By Melanie Jacob
Journal Staff Writer
mjacob@humboldtjournal.ca
For the first time since opening, the Humboldt & District Gallery is hosting the work of two internationally renowned local artists.
Mel Bolen and Karen Holden's artwork is currently on display at the gallery as part of the Two Perspectives exhibit. While the mediums are different, the ceramics from Bolen and the paintings from Holden work in conjunction with each other as a natural reflection of their relationship.
"These pieces sort of stemmed from a conversation Karen and I have had over the last few years that had something to do with finding similarities in our work," said Bolen. "We tried to capture some of that intentionally rather than just letting it happen."
Bolen creates salt glazed stoneware while Holden paints natural landscapes using oil on canvas. Her art is realistic while his seems abstract and yet many of their pieces connect to each other visually. For two people who have spent more than 35 years living together and observing the same scenery, these sorts of results appeared to happen naturally as time passed.
According to the information in their art exhibit brochure, "When Bolen's and Holden's works are paired together, the frames which define the landscapes in both pieces are blurred, activating an unframable space where Holden's landscape extends to Bolden's vessel(s) and vice versa."
The exhibit officially opened on July 4 and attracted quite a crowd. After traveling around the province, this is the last stop for their artwork.
"We had a fantastic opening," said Bolen. "The place was packed and we had a party afterwards, so it was good."
The uniqueness of their artwork is what has gained them international attention outside of Humboldt and yet their life canvas wasn't always so prettily painted.
In the early 1970s before Holden became a permanent fixture in Bolen's life, Bolen had quit his study of engineering was just starting to find his passion in art. He graduated from the fine arts program at the University of Regina and then taught an extension of the ceramics program.
Eventually, he made his way down to Humboldt where he suddenly found himself in possession of an old abandoned church with nothing more than broken windows, a missing floor, and no running water.
What it did have, however, was the potential for a superb kiln.
"I wanted to get out of dodge, so I ran an ad in a few papers and a fellow in Humboldt gave me directions out to the old church and they had a quarter of land for sale," said Bolen. "I flagged someone down and talked to the priests and they agreed to sell and it was just like that. I had no intention of getting land or a church or anything; it just fell in my lap."
It was also around this time that Bolen and Holden had made the transition from friends to life partners. For three years, she and two other artists worked right alongside him in a rickety, broken down old brick church rebuilding it from the ground up. For three years, they had no running water and no indoor heating during the winters. They survived by digging in their heels and layering up.
"We used to drive with huge barrels in the back of the truck down to the farm and with ropes and pails, bring up the water, fill the pails, and bring those back to the studio," said Holden. "We pioneered our way through."
It was a hard life at first and they survived only with their dedication and love for art. While Bolen's focus remained on his craft, Holden managed to open and run Cottage Boutique in Humboldt until 1991 when she sold it. It was a time when people could get by on bartering and trading at markets and both of them were lucky enough to be able to trade their work for whatever they could get to live on.
"We were idealistic at that time," said Holden. "You just go for it blindly. None of us were afraid of hard work. We worked very hard."
Aside from the physical labour they were doing on the land, they also had to make ends meet financially. At the time, they and their two roommate artists would go to markets and either set up individual booths or share one and barter or sell their wares.
"We grew gardens and worked for farmers for a side of beef; we did whatever it took to get by," said Bolen. "The Saskatchewan Arts Board was in existence and had grants for artists. Once in a while you'd get a grant to pursue a certain avenue of work in order to have an exhibition and that was an influx of money."
Once their two artists roommates moved out, Bolen and Holden gutted the upstairs and converted it into their living space. Now, that old brick church has become their home, gallery, and studio. Visitors from miles around travel to come see their North Star gallery, which is the longest running gallery in the province.
"It's a different time. Because we've been working steady all the time and people have been following us and buying our work all the way along, we've been able to increase the value of the works that we sell," said Bolen.
Moreover, while their annual Mother's Day open house is one of their biggest home-based events of the year, traveling exhibits like the one at the Humboldt gallery are not uncommon either. That still doesn't make it any less difficult, though.
"When you have a show, it's a year's work and it's your heart and soul and you're laying it out on the line and it's a very personal thing you're doing," said Holden. "It's like exposure and so you're hoping the response is going to be good but you're not sure. It's a very fragile line to walk, but it's exciting and scary at the same time."
Despite their success, not many people know or understand the hardship and struggle Bolen and Holden endured to get where they are today. While it's an accomplishment for them to say they are two artists surviving on their work and have been for a long time, there are many artists that can't claim the same.
"It comes to working hard, focusing, and pushing through the hard times," said Holden. "If you have that in you, you will succeed, you have to apply yourself full-time."
Even after all the hardships they endured, Holden said she wouldn't have had it any other way.
