It was a busy evening for Studio Connexion on May 13 as the local art gallery held its first showing of the season. The first artist to show their work this season was Denyse Marshall of Burton.
Marshall’s works are oil on canvas, with many being scenes of nature, though there were abstract pieces as well. Most of the nature scenes come from Marshall’s imagination, and don’t represent anywhere in particular. Looking at her work, one thing a person immediately notices is her use of bold colours. Nothing is muted, and colours that don’t normally work well together, like orange, green, and purple, somehow do. Two colours that featured prominently in Marshall’s work were blue and turquoise.
“I’m a blue person, I like blue,” she said. “With the turquoise, I figured out how to make that colour, so that ended up being in lots of paintings. I don’t know about other artists, but for myself, if I find a new colour, I end up using it a lot.”
During the course of the evening, people walked through the gallery, mingling and chatting. Among those in attendance was Marshall’s son, Kyle Jones.
“I love coming in and seeing my mom’s work,” he said. “It’s always fulfilling to come in and see.”
In total, about 55 people came out for Studio Connexion’s season opener. The gallery usually has about seven shows a year, with the first one being very well attended.
“Usually the first opening night of the season is well attended because people haven’t seen anything this winter,” said Ann Beliveau, owner of Studio Connexion. “There are no galleries that are open.”
Beliveau said her gallery is open by appointment during the winter, but it’s just one or two people who book at a time. Sometimes she’ll get 12 visitors, or 20 visitors during the winter. Because it’s not a community gallery Beliveau isn’t restricted by obligations to show some artists in particular. She can show what she loves.
This season, the gallery will host more oil on canvas work, along with acrylic on canvas, water colour and ink on paper, textile art, and engraved stainless steel tiles. The final showing of the season will be of local artist, David Nixon. Studio Connexion is open from mid-May to mid-October.