Two exhibits opened on July 2 at the Stone School Gallery in Portage-du-fort, “The Nature of the Pontiac” by Maria Connell and “The Cheese Box Series” by Suzette Power Kelly. Connell and Kelly both spoke to The Equity about the inspiration and work behind their art. The exhibits will be running until July 24.

Maria Connell

Maria Connell is an artist by profession, but has not always been like that. Her art was a passion she did in her free time but since retiring she has taken it up full-time, often painting in her Otter Lake house studio. She is also the communications director for the Pontiac Artists Association.

Connell paints nature, things she sees around her, scenery and places she visits.

“At seven years old I would spend hours in the kitchen on that easel and you . . .

know, everything that I made my parents kept. I’ve always had a passion for art but it hasn’t been my main goal and it wasn’t my main career,” said Connell.

She went to school to become a recreational therapist, then worked at the Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Heart Institute, and stayed in health care for most of her career, but always did art along the way, she said.

During her time working at the Ottawa Heart Institute, she organized paint nights for patients through the patient alumni department.

“So if you can incorporate what you do with what you love, which is what I’ve been really lucky to be able to do. It’s been wonderful,” said Connell.

For her art exhibit, Connell was inspired by the many vistas and scenery that the Pontiac has to offer. Living in the Pontiac for almost 10 years, she has fallen in love with nature and the landscapes in the region, she added. “I think it’s really an undiscovered region.”

She enjoys painting what she sees, if it’s on her canoe trip or while hiking or her recent hobby of birding, she uses that in her art. She also enjoys painting the different seasons and the changes from one to the next.

In the exhibit, she also has a mini-series she hopes to continue to develop that is around nuns in action. Born in Italy when her parents worked the olive groves she was babysat by nuns in her convent. For her those memories were filled with laughter and so this series is a whimsical portrayal of nuns that remind her of her childhood but also reference the nuns from the Pontiac.

“But also the nature of the people that live here and one of them to me, which I found very interesting because it spoke to me of my past.

In her work, she paints with oils, acrylics, watercolours and inks. She also explores different media and mediums, one being birch bark.

Art for her means connection to other artists to her outside world which she brings inside as her love of nature. “Art for me is the glue that holds the community together in tough times and we’ve seen that during covid,” she said.

The pandemic allowed Connell to reflect and really think about her priorities and after her husband had a health scare she had a pivotal moment which was the catalyst for her to make art full time.

“It’s become the balm or the medicine that soothes you and calms you but also inspires you and motivates you. And I thought you know, life’s too short, this is your passion and it has been forever. What are you waiting for? What are you doing? you know, just jump in,” said Connell.

On opening night she sold six out of her 26 pieces that were on display, and was extremely happy about that.

To see her art Connell has a website, www.mariaconnellartgallery.com/ and people can follow her on Instagram at Maria Connell Art Gallery.

“The takeaway for me is that they’ll want to come away with wanting to explore the Pontiac more because the Pontiac is a region of Quebec that is not very much explored,” said Connell.

Suzette Power Kelly

Suzette Power Kelly grew up with art and music in her life and for her it was an organic choice to study art and follow in her parent’s footsteps. Her mother was an artist and her father was a classically trained musician.

Growing up in the U.S. she went to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. After she graduated she took a six-week workshop in Emma Lake in Saskatchewan, and ever since art has been a part of her life. She currently has moved back to Canada and lives in the Pontiac.

“When I was a little girl, my mother put me into the Chicago Art Institute at five years old for classes and I can still remember how I felt when I was looking at all the beautiful paintings in the museum,” said Kelly.

Although she always enjoyed making art, when she became a mother she discovered her love for teaching art as a way of passing on what she knows and also being part of a community.

The story behind her art exhibit started when she was perusing a local Amish market and saw the cheese boxes and asked the vendor if she could buy them off him.

“I started thinking, what do I want to do with these? And I don’t know exactly where it came from, but I decided that each one would tell a story and they’re contemporary issues. Because an artist does not live in a vacuum we reflect the world that we live in,” said Kelly.

Some of the themes she explored in her collection of cheese boxes include climate change, animal cruelty and more. Some have a deep narrative, others have a lighthearted theme, the idea is that one can look at them and you can feel like a child and be entranced, or you can be an adult, and look at them with a more critical eye and see more, she explained.

In addition, to give the sense of continuity and that the boxes are part of a series she used three elements in almost all the boxes: the personification of animals, food and a piece of furniture.

To make the cheese boxes, she used paint for the exterior of the box but everything else is a collection of items she had at home, her kid’s toys or things she has parted with, she said.

“So this allowed me to incorporate all these treasures and take them out of the drawer so to speak and out into the open so people can enjoy them,” said Kelly.

For every theme, she does her research because some of them are about issues she sees on the news and in doing so she can ensure she is factually correct. Apart from planning the theme, the rest of the process for her is not logical, it’s not sequential, it’s creative she said. And that’s what she finds to be the most exciting aspect.

She hopes she can continue to show her cheese boxes in many different art galleries. “I want this to continue. I don’t want to put them back in the basement. I want to keep them out and about and I don’t know where that next place might be. So that’s incredibly important to me,” said Kelly.

Not taking the traditional route when creating art, for her, opens up a whole new world of opportunity, she said.

On display in the art gallery, Kelly has 16 cheese boxes for people to enjoy. To request art classes or for any inquiries, you can reach Kelly at her email skellyshamrock@yahoo.com or text her at 438-458-5620.

Pictured is the cheese box titled “turtles never hurry.”

Pictured is one of Maria Connell’s paintings currently hanging at the Stone School Gallery in Portage-du-fort.

Maria Connell expressed how nature in the Pontiac inspires her work of art.

Pictured is the cheese box titled “sea world.”

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