Flourish
“I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers,”
-Georgia O’Keefe
May 26th – June 17th
Opening Reception: 7-10 pm during Downtown Kingston’s Art After Dark on the 26th
About "Flourish"
"Flourish" is a show about flowers. It features a multi-generational group of artists for whom flowers are a source of inspiration and representation. The show includes botanical drawing, still life, natural dye printing, decorative arts, floral arranging, portraiture, pastels and acrylic painting, each offering a unique perspective on flowers’ enduring appeal.
Featured Artists
Julie Davidson-Smith
Encaustic & acrylics
Jill Glatt
Natural dye painting and printmaking
Margaret Hughes
Chalk pastel
Marney McDiarmid
Ceramics
Helen Humphreys
Watercolour and Ink
With floral arrangements by
LSP Designs
Julie Davidson-Smith’s Original Artwork
Show Statment
This exhibition shows a very specific aspect of my creative process; works in acrylic and beeswax that explore the theme of flowers. Anything I paint whether it is a landscape or flowers all have a deeper presence beyond their form. It's never just about flowers; each work has my energy and spirit woven into them - marks piloted by a deeper part of myself. Art is a very personal experience and I am excited to share it with you using flowers to direct my work.
Artist Bio
Julie is an award-winning Canadian artist who has exhibited her work across Canada and in parts of the U.S. Her work explores themes around the human spirit, our connection to nature, ourselves and each other - the collective unconscious. This unseen space that exists between all living things is a rich tapestry of universal/human energy. This invisible fusion of ideas, emotions and stories transcend the superficial boundaries we have created as humans - class, gender, geography and time itself. Julie's art taps into this "in-between" place where her passion for design, meaning, and storytelling guide her to the heart of it all - what it means to be alive beyond the superficial boundaries of our society and culture. Julie has a B.F.A from Concordia University in Montreal where she graduated in 1999 with top honours in the painting & drawing program.
Coffee Time - Encaustic & oil on board, 9"x10" (11"X14" mounted), $250
From My Garden - Acrylic on board, 12"x12", $350
Send Me Flowers - Acrylic on board, 12"x16", $350
Jill Glatt’s Original Artwork
Show Statment
Jill's work for "Flourish" features reclaimed fabric wall hangings painted with natural dyes, as well as linocut and silkscreen prints produced on papers made with recycled fibres.
Jill Glatt carefully studies native plants that are integral to healthy ecosystems- particularly those favoured by native pollinator species. By expressing these plants native to North America using motifs and techniques from the Indian subcontinent, the artist encourages the viewer to look beyond their individual experience and enter a mindset of collectivism; seeing oneself as a member of a larger group, rather than as an isolated, independent being.
Artist Bio
Jill Glatt (she/her) is a Katarokwi/Kingston-based illustrator, printmaker, arts educator, and French Immersion Art teacher with the Limestone District School Board.
Her artistic practice is based around and informed by ecology, community, and sustainability.
She has developed and delivered programming for the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, Kingston Arts Council, Centre Culturel Frontenac, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Union Gallery, Kingston School of Art, and the Juvenis Festival.
Jill is also the Volunteer Coordinator for the Skeleton Park Arts Festival and sits on their board of directors as Treasurer.
Red-Seeded Dandelion - Painted weld and madder dye on reclaimed cotton, 17"x32", $160
Transverse Lady Beetle - Painted cochineal and madder dye on reclaimed linen, 22x21, $220
Blue Flag Iris - Printed oil-based ink on cotton rag paper, 8"x10", $60
To Flourish - Painted and screen-printed madder, logwood, cochineal, and buckthorn dyes on silk paper, 14"x18". $220
Margaret Hughes’ Original Artwork
Show Statment
Still Life is my preferred subject. I often choose items I have made and drapery that I have designed or find inspiring. I enjoy using vibrant colours, considering fields of colour usually rather than linear elements. I find there is a constant tussle between volumetric forms and colour fields. The pastels I use are hand rolled and can be used in a broad way. almost like a brush.
Artist Bio
B.F.A. University of Cape Town. Post Grad Certificate in Art Education. London University. Many courses in ceramics, pastels and watercolours. For 35 years worked as a ceramic artist making functional and decorative work. Was a founder and owner of Cornerstone Fine Arts, Fine Crafts from 1981 to 2005. Returned to 2 dimensional work mostly in chalk pastel and oils. Exhibited ceramic work in many juried shows, locally, provincially and nationally. Exhibited pastels and oils with Shag Rug Collective and OKWA. Participated in exhibitions at Studio 22 until fairly recently.
Rainy Day Still Life With Daisies - Chalk pastel on Sanded Paper Substrate, Framed: 26” by 32”, $750
Still Life With Gerberas - Chalk Pastel on Sanded Paper Substrate, Framed: 26” by 32”, $750
Still Life With Orchids - Chalk pastel on Sanded Paper Substrate, Framed: 26” by 32”, $750
Still Life with Flowers and Dress - Chalk pastel on sanded paper substrate, 21"x27, $750
Still Life with Tulips, Daffodils and Orchids - Chalk Pastel on Sanded Paper Substrate, 22"x26", $500
Marney McDiarmid’s Original Artwork
Show Statment
I draw flowers because of how they make me feel. They offer up a never-ending variety of form and colour. I think of flowers like characters in a story - exuberant, graceful, showy, and complex, boldly reaching out for connection and blooming under even the most adverse of circumstances.
Artist Bio
Marney McDiarmid is a queer ceramic artist who makes functional and sculptural work. She uses beauty as a tool for engagement, creating lush, sensuous pieces that call up notions of replenishment and explore our relationships to the natural world. Drawing is integral to her process. Her illustrations add decorative elements and narrative content to the work. Marney envisions the slow pace of her practice as running counter to systems of mass production. It is important to her that the pieces she makes convey care and consideration. She has a passion for connecting people to their creativity, to colour, to nature, and each other.
Pollinate - Clay, 8"w x 6.5"l x 2.5"h, $315
Reach - Clay, 8.5"w x 2.75"h, $315
Spring - Clay, 8"w x 5"l x 2.5"h, $315
Helen Humphreys’ Original Artwork
Show Statment
I'm interested in making individual portraits of wildflowers, leaves, and cultivated flowers. These images have been made, in watercolour and ink, from models I have found in Kingston this spring.
Artist Bio
Helen Humphreys is a Kingston writer and botanical artist. She is the author of twenty books, including Field Study: Meditations on a Year at the Herbarium (ECW Press; 2021) and she recently graduated from the certificate program in Botanical Art from the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
Bloodroot - Watercolour on paper, framed 8" x 10", $150
Bouquet - Watercolour and ink on paper, framed 12" x 15", $250
Fern - Ink and watercolour on paper, 3 1/2" x 5", $75
Glory of the Snow - Watercolour on paper, framed 8" x 10", $150
Leaf - Ink and watercolour on paper, 3 1/2" x 5", $75
Leaves - Ink and watercolour on paper, 3 1/2" x 5", $75
Pod - Ink and watercolour, 3 1/2" x 5", $75
Trout Lily - Watercolour on paper, framed 8" x 10", $150
Listen to the podcast about Flourish
For the segment about the gallery and Flourish, listen from 21:47 to 35:14.