Andrew and Laura McCain Art Gallery

Owen Munisamy
2021-05-15 - 2021-07-03
Theme & VariationsThe exhibition includes watercolour and acrylic paintings created between 2016 and 2021. Born in a musical family in Liège, Belgium in 1987, Owen pursued his art studies in England where he obtained his BA (Honours) in Fine Art in 2011 from Winchester School of Art, Southampton University. In 2018 Owen and his family settled in Edmundston, NB.
“During my university studies, the professor suggested to us that we should seek inspiration from our homes, our family backgrounds and our surroundings. Coming from a musical family it was thus quite normal that I should look to music, especially to the sculptural forms of wood and brass instruments and their intricate mechanisms. My first years of painting were thus spent researching and gradually creating an enigmatic musical world with biomorphic forms of musical instruments [blended] with human elements [to create] a universe of extremely rich and varied forms which are organic and alive.”
Featured in the most recent edition of Created Here Magazine, Munisamy explores a form of abstraction that blends biological, suggestively human elements (which might remind you of the sculptures of British artists Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth) with the geometrical, hard-edged shapes of contemporary technology. In vivid and bold colour, Munisamy creates variations on a theme of collapsing and exploding spheres suspended on illusory planes, within expansive atmospheres and accompanied with surprising allusions to both art and the real world. At any point the artist’s imagery can transport us to the microscopic or to outer space. Another influence on the artist was Salvador Dali and if you can remember his famous melting clock, you are well on your way to envisioning Munisamy’s biomorphic inventions. Tree trunks, bicycle wheels, telescopes, lines, wedges, and the unexpected biological form can all be discovered in these enigmatic paintings
Owen’s diverse interests and influences include cartooning, Metaphysical and Surrealist painting. Bold colour contrasts, strong diagonals and areas of complexity contrasting with passages of delicate colour and light result in images that fuse technology with the human form.
“Likewise I have always been attracted to strip cartoons by the artists Enki Bilal (for his sombre atmospheres), Jean Giraud / Moebius (for his imagination and details) and Phillippe Druillet (for his dark backgrounds and very contrasting colours). Aldo Pomodoro and Anish Kapoor also inspired me, the first by his spheres with a complexity of details reflecting another world, the second by his voids that pull the viewer towards the interior. As de Chirico says: “Even that dreams are an inexplicable mystery but even more mysterious are the thoughts that converge to certain objects and aspects of life.
In parallel with my oil paintings I use watercolours. I employed that technique to start with as a means of research for my oil paintings. My watercolours are a long search from complex structures to now more delicate and sensitive paintings. My works are progressively becoming more architectural with fewer musical details. I am always engaged in creative research, always going forward, always evolving ….”

Kathy Tidswell
2021-05-15 10:30 - 2021-06-19 17:00 UTC
Colours of NatureKathy Tidswell has a long career of working with textiles in a variety of creative ways. Her materials include paint and dye, machine stitching, as well as cloth that is found or created. The artist identifies two areas of exploration in the artwork included in the exhibition: Wall Quilts and Thread Stitching. In both bodies of work, the artist continually turns to Nature for inspiration.
“I strive to recreate nature’s beauty realistically in my work. Often inspired by my own photographs, I use hand painted and commercial fabric to create a wall quilt or paint a scene on fabric and bring it to life using thread, working with a domestic sewing machine. The needle becomes my paintbrush as I move the fabric freely. While my artistic medium is primarily thread, my painted fabric backgrounds support the production of landscapes and life-like three dimensional images of birds, wildlife and portraits. My wish is to transport the viewer to a unique place, whether it is a forest stand, a beach delivering the glories of a morning sunrise, or a backyard hosting our joyous songbirds.
Trees are special to me and have always featured very much in my work. Perhaps I have been influenced by my years working for the Canadian Forestry Service or perhaps it is my love of texture and dimension. Whatever is the case, trees have offered me many inspirations.” Kathy Tidswell

