retirement so that she’d have something to enjoy.
Though she lives in the Lorette area, a previous connection to the Selkirk area, because of her husband’s former employment, meant that she knew about the Gwen Fox Gallery and has been a member for over ten years.
She explained that it’s a great community but also a great opportunity and that’s why she’s stayed. She explained that people from Winnipeg regularly make trips out to the gallery and displaying her work at previous shows has been a great way to sell a few pieces.
As for new artists who are just starting and might not yet be ready to sell their art, she says there is no rush and it’s ok to try a few different things before finding the art style that you like.
“Take some lessons, it definitely helps. Not everybody is a natural, just a born natural talent for this. Some are, of course, and they’re fantastic, but not everybody has that and having some background, it helped for me,” she said.
Rattai also suggests that residents swing by the gallery this month.
“Selkirk is so fortunate, really, to have this gallery,” she said.
