The Citizen, 2013-06-20, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013.It’s not often that the themes ofarchitecture and fantasy meet. Butthe public can discover this blend as
the Blyth Festival Art Gallery will
present a special exhibition of oil
pantings by Stratford artist Brenda
McDonnell. It is the first of three
shows by individual artists mounted
this season at the popular local
gallery.
McDonnell studied art at Beal
Secondary School, Humber College
and the Universities of Waterloo and
Western Ontario. Since graduating
from Waterloo with a Fine Arts
degree, she has been commissioned
to produce numberous pieces,
including photographs and
paintings, several juried shows and
she has had her work displayed in
collections internationally.
The primary focus of Brenda
McDonnell’s work over the years
has been exploring architecture both
local and globally. She utilizes
photographs for documentation and
for inspiration to create colourful
original oil paintings. She
incorporates architectural artifacts
into her work, and may draw into her
paintings with graphite, metallicpaint or pen. Her oil paintingsexplore and study space, texture,
substance and colour. McDonnell
describes them as “homage to the
old, bringing life to a forgotten
time.” She hopes that her
imaginative use of layering
techniques, vibrant colours,
architecturally inspired details and
found objects will transport the
viewer to a mysterious, magical past
era.
“Transparent Architecture”, oil
paintings by Brenda McDonnell, is
presented by the Blyth Festival Art
Gallery and can be viewed in the
Bainton Gallery of the Blyth
Memorial Hall from June 21 to July
16, Mondays to Saturdays from 9
a.m. to 9 p.m. The exhibition is
sponsored and curated by Carol and
Jerry McDonnell. The public is
invited to meet the artist at the
opening reception on Friday, June 21
at 6 p.m.
For more information, contact
Robert Tetu at 519-345-2184 or e-
mail him at
gallery@blythfestival.com
Continued from page 15
Brown’s.
A dotmocracy is a system in
which each voter is given a set
number of dot stickers and the
designs with the most stickers are
the ones that move on to the next
round.
“The staff and a group of students
narrowed down the 70 to 80
submissions until they had a group
of six to 10 options,” she said. “Then
we had every student, staff member
and parent council member take part
in the dotmocracy process.
Everyone was given the opportunity
to vote.
“It was a very popular logo,” she
said. “I wouldn’t say that there was a
hugely close second, particularly not
at the senior campus.”
McDowell added that both the
Wingham and Turnberry campuses
participated in the vote.
The logo is currently being
digitized by the Avon-Maitland
District School Board
Communications Department, a
process which McDowell says won’t
take long because it was well
crafted.
McDowell said that some entries
were similar but, for the most part,
they covered every inch of the
mascot spectrum.
“The entries were vast and
varied,” she said. “They were all
over the place. The final entries
included eagles, horses, tigers,
monarch butterflies and a meerkat.”
Continued from page 19
promise he made to her 13 years ago
and a betrayal by Carolyn and some
shady dealings between Mike,
played by the play’s one newcomer
Jason Chesworth (who plays
multiple roles throughout the story
including Johnny’s father Hendrik).
Mike skirts the legality of some
kind of insider trading after leaving
his job with the government and, as
McAllister points out, Mike’s
dealings might not be illegal, but
they certainly aren’t right.
As far as story lines go, all the
broken promises and betrayals could
make for a very depressing tale,
however through the use of the
music and some interesting twists
and turns later on in the show, it is as
endearing as any show about
triumph or success.
While a happy ending might be
hard for some people to believe as
they sit through the first act and the
majority of the second, it does come
together.
That is likely the only failing point
in the play: the conclusion. Without
going into details, it is suffice to say
that it stretches credulity.
Beyond that, the story is fantastic.
The music fits perfectly and the
actors do an outstanding job of
bringing the characters to life.
While Culbert, Nicholsen and
Auerbach all bring well-practised
roles to the stage, Chesworth brings
a great energy and, despite the fact
that he plays three different roles,
great depth to his characters for the
short time they take centre stage.
Chesworth’s rendition of
Eaglesmith’s “Freight Train” was
especially memorable.
While most of the songs were
performed well, a select few really
drew on the characters, on the actors
and on the musical talent on stage to
make for intense performances.
Auerbach and Nicholsen’s duet
version of “I’m Wilder Than Her”,
both earlier on in the show and as a
reprisal later on capture the mood
perfectly. Nicholsen’s “Time to Get
a Gun” does a fantastic job of
portraying the rough edginess the
character has developed through his
trials and tribulations.
The ‘white’ songs, “White Rose”
and “White Trash” are also
exceptional, even if the latter
seemed a bit of a stretch to fit the
theme of a dying town.
There isn’t a bad song throughout
the play and a great deal of that
likely has to do with all of the
musical talent on the stage.
While Nicholsen, Auerbach,
Chesworth and Culbert are all not
only vocally talented but are also
able to pick up various instruments,
from a wooden box to beat on to
electric and acoustic guitars, and
they play them all wonderfully,
some of the most inspirational music
comes from musical director and on-
stage musician David Archibald and
on-stage musician and Blyth native,
violinist Capucine Onn.
The duo are ever present and
usually blend seemlessly into the
show. The understated, but
paramount presence of their music
smooths the transitions of the play.
By the time this review is in
anyone’s hands, there will only be
two or three shows remaining in the
limited remount of the show.
Hopefully there are still tickets left
because it’s a must-see for fans of
Eaglesmith, fans of good music and
a good play and a great way to spend
a night or an afternoon.
Dear Johnny Deere runs until June
22. For tickets call the Blyth Festival
box office at 1-877-862-5984 or
online at www.blythfestival.com
Chesworth a great addition
to ‘Dear Johnny Deere’ cast
We want transparency
The Blyth Festival Art Gallery will feature an exhibition of the work of Brenda McDonnell from
Friday, June 21 until Tuesday, July 16. The Stratford artist is said to blend the themes of
fantasy and architecture together in her art. The exhibit, titled “Transparent Architecture” will
feature several pieces of McDonnell’s work, including San Marco, above. (Photo submitted)
Gallery to open its first exhibit Friday night
MRES reveals its
new school logo
Time to ‘Triumph’
Student teams at Maitland River Elementary School will
now be known as the Triumph thanks to this new logo,
designed by one of the school’s Grade 6 students, Lexi
Brown. (Photo submitted)
Open 9 am - 8 pm Monday ~ Saturday
Closed Sundays
Spring Breezes greenhouses
83189 Scott Line, RR 3 Blyth
519-523-9456
(Check us out on Facebook too!)
Bedding Plant Sale!
$1000
per flat
(48 plants ~ Lots of varieties)
Farmers’ Market
Streetfest July 27
Blyth
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Blyth
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