Colourful art with colourful roots

Apr 21, 2011

Photo: Artist John Redmond

Ottawa artist John Redmond's solo show at Sydenham's Mill Street cafe is as visually pleasing as it is historically interesting. His acrylic works, which can be classified as abstract expressionist, each contain a fluidity that demonstrate a painter who has been evolving and mastering his craft into his very own personal style.

John, who has been painting since he was a kid and professionally since 1991, describes these recent works as done in a “pour, drip and splatter” technique in the vein of Jackson Pollock. He says they are “a way of putting a lot of emotion onto the canvas.”

Painted in acrylics on primed, stretched and mostly unframed canvases, these more than 35 works range in size from a few inches up to a few feet. Most are coloured, except for a few black and white pieces. Regardless of size, all are gorgeous, flowing, fluid compositions, reminiscent of the lustrous glazed surfaces that one might encounter on ceramics of an eastern persuasion.

Often raised like slip on clay, the very tactile surfaces undulate between pock marked, mottled and smooth, and their colours range from watery to intense, matte to shiny, making the viewer want to reach out and touch them.

Some of the works look like other-worldly land and water scapes where an underlying layer of thick acrylic paint has been worked up in stages to create surfaces that hearken to the sea, the ice and other expansive landforms. The works are untitled, allowing the viewer the freedom to interpret the imagery however they like. “I usually don't put titles on my work since I don't want to confine anyone’s ideas as to what they might represent. But for me they are all about the beauty of nature.”

The Eastern aesthetic apparent in many of the paintings is not a coincidence, since John studied Eastern religions as an undergraduate and continues to be interested in Eastern ideas and philosophies.

On a very different tangent but equally worthy of note are the historic photos of John's family that he included in the show, which are interspersed amongst the paintings. On a earlier visit to Sydenham John uncovered his family roots, which are thick throughout the Sydenham area. Many of his relatives are buried at the Sydenham cemetery. As John points out in the show’s notes,

“Great, great great Grandpa William Redmond, wife Nancy Barrett and their combined families lived on the just north of Sydenham on the east side of Rosedale Rd, halfway between Alton Rd and Freeman Rd.” John's great great grandfather, also named John Redmond, who came to Frontenac county from Hollyfort, County Wexford in Ireland, was postmaster in the area in 1894. He was responsible for the naming of Holleford and his farmstead is now owned by John's cousins, who still farm it to this day.

John is also related to “Jack” John Henry Foster Babcock, Canada's oldest surviving veteran of WW1, who passed away in Feb. 2010. John says that all of his family history is one big reason he wanted to show his art at the Mill Street Gallery.

The Café & Gallery’s co-owner, Pat Dawson, is thrilled to have an artist who not only makes work of such a high calibre but who also has roots in the area. The show will run until May 29, 2011.To see more of John's work visit www.johnrredmond.blogspot.com

Regular Saturday night dining will resume at the café on April 30. The owners are also planning regular community shared dining experiences that will run on Friday evenings. The themed dinners will include flavours from Morocco, India, and more. Contact Pat Dawson at 613-376-1533; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.