“A painter has the universe in his mind and hands.”
Those are the words of Leonardo da Vinci pointing out that there is art is everything around us. And anyone who questions his wisdom will get to see what the great artist meant this weekend during the annual Artscape 2016 Studio Tour Weekend.
“The tour is a dynamic, yet intimate total immersion in art,” said Hazel Hornibrook, chair of the Almaguin Highlands Arts Council, organizer of the event. “Visitors can talk with the artists, experience their working environments and purchase art, all while enjoying the Almaguin landscape.”
But for Darren Copeland, the landscape is the art.
Copeland, a Canadian sound artist, and co-proprietor of the Warblers Roost Country Inn in South River, is turning his wooded property into interactive art that will “let the viewer hear as well as see the artwork,” he said.
Featured on this tour stop will be a birch tree outfitted as an antenna that will be picking up natural radio frequencies in the atmosphere.
“You’ll be able to hear things like thunderstorms that are happening thousands of miles away,” Copeland said.
Other audible wonders include a composition of music that is meant to be played in the forest.
“Visitors will sit on a log and listen to music that has been specifically recorded to compliment the natural sounds they will be hearing in the woods around them,” he said. “The context of where you are is the entry point to experiencing the artwork we will have on display.”
The exhibits, which also include a previously recorded video of the forest projected back against the same forest in real time, are all “nestled in little spots on the edge of the woods that you access off of the natural paths.” Copeland said.
The weekend tour includes the works of over 100 artists featured at 15 locations open to the public and lures the participant to meander throughout the Almaguin Highlands. Many of the artists, whose studios are only open for this special weekend every year, will be demonstrating their craft and sharing techniques including glass, jewellery, printmaking, pottery, photography, painting and carving.
And there is likely to be surprises in all of these categories.
North Bay artist and sculpture Morgan Walker has long been a fan of old airplanes and old motorcycles and those will make up a large part of the work he will have on display during the tour.
“To do the best job possible, you have to paint what you love,” Walker said. “I love bush planes, I have always been intrigued by float planes and I love motorcycles.”
Fans of vintage bikes are sure to appreciate his rendition of a 1915 Harley Davidson and its 1934 brother, and Walker says he may even put an Indian Chief on display to counterpoint his work of the Norduyn Norseman, the first Canadian designed bush plane.
“I used to do all kinds of pencil sketches when I was a little kid,” Walker said. “I would give them away to friends and family. I did a lot of sketches of ducks back then and later that morphed into carving ducks.”
His carving sat dormant for several years but in 2014 he painted his mallard and entered it in a Canadian national show where it earned him not only first place but Best in Show in his category.
“After that I decided I better get back to carving,” he said.
His wooden art will also be on exhibit during the tour at In The Leaves Studio in Sundridge.
A free booklet mapping out all the locations to the Artscape 2016 tour is available throughout the area at Tourist Information Centres, galleries, restaurants, hotels, resorts, and studios. It is also available on the Almaguin Highlands Art Council website or Facebook page.
All participating artists will have their studios open on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday, July 31 from noon to 4 p.m.
The public can explore studios along three different routes outlined in the brochure, or wander at will throughout the weekend.
