A trio of artists, each firmly based in their particular locale, has put together a unique exhibition. Each individual expresses her specific approach to art – a personalized choice of medium, style and subject matter. However, in their working lives, they also demonstrate the value of association and interaction across genres, backgrounds and generations. They see themselves as an integral part of their inter-connected communities. Neel de Wit, Carole Bondaroff and Anna Carnell have chosen not a fancy mainstream art gallery, but an inner-city apartment lobby for this show.
Neel de Wit, now over 90, is not only the instigator of the exhibition, but an ongoing inspiration to her fellow artists. She organizes yearly events of this type, as well as music gatherings with her friends, sharing her time between two homes, her Kensington Road apartment in Calgary and her ranch near Millarville, Alberta. This senior artist’s energy is impressive, but she is quick to acknowledge the team of friends and supporters that make it all possible.
She has produced drawings and paintings for more than four decades. Formal art training at the University of Calgary in the ’70s began only after her children were grown. Her painting is based on close observations of the elements of nature seen at her country home – the moon, spruce trees, pathways and the hills. “I never tire of watching the change of light from day to day and season to season,” says de Wit. Along with landscape paintings, this exhibition features smaller images given to her by her son Luke, of a rooster whose arrogant antics fascinated the artist during the past summer.
Printmaker Carole Bondaroff is an art colleague and neighbour of de Wit’s in Hillhurst. For over 30 years, Bondaroff and her husband Stan Phelps have run art classes and held exhibitions in their home, known as the Heart Studio. Her life, too, is closely woven into the Alberta community, mainly through her work in schools with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts artist-in-residence program. She engages students in large art projects such as murals and constructions, emphasizing the collective spirit needed to complete the work. She is the art specialist at Hull Child and Family Services, working with participants with many challenges. “I like to use all kinds of art forms to help people express themselves in a healthy way,” she says.
Bondaroff will be showing etchings in the upcoming show. Using her own press at the Heart Studio, she works with copper and zinc plates and handmade paper, often finishing her whimsical images with hand colouring and embroidery. Her current series is an extension of her interest in the social realm. It focuses on performance, from street theatre to the circus, emphasizing the interaction of performers and audiences.
Anna Carnell met de Wit through their shared interest in music. Carnell lives and works in Black Diamond, commuting between there and Calgary to work on projects and market her work. Her unique medium is stone mosaic, in which slabs of stone are cut and assembled into intricate compositions. She interacts with a diverse public through her participation at both the Millarville and Calgary farmers’ markets.
A longtime teacher, Carnell is also keen on group-based projects in the related medium of pebble mosaic, an ancient and time-intensive process of finding, selecting and combining pebbles to create images. “People are often surprised how colourful and complex these works can be,” she says.
The exhibition offers a further opportunity for community interaction — a stroll in Kensington would make a great outing over the Easter weekend. The show opens Friday, March 21 (1 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Norfolk house, 1118 Kensington Rd. N.W.
