Barrie artist Deb Grisé will kick off the Barrie Spring Art Tour beginning the first weekend in May.
She will be at a new location this year for the Barrie Spring Art Tour. The Barrie Art Club gallery is one of over a dozen venues on the tour and one of several that features multiple artists. Grisé, who is a member of the club, will be joining five artists for the self-guided tour, May 4-5, at the gallery, 11 King St., Unit 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Joining the club was one of the first things she did when she and her husband moved to Barrie from Penetanguishene six years ago. Her paintings of Georgian Bay remain the most popular of her landscapes which take in Killarney, Algonquin Park, Muskoka as well as the Barrie area.
She expects to have larger and smaller works, realistic and stylistic scenes for sale during the BSAT as well as some printed tea towels and scarves.
While Grisé started out in watercolours after about a decade she switched to oil. It coincided with a more serious focus on art in 2000. She had an opportunity to try it at no risk and felt it was very suitable for the landscape work she was doing.
“I love the texture of it, the feel of it, all the properties of it,” said Grisé, who credits her mother for sparking her initial interest in art because she provided her with supplies, books, and videos. “I found I really, really liked it so I just kept going.”
Since then, she has taught workshops at the Barrie Art Club and for Quest Art School & Gallery in Midland. Her tips and techniques have been featured in on-line art publications such as ArtWise. She ran her own gallery when she was living in Penetang, has participated in a variety of area art tours and several outdoor shows. Her work has been recognized in juried shows and competitions such as The Artist Magazine and her paintings are in private collections that span the globe.
Coinciding with the BSAT, Grisé is one of five area artists in a show at Double Door Gallery & Café, 4004 Horseshoe Valley Rd. W. Anten Mills from May 3-26. It is the first public exhibition for the collective, who have been painting together, on location, for the past 10 years. The exhibition is called Sisters of the Traveling Paints. The opening reception is Friday, May 3 from 6-9 p.m.
For more see debgriseart.com
The Barrie Spring Art Tour runs May 4-5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.barriespringarttour.ca