CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Sept. 28, 2020
An artist that used to reside in the Pontiac returned on Monday to debut her art exhibit at Café 349 in Shawville.
Elke Bzdurreck moved to the area in 1973, but left ten years ago and currently lives near Brockville Ont. She said that during her time here, she was heavily involved in . . .
the local art scene. She booked the show at the Café around a year ago and was delighted to be back in the Pontiac.
She explained that her collection, titled Expressions to Impressions of Living, is a number of small mixed media drawings, using both pen and ink as well as watercolour paints.
“It surprises [me], because I had the skills for decades, so it just flows out of my hands and then it develops,” she said. “When the black and white is finished, I colour it with watercolour. I call them ‘art-toons.’
“I did them already in the 90s,” she continued. “It’s emotions that come out … It’s abstracted of course, but emotions [aren’t] always realistic, so it’s what you see here.”
She said that since she’s always carrying her sketching tools with her, she is constantly adding to her collection of drawings.
“First of all, they’re so spontaneous, if it’s any bigger, it’s not the same,” she said. “They’re all different, some have more detail, and sometimes I leave them sitting there because something else came my way.”
She said she gets a great deal of joy out of expressing herself visually.
“They just happen and I enjoy them,” she said. “It makes me giggle inside myself because they’re funny.”
