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Barbara Bucknall
Dennis Tourbin Members Gallery at NAC
Opening Reception Saturday 17 January 2015 at 2PM

Exhibit runs until Friday 30 January 2015

I have invited people to come and see my renderings of angels and Easter eggs. Why that particular combination? Angels heralded Christmas and announced that Jesus was risen, so they are part of the Christian story, as they also are of the Muslim and Jewish ones, but it is the Easter Bunny who lays Easter eggs, not angels. Milton supposed that angels made love, but out of pure affection, not to produce any kind of offspring, although I presume beings with wings might logically be supposed to lay eggs. In fact this particular combination is due to the fact that I find both angels and eggs easy to draw and so I draw them again and again.

A child was once asked, “How do you draw?” She replied, “I think and then I draw a line around my think.” I do it the other way round: I draw and then the think appears out of nowhere. Why should angels and eggs appear so frequently out of nowhere? Or I suppose a psychologist would say, out of my subconscious?

Both eggs and angels have been familiar to me from an early age and almost equally rare and precious, since eggs were in short supply in England, owing to wartime food rationing. Some of my earliest memories are of teatime as the last meal of the day, with me eating a boiled egg out of a silver Christening egg cup engraved with my initials BJB and with the help of a small silver spoon, similarly engraved. This was very important to me as I had been told that someone born to riches and honour had been born with silver spoon in his mouth, and I considered that this was the silver spoon I had been born with. Also I was taught to pray when I went to bed for the angels to look after me and carry my soul away if I died in the night. This was often told to children, and some found it frightening. I found it reassuring because as a child in wartime I knew I was liable to die and liked to think I would be looked after.

When my brother Malcolm is asked, “Where do you get the ideas for your art?” he says, “Out of my childhood memories.” I could say the same thing.

– Barbara J. Bucknall


UNIVERSAL REMOTE
An Interactive Installation by Donna Akrey
Show Room Gallery at NAC
Opening reception: Friday 21 February 2015 at 3PM

I hope for this work to engage the public and encourage collaboration. This installation asks the viewers to take the controls and to consider from a closer perspective-the movement of the landscape (be it urban, suburban, industrial) and their hand in it—even if imaginary. It also revels in the chaos, beauty and possibilities of the spaces we live in.

Many of my questions and worries about our use of land, the displacement of the natural landscape, our obsession with borders, mass productions, the continued influx of suburban development, waste and our (at times) passive, armchair view of the world, are addressed in this project. I am looking forward to creating a work that is simple, engaging, active, humorous and thoughtful.

The word REMOTE means both the idea of place and the idea of chance. This installation/performance will hopefully be an opportunity to explore this collaboratively with the public in St Catharines.

– Donna Akrey


Stolen Theatre Collective
The Murder & Mystery Dance Party
Friday 16 January 7PM-12AM
Mahtay Cafe & Lounge
241 St. Paul Street, St.Catharines

A Fundraiser in support of Stolen Theatre Collective’s upcoming production of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter, featuring performances by drummer/vocalist Bri Lidstone (Fox Trail), Majora, and Barbarosa.

Solve the crime to participate in a draw for premium Niagara wine!

PLUS The Famous Assassin Costume Contest.

Suggested Donation $10


Call for Proposals
St. Helen’s Roman Catholic Church
Vineland Ontario
I’m interested in contacting an artist capable of creating two icons in acrylic paint and gold leaf to adorn the exterior of the new St. Helen’s Church in Beamsville. These images will be large (approx 7 feet by 13 feet) If you are interested and capable of this exacting challenge please contact me at the email below.
With every good wish.Fr. Philip English
hermit101@icloud.com
St. Helen’s Roman Catholic Church
Vineland, Ontario

Call for Proposals
Henry of Pelham Estate Winery
Trophy Design for Inaugural Chowder Competition

We are looking for something that is “chowder” themed (whatever that may mean to you!). It will need to have enough space to add name plates of winners each year. But it can’t be too big … the winner will have to keep the trophy for an entire year!

Fees to be negotiated.

Contact Rebecca Clarke at Rebecca.clarke@henryofpelham.com