As Seen in On-line News Magazine, True North Perspective

By Shannon Lee Mannion

Contributing Editor

True North Perspective

Thursday, October 6, 2011 saw art by 17 contemporary artists displayed at Patrick John Mills Gallery, 286 Hinchey Ave., in Hintonburg, Ottawa. The theme is I Killed the Group of Seven and it runs until October 29, 2011.

In a call-for-art paragraph describing what sort of art he was looking for, gallery owner/curator Patrick John Mills wrote:

Artists who are bored with safe, traditional landscapes, tired of happy flower paintings, and same old colourful commercial crap art ... Artists who push art in a new direction: fresh ideas, cutting edge, think-outside-the-box, non-conformist ... will be showing their art in this show.

Among the artists present are two Montrealers, Mathieu Laca and Graeme Welch, absolutely contemporary as in NOW art, and absolutely different styles.

Laca is all brush and gush and over-the-top bold with slashing strokes, bright colours and sexually-charged themes while Welch is a figure painter, nonpareil , who handles his large canvasses with wit and aplomb.

 

These painters are two of the Patrick John Mills Gallery mainstay artists who show avant-guard work rooted in this millennium.

Patrick John Mills Gallery presents an eclectic mix of art with a new show each month.

Additionally, there is a wonderful Sculpture Garden, the only one in Ottawa, in the yard beside the gallery building.

Meanwhile, there are two recent artists' work adorning the gallery walls, some spectacular still-lifes by octogenarian, Ted Zuber, and several whimsical collages and paintings by James Boyd (1928-2002).

 

The show, I Killed the Group of Seven, runs until the end of the month, at which point, Patrick John Mills will host his own solo show.

ARTIST P.GREENE: Walking in Someone Else s Shoes

ARTIST P.GREENE: Walking in Someone Else s Shoes: Photo by: Patrick S. Greene Walking in Someone Else s Shoes The concept of walking in some else s shoes never appealed to me in t...

In-SCULZ-ation

Or inskullation. Most of us work with a variety of tools, materials and methods to create an inimitable style of art. Some of our techniques, we have down pat. We know what paint and brush to use for what medium in order to show detail, depth and definition.

For the past month, I have been working with plastic skulls, pretty well human head size. Getting paint to adhere, plus the application of baubles, rubber, glass, bits of plastic, cloth, metal, wood...whatever I find in my studio that I think might suit, has been an ongoing challenge.

Today's adventure was to create an entry wound on one side of the head and the exit on the other. I started with two fake wounds made of rubber. These were not flat but 3D. An affixing headache.

I determined fairly early that contact cement was not going to work. It would not stick rubber to cement, and worse, when I lifted the rubber from the plastic, it took the pink paint with it.

An all-purpose glue, Weldbond, seems to be holding the wounds in place. In order to create a seamless effect, pink plasticine has been smoothed around the edges, light pink for the entry and darker for the exit. Both subsequently will be sprayed the same colour as the skull which will be the next challenge, will the paint stick to the plasticine.

When I get the actual in -SCULZ-ation completed, perhaps tomorrow, I will post the finished project.

I have created ten SCULZ and will do at least ten more before the week of Halloween as these will be on display at various Ottawa venues. One has already been taken to Brighton, England and another is residing in Kingston.

SCULZ away!