Danbrook gets crafty in the Park

Brenda Danbrook is spending the holiday season getting ready to set up with Sydney Lancaster for a joint show in 2015, the year that Danbrook says is perfect for showing her new body of work that has been developing over a period of the last few years as she completed graduate studies at Red Deer College.

"It is extremely rewarding to be a maker in the 'year of the craft,'" she exclaimed.

Their new exhibit is called Elsewhere, set to be unveiled on Jan. 9 and will feature her graduate piece called beginnings & endings, a work that has a lot of personal significance to the ceramic artist.

"It reflects an autobiographical series of images from my childhood, silk screened ceramic dishes, that hang high about the viewers head by bronze pins that I hope leaves the viewer recounting memories of their childhood experiences," she said of the large scale, installation sculpture. The presentation of the piece will challenge most people's preconceived notions about functional pottery.

"What is craft: a sophisticated, rich and wonderful topic that is heaped in history, and stands on the shoulders of giants."

Apart from that, her new series focuses on photographs of abandoned buildings – including four Ukrainian Catholic churches – near Opal, a community close to Redwater. The structures are peaceful and ethereal, she elaborated, "quietly representing a time and place in my culture's history."

The combination of her and Lancaster's work is meant to present a dialogue about time, history and memory.

"To be able to exhibit it in a formal setting is a very rewarding privilege, and to be able to be given the opportunity to share my passion and expose my friends and family to this dialogue I am extremely passionate about is a complete honour."

Art in the wings

Karen Blanchet is hoping that her artwork has healing properties. The patients and medical staff at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital probably do too.

The artist has brought a selection of 11 mixed media paintings from her Connections (Célébrons les liens) series to the healthcare facility's Mezzanine Gallery. The artist will be in attendance from 1 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 9, Jan. 22 and Feb. 6 at the request of hospital administrators. They asked her to set up a demo area so others could try their hand at painting too.

"I'm going to be quite busy next year actually," she admitted.

It isn't just because of her schedule with this exhibit. She returns to the Glenrose – next setting up a watercolour exhibit in its Blue Curve Gallery – in the fall of 2015. The full Connections series of 21 works will arrive at the Visual Arts Studio Association in November.

"I'm looking forward to having it together again."

The exhibit will remain on display until Feb. 14.

The Glenrose is located at 10230 111th Ave.