Naturalis | Renata Britez
2021-06-26 10:30 - 2021-07-17 17:00 UTC
Renata Britez is a multidisciplinary emerging Canadian artist, originally from Brazil, who is currently based in Fredericton, NB. In 2020, she completed a degree in the NBCCD Textile Design Program and first brought her work to the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery at Small Works 2018.
Naturalis demonstrates the diversity of her practice, her commitment to traditional techniques, ethics and sustainability in her production of materials as well as her artistic interest in working in both two and three dimensions. Subtle stories of her journeys in both art and life are paralleled in the mythic journeys and states she evokes though her sculptures and wearable art. Mothers, daughters, strife, survival, and conquest hint at the personal journey the artist embarked upon when she moved to Canada in 2014.
Persephone, a stylish garment of felted silk and wool, dyed the passionate red of Brazilwood, presents a sculpted and embroidered garden. Presented in a wearable form thick enough to warm and protect while referencing a myth of seasonal renewal and a mother-daughter story of compromise and lives lived at a distance.
Marked, two wall hangings whose subtle quilting describes the topography and streets of Fredericton, are coloured by detritus the artist collected on the ground. The works are re-presented acts of discovery, investigation and agency while making the reality of one’s choices “leaving its mark” tangible.
Marks and the act of mark making is evident throughout the art in the exhibition as is the colour palette, derived as it is from the actual colours of New Brunswick. Renata’s artistic training began here, and it appears that a key collaborator and muse has been the province of New Brunswick. Sourcing and creating natural dyes and paints for all that she creates, Renata starts each project literally at ground level.
Artist in Residence
Between June 14 and 26, 2021 Renata has been in Florenceville-Bristol for a residency at the River Art Centre to further her project called Maritime Colours (supported by a grant from ArtsNB). For this project Renata is researching, cataloging, and mapping pigments from plants and minerals found in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada. Supported by the New Brunswick Arts Board and the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery Artist in Residence Programme, she is working on a series of paintings using natural pigments that are foraged and processed in Carleton County.
This programme is supported by the Carleton North Community Foundation.

Barbara Safran de Niverville
2021-07-10 - 2021-08-21
Vanitas by the Sea / Vanitas par la merBarbara Safran de Niverville explores the vigour of growth where native plants and garden escapees mingle. Discarded domestic objects punctuate intricate vegetation that seems to hover in the dark ground. The title of the exhibition references the still life genre of painting popular during the Baroque period in western art history. Vanitas portray highly realistic, symbolic objects such as flowers, porcelain and silver dishes, fruits and vegetables. Together on a tabletop, the objects are a reminder to the viewer of the hubris of mankind and the inevitability of mortality. Barbara has reinterpreted this point of view recognizing in her work the subtle influence of the present pandemic and its parallels to the plagues in Europe during 17th and 18th centuries. She has chosen to include objects in her work that are worn with use, but seem to possess an aura of their past significance while the shadow land they now inhabit evokes the mysterious resilience of the uncultivated growth found between a beach and a forest – abandoned land that survives in spite of humanity’s seeming indifference.
“Using a combination of natural and synthetic materials, my mixed-media panels represent a metaphor for the hybrid quality of the natural world. I question our concept of wilderness and reveal the flux between Nature and Culture and the tension between growth and decline. My current work explores outcast and forgotten areas of landscape that retain traces of human use. Essential to my process is experimentation, through digital photography, drawing, and the testing of new combinations of art techniques with industrial products”.
Vanitas Vivace is a short experimental video based on the painting Vanitas Chicory, on exhibit with this series. Elements from the painting leave the panel’s surface, become air born and dance to an original soundtrack. Barbara’s husband Peter de Niverville animated the film with music composed by their daughter, Abigail de Niverville. It is available to be viewed on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/568608152/bb5d5ef7f8
A Prix Éloize finalist in 2018, Barbara has exhibited landscapes across Canada in twenty-six solo shows and numerous group projects in the United States and Iceland. In 2014, she completed her Masters of Fine Arts degree at the Art Institute of Boston.

Isolated // Together
2021-07-24 - 2021-08-21
Curated by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, fourteen New Brunswick artists have designed wearable facemasks as part of the project, Isolated // Together, commemorating the cultural impact of masks during this pandemic.

Currents
2021-08-28 - 2021-10-02
Deanna Musgrave and Amy Ash
The energy that passes through or between us, the memory of water, a pulse, a charge, a conduit, a body in motion, a cycle.
Currents links the recent work of Amy Ash and Deanna Musgrave through their shared interest in the poetics of water, memory and the unseen. Quiet explorations of biofields, sensation, and connection resonate from the works that comprise Currents. Watermarks and brushstrokes become tidelines, evidence of time and transformation brought on by an interaction of forces.
Through conduits of both representational form and abstract composition the artists encourage reflection, interaction, and personal change. Both Ash and Musgrave work fluidly between dedicated studio practices and social engagement. While Ash creates opportunities for collaboration and shared meaning-making as an act of collective care, Musgrave works with individuals through energy healing techniques.
Together, through diverse embodied methodologies, Ash and Musgrave hold space for connection, reparation, and transformation.
Amy Ash
Amy Ash is an interdisciplinary artist engaged with collective care through processes of shared meaning-making. Her practice flows from curatorial projects and writing to teach-ing, socially engaged action, and hands-on making. Blurring the lines between disciplines, they trace connectivity through the intersections and overlaps between memory, learning, and wonder, to incite curiosity. Amy has exhibited and curated programmes internationally, with projects commissioned by National Gallery London (UK), The NB International Sculpture Symposium (NB), Beaverbrook Art Gallery (NB), and Platform Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts (MB). She is an instructor with the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, writes regularly for CreatedHere Magazine, Visual Arts News, and is a member of the International Associ-ation of Art Critics. Amy lives in Menahqesk/Menagoesg/Saint John, New Brunswick, with her wife Alex, along with their dog and cat. Of settler ancestry, they are a grateful guest on the unsurren-dered and unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, and Peskotomuhkati peoples. www.amyash.ca @amy_ash_ Pronouns: She/They can be used interchangeably. I have no preference.
Deanna Musgrave
“Musgrave’s work has been a fixture in the Saint John and New Brunswick art community for over a decade. Her paintings are immediately recognizable; ethereal and vibrant, they encapsulate traits that many artists struggle to balance. They are objectively beautiful yet wrought with complex symbolism and capture a narrative while remaining vehemently abstract.” ~Christiana Myers, “Peer Review: The Best Art of 2018,” The East, December 2018

