Roberts Gallery Blog

ARTISTS CHOICE 2020

‘Bowl of Fruit’ by Catherine Young Bates

“The unification of subject and background is important to me. I like a “total” painting, and the bright colours make it carry with strength and convincing volumes. I paint many subjects, and even still life paintings always have motion for me (subjects are in real space)! “

‘The Beetle and the Bench’ by G.W. Campbell

“My first car was a second-hand, 1970 Beetle. One hundred and fifty bucks out-the-door with a plywood floor, fenders held in place with coat hangers and a gas heater that would explode if required to actually produce heat. Everything else, such as lights, wipers, speedometer and brakes, was dependably intermittent. The radio, however, was terrific. While this painting is primarily a study in form and light, its nucleus is in wonderment that I was never arrested for driving that car.”

‘All Through the Night, I’ll Be Standing Over You’ by Ariane Dubois

“« All through the Night, I’ll be standing over you… »( From the song All through the Night written by Jewel)
The nest is a symbol of a home we build, where we come from, the womb, the birthplace. It represents our origins and our destiny. In the moonlight of every spring, a sweet lullaby is sung to the unborn as a promise of a divine protection, an angel standing over them.”

‘Roses in Garden’ by Elène Gamache

“When I started my painting, I was thinking about my garden and the pleasure of
being alive; I was feeling relaxed and content. I usually work on an easel or on the wall, but for this painting, I worked on a table, which changed the gesture and the energy of the way I work.”

‘Pears on Table’ by Paul Healey

“This still life is about laying down one tone next to another to create light, shape, and form. I used thick paint and built it up from dark muted colours to bright hues to create contrast and variation.”

‘Winter Walk’ by Tracey Lawko

“Drawn with thread. While snowshoeing near my studio in the hills of the Niagara Escarpment, I was struck by the dramatic long shadows on a sunny February day. Regardless of season, there is much to appreciate in our Canadian landscape.”

‘View from the Studio, P.E.C.’ by John Lennard

“The piece I have for Artists Choice is rather new for me. Instead of contemplating thoughts and sketches from travels I just looked out of the window of my new studio in Prince Edward County and painted what I saw close at hand.”

‘Moon on a Cold Winter Night’ by RFM McInnis

“I spent a winter in Les Éboulements, Québec, living in a 200 year old house. This was one of the many views, overlooking the Fleuve St-Laurent and Ile-aux-Coudres. I often paint in grey tones.”

‘La Fin du Jour’ by Richard Montpetit

“I like subjects that could be anywhere centuries ago or now. The trees and a large sky. It gives a lot of freedom matter of composition colours etc. In a way the subject turn to be the light, that light at that moment.”

‘Summer Chairs’ by Susan Oomen

“The perfect mirror reflection suggests stillness, peace and silence. These moments of perfect stillness on the water are fleeting, but a wonder to encounter.”

‘Out to Sea’ by Joseph Peller

“The painting Out to Sea captures a favourite theme of mine, a lone commuter lost in thought. From the aft deck of the Staten Island ferry she watches a huge container ship heading into the Narrows and out into the Atlantic. They are both at sea.”

‘La Serveuse’ by Jeannette Perreault

“I love sketching people in the cafés. I love painting the urban atmosphere.
This waitress was a perfect model for me. The Brasserie Bernard with its large
windows opened on the terrace with its yellow awning offer me compositions
with sunny colors. I like this lively place.”

‘Colourful Maple’ by Rejean Roy

“I just couldn’t pass up this little maple that gave out a wide range of colours with its limited number of leaves, from the greens to the yellows, oranges and deep reds.”

‘L’Arrière Saison’ by Real Sabourin

Comme le sable au sablier
Les jours au calendrier
L’été s’en est allé
Laissant contre l’oubli
Un tableau en bleu et gris
Avec pour toile de fond
Le refrain d’une chanson.

C’était déjà l’arrière-saison’’

‘Flowers in Blue’ by Nada Sesar-Raffay

“I painted this one night in mid-December as a quick escape from my joyful but exhausting preparation for the holidays. I painted quickly, manipulating a vibrant scale colours of thick and tactile paint into my idea of beauty, connection, communication and giving. It was of the moment and it happened to be my last painting of 2019.”

‘Figure on Shore’ by Stephen Scott

“The painting “Figure on the Shore” is an autobiographical image which captures a private moment between a couple. It was about the sharing of the enjoyment of the white light of the midday sun beside a river.”

‘Rancho Relaxo, End of Winter’ by Bewabon Shilling

“Painted onsite at Rancho Relaxo as the end of winter meets spring. Breaking free from my studio, another season begins, a change, a new direction maybe.”

‘Northern Lights, Arctic Circle’ by Alan Stein

“First night on the ‘Ocean Endeavor’, at anchor in Evighedsfjord, Greenland, near the Arctic Circle, I headed outside to the top deck of the ship around 9 pm and spent the next 3 hours in awe, watching a spectacular display of Northern Lights. This pastel captures a moment of magic, a moment in the dancing, shifting, swirling display of colour and light in the northern night sky.”

‘Ranunculus in Jar’ by Robert Strickland

“This piece is about direct language, the term for painting from life and in the moment while the paint is still wet is called “Alla Prima”. This is significant because unlike the mechanical process of the camera the artist observes and projects their subjective interpretation of the subject directly. Robert believes technology is a useful tool but doesn’t want to see it diminish language, because through language we learn to articulate ourself which is crucial to identity and consciousness.”

‘Queen St. West, Study #2’ by Arto Yuzbasiyan

“This particular neighborhood on Queen Street West fascinates me because as the home of many working class Torontonians, it also contains the flavour of a bygone era of Toronto. I was trying to capture everyday life in this part of the city, especially the contrast between modernization and the vintage past, Besides, I consider it a loss when the charm of independent stores are taken over by retail chains, and so I must paint this charm before it disappears.”