A storyboard artist and character designer from the Maritimes, Meg Dunbar has a passion for character studies explored through visual storytelling mediums, including animation.
ARTscreen: Farewell by Meg Dunbar screens dusk to dawn starting Friday (Jan. 5) and runs until March 31, Gallery Stratford has announced.
Dunbar's thesis film, ‘Farewell’, is about the "what ifs" following the sudden loss of someone close to you. It imagines a scenario in which, after a sudden loss, one might be able to say a final goodbye to their departed loved one, the gallery said in their newsletter announcing new exhibitions, gallery openings and meet the artist dates.
Dunbar's preferred medium is animation. Specifically, she prefers to use digital hand drawn animation as the vehicle through which to tell her stories.
This film is an attempt to explore the artist's own "what if" after the sudden loss of her own father two years ago.
She describes how she "often wonder[s] what I would have said or done if I’d known that the last time I spoke to my dad would be the last time that I was going to be able to speak to him. In this film, I posit that our last meetings with those we love aren’t really our last meetings, and that even after we’ve said goodbye to those close to us, keeping them alive in our hearts is a way that we can keep them around even after they’re gone. My hope is that this film can offer a bit of solace to those who watch it, the way that I took solace in making it."
Dunbar graduated from Sheridan College with an Honours Bachelor of Arts and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Western University. Her most recent animation projects include the short film Hello Maggie (2022). She has also worked as a storyboard artist and a freelance illustrator.
Snow-blind by Sarah Kernohan
Exhibition runs Jan. 11 to March 31
A reception and meet the artist will be held on Jan. 21, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Sarah Kernohan (she/her) is a visual artist who primarily works in two-dimensional media, building drawings and collage-based works rooted in memory, her experiences of landscape, and her fascination with geological processes and weather-related phenomena.
She has exhibited her work at galleries in Ontario and Quebec and completed residencies at the Pouch Cove Foundation, The Banff Centre, and The Bothy Project. She lives and works in Kitchener. She is a member of the Red Head Gallery in Toronto.
Snow-blind is described as a series of drawings that respond to an experience of landscape that is ambiguous and difficult to visually apprehend on account of atmospheric and light conditions. They are informed by her experiences visiting alpine terrain in northern Scotland and Alberta, where snowpack has been dwindling over the years due to climate change.
Snow, fog, or lack of available light contribute to the difficulty of deciphering space, making it difficult to understand the scale and proximity of these obscured mountains. Light reflecting on snow high up in the hills offers hints, diffusing space. Through making these drawings, she attempts to pull these snowy patches closer for inspection through hazy scrims hanging on the surface of each drawing.
Robert Buhr: Rural Views (debut exhibition)
Exhibition runs Jan. 11 to March 31
Raised on a dairy and grain farm near Saskatoon, Buhr remembers using Tempera paints in his one room elementary school, beginning his love of art. He enjoyed sketching and drawing cartoons. The love of the outdoors was always near to his heart.
After earning his degree in medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, Buhr began his career in general and family practice in Saskatoon.
His young family spent several years in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following further medical residency in Saskatchewan, Bob continued his medical practice for 13 years in New Brunswick, Fort Erie, and for 17 years in Virginia.
In 2012, he with his wife chose Stratford for retirement in closer proximity to family and grandchildren.
During several years in Martinsville, Virginia, Buhr was able to pursue his long-held desire to paint with oils. He had weekly guidance from a skilled local artist, Karen KeSpot, at her studio. With a lifetime hobby of bird watching, his first joy was painting birds, expanding to landscapes, old barns, cityscapes, rural settings, and also venturing into portrait painting.
With no formal training, and mainly self-taught, during retirement Bob has been able to give himself to his love of colour and texture and form as he seeks to transform his photography or sketches with oils onto canvas.
Perception: An Exhibition from Stratford District Secondary School
Exhibition runs Jan. 20 to Feb. 18
A reception for the SDSS exhibition will be held on Jan. 20, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Gallery Stratford described this as an "unforgettable exhibition filled with creativity, inspiration, and a celebration of the arts."
Perception will feature a diverse range of artworks from many of the emerging artists graduating this year from Stratford District Secondary School.
Whether you're an art enthusiast, a supporter of young talent, or simply looking for a memorable art experience, this is an exhibition you won't want to miss.
