View art! Do art!
Art has always held a special place in my heart, especially painting and photography. That has a lot to do with the fact I was raised by two amazing visual artists: my mom, Betty Krawchuk, an accomplished painter (sampling of her work above); and my dad, David Krawchuk, a top-notch amateur photographer (some of my faves below).
Despite my mom’s best efforts, I never became adept with the paintbrush though she helped me to understand the principles and elements of art and design, and to appreciate painting, sculpture and the like.
In terms of skill, I fared better with the camera, making good use of dad’s training in photography and darkroom techniques.
All in all, my folks definitely contributed to my passion for photojournalism and the creative arts.
Just why am I and so many others drawn to the arts and creative endeavours?
I love how Germaine Pataki-Thériault, managing director of Fredericton’s Gallery 78, summed up the importance of art in a 2020 Daily Gleaner article:
“Art engages the heart, stimulates the mind, promotes conversation, increases creativity, and helps us look at things in new ways,” she said.
I could not agree more, especially with the “engages the heart” bit. There’s nothing better for my soul than creating something, whether it’s a rich narrative for a story, a striking image of a wave crashing against a rocky shoreline or a first-time recipe.
Each one of us is an artist as far as I’m concerned, and we should all make time to make!
In her book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert suggests that the reader, “Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.” Yes! Grab that joy!
Along with allowing your own creative juices to flow, take time to enjoy the beauty created by other artists, whatever their medium. Viewing art is SO good for the soul–I speak from experience!
After a rather blah January, my creative spirit got a big boost recently after visiting the Downtown Gallery Hop in Fredericton. It was my first time to the free event, part of the capital region’s FROSTival winter carnival celebrations. I’m embarrassed to say it was also my inaugural trip to any of the area’s galleries so I had to make up for lost time!
My younger daughter and her fiancé joined me in exploring Gallery 78, the newly-renovated Beaverbrook Art Gallery and The Artisan District, a fine craft gift shop featuring works by artisans from across the Maritimes.
I could write a separate blog about each of our venue visits. Suffice to say we were thoroughly impressed, make that blown away, by the beauty, quality and variety of the creations we saw. Here are just a few snippits from our trek to Gallery 78, located at 796 Queen St…
…the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 703 Queen St.:
…and The Artisan District, 610 Queen St.
Since we only covered half of the stops on the Gallery Hop schedule during our evening exploration, I returned to the streets of Fredericton the next day to visit many of the others, including Gallery on Queen, 406 Queen St., the George Fry Gallery, 408 Queen St. and the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, 732 Charlotte St. There were no crowds like the night before so I happily took my time perusing the paintings, photographs, carvings and other designs.
As with our tour the previous evening, my solo adventure unveiled a riot of colour, a mecca of imagination, and left me feeling completely inspired!
And so, dear reader, let’s ditch our inclination to hibernate this winter. Instead, let’s let loose and:
- create something… whatever brings us joy… a song, a poem, a cake, a funny video… let’s enjoy the process and not let perfection be our enemy!
- activate our imagination with a trip to a local gallery, craft shop or library… or simply unplug and take a walk in nature, a great place to find our artistic groove.
