Niagara artists embrace winter with ice exhibit at De La Terre

Niagara artists embrace winter with ice exhibit at De La Terre

While many Niagarans are curling up beside the fire or planning a sojourn to the south to escape the cold of January, a group of Niagara artists are embracing the frost.

Five Niagara artists — Jennifer Elliotson, Marion Griese, Barbara-Jean Lovell, Julie Ponesse and Kim Rempel — have turned their creative gaze to winter, specifically its frozen aspects, with a show on the theme of ice at De La Terre Café in Jordan Village.

With the Twenty Valley Winter Wine Festival having been in full swing over the show's opening weekend, and 20 per cent of sales directed to the St. Catharines Out of the Cold winter shelter program, the theme was an easy choice for the five artists who regularly display work at the café.

"It just seemed like a natural fit," said Rempel, whose works for the show focus on icebergs.

Both Elliotson and Griese said the theme posed a bit of a challenge, especially for the former, who tends to focus on summery landscapes in her works.

"A theme is always challenging," said Elliotson, who worked from photos of snow-draped mountains for her works.

"It kind of narrows your focus," she said.

Griese agreed with her sentiment.

"It presented a challenge for all of us because everybody interprets it differently," said Griese, who as an abstract artist had to flex creatively to reflect the theme.

"They (her ice paintings) are impressions of growing up in the Niagara, the cold," she said, adding, "my hope is there is more of a theme conveyed."

Rempel, however, found the theme to provide a welcome sense of direction.

"I like having the parameters to work in," she said.

With demand for Out of the Cold increasing over recent years, Griese said supporting the non-profit that literally shelters homeless individuals from icy winter nights was an easy decision. The support is a chance to do some good in the larger Niagara community.

"Art can do more than just hang on the wall," said Griese.

The show runs until March 25, with 14 pieces on display.

 

(Written by Steve Henschel and published in the St. Catharines Standard, January 15, 2019. Click here for link to original story source.)