Art in Town Hall Catalogue

Stepping Out Beyond the Studio, Tremont Artists Paint en Plein-Air Town of Collingwood Art in Town Hall - Council Chambers 97 Hurontario Street, Collingwood March - May 2018

Lisa Hannaford

Kaz Jones

Kara McIntosh

Andrew Peycha

Dragica Vidakovic

Jenn Wilkins

Lisa Hannaford

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fter studying Art and Art History at the University of Toronto and Sotheby’s, Lisa went on to develop her painting through courses at OCAD, NSCAD and workshops in the US and Canada.

She has loved Plein-Air painting in places such as Provence, Florida, Cape Cod, Nova Scotia, the Eastern Townships and now Georgian Bay.

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rowing up in Montreal and Vermont the land(water/rock/ sky) scapes of Georgian Bay were not a part of my visual world.

Thus to see and experience the inspiration of Georgian Bay and follow in the footsteps of the Group of 7 was an incredible opportunity. The challenge is to find my own voice to interpret that world. I look forward to continuing the exploration of my vision of this beautiful area.

Lisa Hannaford - Selected works www.lisahannaford.com

American Camp Island 2017 16” x 12” Oil on Board

The Bay 2017 24” x 24” Acrylic on Board

Kaz Jones

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az graduated from the University of Guelph with a Fine Arts degree specializing in printmaking and art history.

With an additional degree from Queen’s in education, she took her interests on the road.

Travel took Kaz to such far slung destinations as Colombia, South America, where she lived and worked for a number of years and to Europe where she lived in London and frequented European Galleries.

Her interest in First Nations art and culture and in pristine wilderness, took her to the remote community of Bella Bella on British Columbia’s rugged central coast where she remained for five years.

The following fifteen years were spent living on Quadra Island in B.C., she returned to Ontario ten years ago. Kaz’s extreme travels and life experiences add vitality and interest to her bold, often jewel-toned oil paintings, and her luscious monochromatic still life. She currently pursues a full time career painting, creating, and volunteering in the arts.

Kaz’s art is collected across North America. She can be found daily in her studio in the beautifully restored, historic, Tremont Studios in Collingwood.

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long with tried and true methods and a spirit of the adventurer, I provide opportunity for happy accident and grace to influence my final product.

In my paintings, I choose to take everyday subject matter and infuse it with iconic status. They are my monuments to an optimistic, thoroughly happy domestic life. My subject matter speaks to me of the beauty of the everyday and the majesty of nature’s creations.

Life catches my attention and calls to be painted. The creamy richness of acrylics and their saturation of colour make them my medium of choice. I perceive my subjects from an off kilter perspective with an exaggerated sense of design. This joyful, happy–go–lucky view makes me smile.

Kaz Jones - Selected works www.kazjonesart.wordpress.com

Georgian Bay 2017 24” x 24” Acrylic on Canvas

Rainy Day on the Bay 2017 Acrylic on Birch Panel 36” x 12”

Kara McIntosh

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ara McIntosh is a contemporary Canadian painter who explores the essential qualities of the natural landscape in an abstracted style.

Using strong, assured brushwork, Kara works to capture the varied textures and forms of rolling fields, layered clouds and rippling water.

Kara is inspired by the way that movement and light inform the complementary relationship between land and sky. By allowing undertones of reds, pinks and oranges to peek through the work, warmth permeates her evocative landscapes.

Kara lives near Nottawa, ON and works full-time from her studio in The Tremont at 80 Simcoe Street, Collingwood.

Her works can be found in many private collections in Canada.

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his series of 2017 Plein-Air pieces were made in Georgian Bay and Fogo Island, Newfoundland. Sitting on the ground, surrounded by rocks, grass, water, trees and the endless sky, I was inspired by the scale of the landscape. I took time to really observe the textures, shapes and colours around me.

Interpreting the landscape with paint and brush strokes strengthened my connection to these places and I came to understand them in a different way.

For me, the real beauty of being an artist is the opportunity to learn about and explore in a way that develops a deep sense of belonging, not only to the landscape, but ultimately to yourself.