Deanna Musgrave is best known for her large-scale public artwork such as, “Cloud” (2015) and “Tropos” (2019) whichare both over 40’ wide and part of the collection of the University of New Brunswick. Her works inspire contemplation and are a response to her endless seeking of the unseen, metaphysical and mysterious.
Early on in her career, she was selected by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in 2007 for the Studio Watch Award which aimed at introducing promising new artists to the public and later included in “Off the Grid: Abstract Art in New Brunswick” at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in 2014. Her work has been enthusiastically reviewed by the New Brunswick media, and she has won numerous grants and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, New Brunswick Arts Board, Mount Allison University and the University of New Brunswick. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University (2005) and a Master of Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of New Brunswick (2019). Outside of her artmaking, she works in guidance through hypnosis, energy clearing and other mysterious practices to assist. She is based out of Menagoesg (Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada).
Artist Statement – Deanna Musgrave“For visual artist Deanna Musgrave, art and healing are interwoven. This is why, transformation is the crux of her work and the reason she found home in Saint John, [New Brunswick], a historic working-class city on the Bay of Fundy. This place possesses energy she describes as having “an ancient quality that brings together polarity.” It is polarities that inhabit Deanna’s vision. Her work is an interaction that seeks unity, exuding energy in the process, much like the current transformative renaissance happening here in the old port city.” (1)
“[Her] work has been a fixture in the Saint John and New Brunswick art community for over a decade. Her paintings are immediately recognizable; ethereal and vibrant, they encapsulate traits that many artists struggle to balance. They are objectively beautiful yet wrought with complex symbolism and capture a narrative while remaining vehemently abstract.” (2)
“Often working on the studio floor, using liquid paints to surround, unify and pool around areas of information, Musgrave succeeds in defying a traditional concept of perspective. Her compositions unfold almost three-dimensionally, enveloping the viewer with information from above, straight on and below.” (3)
“Water is the starting point for each of Musgrave’s works. With a blank canvas placed on the floor of her studio, she selects objects of significance: of sentimental, aesthetic, or symbolic meaning, to place on top of the canvas. She sprinkles, sprays, or pours water over the object to capture an impression of the form in pigment. The impression made by the water is like a memory of the object on the canvas.
Using water in the process is as important to Deanna as her subject matter. Her world view is closely tied to the power of water and its relationship to experience and memory. Deanna’s work considers and articulates the theories of homeopathy: the ability of water to remember substances once mixed in it; cymatics: the patterns formed when a substance like water or sand is vibrated; and akashic field theory: the theory that information can exist and be transmitted through energy fields.
The result is a highly dynamic and fluid expression of memory, story, and a deep connection to water. Outside of her art, Deanna studies and practices dowsing: practiced since the 15th century to locate underground water systems. More recently dowsing has been adapted to locate areas of stress or trauma on the human body as a means of healing.”
All aspects of Deanna’s connection to water speak to a single idea: that information, knowledge, and experience can exist and be transmitted in many different ways. She believes that revolution can be ignited from person to person and that can happen in many different forms.” (4)

~Shannon Webb-Campbell, “Arts Higher State: The Vision and Practice of Deanna Musgrave, Created Here Magazine: Psyche, Volume 11, 2020.
~Christiana Myers, “Peer Review: The Best Art of 2018,” The East, December 2018
~Stephanie Buhmann, “New Brunswick Studio Conversations,” Billie Magazine V.2, Spring 2017
~Donna Wawzonek, “Deanna Musgrave: Stirring Large Conversations with Grande Impressions,” National Water Centre Blog

