Group show presents a variety of forms and talents

Each summer since 2005, the Gallery presents a group exhibit featuring the work of Westmount artists, and this summer’s show, 'Close to Home', features the work of 10 local artists who express themselves in a variety of visual art forms, including photography, painting, collage, printmaking, and quilting.

The artists have related to the theme — close to home — in ways as varied as the art forms on display.

For certain artists, the community of Westmount was an inspiration.

Gael Eakin, working in pen and ink presents portraits of Westmont buildings including City Hall, as well as a winter landscape.

Photographer Burt Covit has turned his lens on the dogs of Westmount and manages to capture expressive moments and emotion in each of his three portraits.

The Westmount Quilters Guild produced a quilt entitled 'Westmount Blanketed by HBC', which depicts a map of the city and explores the local history of the fur trade using appliqués and embroidered images.

Co-founder of the Guild, Lilly Lam said that the embroidered figures represent “the ghosts of yesterday,” while contemporary landmarks are featured in different colours, with green identifying parks, yellow identifying houses of worship, and blue showing schools in the community.

The one red dot identifies the fire station.

Lam explained that the quilt was initially conceived as part of a national competition launched by the HBC in the summer of 2005.

Competitors were encouraged to incorporate local fur trade history into their work.

The Guild consulted the Westmount Historical Association and learned about fur trader Simon Clarke, whose home is depicted in the quilt.

The HBC provided the material in the form of blankets, which were used as trade items during the fur trade.

Work on the quilt had already begun when the HBC cancelled the competition in 2006, but the 15 members decided to finish the project anyway, with each member creating a section of the map that was then stitched together.

Lam has held on to the quilt and looked for opportunities to exhibit it.

“When the gallery invited submissions with the theme ‘close to home’, I thought it was very appropriate,” said Lam.

Tony Shine was also inspired by geographic representations but represented his home away from home, which has been San Miguel, Mexico for the past 15 years.

The architect and printmaker visited a city planning office to obtain a town plan of San Miguel, which he then used to create 'Opus Urbus V', an intaglio solarplate, and its impression, 'Opus Urbus IV'.

“I love town plans,” said Shine, “They’re evocative of all kinds of patterns of development and historical evolution.”

The plan of San Miguel was scanned onto a computer and the image transferred to an acetate sheet that was then placed on a metal plate with a polymer surface.

The plate was placed in the sun for about two minutes, allowing the sun’s rays to penetrate through the acetate and etch the image onto the plate.

The two pieces are displayed side-by-side in the Gallery, where the artist hopes the light from different angles will allow the viewer to explore the rich texture of the work.

Other artists delved into the emotional meanings of the theme.

Caroline Benchétrit’s 'Playmates' takes the viewer back to childhood, but the artist insists that her work is not for children, but instead intended to inspire adults.

“I’m trying to bring people back to that moment of inspiration where people knew what it was like to be real and anything was possible,” said Benchétrit. “There’s something about that idea that anything is possible when you’re a kid.”

The artist uses beeswax and acrylic paint to create her signature long-legged, redheaded female characters, who have inspired a cartoon television series and webcast that is in the commercial development stage.

“It’s about three girls who kick the mainstream to achieve their highest personal destinies,” said Benchétrit.

The series and her art is all about following one’s dream, which is what she did when she left her career as a pharmaceutical consultant to become a full time artist.

Her message that anything is possible can be seen in 'Almost Home', a work where her 'girls' dance and float their way through an urban landscape and fields of flowers. “What 'Almost Home' is about is getting on the path and following it until it brings you back to yourself. And that’s home,” said Benchétrit.

Close to Home runs until Aug. 18 at the Gallery at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke St. W., and with a variety of media and styles represented, visitors will likely find something that appeals to their personal taste.