With temperatures dropping this week, and a hint of snow in the air, we are feeling winter in Niagara. If you are unable to go south to warm up, come into the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The warm and vibrant colours of the current exhibit will warm your heart, with the artwork of the members of the NOTL Arts Collective Group is featured in the Joyner room of the gallery until March 24, 2024.
“This show has become a reflection of the vibrant artistic pulse thriving within Niagara-on-the-Lake,” says Pumphouse director Rima Boles. “It not only highlights the growing recognition of visual arts in the community but also stands as a testament to the rich talents of the growing NOTL Arts Collective.”
A variety of subjects can be found in the masterpieces featured by these local, professional artists. Lorraine Kelly’s acrylic With Age Comes Beauty reminds us that spring follows winter. One can smell the flowers in Karola Steinbrecher’s acrylic work entitled Roses, and in Sherron Moorhead’s oil on canvas Hydrangeas on Quartz.
Old Wool Mill, Patricia Haftar’s acrylic piece, takes us to the many hiking trails in Niagara, and the beautiful views as found in the soft pastel creation Beauty Day by Catherine Cullis.
With the proximity to water here in Niagara, we can identify with Rick Cullis’ oil on canvas Niagara Mist and Tim Sullivan’s acrylic Waterfalls at Short Hills. Memories of lazy summer afternoons spent on the water can be felt in Sailboat Sunday, mixed media by Julie Forrester Clark or Darren Cranford’s oil on canvas artistic creation entitled Flowerpot Island. Peace and tranquility can be sensed in Marilyn Cochrane’s acrylic Study #2 for Ancient Echoes, and in Ron Clavier’s oil on canvas, Seine Sunrise.
Clark is participating in the exhibition for the first time. “I’m so happy and grateful to showcase my artwork alongside these very talented, high calibre artists in my town,” she says.
Can’t you just taste the flavourful peach in Lynne Weiner’s acrylic Peach Juice?
And let’s not forget the creatures so artistically painted for us by Debbie Whitehouse in her watercolour picture Chippy, and Gord Rosewarne’s acrylic piece I See You.
Susan Holly’s stained glass Back to Earth, and Julia Kane’s fused glass work Muskoka add to the variety of medium used in this exhibit.
City of Poets mixed media by Lynn Gaetz is a rose-coloured dreamscape, and Tables Two a mixed media collage by Ron Boaks is a play of adding a still life to a still life.
Come out of the cold to this amazing exhibit, see what you can see in these works of art, and let them warm your heart. Be impressed by the amazing artistic talent found here in Niagara. The exhibit is free, and the gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.