P is for Pastels

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

When most people see a teacup and kettle sitting on a tablecloth in a kitchen, they don't associate the view to much other than a hot beverage that goes down very well with some sweets. But for Beaconsfield artist Susanne Strater, a whole world of possibilities is unlocked.

"Sometimes it's the way the light hits, the way you're looking at (everyday objects)," she said of her reasons for being drawn to everyday objects as her subjects.

Strater will hold a vernissage for her show, Domestic Bliss: The Alphabet in Pastel, at Galerie Ouest in Ste. Anne de Bellevue on Friday evening at 7 p.m. Twenty-six pastel works, each depicting an everyday object starting with a different letter of the alphabet, will be on display.

In one piece, Lemons on lemons, a few of the yellow fruits sit atop a blue blanket with drawings of flat, two-dimensional lemons on it. The illusory effect makes some of the lemons look like real, three-dimensional examples standing against the backdrop of what are supposed to be drawings within a drawing.

This "art work within an art work" pops up again in another piece by Strater called Quilt. She got around the somewhat awkward task of finding an object to represent with the letter Q by asking Galerie Ouest curator and quilt artist Helena Scheffer if she could reproduce one of her works with her pastels.

"I am purely motivated by the visual," Strater said. She does not care if a teapot sitting alone on a table reflects the state of human existence, she said with a laugh, but is more interested in the texture of the tablecloth underneath it.

A homemaker as well, Strater said it gives her the opportunity to spend a lot of time with her "domestic subjects."

Besides being the first pastel works exhibition at the newly opened Galerie Ouest, the occasion will also mark the first time the gallery will host a workshop with its artist on display, in this case Strater.

Scheffer said she was really supportive of the idea of a workshop. "You can have the workshop and be surrounded by the inspiration of the paintings all around," said the curator.

The three workshop sessions will each be three hours long, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. There is a $100 participation fee per person.