"a room without art is like a body without a soul"
One of my favourite people to spend time with is my talented friend, Jane Rowberry. Jane is an artist specializing in acrylics and oils. She and three other women are the proprietors of a special gallery in Lunenburg aptly called Quartet. It is a wonderful, warm, bright and welcoming space...not a stiff, formal place that some galleries tend towards. I love to visit the gallery often to see their latest creations.
Although she has participated in a number of workshops over the years, Jane is mostly self-taught. While incredibly gifted with artistic talent, she shies away from thinking of herself as a true artist. I think she believes she can 'paint' fairly well but stops short of describing herself as an artist.
It has become a tradition over the past few years that we exchange Christmas gifts. She creates a painting for me and I hook a rug for her. This past Christmas I created a piece for her that would reinforce my belief in her artistry.
I had the idea of placing her among some of my other favourite artists. Say, Monet, Degas, Hopper, Lautrec, etc. I'd call it 'Artists of Distinction'. So I Googled, printed and enlarged their signatures, transferred them to red dot, then on to linen. I placed Jane's signature dead center, surrounded by
her more famous counterparts. And voila, my idea started to come to life!
Next, as background I wanted a wool that was very colourful and varied to represent the various hues of an artist's palette. So, I asked Shane and Christine to dye up a yard of 'Razzle Dazzle', which is one of my 'go to' wools. I try always to have a supply in my stash. I love colour and this is
simply yummy! I chose an antique red (really a deep rich burgundy) for the lettering which pops nicely. The background palette is hooked in a 6-cut and the lettering is a combination of 4, 5 and 6-cut.
I think Jane was very pleased with her gift. And more importantly for me, I think she finally got the message!
You can visit Quartet Gallery at www.quartetgallery.com.
By Guest Blogger Sue Cunningham
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