One week ago today, our exhibit opened and we had a wonderful turnout for the event which was a contribution to Culture Days as well. Thank you to all 200+ who came out to Boynton House! Many of our visitors posted their photos and videos on Facebook, (#SymphonyinWatercolour if you’d like to draw our attention to yours!) and for that we are also grateful. Plus, we have uploaded many of our own to our Facebook page as well, and more recently, a few to our Twitter account.
Here are a few you may not have seen:
Behind the scenes preparations…One of our sponsors and Ona, also preparing…
Just before the opening…Some of the sponsor booths…
The crowd (faces blurred or blocked to protect privacy)
Presentation of certificates and awards!Presentation of certificates and awards!Presentation of certificates and awards!
International Artists Gather For Cultural Event in Richmond Hill
Tomorrow, watercolour artists from all over the globe will gather in Richmond Hill, Ontario, just north of Toronto, to celebrate the opening of ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’.
The exhibition, jointly presented by the International Watercolour Society of Canada (IWS Canada) and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour/La Société Canadienne De Peintres En Aquarelle (CSPWC/SCPA), will feature the work of 95 watercolour artists from Canada and around the world. From a total of 320 entries from 32 countries who entered the competition earlier this year, 80 finalists were juried into “A Symphony in Watercolour” by Anne McCartney CSPWC, Peter Marsh CSPWC, and Rainbow Ze (youth juror). The other 15 artists are winners from last year’s IWS Canada online exhibition and attending jurors, as well as presidents and vice-presidents of the presenting societies.
The five day festival opening the exhibit will continue the next day with a presentation merging painting, video and photography by renowned artist David McEown, winner of IWS Canada’s 2017 online competition ‘150 Ways to Celebrate’, a Canada 150 event. This presentation will take place at Richmond Hill Central Library as part of the Canada-wide Culture Days event. In addition, “Experiment with Watercolour” activities will be set up so the public can try it out.
Other activities for the five day festival include field trips to various places in the area for plein air painting, photography, and general tourist enjoyment, such as the Oak Ridges Moraine, Black Creek Pioneer Village, the David Dunlap Observatory, Toronto Island, and the CN Tower 360 restaurant. Some of these activities are free, others will have costs associated with them. Of special note is a field trip to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which the gallery is providing to the IWS Canada and CSPWC/SCPA group as a sponsored event for this festival. Further information for all of these activities is available at IWSCanada.ca.
A very special part of this exhibition will be a live performance by the Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra, called ‘Symphonic Watercolours’, which will take place to close the exhibit, on October 27, 2018, at 8 p.m. A slide show of the beautiful watercolour art in the exhibit will accompany music specially selected to enhance its viewing. In addition, live interpretive painting will be performed by Andrew Sookrah and Bonnie Steinberg. The theatre will also display a selection of actual paintings from the exhibit. It will truly be ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’.
Where: Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada – various venues – mainly Boynton House and Burr House
Who: The International Watercolour Society of Canada (IWS Canada) (A Branch of the International Watercolor Society (IWS Globe)) and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour/La Société Canadienne De Peintres En Aquarelle (CSPWC/SCPA)
When: September 28 to October 27, 2018
What: ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’ – an international exhibit and festival of watercolour art
Why: To celebrate the medium of watercolour, and how diverse cultures can be brought together through their enthusiasm for common interests, while appreciating their differences.
The painting in the featured graphic at the top, Colour of Music, is by one of our jurors, Anne McCartney CSPWC, AWS, TWSA
The painting in this graphic is ‘Inner Symphony’ by Ona Kingdon, CSPWC, NWS, TWSA, IWS Master – President of IWS Canada. (Subject is Jessica Kun, the artistic director of the Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra.)
IWS Canada would like to once again sincerely thank our sponsors!
Join us at the Richmond Hill Public Library in Richmond Hill Ontario Canada on Saturday September 29th. Watch this space for the exact time of David’s presentation but IWS Canada will be there from 10 am until 3pm with opportunities for you to experiment with watercolour.
David McEown, our Canada 150 national winner (see ‘150 Ways to Celebrate’), will be presenting, “Water and Light, an Artist’s Journey from Antarctica to the North Pole”.
David narrates an entertaining digital show that merges painting, video and photography inspired from travels in the Great Bear Rainforest, Africa, Antarctica and the North Pole. Stories of chance encounters with many creatures including polar bears and emperor penguins are woven together with reflections on the environment, and the inner creative process of painting with watercolour.
“Experiment with Watercolour” activities will also be set up outside (or inside if inclement weather) to encourage the public to give it a try. We welcome your participation in this. Let us pass our enthusiasm for watercolour on to the local community hosting us for this event.
Saturday, September 29, 2018, 10am-3pm
Venue: Richmond Hill Central Library as part of the Canada wide Culture Days event.
(free activity)
For more information on our event please look at our detailed PDF.
Photo credit Daisy Gilardini
Watercolour by David McEown
IWS Canada 