A Room Of My Own

Madawaska Church Claire Connolly, Assistant Manager Arts on King and Queen, describes Keith's work as 'Ontario, rugged landscape at it’s best'. Keith Cornell was raised in the small town of Uxbridge, Ontario. His father died during the war when Keith was very young, leaving his mother to raise him alongside his two brothers. Growing up in this quaint little town tucked beside farmland and beautiful forests, Keith would begin his life work painting everything around him. He recounts time and again a solid memory he has a very young boy. The Canadian artist David Milne had set up his easel to paint a scene in Keith’s neighbourhood, and the boy watched with fascination as the artist worked plein air. The affect of this experience is timeless. Keith did not pick up the brush and start painting right away, but that time was coming. Late Afternoon Go Home Bay During his high school years, Keith met his future wife, Karen.   For his sixteenth birthda...

The local art scene is all abuzz about Jordan Hicks with works that celebrate the aesthetic beauty of the natural world. His paintings are vibrant, extraordinary and energetic. His florals can be described as nothing less then a detailed explosion of organized chaos – making sense out of the chaos is what distinguishes the painting as great. Jordan is a self-taught artist who found his passion early in life and has been dedicated to it ever since. He draws his inspiration from a true love of nature and the outdoors, which comes from many years of camping, exploring hiking trails and trips to the cottage. Growing up, he was surrounded by artists in the family. His father is a carver, his mother paints and his uncle, Don Wise, is a well-established artist himself. The family inspired and supported Jordan through his process of becoming the artist he is today. Indeed, the first piece Jordan sold went to his Uncle Don, someone who would later influence Jordan to pursue art as a fu...

Everyone needs a creative outlet, and for artist Mary Talbot, that outlet is photography. ‘I started with a wonderful point and shoot camera given to me by my mother.’ In her words, she s tarted exploring her passion for photography rather latent in life, a passion that was bursting to come out. She now reflects;   ‘photography has given me serenity’. Born and raised in Bermuda, Mary acquired an early appreciation of the arts, as her mother was a painter. Her great-grandfather too was a painter, and to this day, Mary feels a connection with him through his paintings of nature and landscapes. With family ties to the East Coast, she decided to study at a small University in New Brunswick. During her time there, she came to appreciate life in Canada, which included a change in seasons, big trees and wide-open spaces. After graduating with a BA studying Psychology and French, she returned to Bermuda where she worked and saved money for her permanent move back to Canad...