Artist Statement – Amy AshMemoryscape I, 2021:
Sometimes the important places in our lives can define us as much as the people with whom we find kinship. As much as we inhabit places, so do they hold a special spot, a resonance, within us. Specific landscapes, eco-systems, architecture, or townships can feel like a visceral extension of ones self. The attachment could be micro, macro, sensorial, drenched in memory, or exist within a dream—maybe you’ve been there a hundred times, maybe you have yet to visit.
Many thanks to those community members who heeded the call, contributed a photograph that helped Amy Ash build the collage included in this exhibition.
“The series Mettle uses copper as both a key material in the work and allegory—its material qualities becoming symbolic of resilience. Copper is a super-conductor of electricity, and the stan-dard by which all other conductivity is measured. Within my practice it has become a conductor of meaning. Copper is a memory shape alloy. It will always ‘remember’ its orig-inal form, and, when pressurized, will invariably revert to its original shape. Copper is also within our biological make-up, closely linked to memory dysfunction. When threatened by the elements, copper will produce a patina, or verdigris. This greenish tarnish acts as a weather buffer to preserve the integrity of the copper below its surface—an exquisite cop-ing mechanism. By adding copper sulphate crystals both to the metal’s surface and the paint’s pigment, the crystals continue to grow and morph as they respond to the climate, a metaphor for personal transformation brought on by external forces.” Amy Ash
“Touching Visions is an exploration of the body as an archive of sensation, experience, and action. The work is created through repetitive labour-intensive and experiential means, such as stitching, documenting performative actions, recording my body in plaster and my voice in looped improvised song. It marks the first time I have used my own image in my work.” Amy Ash

Irene Tompkins: Bouquets and flowers
2021-10-09 - 2021-11-13
A celebration of watercolour paintings by Carleton County artist Irene Tompkins.

Alanna Baird
2022-02-05 - 2022-04-16
Radial SymmetriesThis work revolves around the Pentaradial symmetry of a Sea Urchin shell. Pentaradial being a five sectioned symmetry found in nature that revolves around a central point. The simplest example being the Starfish and its five legs. Alanna Baird has been exploring this patterning through several different mediums and dimensions. The printmaking is often her initial exploration in surface patterns.
Thanks to funding through ArtsNB, I was able to create a body of work in lost wax cast bronze. Using some of my own ceramic work from the 1990’s as forms, I cast wax into these shapes and then altered the wax by cutting holes; exploring the symmetry as well as the strength of this new-to-me material. The bronze was cast in a foundry in Quebec, but the chasing (grinding of sprues and polishing of surface metal) and patination (colour) completed in Alanna’s studio.
The Calligraphic sculpture in plastic represents a second ArtsNB grant funded project. The initial intent was to use 3D printing to change the scale of my work. Computer design is not something I enjoy, the hands on fabrication of things is what I love. I became fascinated with a hand held 3D pen, and the clear plastic it could extrude. Light and air flowing through this new body of work, shadows cast. Although the plastic in the exhibition is too fragile to sell, I intend to work farther in this technique.
I am inspired by what I find on my daily walks on the sea floor, the inter tidal zone of the Bay of Fundy reveals it’s treasure to me. Treasure to me is not gold coins, but rather glimpses of things that catch my eye. Part historical – pipe stems, china shards, even stone weapons of a very early age, and part natural environment – resident as well as invasive species included. Often fragments, shells with their interiors exposed, sea urchin shell pieces which reveal the complexity of their “construction”.
I am a materials based artist. I enjoy exploring the material I have to work with. Mastering techniques, learning how to work with it, what it’s limits are, figuring out what I can do with it. I often work with recycled materials. Invasive species like the Lionfish have entered my view. I am currently working on a printmaking project involving the Golden Star Tunicate, an invasive species along this coastline. – Alanna Baird
Curated by Brigitte Clavette and Jennifer Stead.
Meet Alanna
Saturday, April 16, 2-4 pm at the Gallery

Crazy Quilting
2022-03-26 09:30 - 2022-03-27 16:00 (America/Halifax) | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Learn Victorian-style crazy quilting with Cat Candow. Piece together foundation fabric by hand, and then explore embroidery techniques to create a heavily embellished piece of crazy quilt.
Saturday, March 26, 9:30 am – 4 pm
Sunday, March 27, 1 – 4 pm
$60 + bring own sewing scissors and any special fabrics you may want to incorporate
Cat Candow

Raised in Germany under her grandmother’s sewing table, Cat took her first stitches at age 3, attempting to make pants for her Teddy. She learned to crochet and cross stitch around the same time as she learned to read and write, but with much more enthusiasm. She came to Canada as an exchange student and stayed to study Fashion Design at NBCCD, followed by three years in England, making theater costumes and studying hat making. As a multi-media textile artist, she loves to combine traditional techniques with up-cycled materials in unexpected ways and creating textures too tempting not to touch.

School's Out! Clay
2022-04-14 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Halifax) | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
FULL, but taking a waiting list
Have fun with clay! Make pressed ornaments using clay and plants with Jenna Ross of Jenna’s Wheelhouse.
Ages 7-12
$25
Call the Gallery at 392-6769 or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Enrolment is limited. No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol

Intro to Drawing
2022-04-14 18:00 - 2022-05-12 20:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Photo: JJ Ying via Unsplash
Three-part workshop with Jennifer Stead
April 14, April 21, and May 12, 6-8 pm
Cost: $75
In this introductory series, you will learn drawing basics including shading, observational skills and creating space, putting objects into context.
Space is limited. Contact the Gallery, 392-6769, or info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.

