Close up detail of Pinstripes and Plaid / Portrait of Jamie Wyeth by Lynne Gerard I was in my early 20's when I was first exposed to the works of clan Wyeth and throughout the development of my career in painting, poetry and calligraphy their artful dynasty continues to be a source of delight and wonder for me.   Larger than life patriarch, N.C. Wyeth and his dynamic, dramatic, dazzling paintings captivate my imagination by taking me into faraway conjured landscapes.  Paintings by his son, Andrew, imprint themselves upon me in a much different way - through their tensions of strength and subtlety, subdued colours, technical virtuosity, so adeptly capturing the essences of things, whether they be landscapes or humans, in a manner that resonates with the emotional responses arising within me through my own habitual roamings through windswept fields.  And then we have the grandson, James (Jamie) - what an astounding amalgamation of familial influences he has had which y...

Strange Times / The Newscaster Paleolithic-style Rock Painting by Lynne Gerard “Let me make some greeting cards using images from my Paleolithic-style rock paintings!” , methought one day.  As you cannot scan a rock painting into the computer (at least not that I am aware is possible), I took photos of some of those I made earlier this year and uploaded the photos to my computer.  I composed new verses, did the calligraphy and made my templates then printed out the base card, hand-painted each one, glued on the art prints, scored and folded them and soon was able to add four new greeting cards to my product list.  They are on sale in the gallery or available online, priced at $7 each. Strange Times / The Newscaster Outside text: Sometimes the best we can do is sit and dream — of a friendly face or a favourite place or some exquisite thing — taking their essence within like a breath — being energized by, refreshed — now able to carry on in a beautiful way. Inside text: Per...

The Ravenseyrie Art Gallery has been open for sometime now, albeit on truncated hours as the Gore Bay Harbour Centre is following a cautious reopening due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Several of the shops/studios are closed completely until the virus is no longer a threat.  The marine museum is closed as is the lower level. Four of our tenants have been willing to be open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4pm. For myself, I have been keeping my usual hours (Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 10am to 4pm) all through the pandemic lockdown and am continuing in that manner even now, though the rest of the building may be a darkened cavern at times.  Should visitors come on one of the days when the Harbour Centre is closed, they may come around to my studio door on the 2nd floor lakeside of the building and ask for permission to view my gallery.  Facemasks and sanitized hands are part of our protocol.  I provide wipes I make using alcohol and tea tr...

Original Paleolithic-style rock painting by Lynne Gerard Ravenseyrie Studio & Art Gallery / Manitoulin Island For the past three weeks I have set up one of the work tables in my studio so that I can create new rock paintings.  I've been painting on rocks in a manner influenced by Paleolithic cave art since first moving to the island 15 years ago. Ravenseyrie Rock Art information card On Wednesday, I selected one of the many stone "canvases" that I had collected from the Ravenseyrie beach last summer.  It's a lovely rock (I find them all wonderfully beautiful) and after turning it around in a number of directions I thought when placed horizontally, it had a shape and colour that would look quite nice with a pair of Ravens painted on it. I put the rock "canvas" in an easel and sat down in front of it with my sketch book to work up a design for two Ravens that would best fit the contours and relief elements inherent in the stone....