Art Through the Ages by Cynthia Keith, Debbie Drain, Annika & Amy Davey.

Bio for Cynthia, Annika and Amy

Greetings to all visitors on your morning, afternoon or evening visit to our wonderful art gallery! 

Thank you for coming.

I am Cynthia Keith a local watercolour painter.  I am excited to share the fun work I have created, in addition to the priceless entries our granddaughters, Annika and Amy have contributed to this show.

My message is… no matter if a person chooses acrylic, inks, pottery,  watercolour or any other art media… HAVE FUN.  

I started my painting journey doing folk art with a friend. This was a huge step for me, as I was terrified to make a mess by touching the wood with a brush that had paint on it.  But I did it and it was fun. My girlfriend was better in acrylics than I was but that was ok!

My next journey lead me to watercolour… a medium I love due to its unpredictability in movement, colour mixing and an outcome that is not truly known until 12 hours of the paint drying and  maturing in the watercolour paper. Watercolour can be used in so many creative ways… like weaving two paintings together?

I have started and stopped many times in my watercolour journey.   I have also experienced a change in focus.  Ranging from very detailed paintings that I have submitted to art jury shows to simply enjoying painting. I have shared a little of each type of art in this art exhibit.

I have been blessed with our two granddaughters who we share the gift of enjoying painting together. 

One proud Grammie!

 I love seeing the art work they have accumulated over the years of our get togethers, from school or simply having fun to pass the time.

My art journey sought a new path a couple years ago. 

I have always enjoyed playing in art with our 6 grandchildren at different ages… so I was thrilled to have been offered  the opportunity to instruct an after school children’s water colour class here at the Prairie Fusion Gallery.  So far I believe the kids are enjoying it as much as I am.  It is a delight to see the children’s reactions and creative spirits grow. 

In summary, 

As a painter I feel it is important for each person who ventures into any field of art to firstly….

* Try not to compare your work to others;

*Enjoy  your “master piece”.  It is your creativity from within. 

Thank you again for taking the time to visit and hopefully enjoy the art exhibit.

Artist Statement and Bio for Debbie Drain

I worked at Herman Prior Centre as  cook in 2005. Marguerite Ruddle was teaching watercolor classes at the Centre every Tuesday morning.I would take every chance I could to go check out what everyone was doing. She knew I was every keen on learning  how to paint and she started helping  me. She would stay for lunch and when I was done my work, we would go to the back kitchen and she gave me private lessons. 

I started doing landscapes and soon realized  that still life was my passion. I'm striving to do hyperrealism, it is challenging but very satisfying. Watercolor  is the most challenging of the three mediums to learn and I love it.There are so many techniques to learn by using  things like salt,  saran wrap, sponges etc and sometimes letting the water do it's thing can produce  wonderful effects. 

I usually paint in the evening and I remember really getting into the  condiments picture (Pass the Ketchup) every once in awhile I would check the time it was getting later and later so by 3am my arm was starting to hurt (carpal tunnel ) so I went to bed only to get up in 4 hours to go to work, such fun!

Marguerite  is no longer with us but I'm so grateful to her for giving me the most enjoyable hobby ever. 

Bio

My name is Debbie Drain and I was born and raised in Portage la Prairie. I now live on hobby farm that was once a place alive with cattle , sheep, hogs  and a couple of donkeys and don't for get the cats.

I started painting about 20 years ago.I was thrilled to finally find an outlet for my creativity. I've loved painting from my very first brush stroke. Watercolor is the only medium I paint with because I really love it's challenges. I have a weakness for detail work ,sometimes l get lost in my work and time slips away. I've been painting for quite awhile now and my enthusiasm  for painting  is still going strong .