New show features landscapes

An exhibition of new works by Canadian artist Jeanette Marshall is the centerpiece of the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery this July and August.

The exhibition of oil and pastel paintings, titled 'Primal Nature,' is on display from July 4 to August 26. An opening reception was held at the gallery on Sunday.

"I had a long-standing dream and I'm bringing it to fruition at this point," said Marshall. "To be able to show a solo exhibition in a public gallery is an important step for me."

Marshall grew up on a farm near Russell, Manitoba. She now lives in Ontario, but travels home each summer for inspiration.

"I return home to nurture my roots. I like living in patterns. I like coming home every summer as much as I like going out every Christmas to a different location."

The new exhibition emphasizes nature, and specifically what Marshall calls "the timeless elements."

"So I was not focusing so much on landscape, but on earth, air, fire, and water," she said. "These elements intermingle in my scenes."

The artist has spent five years developing the body of work that makes up the exhibition, referencing a combination of memory and photography in her process.

"[These works] are not site-specific, as a rule - any of these scenes, you won't necessarily find them in nature, because they'll be from groups of photographs or they'll be photographs supplemented with other images that happened to fit into the scene."