Meghan Fitzsimmons- Local Artist Profile

August 29, 2007

My name is Meghan Fitzsimmons. I was born and raised in Owen Sound, Ontario and after attending University I was proud to return to my home town where culture is abundant and the sense of community is strong. I graduated from the Honours Visual Arts program at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario in 2003 and headed home to set up my studio and to get involved in the arts community that motivated me to become an artist in the first place.

I started everly art productions in the spring of 2004 with the goal of creating and showing not only my own artwork, but to make sure the art community will remain strong with the presence of a new generation of up and coming artists. Since returning home I have had a hand in a few projects aimed to give emerging artists a chance to show their work in events such as Special Blend: Art Exhibit and Coffee House(July 2004), and City Hall Art Crawl, an event that has been adding colour to downtown Owen Sound since the summer of 2004. I will also be entering my 2nd year as co-chair for Art Town in 2006.

For my whole life I have either had a crayon or a pencil in my hand, until I picked up a paintbrush while at university. I guess I loved the colours of the wax, and the precision I could get with the graphite, but the freedom I felt with the paint was like nothing else. I no longer felt like I had to confine my ideas and images to a flat surface. I started looking for a new “canvas” because I wanted my work to actually exist in my space, to have volume. I was drawn to the form of the chair because of its close connection with the body, it has been used somewhere else in time and place, supported many people, seen many stories unfold. I also like that it is a functioning piece of furniture, it is part of life, part of the background. When I put paint on it, I define all of its surfaces, it becomes sculptural, no longer just a benign piece of reality. It has become important to me and to my career that my work can be a part of other peoples lives, they can live with it, use it and appreciate it for what it is, what it has become.

Although I have a strong base of ideas that I find reoccurring in my work, my style and subject matter are still evolving, and likely will for some time. The idea of layers of life, of hidden stories, passing of time and experiences, and proof that there have been many lives before the one I live fascinates me. I look forward to the future, to examining life around me and letting my experiences manifest themselves in my artwork. My inquisitive nature will always keep me searching while my love for art will always keep me creating.

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Contact Meghan

Meghan’s Web Site

Email: everly_art@rogers.com

Phone: (519) 376-0433

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Written by adam · Filed Under Visual Artist Profile, theOwen

Katie Graham-Local Artist Profile

July 25, 2007

Katie Graham Katie obtained a Diploma in Fine Art at Fanshawe College from 1999 to 2002. The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design is where she received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art with a Major in Fine Art from 2002 to 2003. Katie also received her Bachelors of Education (Artist in the Community Education program) at Queen’s University in 2007. She plans to teach Visual Arts and Geography at the Highschool level.

Flowerpot Island ~Actual size:130cm by 102cm. SOLD!

Katie is currently working on a series of paintings that feature picturesque landscapes and portraits. Her unique style incorporates thick paint, crisp lines and bright colours. Artists who influence her work are: Tom Thompson, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Emily Carr.

Canoe Lake ~Actual size:20.32cm by 20.32cm

Winter Walk 2007 ~Actual Size:25.4cm by 20.32cm. SOLD!!

Wetland Study 2007 ~Actual size:26.67cm by 20.32cm. SOLD!!

If you would like to know more about Katie’s art, she can be reached at (519) 372-9480 or via email at kbgraham@hotmail.com

Special thanks to Katie for sharing copies of her work for this profile and for giving us two pieces to hang on our walls down here at theOwen.com’s official headquarters. Please feel free to drop in to our storefront at 916 2nd Ave. East to take a look at her work or to make a purchase!

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Written by adam · Filed Under Editor's Pick, The Arts, Visual Artist Profile, theOwen

Allen Smutylo Lectures From “Wild Places Wild Hearts”

July 3, 2007

Wild Places Wild Hearts On May 29th I had the opportunity to listen to Allen Smutylo lecture at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre. Allen was very kind and allowed me to record the lecture. His stories are very vivid, as are his writings within the book, in relating the lives and customs of the Tibetan Buddhist nomads who wander the upper Himalayas in the north-eastern Kashmir region. Please give the lecture a listen. It is 1 hour and 12 minutes in duration.

To download this podcast simply right click this link.

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Written by adam · Filed Under Podcast, Visual Artist Profile, Get Out, Audio, theOwen

Allen Smutylo-Local Artist Profile

May 22, 2007

Allen Smutylo was born in Toronto in 1946. He was a founding member of Circle Arts, a co-operative art studio-gallery in Tobermory in 1969 and in 1970 he graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. He is a member of the Ontario Society of Artists.

Currently he is busy promoting the release of his new book, Wild Places Wild Hearts. With over 130 colour plates and 320 pages the book is both beautiful and well worth the $60. It describes Allen’s experiences wandering the Himilayas with nomadic Buddhists who live as they have for over two thousand years. You can see more of Allen’s work as well as being able to ask him any further questions by visiting his site.

Wild Places Wild Hearts

Here is a clip of Allen Smutylo reading from his new book, Wild Places Wild Hearts.

For the past 26 years his work has been based on his extensive travel experiences. He has completed over 25 expeditions in the far North, including the Queen Charlotte Islands, Alaska, the Yukon, Baffin Island, Bylot Island, Devon Island, Ellesmere Island, Labrador, Iceland and Greenland. Recently he has been travelling to the Indian Tibetan border area of the Himalayas, as well as numerous trips to Antarctica and Patagonia.

The following is Allen’s own description of his work, taken from his personal website.

“I work in a variety of mediums including; oil on canvas, watercolour, drawing, etching and monoprint. My images usually depict specific experiences or places from a trip. These ideas are often layered with other “memories” in the land: such as geophysical forces, land and marine biology, and the imprint of previous cultures.

My paintings and prints are included in over 200 public and corporate collections in Canada and abroad. My work has been exhibited in dozens of solo shows and countless group shows nationally and internationally.

I have won numerous awards for my work, including the prestigious Sapparo International Print Biennial in Japan.

My work and my adventures have been profiled in many magazine and newspaper articles in Canada and the United States. I have been the subject of three films, including the most recent, the Radio-Canada (Québec CBC) coproduction of the Jean Lemire film, The Last Frontier (the first film in the Nature of Art Series).

I reside in Big Bay, Ontario.”

Allen Smutylo is a great contributor to the Canadian and international art scene and his activities in the local sphere contribute to Grey-Bruce’s international reputation as a great artistic and cultural centre. We would like to thank him for contributing his voice and vision to theOwen.com.

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Written by adam · Filed Under Podcast, Tobermory, Visual Artist Profile, Community, Audio, theOwen