November 6-27, 2021
The artwork in Gentle Spaces would like to bring you on a nature walk to a calm and peaceful place. A restorative place your mind would like to go when times are tough and uncertain, like a walk in your very own garden, or a quick lap around your neighbourhood, a short hike while camping, or standing on a mountain top. It may even be an average day that you happen to notice a little beauty in the world.
Gentle Spaces is a simple adventure, like when you notice the leaves are a lovely shade of red, or how the sunlight flickers as it peers through the trees, or how a little gathering of small flowers catches your eye. It’s these times and these sights that often help us be in the moment and maybe let our worries rest for a short time.
On many occasions, a walk in nature has helped artists Melanie Jenner and Jamie-Lee Cormier feel grounded and recharged, and given them a sense of stillness and balance. Experiencing times of stress and struggle can often leave people longing for safety and assurance, and the artists hope viewers embrace a restful moment here in the Gentle Spaces exhibition.
Artist Statement – Jamie-Lee Cormier
In her most recent works, Jamie-Lee Cormier brings a range of colours and textures to the exhibition, Gentle Spaces, as well as multiple process-based techniques that use real plants. Through these artworks, Cormier leads viewers on a nature walk by physically bringing nature to them in varied and creative ways.
One of the techniques used are gel prints, where Cormier has used real leaves, twigs and flowers to make prints on canvas and wood panels. She’s also used real plants encased in resin.
Cormier has also created paper works using Eco-Printing, a type of heat-pressed printing that transfers colours and shapes from real leaves and flowers onto paper or cloth. The leaves and papers used are alternately layered and create a visible impression on both sides of the paper. The boldest blues in the exhibition come from Cormier’s Cyanotypes, a process that uses direct sunlight and chemical reactions to develop colour. The shapes seen here are, again, from real leaves and flowers she’s collected from the area.
The outdoors have been a restorative place for her during challenging times, often it’s a run or walk, going camping, hiking, or just hanging out in the backyard, but she is always finding inspiration in her surroundings. This summer, Cormier was able to bring her studio outside and paint several landscapes in the Bear Creek area of Grande Prairie, as well as a trip to Jasper National Park.
About the Artist – Jamie-Lee Cormier
A graduate of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Visual Arts, Jamie-Lee owned and operated her own commercial art gallery for over 6 years before moving to Grande Prairie. She has always been attracted to painting landscapes and using real flowers and leaves in her artwork. Originally from Newfoundland, her ancestral roots have shown her ways to be connected to nature. Nature’s presence in Jamie-Lee’s artwork and jewelry designs have been both a visual inspiration and the use of physical materials from the land and sea.
Artist Statement – Melanie Jenner
The artworks Melanie Jenner created for the exhibition, Gentle Spaces, are sparked by memory and imagination. The watercolour and ink paintings are slightly surreal and aren’t directly inspired by real places or of flowers that exist in nature. They’re paintings for the daydreamers and the explorers. Jenner has painted a series of whimsical garden bouquets and comforting places with playful colours that lead you through a nature walk to a place you’ve never been, if only in a dream.
Even from their creation in her studio, these paintings aim to be a little breathing space in the day and a chance to embrace a restorative flicker of delight in an imaginary garden filled with bright flowers and welcoming forest floors.
It’s a collection of wishful places where each painting is a simple mediation of gentle spaces where there’s warm sunshine, plants growing, seasons changing, and the perfect gentle breeze blows in a natural and nourishing world.
About the Artist – Melanie Jenner
Born and raised in Grande Prairie, Alberta, the Peace Region has always been home to Melanie Jenner. Beginning her visual arts education at Grande Prairie Regional College, Melanie went on to graduate from the Alberta University of Art (Calgary) in 2007, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Painting.
Though her work has primarily been in acrylic, Melanie has worked with watercolours, textiles, and graphic design.
She enjoys most of her nature walks with her dog, Queen.
