Art shows for Young and Old

Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts 25 Anniversary is all about traditions and on of the constants and traditions would be the 14th Annual Juried Art Show and the Children's Art Show. These are both housed in the Uxbridge Township offices, and the Council Chambers is transformed into an art gallery for 6 days.

This is a long process for selecting the art that will be displayed and honoured AND then selections are made from our jurors and judges as to the BEST. They would have at least 80 pieces submitted for the Juried Art Show, and the Jurors are Maura Broadhurst, Curator of Latcham Art Gallery, Lee Petrie, Curator for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and Daniel Colby, local award winning artist.

For the Children's Art Show, the art will have been completed at the end of last school year and presented this year. It is wondrous to see the skill and talent of the youth in our community, and this is one way to showcase their talents.

Both of these shows start with a Opening reception on September 21st (tonight) at 7:30pm. They art will be on display from September 21 - September 26th from 10am - 6pm.

Please come to see the wonderful works and see the future of art in Uxbridge.

Uxbridge Studio Tour - Art at its best!

The Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts 25th Anniversary cascade of events, would not be what it is today without the fabulous event that happens right along with it. The 25th Annual Uxbridge Studio Tour will be happening on September 18th and 19th from 10am - 6pm.

Okay so think about this - you have the opportunity to see the artists location of creation - the pad of creativity, where it all happens; and of course meet the artist themselves. There are 25 artists studios on the tour this year, and many of those will also have guest artists with them. I believe if you are able to make it to all of the studios and meet all of the artists, you will speak to 50 artists. Yup, 50. That's alot of "Art Talk".

You can find all the information you want by going to www.uxbridgestudiotour.com. Read through it, ponder your strategy, and I dare you to fill those two days with nothing but the excitement of art and conversations with the artist themselves.

More Studio Tour artists for Uxbridge Studio Tour

Hello and I am so sorry that I have been much too long between blogs. All for a very good reason, but I am back.

I realized that with all the information that will be coming out about the Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts 25th Anniversary from September17 - October 9, the largest bit of information are the wildly talented artists on the 25th Annual Uxbridge Studio Tour, September 18 & 19. I talked about the first 5 listed on the tour pamphlet and some of their guest artists in a previous blog, and thought teasing you with more information on some of the others might be just the right thing on this Sunday night. I hope it will whet your appetites for more.

Listed on the brochure:

6 - Lynn Bishop is not only an artist on the Studio tour, she is also the lead in putting it all together. Thank you Lynn. Her eclectic mixed media works will grab you from the moment you see them. She will have guests at her studio of Tom Loach (Multi Media Artist) and Dennis Jenings (Stained Glass Artist).

7 - Linda Lee Purvis is a very well known artist in the Uxbridge area, and her Multi Media work with use of nature, will touch your heart.

8 - A name that you must have heard of before when looking at the beauty of a Ceramic Artist, would be Cynthia Cupples. She has won many fans and awards in her years as an artist. She will be welcoming a guest artist of Kim Robertson (Painter) to show along with her.

9 - There are only a few potters on the Studio Tour, and Della Cavanagh is one of them. Not only are her pieces aspects of lovely art, but they are functional too. Joining her for the two days of the tour, is another Potter, Sherry Rossi.

10 - Using the thrown away, and what others would think of as useless, is the Multi Media Artist of Jean Pierre Schoss. Animals often are the subject of his art, but you are also surprised at the delightful and whimsical way that he makes you smile with his art imagination.

There are many studio tours around, and many communities have them. As we have been doing them for 25 years, I think the Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts is so pleased to have as part of our offerings the - 25th Annual Uxbridge Studio Tour.

Come on - you know you wanna come!!!!!

Monday Morning Artists - just what you need on a Monday

I understand that there are a group of local artists that meet every Monday morning, and paint. NO they don’t paint each other OR paint collectively one one canvas, but what they do is come together for companionship and just paint. If they talk, that is okay, and if they don’t, that is okay. They may ask each others opinion about colours, technique, subject matter or talk about nothing to do with the art at all. How was your weekend? How are your kids? What are you going to do for your summer vacation? How about those Leafs?

Isn’t that an amazing thing? You know, the life of an artist could very well be a very lonely one. A very singular occupation, unless you make yourself get into a social setting. I would imagine, so much more can get accomplished if you are on your own, focusing on what story you want to tell with strokes on a canvas. But there are times when you need to hear the sound of anothers breathing, sighing and maybe laughter. Or just sense someone beside you.

AND once a year they also put together a show of their pieces.

Artists of Uxbridge Art Show and Sale – held on Saturday, April 24^th and Sunday, April 25^th from 10 – 4. It will be held at the Museum School House on concession 6 just outside of Uxbridge.