With the Grain: Carving Students' Show
2022-04-23 - 2022-05-21
Marty by Max Hutchison
James Buxton has been teaching carving classes at the River Art Centre for many years. His students have created many beautiful works that we look forward to sharing with you.
Featured carvers include: Lloyd Borowski, Paul Dean, Arline Gordon, Wendy Hall, Susanne Hansen, Max Hutchison, Roseanne Hutchison, Bessie Nicholson Langille, Mark McCauley, Judy McGuire, Scott O’Brien, and Rudy Stocek
Opening
Saturday, April 23
2-4 pm
Introductions at 2:30 pm

Frank Allison: Paintings and Drawings
2022-04-23 - 2022-05-21
Born in Saint John, N.B., Frank Allison (1883-1951) studied painting under Wilfred Molson Barnes and Maurice Galbraith Cullen at the Art Association in Montreal; John F. Carlson, Woodstock, New York; George Elmer Browne in Europe. He worked for the Bank of Montreal in Saint John, and by 1906 had transferred to Ontario and Montreal. He traveled extensively and found his subjects in many countries. Toward the end of WWI, he was working for the Bank in London England and was closely associated with Canadian painter James Wilson Morrice. Although he painted a variety of subjects, he had a special interest in architecture and is perhaps best known for his watercolours.
Peter Larocque, Curator at the New Brunswick Museum has observed that Allison is remembered for his impressionist-inspired landscapes filled with light, mood and atmosphere, and his accomplished watercolours, which show his technical mastery of this very demanding medium.
Watercolour painting has always been appreciated by artists for its portability and in the 19th century in Europe, when landscape subjects were favoured by many artists, art exhibitions displayed comparable numbers of watercolours and oils. However, by the turn of the 20th century, this ratio changed so that the number of watercolours submitted for exhibitions declined rapidly. In 1925 when the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour formed, the medium received renewed interest, regaining some of the stature it had lost.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Canadian art scene in central Canada was focused on the Group of Seven and the idea of a unique “Canadian” art. The Maritimes, however, held strong ties to New England and Great Britain, and so it was within this tradition that Allison found himself.
Allison exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy exhibitions between 1915 and 1941; at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Spring Shows between 1915 and 1939 and was a life member of the American Water Colour Society. Among his solo shows during his career was one for his watercolours at the T. Eaton Company Gallery in Montreal in November of 1933 when The Montreal Star critic noted, “Mr. Allison’s subjects are principally the streets and buildings of old towns and, more particularly, towns in the south of Europe. The pictures are mostly large watercolours, painted with much breadth and freedom, full of the gay colour and sunlight of places in Spain, Italy, southern France and Morocco.”
Allison’s art is represented in the collections of Mount Allison University, Sackville, N.B.; Y.W.C.A., Saint John, N.B.; New Brunswick Museum, Saint John; City of Saint John, N.B.; Milliken University, Decatur, IL.; Decatur Inst. of Civic Art; Art Inst., Springfield, IL.; and many private collections. His niece, Mrs. Doreen (Allison) Tuomola of Toronto has kindly loaned her collection for this exhibition.

Watercolour Painting on Yupo Paper
2022-04-23 10:00 - 16:00 (America/Halifax) | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Instructor: Cathie Johnson
Learn a new watercolour technique with instructor Cathie Johnson – abstract painting on Yupo paper (a non-absorbent polypropylene substrate). Each participant will complete 1-2 paintings during the workshop.
Class cost: $45
Class from 10 am – 4 pm with a lunch break from 12 – 1 pm.
Call the Gallery at 392-6769 or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Enrolment is limited. No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol

Thread Painting Workshop
2022-04-24 09:30 - 16:00 UTC
Learn the basics of free motion embroidery or thread painting using your regular zigzag sewing machine. Lower the feed dogs and use your needle like a paint brush to create flowers, leaves, trees, weeds, ripples in water, etc. You can spend the entire day perfecting your stitches or start a small landscape. Information on design will also be discussed.
Kathy Tidswell combines painting on fabric with free motion machine embroidery to produce thread painted works of art. She also blends innovative and traditional techniques to create unique wall quilts and original wearable art. Nature is a large influence on her work and she strives for realism. Her pieces have been juried into Canadian Quilters’ Association National Juried Shows (winning two awards), Grand National Juried Exhibitions, Studio Art Quilt Associates regional shows and Ontario Network of Needleworkers Threadworks. Her work has been published nationally and internationally. Kathy teaches her methods throughout Canada and in Europe. In 2005, she was awarded Canadian Quilters’ Association Teacher of the Year.
Cost $50 plus supplies
Supply List

