Arts Concepts Custom Framing hosed its first reception on Nov. 23 and the event experienced a very high attendance.
The artist at the event was painter Lindsay Arnold. Arnold’s featured exhibit was titled Tedium; this collection of art consists of hand-made doilies.
“I collect quite a few doilies from thrift stores and auctions and I challenged myself to actually draw one realistically because there are so many details involved in drawing doilies,” said Arnold.
Arnold has had her work displayed at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) in the past, and was excited at the chance to feature her work at Art Concepts.
“I am from North Portal and I grew up there and moved away after high school and then moved back in 2002,” she said. “I have been exhibiting for over 10 years but this is my first time working with Theresa (Fuhr) to have a show in Estevan, so it is really nice to work with her.”
She has always enjoyed various types of artistic expression but found more passion for drawing. Arnold has lived in many places while pursuing her passion for art; moreover she describes herself as being mostly self-taught.
“All my life I always enjoyed drawing and working with my hands as a kid but I really started to take my art practice seriously when I returned to Saskatchewan in 2002,” said Arnold.
“I used to live in British Colombia in Victoria, moreover I took a year of fine arts at Minot State University. I am not a formally trained artist but I kind of pursued art training using mentorships, workshops and using a self-taught approach.”
Early on in her career, Arnold was fortunate to have two mentors whom she worked with and learned from.
“I had a formal mentorship with an artist I worked with and her name was Holly Fay. She was amazing and she really helped me develop my knowledge of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to say with my artwork,” said Arnold.
“I also worked with Martha Cole in Disley; she is a textile artist, but she had worked with me to do some artist books and creating different papers. Those two artists really had a big impact on how I developed as a professional artist,” she added.
Arts Concepts owner Theresa Fuhr was very excited at the success of the event and featuring a known local artist.
“Yes this is the first time we have hosted an artist’s opening for Lindsay Arnold and she is our very first premier artist. Lindsay’s work itself is drawing a lot of attention so I think it was a good choice on our part to have her as out first,” said Fuhr.
“We plan on having a lot more artists in the future maybe every second month we will bring in an artist to feature their work and that will give artists in the area a lot more exposure,” she added.
Fuhr has taken notice that there are some difference between hosting art at the Estevan Art Galley and Museum and her own gallery. She hopes that with her idea to have art galleries in her own business she can provide the residents of Estevan with a different experience.
“I have been in business for over 20 years in a smaller venue and this larger gallery atmosphere is giving us the room to be able to feature artists like this,” said Fuhr.
“This also gives the benefit to the artists and the patrons to be able to purchase the art more than at a government-funded gallery. So it gives them more of a social atmosphere, a more relaxed atmosphere then an official art gallery,” she added.
Any artists wishing to have their artwork featured are encouraged to get in contact with Fuhr or visit the store.
