VISUAL ARTISTS
Lise Beaudry / Nancy Brookes
Gunilla Josephson / Jane Gray
John Kinsells / Kathleen Kosloski
Freddie Towe / Aileen McBride
Mariska McEathron / Nancy Webster
WOOD
Matt Mahlik
GLASS
Sean Sarty
CERAMICISTS
Beth McCubbin
Lisa Berry
Amy Doole
Lara Elliott
April Gates
Karen Gray
Jane Lee
Stephanie Park
Renee Woltz
Something About Sunsets
Sunsets have long been a subject of fascination in art, embodying beauty, transience, and the sublime. However, in the Western contemporary art world, artworks depicting sunsets are often viewed as cliché, a trope that has been overused to the point of losing its originality. This perception is rooted in the idea that sunsets, as a subject, are easy to romanticize and idealize, which can lead to artworks that are seen as lacking depth or innovation.
Despite this, the allure of sunsets remains undeniable. They are a universal symbol of beauty and have a powerful emotional pull, evoking feelings of calm, reflection, and awe. The natural spectacle of a sunset, with its rich palette of colours and dramatic lighting, offers an irresistible subject for artists. It speaks to the human experience of observing and finding meaning in the natural world. Each sunset is unique, shaped by the weather, the landscape, and even the time of year, making it a fleeting yet timeless experience that resonates with people across cultures and generations.
With this exhibition, we fully embrace the sunset as a powerful tool to evoke emotion and provoke thought. Even if the depiction of a sunset risks being labelled as trite, its ability to evoke a strong, visceral response cannot be ignored. For some artists, embracing the cliché might even be a deliberate choice, challenging the boundaries of what is considered "acceptable" in contemporary art and questioning the very notion of what makes a subject worthy of artistic exploration.
This exhibition features work from a collection of visual artists:
Lise Beaudry, Nancy Brookes, Gunilla Josephson, Jane Gray, John Kinsella, Kathleen Kosloski, Freddie Towe, Mariska McEathron, and Nancy Webster.
The exhibition also invites the publics participation to submit images to be added to the “sunset wall” submissions will be considered for a price TBD that will be announced Oct. 6.
Home Grown: Art From Here
“Homegrown” features the work of three visual artists, eight ceramicists, a wood artist, and a glass artist. Among participating Hastings Highlands artists are ceramists Amy Doole and Stephanie Park; painters Rocky Lawrence Green, Ken Fraser, and Freddie Towe; and glass artist Sean Sarty. Ceramicists Lisa Barry, Lara Elliot, Renée Woltz and April Gates and woodworker Matt Mahlik are based in Algonquin Highlands and former Maynooth resident and ceramicist, Karen Gray, resides in Huntsville. Jane Lee is a recent graduate from Haliburton School of Art and Design.
Wildewood’s inaugural exhibition will run from May 16th to June 23rd, welcoming visitors from Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 3 pm.
Jewels - Freddie Towe
Freddie Towe is a painter and mixed media artist relocated from Toronto in 2014 to live beside the York (Shawashgon) River just north of Bancroft. Mostly known for their/her abstract and mixed media work Homegrown is a glimpse into some of their/her figurative work with these quick and direct oil sketches. Behold an intimate connection with the subject that is sometimes humorous and a tiny bit dark.
Freddie began showing paintings, sculptures, and mixed media at various galleries in Toronto in 2003. She/they have shown work in Toronto at Aird Gallery, Awol Gallery, Engine Gallery, Gallery 1313, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Propeller Gallery and locally at Art Gallery of Bancroft, A Place for (Bancroft), The Muse (Bancroft), Wildewood Gallery (Maynooth), the Bancroft Area Studio Tour as well as Atelier Ludmila in Peterborough.
Self Portrait - Rocky Lawrence Green
Rocky Lawrence Green has a multi-disciplinary artistic practice that includes drawing, writing, photography, music, and painting. Having odd-jobbed for the widow of renowned Canadian painter David Milne in his youth, Rocky gained an intimate insight into Milne's artistic world. Spending time with Milne's still life paintings ignited his belief that art – not just souvenir making – can come from where you’re living rurally. This formative experience inspired Rocky to explore the intersection of art and rural life. Specifically, his interest lies in the ‘bleed lines’ between the main and back streets of rural life, paintings of dirt road childhood.
Boy Running - Ken Fraser
Ken Fraser’s journey began in Sarnia before venturing to Vancouver at 18, only to find himself drawn back to Ontario where he settled in Toronto for an extended period. It was a friend and fellow artist, Brian Kipping, who reignited his passion for making art, urging him to continue drawing and making work. In 2016, Ken left Toronto for Hastings Highlands, where he remains to this day.
So far so good.