Zigzag sewing machine and its’ manual.
Darning foot.
New machine embroidery needles 75/11 or 90/14 if you are using rayon embroidery threads. Metallic or metafil needles if you want to use metallic threads.
7 inch to 10 inch slim (3/8″) wooden embroidery hoop. A regular hoop will NOT substitute. It is too wide to pass under the presser foot. If you don’t have one, slim hoops will be available to purchase from Kathy for $10.
You will be making samples of weeds, trees , flowers, texture in water etc. so bring threads in greens (several shades), browns, yellows, blues etc. If you have rayon embroidery and metallic threads in these colours, bring them, but it’s not necessary to purchase them especially for this class. Instead, bring threads from your stash in these colours.
Several squares of muslin or plain light cotton approx. 12 inches square and several pieces of stabilizer such as tear- away to back your pieces.
Scissors, pins, ruler etc. ie normal sewing kit.
If you plan to start the 5 inch by 7 inch landscape, you will need small pieces for sky, mountain and water.

River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol
Space is limited. To register, call the Gallery, 392-6769.
Tidswell’s exhibit, Colours of Nature, was at the Gallery May 15 – June 19, 2021.

HUGE Charcoal Drawing
2022-04-24 13:00 - 16:00 (America/Halifax) | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Work with charcoal sticks and powder to make a huge charcoal image based on landscape photographs with Stephen Hutchings.
$35
This class is also being offered Sunday, March 20, 1-4 pm. This class (rescheduled from pARTicipate) is taking names for a waiting list.
Call 392-6769 or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.

Closing November 8, 2022: Call for Exhibition Proposals for 2023-2024 seasons
2022-04-30 08:00 - 2022-11-08 17:00 (America/Halifax)
Update: Thank you for your submissions. The Selection Committee has been delayed. We will be in contact after selections have been made.
Contemporary professional artists and curators with a proposal are invited to apply.
https://mccainartgallery.com/artists/

Art Class for Kids with Susanne Hansen: Ages 7-9
2022-04-30 09:30 - 11:00 UTC
Ages 7-9
$20, Materials included
Explore ink blot and watercolour techniques with instructor Susanne Hansen.
Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register. Space is limited so register early!
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.

Saturday Art Workshop with Susanne Hansen: Ages 10-14
2022-04-30 13:00 - 15:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Ages 10-14
$25, Materials included
Explore ink blot and watercolour techniques with instructor Susanne Hansen.

Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register. Space is limited so register early!
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.

Schools' Out STEM! Paper Circuit Cards
2022-05-06 10:00 - 12:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Be creative making paper circuit cards (perhaps for Mother’s Day) while learning about electricity.
Ages 7-12
$25
Call the Gallery at 392-6769 or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Enrolment is limited. No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol

Printers Inc.
2022-05-28 - 2022-07-09
An exhibition featuring prints by Amy Ash, Alanna Baird, Nathan Cann, Ryan Livingstone, Ann Manuel and Bob Morouney of Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre.

Acrylic Pour Painting with Ann White
2022-06-04 13:00 - 16:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Cost: $40
Learn a new painting technique with instructor Ann White. Acrylic fluid art is a very satisfying form of abstract art. There are many techniques in this form of art with unlimited combinations of colours. On May 14 we will be completing a “Flip Cup Pour.”
Space is limited. Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.

Eco Printing a Silk Scarf
2022-06-25 10:00 - 17:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Instructor Renata Britez
River Art Centre, 8746 Main St. Florenceville-Bristol
Cost: $50 + $30 Materials Fee
FULL. Call the Gallery, 392-9769, to be added to the waiting list.
Get to know the colourful bounty of Maritimes flora by working with fresh plants foraged by Natural Dyer Renata Britez. Natural dyeing can be fun, but the experience of using seasonal & regionally relevant plants, as opposed to pre-extracted and imported powders, provides a real connection to this age-old process. Students will come away with an understanding of natural dyeing with fresh raw dye, surface design techniques and leave with sample swatches in various sustainable fibres, a finished silk scarf dyed with local colour as well as informational handouts on how to repeat the process at home with local plants.

Renata Britez is a Textile Artist originally from Brazil and based in Fredericton NB. She is a graduate of the Textile Design Diploma program at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design (NBCCD) and currently taking her Masters in Adult Ed at UNB. Her main interest falls in traditional printing methods and natural dyes. Renata’s work has been shown and sold across the Maritimes. She travels to teach textile workshops around the Region. In the last couple of years she taught in various festivals and events including the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, Edventures NBCCD Workshop Series, SJ Arts Centre and ALMAG. Renata’s goal is to explore and share traditional textile techniques using natural dyes and fibres. Learn more about Renata’s 2021 Artist in Residency and exhibit, Naturalis, with the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery.

