The Medway Head Lighthouse Art Show and Sale in Port Medway opened with a large crowd attending the artists’ reception on August 16. The Show is open every day through August 25 from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the Warehouse Gallery next to Lighthouse Park. There are more than 200 pieces by dozens of artists in the annual show, which also serves as a fundraiser for the non-profit organized to preserve the Medway Head Lighthouse
Chaos Theory steel sculpture by featured artist Timothy Gillespie (South Coast Studio). The other featured artist is painter Barbara MacLean (see samples of her work below).
My recent work in large and smaller sculptures in steel is borne of a fascination with the detritus, labour and materials of industrial production, harkening back to many visits as a very young boy in Winnipeg to a chain-making factory, where with rapt fascination, I spent watching the forge and fabrication work done by a dozen men by hand.
Pieces in steel and other metals evolve in part from recognizable industrial fixtures and objects, which are re-imagined as self-sustaining sculptures, calling on the visceral memory of how we came to this place at this time.
The marble, sandstone and slate sculptural pieces draw on the awesome power of the sea.
SEE SOUTH SHORE BREAKER STORY HERE
CARVED SLATE, SANDSTONE AND MARBLE WHALE TAILS AT PORT MEDWAY SHOW
Lunenburg abstract painter Barbara MacLean is also a featured artist in the show. She says of her work that large abstracts frequently begin with bold gestural strokes and drippy washes. After the initial spontaneous start, each painting is evaluated from a distance and over a period of time. Then the layering begins. Adjustments are made to composition, colour and texture, building, changing and refining until a satisfactory finish is achieved.
“This can take months or years” she says. “I start fast and finish slowly. I like to keep several paintings on the go in my studio and when I get stuck on one I move to another. This often means a change from high colour pieces to ones in quiet grays, blacks and white. I like that. It keeps my mind and way of working flexible. It helps maintain my interest.”
SEE SOUTH SHORE BREAKER STORY HERE
One of the largest outdoor sculpture shows ever in the Maritimes opened at White Point Resort on May 6 and runs through Thanksgiving weekend, October 8.
In a news release for the event, White Point executives said, “As a highlight for our 90th Anniversary, we were overwhelmed and excited by the response to our call for expressions of interest.”
The show was open to local artists of all mediums, and includes works in steel, aluminum, fibreglass, clay, wood, glass and others.
South Coast Studio - Timothy Gillespie 