Local artist Jeann Spilak has a new show at the Godfrey Dean, and it's both quite large and very small. Pocketful of Miracles features over 350 miniature paintings.
Spilak has been a figure in the Yorkton art scene for a long time, and has done paintings in different styles, forms and sizes. She says this came about because she liked miniature paintings, and on the suggestion of Godfrey Dean Gallery director Don Stein took up the challenge to paint over three hundred miniature pieces.
Spilak has often gone to unconventional shapes for her work, and while the tiny pieces are largely square due to the size of the piece, it's still taking it through an unconventional frame. She says that the small detail work on the miniatures is a challenge, but one that she enjoys.
"A lot of people have asked if I use a magnifying glass, and no I do not. I have good vision I guess, and I do paint with weird things, because I have painted with blades and pieces of stick pins and five hairs of a brush because some of them are quite tiny."
She says that while going small doesn't change her approach, it does make one see things in a very simple manner. Spilak paints from her imagination, and the smaller approach has made for work that is on a different scale, but just as enjoyable and rewarding.
Pocketful of Miracles is on now at the Godfrey Dean. Admission is free.