Suzanne Hill: Hands of the Horsemen
2022-07-16 - 2022-08-27
Opening: July 16, 2-4 pm. Introductions and artist talk at 2:30 pm. All welcome.

Hands of the Horsemen brings together works from different periods of the artist’s long career. Loaned from the collections of the New Brunswick Museum, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, private collectors and the artist’s studio, this exhibition places the artist’s most recent work in the context of 20 years of her art and confirms her continued interest in the androgynous and anonymous figure.
Always creating a subtle and evocative space from the surface area upon which she works, Hill’s figures seem to be extracted, scratched, pasted, torn or collaged into being. In exquisite contrast with her very direct method of working, her figures are delicately suspended, poised in time and motion. They are figurative gestures that have agency and exist with consequence. Hill’s figures seem to metaphorically struggle with the singularity of experience, wrestling as does the artist with existential questions while formally engaging with a line, an edge, a frame or their own shadow. When writing about the body of work, Singular from the mid 2000s, Peter Larocque observed that “while we may live in social situations and may interact, to lesser or great degrees with others, ultimately, we remain as parallel singularities delineated by the borders of our own perception and will”.
Suzanne Hill lives in Rothesay, N.B. A graduate of Mount Allison and McGill Universities, she has exhibited nationally and internationally. For many years she taught art in the public Schools in Saint John. Her work has been the inspiration for cross disciplinary creative productions with poet Ann Compton and the Atlantic Ballet. Hill has worked tirelessly for the advancement of the visual arts and has had a significant voice in the cultural affairs of the province. She has served on the Artsnb Board, the Board of Directors of the NB Museum, and the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation. She was the 1999 recipient of the SHMF Strathbutler Award, and 2016 recipient of the NB Lieutenant-Governor General’s Award. Her art is in the New Brunswick Art Bank, the Canada Council Art Bank, UNB, NB Museum, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the University of Maine, the Governor General of Canada, the Canadian War Museum and the Department of External Affairs. Recent exhibitions include Unstable Boundaries, 2019, Spicer/Merrifield Gallery, The Work Before, 2021, Sunbury Shores Art and Nature Centre and the Saint John Airport.
Suzanne Hill will give an artist talk at 2:30 pm on July 16, 2022 accompanied by her long time gallery dealer and friend, Peter Buckland. Everyone is welcome – Admission is free – refreshments will be served.

Cyanotypes
2022-07-23 13:00 - 16:00 UTC | River Art Centre, 8746 Main St., Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Cyanotype by Susan Galbraith
Combine sunlight and plants to create beautiful images with Brandon McDougall and Emma Jones. Cyanotype (sometimes called sun printing) is a method of making photographic images without needing a camera, smartphone, or darkroom.
Plant materials will be provided, but you may also bring plants or other objects with you.
Each participant will leave with some finished prints as well as prepared paper and instructions for creating an additional print at home.

Cost is $25.

Space is limited. Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.

Free Community Photography Workshops
2022-07-27 18:30 - 2022-08-25 19:30 UTC
All workshops are free and being held upstairs at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol, NB

Call the Gallery, 392-6769, to register.

Get comfortable with your phone camera: August 6, 10:30 – 11:30 am – Space available
with David Bailey
A free photography workshop for beginners and more experienced photographers on Saturday August 6, 10:30 – 11:30 am. Get some great tips, have your questions answered and submit a photo to the Community Photography Show. Meet at the River Art Centre 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol, NB Everyone welcome – beginner and more experienced. Register at the Gallery please @ 392-6769 by Friday.

Getting to the show on time: Drop-in, no registration required on August 7, 2022, noon – 2 pm
With Stephen Hutchings
Stephen will offer you all the help you need to submit your photograph(s) to the Community Photo Show. He will be at the River Art Centre on Sunday August 7 between noon and 2 PM There is no need to register for this one, just drop in at the RAC at a convenient time and Stephen will make sure your photo is sent and received. This may take 5 minutes or 15…
Can’t make it on Sunday? Send you photographs one at a time by email to jennifer@mccainartgallery.com or on to the Gallery Website, go to Best Shot: Community Photography Show to find instructions.

Using Natural Light Sources: Saturday, August 13, 10:30 – 11:30 am – Space available
with Brendan Helmuth

Brendan wants to help you to use the light around you to create dynamic photographs that accentuate your subject. Bring your camera and a tripod if you have one – otherwise there will be a tripod available.