REMEMBER that a number of these artists will also be participating in the Uxbridge Studio Tour during the Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts in September. ART ART ART - no excuse in Uxbridge why each of us shouldn't have an original art piece in our home.

I just bought myself a piece of art!!!

Talking about all things art - which this blog does if you haven't already noticed, is the fact that I have purchased myself a wonderful piece of art for my birthday. I am thrilled. My parents-in-law sent me some money for my birthday, and as usual, they were very generous, and so I thought - "ohhhh, what can I get for myself?" I could always go to jewellery, clothes, shoes, chocolate (yup I did think to buy that much chocolate), and then realized what I really wanted was a wonderful piece of art from someone that I admire very much - Wynn Walters.

For those who don't know Wynn, he is a very active and long standing artist in the Uxbridge community, and has a wonderful reputation for beautiful sculptures. Some in stone, from wood, from plaster, from bronze - just so much. He is part of just about every community enhancing and improvement group in Uxbridge, along with his wife Mary Margaret, Uxbridge Trails committee, Uxbridge revitalization committee, Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts, singing groups and as always, will be featured on the Uxbridge Studio Tour and involved in the Uxbridge Celebration's Sculptures Symposium. MMMMM, not sure how he will have time to get my piece done, but he promised that he would.

I am just ecstatic to be having a piece of a Wynn Walters art in my home, and if nothing else - IT IS ABOUT TIME!!!!

Planning for the 25th Anniversary of Celebration of the Arts

As with anything that is going to be spectacular, and a "cannot miss" event, the planning and ideas happen so many months ahead. Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts 25th anniversary year is not any different. We have been planning for a number of months, but now is the crunch and final organizing of everything.

The best thing about the planning meetings are the ideas that come streaming from the committee. One idea sparks the thoughts of another member, which give another a suggestion to make it even that much better. BUT if we did all of the things that we have been talking about, we would have to extend the celebrations into 4 weeks instead of 2.

If you love arts, and I mean any kind of art in the form of sound, visual, movement, prose and so much more, this really is the event to keep in mind. And we will absolutely forgive you if you can't make it to every event, but boy oh boy, you are going to want to. And it won't be very hard on your pocket book because many of the events will be FREE. Yessssirrrr, that is what I said. FREE.

We are also making a strong increased effort to fit in a number of "children's focused" events as well, and look forward to stirring the imaginations of those young people from Uxbridge township.

Watch this blog and the papers for announcements on events, artists, schedules, descriptions and even deadlines if you want to participate in some of the contents.

Please push this out to your network, and over the next few months you will be as excited as I am and as our executive is.

This is going to be almost as good as the 2010 Winter Olympics!!! Almost? or better.

Up and comer - and so young too

There are many forms of art, and thankfully with the widely used medium of the internet, we can see so many more then we would ever be able to see live. The other benefit for this medium is that younger, up and coming and struggling artists can utilize this forum to showcase their work and what they have to offer to the community.

I know such a person. Her name is Meg MacKenzie and she is in her early 20's. Meg is a photographer first and foremost, but is also known to dabble in film, painting and crafts. She is a friend of my daughter and though she lives in Barrie - has been known to "hang out" in Uxbridge and just loves what she sees here. Uxbridge is a muse for her.

I have seen Meg at work, and how she catches a sense of wonder and beauty in so many of the most things that I might see as mundane. When you see the results of her finished photographs, you just have to stand and look in awe. One of the funniest things that Megs is known for is her Ridiculous Shoe Collection and they are wild to see.

I am truly convinced that I will say one day, when Meg MacKenzie is going to be an influential artist in our community and also the wider artistic community, that I knew her when. Check her out and you will know her when too.

How many artists does it take to change ......

I can't believe that Uxbridge would be able to congregate over 60 artists within a 15 km drive but that is exactly what happens during the Celebration of the Arts in Uxbridge. One of the 3 weekends of The Celebration, there is a Studio Tour of over 29 local artists, and over 30 guest artists. You can go to visit them in their studio, ask questions, witness creation styles, understand where they might get their muse perhaps - but see where brilliance is created.

AND ITS FREE.

They range from award winning canvas artists, scultpures, jewellery makers, pottery, multi media, silk artists and it goes on and on. Some of the artists are very well known for their skill - Cynthia Cupples, Ross Colby, Shelly Burke, Wynn Walters, Lynne McIlvride Evans and more.

Did I tell you it is FREE?

This is a wonderful way to enjoy the beauty of the local countryside, experience the hospitality of our warm and welcoming community and see creations of art, all within a short drive.

Can't wait to see what the 25th year Celebrations brings to the Studio Tour.

Did I tell you it is FREE?