Kara McIntosh - Selected works www.karamcintosh.com

Frenchman’s Well, Left Wall 2017 Acrylic and Watercolour on Paper 10” x 14”, (17x13 framed)

Oliver’s Cove 2017 Oil on Panel 30” x 40”

Andrew Peycha

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ndrew studied at Sheridan College for editioral illustration from 1992 to 1995. After graduting, he moved to Toronto to work as a freelance illustrator for publications such as The Toronto Star, Harcourt Brace and Company and Young and Rubicam Canada.

In 2000 he left the field of illustration to pursue a full time career as a painter. Searching for patterns of colour, light, and shape. His painting experiences have led him to places such as the Dempster Highway, Whitehorse, the Arctic Circle, the Eastern Arctic Circle, Greenland and India.

All of these travels and art collaborations have created a significant twelve years of painting history and structured Peycha’s signature landscape paintings with a bold palette, and structured application.

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his body of work was taken from a Plein-Air trip to Quebec and a trip to Britt, Ontario. When I do my plein-air painting I try to capture the moment as quick as possible using the knowledge that I was taught through drawing and painting to create an interesting composition.

Andrew Peycha - Selected works www.andrewpeycha.com

Killarney Red Tree 2009 30” x 40” Oil on board

Georgian Bay 2009 24” x 36” Oil on Canvas

Dragica Vidakovic

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ighly influenced by people, light, sounds, the sites, and the weather, Dragica’s paintings are timeless vignettes that trigger memories and emotions.

Dragica first studied Illustration at Sheridan College and pursued her arts studies at OCAD, in print making, silk screening and fabric design.

Since returning to painting in 2013, Dragica has been juried into group shows in Toronto, Mississauga, Burlington and Collingwood, invited to participate in plein air excursions, and exhibited in solo shows. In addition, she has been profiled in magazines, newspaper, radio and television. Her work has been on display in municipal buildings and is included in private and corporate collections.

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hile the paintings are representational of the landscape, people remain the inspiration for this series. None is present, yet the work is the result of leaving the sanctuary of my studio, where work is done in a certain amount of solitude, for what I call a “boot camp trek”.

When painting in a “plein air” situation, there is no time for wandering and pre-thinking your work. You need to be able to grasp the beauty, smells and textures around you. The whole environment can change within seconds.

Fundamentally, however, it is still about people. It is about being with a group of very talented friends and learning from each other, sometimes choosing directions I may not have explored on my own.

Dragica Vidakovic - Selected works www.dragicav.com

Chop Block 2017 17”x 12 3/4” - Framed Oil on Wood

One Tree Turned 2017 17”x 12 3/4” - Framed Oil on Wood

Jenn Wilkins

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fter receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Western University, Jenn traveled extensively. She started in Europe and ended up in Cape Town, South Africa where she lived and her passion for painting was rekindled. Jenn continued to paint through the 1980’s and 90’s taking workshops in between raising a family.

She is currently a full-time professional artist working out of her studio, along with other artists, housed in the historical Tremont in Collingwood, On. Her work is widely sought after to fill a variety of spaces internationally and across North America from corporate to high rise condos to Georgian Bay cottages. Her paintings have appeared in our homes magazine, numerous Galleries, Designer Boutiques, and professional offices.

Jenn is currently a member of The Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts, Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society and the Collingwood BIA. Her work is currently available through The Tremont.

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find Plein-Air painting truly inspirational!

Plein-Air painting gives me a strong communication of spirituality with the sense of existence in nature. It ignites my senses and always renews my desire to capture nature’s incredible beauty and, for a fleeting moment, take all that visual and sensory information, capture my favoured elements and create my version of what’s in front of me for others to experience and enjoy.

As with most artists, certain elements are preferred over others.

Water speaks to me therefore most of my paintings are of The Bay.

Jenn Wilkins - Selected work www.jennwilkins.com

The Bay Oil on Canvas 38” x 50“ 2017

Playful Falls Oil on Canvas 40” x 30” 2018

johane@mccmartcentral.com 416.526.1857