Through Our Eyes: A Beginner Guide to the Love of Nature & Wildlife Photography: Wednesday, August 3, 7 – 8 pm – FULL
with Angela Stone and Karen Underhill Bush

The leaders want to share with you what brings them joy. Participants are asked to bring their camera’s, cell phones, etc. Angela and Karen have prepared a small presentation and a group activity. This is perfect for all those who are interested in capturing moments of nature and wildlife.
During this 1 hour workshop, Stephen will answer your questions and help you select your best shots and edit on your phone before you submit. Suitable for beginners and more experienced, this workshop is maximum of 5 people so you will get all your questions answered. Please call the Gallery @ 392-6769 to register. Bring your phone camera with a file of favourites.
Composition: Composing your best shots: Thursday July 28, 2022 6:30 – 7:30 pm – FULL
with artist Stephen Hutchings

During this 1 hour workshop, Stephen will answer your questions, show you how your camera can help you compose your best shot and talk about some of the basics of composing with the camera for different subjects. Suitable for beginners and more experienced, this workshop is maximum of 5 people so you will get all your questions answered. Please call the Gallery @ 392-6769 to register. Bring your own DSLR camera or your phone camera.
Get to know your DSLR camera better: Wednesday July 27, 2022 6:30 – 7:30 pm – FULL
with McCain Photographer, David Bailey

During this 1 hour workshop, David will answer your questions, show you what your camera can do and introduce you to new ways to get a better shot! Suitable for beginners and more experienced, this workshop is maximum of 5 people so you will get all your questions answered. Please call the Gallery @ 392-6769 to register. Bring your own DSLR camera.
Get to know your Phone camera: Thursday July 21, 2022 6:30 – 7:30 pm – FULL
with McCain Photographer, David Bailey

During this 1 hour workshop, David will answer your questions, show you what your camera can do and introduce you to new ways to get a better shot! Suitable for beginners and more experienced, this workshop is maximum of 5 people so you will get all your questions answered. Please call the Gallery @ 392-6769 to register.

Share your images with us for this fall’s Shared Shots: Community Photography Show!

Sip and Paint: Watercolours
2022-08-19 19:00 - 21:00 UTC
Cost: $40
Enjoy a relaxing evening while creating a watercolour painting with instructor Susanne Hansen.
Image is an example, not what will be painted August 19.

Space is limited. Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.

Shared Shots: A Community Photography Show
2022-09-03 - 2022-10-01
The Opening will be on Saturday September 3, 2022 from 2 – 4 pm
Introductions at 2:30
All welcome

Made possible through the generous support of the

Miniature Worlds - Sara Brinkhurst
2022-09-03 - 2022-10-01
What is the fascination with the world of miniatures? There is something so compelling about tiny objects – not just the skill involved in making something so small and detailed, but the complete uselessness of them determines them as objects of desire for purely ornamental reasons. The possibility to make or own a tiny piece of furniture or art that we would never normally have room for, or possibly afford, allows us to create our own perfect worlds. Worlds that can be packed up and fit in one box!
After retiring in 2021, I revisited an old hobby. Exploring and unpacking boxes of minis that I had collected over the years brought back a rush of desire to start creating again. These pieces are the results of explorations into different scales and effects, ranging from 1:12 to 1:144 (a dollhouse for a dolls house). Some contain a mixture of made and bought items (many of which have been adapted); others contain all original items made by my own hand using wood, metals, fabrics, clays, paint and a lot of glue!

Sara Brinkhurst
Born in England, Sara graduated from the University College for the Creative Arts in Kent. She won several competitions and awards before graduating with a BA First Class Honours in Silver/Gold Smithing and Jewellery Design in 2007.
She emigrated to Canada in 2008, where she has continued to explore creative pursuits. These include working in precious metals, theatre costume design and making, writing and anything else that involves research and hand skills. After retiring as Director of Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre in 2021, she revisited a life-long passion for miniatures. Inspiration to finish some old projects quickly led to the creation of several new explorations in the world of mini. Sara is a Juried Member of the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council and Craft New Brunswick.
Artist Statement
My journey through the mini world started when I was around 10. I loved finding small objects and turning them into something else, and could spend hours making little pieces of furniture or accessories – from toothpaste cap vases, to string-framed paintings, to toothpick and jam jar lid tables. I have always enjoyed researching history around furnishings, clothing, household objects and living styles. As an adult, a degree in jewellery design and making vastly improved my hand skills. Finally all these elements have come together to allow me to create and build as I have always been driven too. The focus required to work at this scale is all engrossing and addictive. For me, it is playing at its finest – and an escape to fascinating little worlds where anything can happen.

Pool Noodle Printing
2022-09-15 16:00 - 2022-09-16 17:30 UTC
Children will learn to create cut paper monotype prints using pool noodles with 2022 Artist in Residence Diana Baldwin.
Cost: $15
Ages 5-8: Wednesday, September 15, 4 – 5:30 pm
Ages 9-12: Thursday, September 16, 4 – 5:30 pm
Space is limited. Call the Gallery, 392-6769, or email info@mccainartgallery.com to register.
Class will be held at the River Art Centre, 8746 Main Street, Florenceville-Bristol.
No refunds for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the workshop.
