The Giving Season

Today's blog features art from Olive Stack's exhibition, "The Giving Season."  To purchase or inquire, please contact the gallery or visit the website.

​There is excitement building in the gallery!  

Tonight is the opening of a new exhibition featuring work Olive created over the last sixteen months.  It is a pivotal time in the life of an artist, when a new body of work is framed, hung, titled and labeled.  For most artists (Olive included), this is the first time an entire grouping is viewed all at once - even by the artist herself.  Until the last piece is up, most artists will be holding their breath,  then stepping back, exhaling and opening their eyes.  This, this is the culmination of a year or more of work.  This is her creation.

Wine O'Clock - oil on panel

Arty-Choke (Hearts of Paris), oil on panel

How poignant to have this exhibition going up during the holidays...the year is drawing to a close and families are gathering together.  Each of us may ponder the year behind us, celebrating successes or contemplating loss.  To see a body of work dressed in its finery at this time of year may inform the next collection, to be started once the holiday lights are dimmed and extra long shop hours are ended.

It is the season of giving. Giving gifts, yes, but also giving ourselves a break from the constant push and pull.  Giving us time for reflection and rejuvenation.  Giving our spirits a chance to catch up with our feet, as a wise woman told me last week over breakfast (thanks, Mary!) and giving our feet a chance to rest.

It is the season for giving ourselves a pat on the back for a life well-lived, and for work well-done.  For an artist, it is the season for giving our art a chance to speak to hearts and delight eyes.  Giving the gift of art to the world, and hoping the world receives it with open arms.

It is a massive body of work, this new show.  Paintings, mosaics, watercolors and drawings in abundance.  There is a playful abandon in much of this work, a joyful embracing of life and color and form.  It reflects the freedom afforded by a successful residency program and the chance to spend time painting in Paris, France.

I Don't Give a Fig! (Garlic and Figs), oil on panel

I'm feeling quite sentimental as I write these words.  To have been present at Olive's last exhibition in 2016 was a delight; to be here for this one is an honor. Olive has created a home for artists around the world here in Listowel, and I am one of the lucky ones.  Congratulations, Olive Stack!  "The Giving Season" is a masterful exhibition, a bounty perfect for the month of angels singing, trees twinkling and hearts filled with joy.