Take To The Water With Gallery 133 In Toronto’s Design District
Buoyancy, oil on canvas, 36x60
A canoe may have been her vehicle, but it’s the artist’s brush that transports you to the beauty of the riverbank in Gallery 133’s new collection of large paintings.
Grand enough to fill any art lovers heart with joy, the work promises to turn the heads of visitors to the gallery. Located in Toronto’s Castlefield Design District, where art collectors and designers alike go to find must-have treasures, the gallery boasts a friendly and well-informed staff.
The collection: Views from my Canoe, created by artist Laura den Hertog captures the essence of peaceful days spent on the water, exploring otherwise inaccessible areas. Done in oils, den Hertog’s masterful use of subtle pigments and watercolor-like translucency adds to the work’s atmosphere of tranquility. Dividing her time between the outdoors and the studio, the artist translates the grandeur of the Canadian landscape onto canvas.
Spring 2013 heralds the arrival den Hertog’s work to Gallery 133, but there’s plenty of time for Toronto’s art collectors to view the paintings in this on going display.
Gallery 133
1260 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto ON M6B 1G3 416.504.6099
Email: info@gallery133.com
Website: www.gallery133.com
Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30 – 5:30, Saturday 10:00 – 5:00, Sunday 12:00 – 5:00
Comment on or Share this Article →Annie Blooming, a simmering sensuality
Annie Blooming, 24 x 30 (SOLD)
My daughter has been posing for me since she was a child and so she is a natural by now. She was just over 18 when we worked on this painting and much to my surprise she consented to pose nude for me. I think that’s a testament to her vibrant personality and self-confidence.
I had a very specific idea for what pose I wanted, but as sometimes happens, the model does something that’s so much better and more natural than what I had in mind. So when she paused to pull her long hair away from her face, magic happened. From that moment on, the painting took on a life of it’s own.
The pose and atmosphere express a young woman coming of age. While she is still part teenager, she is mostly a woman. I called the painting Annie Blooming because the shape of the duvet across her lap reminds me of a blooming flower.
Her open legs do not reveal any secrets, but there is the hint of a simmering sensuality. The chain bracelet she is wearing and in its placement slightly in front of her legs is an allusion to chastity.
The basket beside the couch has a pattern woven into it that is reminiscent of an animal print. This is symbolic of our primal selves or wilder nature and it is placed off to the side, where it is in easy reach but not in use.
A certain amount of tension can be seen in her body as well. While her face tells us that she is contemplating something, her feet seem to be ready for action.
Annie Blooming is available though The Bucks County Gallery of Fine Art in New Hope, PA.
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Laura
Stuff I learned the hard way-Submitting to galleries in another town.
Here on Earth...Falling, oil on canvas, 12 x 24
If you are a prolific artist, someone who creates all the time, you will find that having a single gallery near home to represent your work is not enough. Anyone with stacks of paintings all over the house or studio knows what I mean.
So your gallery is selling your work, but not nearly fast enough to keep up with the amount of work you produce. It's time to look elsewhere. If you are someone who travels a great deal, you can check out galleries in the places you visit, but chances are it's not in the budget of an artist to travel much. Let's all thank the powers that be for the internet. The ability to research art galleries on line is a major coup for artists and one I am constantly grateful for. You can weed out the galleries that are inappropriate for you by seeing what kind of work they are selling, and that should always be your first step. You can also choose to search by location, maybe choose an area you have always wanted to visit, or one that you have heard has a burgeoning art scene.
Let's say you find a gallery that looks like a good fit for your work, but you know nothing about the area it's in. Do a search on the area. You can find lots of information on the local Chamber of commerce websites, and news clippings from Google news can give you a feel for the spirit of a town. It's also a good idea to see if any news clips come up on the gallery name. Many times a gallery's website does not include a photo of the building, and you still have no idea what kind of location it's in, if it's a downtown area or out in the boonies. Plug the gallery address into Google maps to get an overview and remember to click on the street view if it is available. The street view is brilliant for seeing not only the building that houses the gallery, but also the adjacent area.
You can tell a great deal about a gallery by it's website. Is the website professional looking? Do they simply list their artists or do they regularly feature an artist? Be sure to check out the "about us" page which will let you know how they like to present themselves and the art to collectors. Do they actively seek to place art in corporate collections? Do you see artwork on the site marked as sold? If prices are listed, are they in keeping with your own price list? These are all sign posts for an artist when choosing where to submit your work, and lots of valuable information can be found, but you still won't know how they treat their artists.
So how do you figure out if these are good guys or bad guys? I'm sure you know that galleries come in all colors, friendly, snobby, art loving or money grubbing and everything in between. You want to find a good match and make sure that the gallery is actually looking out for the interests of their artists. You need to know not only if they sell, but so they pay on time? Can you expect feedback on the sales made? Working with a gallery is a relationship, hopefully a friendly and mutually beneficial one.
It would be great if you know someone in the area that can go and have a look to check things out and even more wonderful if you know an artist who shows there, but the premise here is that you are going in blind so to speak. I have made it a habit of choosing one or two artists from the gallery's list and contacting them via email. I introduce myself and explain that I am from out of town. After explaining that I don't know much about the people running the gallery I ask if they would be wiling to share their experiences. I ask if they are happy there.
I have always had a response and most artists are very helpful and willing to share their point of view. I have avoided galleries with bad business practices thanks to honest sharing artists. I have even been referred to galleries that were not in my initial search by generous artists who took the time to look at my own website and recommend another venue in their area. I found one of my favorite galleries that way. The bonus was that I could mention the artist's name when I submitted my work.
Look at it this way....if an artist contacted you asking about a gallery, wouldn't you be wiling to share your thoughts and experiences? The obvious bonuses are huge here, not only do you get an insiders story on a gallery, you just met a fellow creator. Who knows what kind of friendship that could lead to?
Getting your work in front of fresh eyes is a pleasure and submitting to a gallery should be exciting. Going in with some confidence and enthusiasm is a prescription for success.
