McCarthy _The Georgian Bay factor is the second of the Focus series presenting selections of work by many of our artists from over the last 54 years.
Until December 11, by appointment,
Wednesday through Friday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Saturday, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Doris McCarthy, Georgian Bay Thumbnail Sketch, 1960′s, mixed media on paper, 9″ x 8″
With quick, assured strokes of the pen and brush, Doris captures the essence of Georgian Bay.
Painted in the sixties, this study shows Doris working through ideas for her larger paintings, blending here the abstract and literal in a formative, stand alone work. Fresh and direct, now as then.
Doris McCarthy, Cubby Hole Cottage, 1998, watercolour on paper, 15″ x 22″
In 1959, Doris, along with four other artists/peers, purchased two cottages on a point in Georgian Bay. She continued each summer to work there for two months, painting the medium sized canvases and watercolours, often referring to the studies made earlier in the year or, in this case, working plein-air discovering and revealing the wonders of her surrounds.
This dramatic watercolour shows a sturdy and simple cottage/studio nestled in a concave glen surrounded by the sturdy evergreens, rocks flowing as if just being formed, revealing the majesty of this landscape
It is a windswept day. Doris with just a touch of her brush shows us the stormy waters edge reflecting the grey skies. Two boulders, highlighted with orange, take the brunt of the waves, their colour matching that of the cottage. A dynamic moment that Doris could capture so well with such joy and verve!
Doris McCarthy, Thumbnail study, watercolour and ink on paper, 1960′s, 9″ x 8″
Doris McCarthy, Thumbnail Study, watercolour and ink on paper, 1960′s 9″ x 8″
In the early years at Georgian Bay Doris started her decade long exploration of hard edge abstraction referring to the surrounding landscape, the patterns and striations of the rocks and pools of water providing much material for her to work with. These two studies, vibrant and edgy, were included in the Doris McCarthy Gallery’s exhibition Doris McCarthy, Roughing it in the Bush, curated by Nancy Campbell, and focusing on the 60′s work.
For Doris this was a seminal time of her life and art, fed by her previous work and studies. Through her curiosity and search for excellence, this important body the work evolved, at the centre of her career, securing the vision of her future work, and the next 40 years.
Doris McCarthy, Rocks By The Cubby Hole Cottage, 2001, watercolour on paper, 15″ x 22″
A lone tree, stripped of its leaves, attests to the forces that also shaped the rocks, along with the melting glaciers from millennia past, exposing the multi coloured granite, tufts of grasses pushing up through the creases of the rock striations, the calm water and distant blue sky to contrast and balance. Doris reveled in the possibilities provided her by Georgian Bay, as in this striking painting.