Lisa Barry
Lisa studied ceramics at Alberta College of Art and Design after three years in Sheridan College’s Ceramics Program. Her and her husband now live and work in Haliburton, Ontario. Together they have built a wood kiln and business called Homestead Pottery. Lisa’s work speaks about utility, but more importantly about being nourished. Lisa works with both stoneware and porcelain clay bodies and enjoys exploring a variety of surface decoration techniques. She is inspired by nature, music, and food.
Amy Doole
Working in stoneware clay, Amy creates functional pottery pieces intended for everyday use and enjoyment. Her work has a nostalgic and playful aesthetic: earthy colours and matte glazes with the addition of small sculptural aspects, texture, and vintage image transfers. The result is a collection of work, influenced by rural life and local landscape, well designed, carefully, and skillfully crafted.
Amy began working with clay in 2004 as a member of the Credit Valley Artisans in Georgetown, Ontario. She completed a certificate in Ceramics from Haliburton School of The Arts in 2010 with additional instruction from the Dundas Valley School of Art. In 2017, Amy was the Alumni in Residence for the Ceramics program at Haliburton School of The Arts. Amy has been creating, displaying, and selling functional stoneware pottery in Maynooth since 2011. She has welcomed visitors as part of The Bancroft & Area Studio Tour since 2014.
Lara Elliott
Lara is a potter currently living in Haliburton. A graduate of the Fleming College Ceramics Certificate program, Lara continues to deepen her study of the craft through the exploration of wood firing techniques and working with wild clay. She finds meaningful inspiration at the intersection where spontaneity and impermanence meet tried and true tradition. Lara has a deep love for the natural world and is very passionate about reconnecting with land-based skills.
April Gates
April is a full-time ceramic artist and educator. After colourful and long meanderings in travel, work, and education, she finally answered the call to study ceramics. A lifelong background in image-making married a concern for function and ritual – and Blackbird Pottery was born. April’s graphic and illustrative work has been nationally exhibited, collected and published. Her current obsession is to marvel at the endless potential of the ceramic surface.
Karen Gray
Karen’s artistic history began as a graduate of The Haliburton School of Arts, Ceramics Certificate Program in 2001. She has been a full-time potter since 2008 when she
established The Potter’s Studio & Gallery in Maynooth. In 2016, Karen relocated to Huntsville where she continues to create pottery, year-round.
Karen creates functional and sculptural pottery using the distinctive decorating technique called Sgrafitto, Italian word, ‘to scratch’. After making the piece on the wheel or by hand building, and prior to either of two kiln firings, Karen uses small carving tools to etch images into clay that has been coated with coloured underglaze. This etching allows the white clay to show through the coloured underglaze. Additional colour may be hand painted onto the carved image to complete the design.
Recently Karen has expanded her artistic expression to wood block carving and print making, a logical extension of her experience with clay and Sgrafitto.
Jane Lee
Jane is a teacher-ceramicist whose main passion is helping others discover the wonder of pottery and creating beautiful functional pieces. She started her career as a high school biology teacher and has now expanded her teaching practice to include ceramics. As an artist she is interested in combining the serenity and vibrancy of nature with ceramics that bring joy and comfort in the everyday.
She uses plants to impress her pottery in the desire to create both comfort in familiarity and special uniqueness. She also loves the liveliness of bright colours and charm of cute adornments for her pieces.
She has been mentored by ceramicists such as Aneela D’Sousa and Hannun Lyn and has a certification in ceramics from Fleming College. She is also a student of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of ceramic repair, with Sensei Shuichi Kosaka.
Stephanie Park
Stephanie is a local ceramic artist who works from her studio in the Madawaska Valley, creating original wheel-thrown and hand-built pottery. She loves working with her hands and using both time-honoured and modern techniques to create functional pieces for both kitchen and home - elevating the everyday.
“My focus is on practical, simple aesthetics inspired by the natural world.”
Her pieces reflect the beauty and soul of her surroundings. Park lends her artful touch, transforming stoneware clay into functional pieces as an ode to our local woodlands. Her work is often inspired by canoe trips into the Algonquin Highlands and the ancient pines and the remarkable creatures that share this wilderness.
Renée Woltz
Grounded in ancient ceramics traditions within a modern context, Haliburton Highlands ceramic artist Renée alters familiar vessel forms, carving, cutting, disassembling, and reconstructing, to create work that imparts a sense of motion and lightness.
Her method of carving and incising the walls of Raku pottery has become her signature style. Her intricate, precise work is enhanced by the dazzling effects of the fire, and she is constantly finding new and creative ways in which time-honoured methods can be respectfully adapted.
Renée also creates meticulously carved stoneware mugs and bowls that are perfect for everyday use.
Matt Mahlik
Matt studied ceramics at Sheridan College from 1999-2002 and received a BFA from The Alberta College of Art and Design in 2023. Upon graduation Matt developed a strong interest in wood working, working with hand tools and developing green wood carving techniques. He is inspired by history, architecture and making objects in a fine craft tradition.
Sean Sarty
Stained Glass Artist Sean Sarty creates
