General News

APFTA’s Annex Gallery welcomes Beth Popham’s exhibition Along the Trail

May 3, 2022

By Chris Drost

Visual artist, Beth Popham will present Along the Trail, a new exhibition of work, at A Place for the Art’s Annex Gallery, 23 Bridge St. West in Bancroft from May 4 to 29.

After a career as a university teacher, Popham has come back to the visual arts, working primarily in acrylics combined with pen and ink and photographic decoupage. She credits much of her inspiration to her en plein air outings and long walks with her trusty camera.

Popham is drawn to the beautiful natural environment around us, the lakes, rivers, forest and farms, but also enjoys painting landscapes and street scenes. For this show, the work focuses on the edge of the trail. She remembers William Blake’s hope that we do not lose the ability “to see heaven in a wildflower, and eternity in a grain of sand.”

Whether in her botanical studies, portraiture, life drawing or landscapes, Popham is inspired by the elegance of shape and line. “My favourite subjects could be called micro-landscapes or natural abstracts. In looking out to the horizon, landscape painters can miss the beauty that lies at the edge of the trail. Sometimes I just sit down and focus on what meets my gaze. Trees are replaced in the line of vision by grasses and wildflowers, ripples and reflections become focal points, small things become monumental,” explains Popham.

Popham will be on site at the Annex Gallery on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 22 to answer any questions and to talk with visitors to the gallery more about her work.

To view more photos of Popham’s work visit www.apfta.ca