Among Friends, now showing in The Annex at APFTA

September 13, 2022

By Chris Drost

A Place for the Arts in Bancroft welcomes a group exhibition in The Annex for the month of September, “Among Friends,” featuring members of Buckhorn Artists’ Group,Diane Collins, Sue Flanagan, Norma MacEachern, JoAnne Connell Northey, Susan Sydney and Emil Varga. The show runs from Aug. 31 through Sept. 25.

The Buckhorn Tuesday Painters have a long history. The group was established in 1985 by 16 like-minded artists found themselves without a studio space and decided to get together and paint in St. Matthew’s Church Hall in Buckhorn. Since then, the group has expanded up to 24 members at one point, but since the impact of COVID-19, has diminished in numbers, at least for now.

In 1988 a number of members who were interested in exhibiting and selling their art, formed the Buckhorn Artists’ Group. The Group’s first show and sale, called “Among Friends,” was held on Victoria Day weekend of 1989. A subsequent show on Thanksgiving was called “Giving Thanks,” and one the following August was called “Shades of Summer.”

Following these three successful shows, the Group was unable to obtain the use of the church in August and so starting in 1992, they went with a 10-day show instead.

This year, the Group held its 30^th Annual Art Show in August in the St. Matthew’s Church Hall in Buckhorn. APFTA is excited to host the Group’s second exhibit during the month of September, with six of their members participating.

Susan Sydney has been exhibiting her work since 1982. She works in all media except oils and egg tempera. Her particular interests are animal portraits, wildlife, still life, flora, landscapes and mechanicals. Sydney’s more recent work includes abstracts and collage.

JoAnne Connell Northey is a watercolour artist and a potter. For her watercolour paintings, she sketches on location or from photographs she has taken, and then turns them into beautiful watercolour pieces. In her art and pottery studio, each piece of Northey’s pottery is hand done on the wheel and is unique.

Diane Collins has been painting a long time. She began by entering art competitions back in high school. When Collins retired in 1998, she took up her paintbrush again for both pleasure and relaxation. She says, “each piece is a new adventure.”

Norma MacEachern has had a lifelong interest in art and when she was young, was encouraged to expand on her knowledge of drawing and perspectives. Now retired, MacEachern has adjusted to extra time by working in pen and ink, oil, acrylic, watercolour, graphite and coloured pencil.

Sue Flanagan has been painting and creating her entire life. She worked in the fine jewellery and craft industries during her working years, but has since retired. Flanagan is currently experimenting in all painting materials, starting originally with watercolour and then moving on to acrylic and then more recently, wool needle felting, oil and mixed media. She has now taken up pottery and is creating some beautiful garden art.

Emil Varga took a drafting apprenticeship at a young age and then later transferred into product and design engineering where he worked for 42 years. Now retired, he is a self-taught artist, but has taken many workshops from notable artists. His images portray such things as the beauty of flowers, the tranquility of the evening sky and visions of Ontario landscapes that he captures in watercolour and mixed media in a semi-realistic style.