Art Expo – over 30 Manitoba artists in one location

Art Expo, in its 20th year, is on this weekend Oct. 23-25 (Fri. until 9 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., and Sun. 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.) at Assiniboia Downs. The event features over 30 Manitoba artists.

It was a pleasure to get out of the gloomy weather on Friday afternoon and enter the exhibit. The theme this year, Illumination, provided a warm, bright atmosphere.

I spoke to several artists and was impressed at the variety of mediums and styles, not to mention talent.  I couldn’t feature them all, but here are a few artists with some of their work. Go visit the exhibit to see them all!

Artist:  Angela Lillico      Titles:  top – The Seasons, middle – Creative Flow, bottom – Fiery Flow.

Medium:  Acrylic on wood panel       Inspiration:  Sunsets and sunrises, water reflections, gardening. Angela has a good imagination – Creative Flow is her interpretation of what lava looks like at its hottest. She likes the flow of molten rock and how it would look when it transforms into the different coloured layers of granite.

Artist:  Melaney Robins

Titles:  top left – Shoreline in Autumn, top right – Blaze of Scarlet, bottom right – Downstream

Medium:  Watercolour on canvass

Inspiration:  Melaney prefers watercolour as that was her first love when she started art 35 years ago, and is very comfortable with that medium.  She has a love of trees and quite often features them with waterways.

Artist:  Leslie Franklin            Titles:  top left – Blue Heron, right – Portage Place Frontage

Medium:  Alcohol Ink on Yupo (waterproof synthetic paper made from polypropylene pellets)

Inspiration:  Leslie loves the brightness of colours that alcohol inks are known for. She likes how street scenes after a rain maximize the colour in the reflection. She believes there is a shortage of vibrant Winnipeg scenes and hopes to rectify that with works such as her Portage Place Frontage and others.

Artist:  Jerry Rubin

Titles:  top left – For Sale, below right – Jax

Medium:  Acrylic, and acrylic with charcoal and pencil

Inspiration:  Jerry visited and got to know the owner of an art gallery in Key West. The owner lamented there were a million abstracts coming through his gallery, but what seemed to be missing were portraits and paintings that were fun. So that’s what Jerry decided to do – put some fun into it!

Artist:  Lynda Toews      Medium:  Acrylic      Titles:  left – Heavy Duty (percherons), top right – Buster’s Brood, bottom right – Evening in Neubergthal

Inspiration:  Lynda’s parents were farmers with Mennonite heritage. She likes to honour the farm animals for their contributions to human survival.

Artist:  Kathleen Black     Title:  top – There is Still Time, bottom – In This Moment I am Happy

Medium:  There is Still Time – acrylic with metal (gold, silver and copper leaf); In This Moment I am Happy – acrylic, glass, resin on canvass.

Inspiration:  Sky, forests, lakes. Kathleen went on a trip to Paris, and during that visit realized how beautiful our own country is and decided to share that beauty in her artwork.

Artist:  Judy Sutton

Titles:  top – Snack Time, bottom – Forest Prince

Medium:  Acrylic on canvass

Inspiration:  Judy likes to work in a series – these two are part of a group of paintings of deer. She strives for movement in her paintings and tries hard to find the joy in each one.

Artist: Anthony Steffes      Title:  Opalescences     Medium:  Acrylic, with fossils, crystals and rocks

Inspiration:  Anthony focuses on texture and colour. His technique is totally experimental, no pre-planning involved. He lets the work flow, and finds it hard to know when to stop! While he tries to have some control, he likes to have the paint do what it wants.

Artist:  Viera Jakubek       Title:  top – Cedar Waxwing, bottom – Indigo Bunting

Medium:  Photographs printed on canvass        Inspiration:  Viera has been taking photographs for 20 years, mostly nature shots using natural light.  She likes to get very close to see the details not normally seen, such as the intricate pattern of a dragonfly’s wings.

Artist:  Leon Kiva     Untitled     Medium:  Ceramic Glaze on tiles

Inspiration:  Leon used to paint using oil, watercolour and did some pottery, but has since evolved to working with tiles. First he draws the picture, then applies the glaze and fires it in a kiln at 1700 – 2000 degrees Farenheit.  There is no room for error using this technique!

All photos by Suzanne Hunter