"A Year in the Woods", oils 'en plein air' by John Benn

On Thursday, October 1st, 6.00pm to 9.00pm we are hosting the opening for John Benn's ambitious project: "A Year in the Woods". I met John in the mid seventies, when he was best known for his beautiful (and masterful) etchings. In fact, I remember spending the entire take of my 1975 show and going to find John in Toronto and making my first (for me major) purchase!

Here we all are in 2009 and this is a great show. John Benn will be giving a talk with question and answer at 7.30pm. I will let the artist explain:

"On the 27th July 2008 I sat down in the woods to paint, deliberately choosing an unprepossessing area so as to challenge and hone my abilities and not mask my deficiencies with mere content.

My plan was to continue, weather permitting, for one full year.
N.B. At minus 17 Celsius, oil paint becomes exceedingly stiff and difficult to work.

The year is over, but I find myself still going there to paint.
The more I look, the more I see and what I see in these simple woods is so beautiful, so very beautiful and staggeringly difficult to paint.

From that year's work, 36 paintings were chosen for this exhibition."

Erotic Art + Poetry: Benefit this Friday 25th September

I invite you to an Evening of Erotic Art and Poetry: "Uncovered and Unlocked", this Friday,7.00pm to 10.00pm in the upstairs gallery at Snapdragon.

Tickets are $5 and all the money raised from the sale of tickets will go to fight breast cancer.








































"Uncovered" refers to the sculptures in clay, made by Harold Schneider, who is now 91 years old and has had a distinguished career as both a painter and a sculptor. This retrospective, (eros-spective) is an extremely rare chance to purchase these joyful, sensual works that show couples celebrating love, life and each other. These sculptures are of everyday people, suffused with extraordinary passion. Harold Schneider's daughter, Susan Laing, will give a talk about her father's life and work at 8.00pm.



The second part of the title, "Unlocked" is the collection of erotic poems by Rona Shaffran. Rona is Co-Director of the Tree Reading Series reading series, one of the longest running in Canada. Many of these poems have been read at writer festivals, both in Australia and here in Ottawa. As on publisher writes: "a well put together collection...one that captures both the rich depth and sharp edges of relationships".
Rona Shaffran will be reading from her collection "Unlocked" at 8.30pm.

I am posting some whole images and some partial images, as this is an all ages blog. Hope to see you on Friday, 7.00pm to 10.00pm.