Portals by Sandy Troudt and Windows by Mary Parslow

This month sees Peace Gallery North with another dual exhibit! We are pleased to be housing ‘Windows’ by Mary Parslow, alongside ‘Portals’ by Sandy Troudt. Both Mary and Sandy are well known artists in our community, as well as prominent members of the Flying Colours Artists’ Association. The opening reception for these shows will be later this week on Friday, November 1st at 7:00pm. Continue reading to find their statements on what lead them to create the extraordinary works featured in their exhibits.

From Mary Parslow: A window is an opening from which to view the world, an opening that allows the light to shine in, and a metaphor to use as a window to the world. “A room with a window is a room that breathes. Windows become metaphors for transmitting images of hope, vision and energy.”

Join me on a journey this year as I viewed the world, and as I collected natural objects seen from the window of my home, and used them to make art.

In preparing for this art exhibit I found myself:

• Growing in excitement as the seasons changed, especially from the snow, and the browns and greys of winter to the bursting forth of the shining greens of spring.

• Leaning into abstraction and demonstrating a new freedom

• Expressing myself joyfully and celebrating plants in a new way

• Printing plants, making Lino cuts and using gel mono prints

• Experimenting with mixed media and collage

• Producing some colourful botanical acrylic paintings

• Thinking about the window metaphor and searching for it’s mystery

• Writing poems about weeds and other interesting items

• Returning to dramatic black and white

• Having collaborative talks with my artist friend Sandy and other friends in Flying Colours Artists’ Association and The Federation of Canadian Artists

• Pouring myself into this project in the hope you enjoy it as much as I have

From Sandy Troudt: Portals are various types of doorways, both literal and metaphoric. In Ireland, entryways to Neolithic burial sites were found surrounded by ornately carved stones that continued along passageways. For the sake of this exhibition, portal refers to an imaginary opening in the cosmos that creates an entryway into a ritualistic passageway where ancient man studied and mapped

the skies 5,000 to 2,500 years ago.

Artworks for this show were inspired by ancient and mysterious rock art, “CUP and RINGS” carvings from Neolithic times in Ireland. There is a vitality and a life force that emanates from the patterns in these carved messages in stone. Those carvings were likely inspired by the celestial bodies which became “translated” not only into spiritual myths and rituals, but also in a pragmatic way in the use of calendars and the marking of routeways. I found it astounding that nearly 5,000 years after they were carved, patterns from this ancient and undecipherable work found particularly in Ireland as well as all over Atlantic Europe, could profoundly influence contemporary art work. I have followed the research of my dear friend, Finola Finlay, a recognized authority on Rock Art in Counties Cork and Kerry. Work she conducted for her Master’s Thesis in the 70’s, continues today. I have always been fascinated by the unsolved mysteries inherent in her subject. So, with a historical affinity and a desire to uncover a particular focus from our ancient ancestors, I began this project with an abiding interest in the “what ifs” of experimentation, playful exploration and artistic expression combining ART, ARCHEAOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY.

Although speculation as to the meaning and purposes of these carvings abound, no-one will ever be sure of the answer. My free verse ponders the mysteries regarding the purpose and meanings of the ancient carvings and strives to put my artwork into a historical context for viewers reading and reflection.