Eltje Degenhart talked about the importance of the arts, and supporting the Triple C Centre during the "Art is a Part of the Heart" exhibit at the Allie Griffin Art Gallery on Thursday.
"Weyburn is still very much a big part of us, Marguerite and I," said Degenhart, who is a former Weyburn artist and art teacher. "This is a great place to raise children. A performing arts centre is just what Weyburn needs, it is what Weyburn deserves. The arts really enhance the city."
"The people who perform, who sing, who dance, who paint are so important because they give a city heart," added Degenhart. "(Artists) are the type of thing that people want when they move here."
The art exhibit was a collaboration between Degenhart and the Triple C Centre.
Degenhart started as a screen printer when he taught art classes at the Weyburn Comp. After suffering a stroke last year, he felt that it was time to return to screen printing. The difference of the "Right at My Feet" prints were they were manufactured using an automatic screen print, instead of produced manually.
Since there are seven colours on the "Right at My Feet" prints, they had to be pressed seven times for each print. Degenhart created 100 prints, and these are being sold at Total Effects Day Spa and Superior Office. Each print costs $300, and $200 from each sale will be donated back to the Triple C Centre.
Degenhart described himself as a "studio painter", and typically uses photographs of things that inspire him to create the final artwork in his studio.
He found inspiration for "Right at My Feet" while walking one of his favourite paths at White Bear Lake. "Here was this little twig doing its thing for fall, trying to grow and develop, and the purpose was the whole cycle of life, and the change of seasons that we see on the prairies."
"For me, this (symbolized) preciousness of life, and how we are here for a very short time, and how special things right at your feet can be," explained Degenhart. "Sometimes as painters we think, 'oh, I have to paint just the right thing' and quite often it is right at your feet and they have been there all along."
Degenhart explained what a print is and why he thinks they are a great investment. "Print-making started with this idea that we could make more than one image of something. It was also the idea of printing many with one plate. Print art is an investment, buying a Degenhart is a very good investment."
Later during the evening, Degenhart showed a short film on the different kinds of print, and the process of creating "Right at My Feet" using the automatic screen print. He also demonstrated the screen printing process using a manual press.
