A solo exhibition, February 16 – March 25, 2022

Vernissage/Meet the Artist: Saturday February 26, 2pm-5pm.

From February 16 to March 25, Sivarulrasa Gallery is delighted to present BARBARA GAMBLE: SPELLBOUND, FORTY YEARS OF ARTMAKING, an important survey exhibition featuring works by Ottawa-based artist Barbara Gamble. The exhibition can be seen in-person during our regular Gallery hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays 11am to 5pm, and Sundays 11am-4pm.

Presented in our Gallery I and II, the exhibition surveys Barbara Gamble’s work over the past four decades, providing fresh insights into the artist’s creative journey. We are thrilled to feature selected works, some never previously exhibited, created from the 1980s through to 2021. Included are life drawings produced in the 1980s during independent group studio sessions, pastels created in wilderness settings, experimental works in printmaking, and paintings of landscape subjects. While Barbara Gamble has exhibited in many group and solo shows throughout her career, many of her studies and investigations made with different materials and subjects have never been seen by the public before.

Born in Ontario, Barbara Gamble grew up in Canada’s Maritime provinces, lived in the US and Europe, and settled in Ottawa. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Ottawa in 1994. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in galleries and in municipal, provincial, and national institutions. A passionate advocate for the arts,  she has also served in many volunteer positions in the cultural sector, including positions on the board of directors of the Ottawa Art Gallery, CARFAC National, and the Enriched Bread Artists. Her paintings are held in many private, corporate, and public collections, including the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Ottawa Art Gallery, the City of Ottawa, Air Canada, Fairmount Hotels, and the Business Development Bank of Canada.

The artist gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ontario Arts Council.

Vernissage/Meet the Artist: Saturday February 26, 2pm-5pm. This will be our first in-person vernissage of the year! In keeping with Ontario rules, proof of vaccination will be required. Light refreshments will be served. Artist Barbara Gamble will be in attendance. We look forward to seeing you!

Available Works: Visit our Virtual Gallery under New Arrivals: Gallery I and New Arrivals: Gallery II

Contact the Gallery: Call 613-256-8033 or email [email protected] for queries.

 

Included in the show, and being exhibited for the first time to the public, is a special series of 7 works in pastel. Painted by Barbara Gamble en plein air in 1989 as part of an artists workshop led by the renowned pastel artist Horace Champagne in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, they signal a pivotal period in the evolution of her practice. “I had an exhilarating week hiking and drawing in the high mountains. I backpacked my supplies to striking settings – lake edges, mountain vistas and quiet meadows,” she notes. “This in situ experience proved to be a pivotal moment in my art career. Shortly after the trip, feeling confident and motivated, I committed to a full time art practice.”

We invited Ottawa-based writer Laura Paquet to give a personal response to the 7 works in pastel:

In these days when travel is limited, many of us are looking for virtual ways to visit far-away places. And Barbara Gamble’s pastels of Yoho National Park are like a trip to British Columbia without the flight. Exuberant and evocative, they take me straight to the Rockies; I can practically smell the scent of pine trees in the crisp October air. In my favourite piece, Lake Edge, light shimmers as it dances off a teal-tinted lake and mist-streaked mountainsides. The moodier Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, brings to mind a damp late-fall day, with grey clouds portending a storm and dustings of early snow along the shoreline.

Clearly, lakes are my thing, but Gamble’s curiosity extends far beyond them. In Meadow to Mountain, the gold and copper of fallen stalks in an autumn field contrast with towering pines and looming peaks in the background. Into the Forest, Yoho, on the other hand, is a dream-like glimpse of a forest floor as the year draws to a close, with tree roots tangled with fading green vegetation.

 

While Barbara Gamble is best known for her landscape-based works, many of her early explorations in art centred on the human figure. For periods in her career, she studied the human form in life-drawing studio sessions, producing studies, gesture sketches, and pastel drawings. “This practice trained my hand-eye coordination,” she says of drawing from life, “it enhanced my understanding of the formal elements of artmaking.” In this exhibition, the Gallery is delighted to present three pastel studies of studio models, created by Barbara Gamble in the 1980s.