This article appeared in the March 31, 2011 Issue of The Interlake Spectator…
Artists, Kirk Creed and Veronica Green at "the Lake" exhibit in Gimli
Manitoba’s Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Flor Marcelino, was there to address the crowd during the opening ceremonies, as did Judith Flynn, Chairperson of the Manitoba Arts Council.
Gimli’s MLA, Peter Bjornson was in the crowd, as were artists and art lovers from the Interlake and from Winnipeg.
Musicians added ambience and inspiration to the event, with Eric Goodman, singing three of his own compositions about Lake Winnipeg, and trio, Heidi Hunter, Joanne Laing, and Kate Ferris, playing harp, recorder, and guitar.
The art exhibition, which will run until May 6, 2011, was presented by artists of the WAVE/WINNBAC, the Winnipeg Beach Arts and Culture Co-op, as part of its 10th Anniversary celebration.
The WAVE tour has gained popularity over the decade, enhancing tourism in the region and helping artists find a wider audience for their work. Each year, in early summer and fall, artists along Highways 7, 8 and 9 have opened their studios and galleries to the public, sharing with them vastly differing styles of painting, ceramics, jewelry, carvings and cultural experiences.
“I got the impression that people were more impressed than they thought they would be,” said Kirk Creed, one of the WAVE artists featured at the show. “It was a big crowd. There was wine and finger food. Lots of people were smiling,” he said.
Jennifer Gibson, of University of Winnipeg’s 1C03 Gallery, David Lucus, artist and art critic at the University of Manitoba, and Jenny Western, curator with a degree in Art History, all of whom are accredited, gave professional critiques to the artists prior to the opening, and critiqued the show as a whole. The aim was to assist artists in their professional development.
Creed, who has been a potter for over 40 years, along with painter, Veronica Green and Silver jewelry artist, Cathy Sutton, spoke to the Spectator before the show about the prospect of being professionally critiqued, and what meaning it has to an artist.
“I dropped out of art school because I didn’t like being critiqued,” said Creed. “I am my own best critic. I am highly critical of my own work. ” he said.
Creed talked about the people who buy his wood fired pottery, and who value it in their own way.
“Each piece is an offering. [People] put their own truth into it. I kind of question the critique on an offering,” he posed.
“Sometimes I find my pottery at Value Village. I don’t know what that means,” he laughed. “It’s always priced really cheap…It’s being recycled, and will be used and used for decades.”
That suits Creed fine. It is a part of the value of his functional pottery, and part of its purpose and process.
Painter, Veronica Green, who submitted “Morning Lake” had a contrasting point of view.
“A critique that opens up a dialogue is good,” said Green. “It’s something you can learn from. It’s about communication. It’s a personal thing. You can take from it whatever you want…I am always interested in what others think about it. But, what is art? Art is anything that moves you. We have to remove the idea that art is a Royal Academy idea,” she said.
Green said that she is also her own critic.
“I try not to think when I am working. Sometimes I have to sit back and look at it critically to see how it’s all coming together: ‘Is there a good drawing in the painting?’ ‘Is the light doing what you want it to do?’” These are questions Green asks herself.
Silver jewelry artist, Cathy Sutton, was intrigued with the prospect of being critiqued by professionals who would normally be considering a painting or sculpture.
“I am anxious to see what they think of it. Will they critique it as a design? Then that’s valid. My real critique is from my clients. They critique it by buying it.
Each of the artists taking part in the show were asked to create something around the theme of the Lake.
Creed’s submission was “Goldeye Platter”, a wheel thrown, salt glazed, wood fired functional piece of art.
“I didn’t set out to make a piece for this show. I made it last year. I was thinking about the Lake,” Creed said.
Green’s inspiration for “Morning Lake” was what is happening to the state of Lake Winnipeg. She chose the title to play on the word “mourning”.
Sutton’s silver pendant was simply entitled, “Lake”. It depicts a moon casting a beam of light on the water. She wrote a piece of Haiku poetry to go with her piece:
“Night time serenity/ liquid silver path/ masks an anger”.
“I’ve seen the lake in action,” said Sutton. “so I know it’s true. The power of water is beyond belief—serene one minute, then completely wild.”
