CHARLES DICKSON
PORTAGE-DU-FORT September 20, 2022
Prints by two Pontiac artists are among a collection of images inspired by the theme of water currently on display at the Stone School Gallery.
The collection consists of 22 prints in all, one from each of 22 artists from Nova Scotia and the Ottawa Valley.
Valerie Bridgeman of Shawville, one of the local contributors, also had a hand in bringing the show to artPontiac’s gallery in Portage-du-Fort.
As Bridgeman explained to THE EQUITY, the connection with . . .
the east coast artists was made by a member of the Ottawa-Gatineau Printmakers’ Connective who has a cottage in Mahone Bay, N.S. and reached out to the Mahone Bay Printmakers group. This led to the idea to do an exchange of prints among artists in both groups, and the subject of water was chosen.
Bridgeman, a member of both the Ottawa-Gatineau Printmakers’ Connective and artPontiac, proposed to bring the resulting exhibit to the Stone School Gallery, and has been serving as the show’s coordinator.
She also has a print in the exhibit, and says the idea came from a visit to her parents’ cottage near Calabogie.
“There was a heron standing on this rock, just kind of basking in the morning sun,” said Bridgeman, describing an image that had stuck with her but which she hadn’t had the opportunity to develop into a print.
“When the theme of water was suggested, I knew exactly what I was doing,” she said.
“The participants explored the many ways we interact with water through a variety of printmaking techniques such as stone lithography, etching, woodcut, linocut, mezzotint and photogravure,” said Sylvia Bretzloff, the other Pontiac artist with a print in the exhibit.
In an email to THE EQUITY, the Luskville-based artist described the range of subjects reflected in the work of the participants.
“Rivers, oceans, waves, waterfalls, underwater swimming, sailing, frozen rivers, a drop of water on a leaf – these are some of the images beautifully explored in the exhibition,” she said.
Waterworks opened at the Stone School Gallery in late August and runs through October 2nd.
