Jun 12, 2020 7 min read

A Brush with Life - Issue #54 Island Time Summer 2020 Solo Exhibition

The Terrill Welch Gallery main Garden Room is showing “Island Time Summer 2020” - a solo exhibition of some of Terrill Welch’s larger arbutus tree paintings is now ready for visitors by appointment, 1 or 2 from the same household at a time, mask recommended and hand sanitizer provided. We are a

We are also offering VIP video call visits by appointment through various platforms such as Zoom, FaceBook Messenger or iPhone FaceTime for both the gallery’s Garden Room and Arbutus Room. This kind of distance visit seems to work surprisingly well as you can ask questions, get me to go closer or back to a painting you want to see again or view the work from a different angle. A video call visit to both gallery rooms takes between 30-45 minutes. To book a video call visit just reply to this newsletter and we can set something up.

And please enjoy our short video tour introduction....

Island Time Summer 2020 Terrill Welch Gallery Mayne Island BC

The Terrill Welch Gallery main Garden Room “Island Time Summer 2020” solo exhibition of some of my larger arbutus tree paintings is now ready for visitors by...

Seasonal Rhythms

I love the natural rhythms of days that are organized by the season and the weather. Monday was a long and full-on-big-sweeps kind of day starting with getting six paintings in three different parcels sent off to art collectors.

Preparing Six Terrill Welch Paintings to Ship to 3 Destinations

Then there was an in-person with masks gallery visit that had been organized by appointment several days earlier. This worked extremely well and took a little over 30 minutes for both gallery rooms. The visitor had done his homework and was familiar with the paintings in both the shows and the background behind the work. The visit resulted in a lovely exchange and plans were made for future considerations.

This was followed by getting grounds on seven painting sketch boards for plein air and study work.

Grounds Drying for Plein Air and Studies

The largest was a linen board that was used for a still life alla prima painting using walnut oils.

In between a friend gifted us a whole flat of strawberries from the garden! I was expecting one of those little four inch pints so my mouth fell open into gaping disbelief when all this abundance arrived at our door.

I was making meatloaf, baked potatoes and salad for an early supper. I had run out of tomatoes so strawberries it was!

I continued painting after dinner until the still life work was completed and came to rest.

I could smell the pink peppermint scent of the peonies all the time I was painting. They are quite an evocative flower with a kind of delicate flounce despite their large size. Just so you know, peonies expect you to notice that they are not a rose and will roll their eyes and noticeably shudder if you happen to make a mistake. And no one wants to witness a shuddering grim-faced peony!

That was Monday and each day since then has followed its own trajectory guided by the season and the weather. If it rains then there is always a series of emails to write, messages to send and so on. Art supplies and a canvas for another commission and gallery posters need to be ordered. The final phase of the renovation of the hallway to the main gallery needs to put in motion. Represented artists promotion plans need considering and so on. And I love it!

Winter is going to come and with it likely another round of “stay at home” orders. I want to be physically, emotionally and financially ready to thrive during this time of short days and seasonal storms. This summer will be different but no less rewarding I think. Others are planning their winter “cozy-at-home” time as well. For art collectors, this seems to be including, for both comfort and enjoyment, more than few of my paintings (and hopefully those of the other artists represented by the gallery). We will get through this unsettling time of chaos upheaval and challenge. Together we are going to do it!

Opinion Piece - the necessity for beauty

I have been musing about the appropriateness of taking time to see, notice and paint beauty during such tumultuous times of this virus, black lives matter demonstrations, economic uncertainty and the urgent attention needed regarding climate change. My sense is that there is a greater need than ever for the remembering and noticing of what is beautiful in an ordinary day. There is a greater need because it is in this noticing that we find our resilience for the long haul ahead of loss and hurt and the unraveling of life as we have known it. These combinations of changes are not for the next few months, not even just for the next couple of years but for likely the next couple of hundred years or longer. Our ability to find and keep our individual and collective humanity intact will require these moments of pause and remembering and noticing the bloom of a flower, the owl in the night calling across a valley, the changing colours of the sea and the curve of a tree as it reaches for the sunlight. This is not burying one’s head in the sand so as not to notice. This is a reminder of why it is so important to be present and do whatever we need to do for a better world. These are not just pretty paintings or escapism. They are the very foundation of our endurance... at least for some of us.

This is my offer: If you are struggling, angry and doubtful about our abilities as humankind, give seeking beauty in an ordinary moment a try. See if it doesn’t possibly remind you of what is good, what is possible, a moment of kindness, a moment that breaks away from the hurtful and the unforgivable. Try it for just even a few minutes... then continue on being the change you wish see, with gratitude for being alive and having the opportunity.

I am including “Amber’s Peonies” below to provide an immediate opportunity to take me up on this offer. You see, I don’t notice just these peonies. I see Amber’s soft smile and strong gaze as her eyes hold mine with confidence and clarity. She is due to have a second child this summer and her husband and young daughter are there by her side helping out in the market stand. She is getting them ready to take on a bigger role as this young family provides essential fresh food needs for island residents... and yes, beauty in the flowers that she has arranged between the long hours of growing, harvesting, bundling and packing produce. I believe their work is one of the many ways forward into a better future. The very least I can do is take a few hours standing at the easel with my brushes to capture their beauty and her efforts to offer sustenance, hope and community.

So here they are so very shiny and wet resting lightly on the linen canvas board....

Amber’s Peonies “resting” 11 x 14 inch walnut oil on linen board

Maybe next time more new releases!

I did have four new painting sketch releases for you but three of them have been sent off to a collector and newsletter subscriber for consideration. So there is just one new painting sketch currently available and I have a request for another already in the works if that person’s choice sells out of the three that went to someone else. Especially with the small plein air painting sketches, if you are interested in one, you either have to be fast or make a request for a particular subject area and then receive first right of refusal. These four were released one evening and by the next afternoon three were being shipped and one has a second sale on it if the first one doesn’t go forward. Just so you know 😉.

Reef Bay Looking Towards Oyster Bay by Terrill Welch | Artwork Archive

The morning took me to one of my favourite places out on the far reef at Reef Bay. The results didn’t amount to much really. But the personal benefits were s...

Open by Appointment

Both gallery rooms are now open by appointment as you know. I have now completed both an online video call and an in person visit wearing masks. These protocols and approaches seems to work extremely well. I anticipate this will be our visiting process for the rest of 2020 except if there is an increase in cases and a second wave of the virus requires us to stay at home again in the fall or winter. So please, if either of these options seem appealing and would enhance your current online gallery experience, do let me.

All the best to you!

I wish you all the best of times out in the fresh air, seeking sunshine and seasonal bounty from your garden or that of local markets. May your heart be filled with love and your feet settle lightly upon the earth!

Terrill 👩‍🎨🎨❤️