High-calibre nature attracts high-calibre artists

Jul 29, 2010

Photographer Beth Smart

For artists and art lovers who are inspired by nature the Bob Echo Art Exhibition and Sale never fails to please. Three main reasons keep both groups coming back year after year: one - the show's loyal audience of art buyers; two - the gorgeous views of towering rock faces, pristine waters and tall shady pines and last - the show offers something for everyone.

Not only was there a BBQ and fresh baked goods for sale, for the kids there was a live, interactive snake show and hands on crafts. For the adults- live country classics by local band Border Town were a nice complement to the main attraction-the art.

Chinese born and classically trained oil painter Terry Hsu summed up the event best, saying, “If you seek art you may find it in everything around you.” Terry, who moved to Canada in 1999, began painting at seven years of age in China and was trained by both Russian and Chinese painters. He has been painting for 35 years and this is his third time showing at Bon Echo. His works are vibrant colourful, realistic depictions of wild life and landscapes that he creates by mixing colours right on the canvas. What first attracts passersby to this booth are the smaller intricate works of various bird species: gold finch, starling, bluebird, and pine grosbeak displayed up front. In each a single bird is centred in the frame and is painted by layering various colours one upon the other to create a hyper real-vibrant image reminiscent of typical contemporary classical Chinese nature works.

The pieces Terry enjoys painting most are the larger landscapes, where he has the space to “magnify the beauty of what he sees before him.” His work titled Bon Echo Landscape depicts a fallen, mossy log in a autumn forest and is an example of the work he paints every year when he and his wife make the annual trip from Toronto. (To see more of Terry's work visit www.oilbyterry.com)

For local artist Beth Smart of Cloyne photography is the means she uses to capture the beauty of the Bon Echo geography and as a long-time area resident and a fourth-year vendor at the show, she is continually creating new items to keep customers returning to her booth.

Beth is a self-taught photographer who learned the art from her father. She was given her first camera at the age of nine. This year she was showing two new types of work, the first- collages. Her themes as always are landscape and wildlife. In one framed piece she collected various images of butterflies she photographed in the area. In a second she collaged together different images of Bon Echo park taken during different seasons through out the year, “In the Bon Echo collage I'm trying to show people the beauty of the park at different times of the year when visitors don't usually get a chance to see it.”

Also new are her “photo paddles”- small wooden canoe paddles covered with her images, which she applies using a special ink transfer technique. It can take 20-25 hours for a single paddle. Beth sells her work at the park's gift shop and she will also be participating in the Cloyne Showcase from August 6-8.

Multiple media artist Todd Tremeer has been doing the Bon Echo show for five years now. Todd, who hails from Bowmanville, graduated from the Ontario College of Art in Toronto in 1995 and he has been doing shows ever since. He works in watercolour, oil and printmaking and when in town for the show he often camps on crown land just north of the park where he paints small studies and sketches that he later works up into larger pieces back at his studio in Bowmanville.

“My preference is to make landscapes that are not necessarily particular to any specific place.” His small-framed etchings are done as dry points, which he etches onto plates that he carries with him into the bush then later prints and colours.

One called “Beaver Dam” and another called “Bon Echo” are indicative of the local landscape in the area and attract a lot of interest from return buyers to his booth.

His larger works are oil on canvas and pictured here is Killarney Landscape, a work from a study he did on site while camping.

Todd enjoys the annual Bon Echo show and said,

“It's a great show where I often make a few sales but I also camp out and work while I'm here, so it’s kind of a working holiday for me as well.”

Most recently Treemer has been working with war museum collections and is creating works that deal with those collections, history and how history is reconstructed through museum spaces. To see more of his work visit www.toddtremeer.com

Event organizer Harold Kaufmann, chair of the art committee at Bon Echo, was pleased with the high calibre of art in the show this year and noted that he tries to jury in at least 10 new artists each year.

Derek Maggs, executive director of the Friends of Bon Echo Park, said increased local advertising this year has helped bring out newcomers to the show and park. The Friends, whose efforts include the ongoing preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the park, continue to offer visitors a unique art show in the midst of unique wilderness setting. For more information about the park and its Friends please visit www.mazinaw.on.ca/fobbecho