Huntsville Festival of the Arts & Jay Richardson, Broker, Royal LePage Lake of Bays office are honoured to sponsor the brilliant works of Beverly Hawksley. The gala opening was crowded with a who’s who of art patrons & fans and Beverly’s son - well known musician Hawksley Workman
Painter Beverley Hawksley and musician Sarah Spring are teaming up to present a multi-media show at The Art Space in Huntsville. Imagining Winnie will include Hawksley’s visual art, paintings, installation and writing, with music by Spring.
“I was moved to do something about my long time interest in Winnie (Trainor) after I read Roy MacGregor’s Northern Light,” said Hawksley, fresh from her show at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. “I began to think about the fact that her life has really only been defined by her connection to Tom Thomson.” Writer Roy MacGregor, grew up in Huntsville, has researched and written about the life and mysterious death of the artist, and has recounted stories about his partner Winnie Trainor. They were engaged when he took his fateful canoe ride in 1917.”Winnie Trainor never married after Tom died. She lived at 3 Minerva and, it was said, kept more than a dozen Tom Thomson originals wrapped in newspaper and stored in a six-quart basket.
Beverley Hawksley has been compelled to delve into Winnie’s story through her own paintings.
“It seems to me, her identity was lost in some mystery for the rest of her life. So, I began to imagine her from a contemporary perspective … creating an atmosphere that I hope will allow some thoughts and imaginings about this woman who lived and loved in a time of secrets … to give space for recognition of some stories that have been put aside for a very long time.”
Hawksley tells stories through her large-scale figurative paintings, describing her work as being in “state” rather than “location.” Emotion is key to her paintings and her best ones seem imbued with either a quiet melancholy or a kicky playfulness. In either case, it is emotional work that evokes a sense of the reality of the human condition in its abstract grace.
Hawksley asked Sarah Spring to create some original compositions to lend a musical dimension to the show and Spring jumped at the chance. “I was inspired because I think Beverley’s brilliant,” she said. “I saw her paintings and got more inspired, about this project in particular. I have spent many summers at Canoe Lake and I’ve always been intrigued by the Tom Thompson, Canoe Lake, Winnie Trainer story.”
She has made some acoustic piano recordings for the show crossing genres from classical to jazz to pop.
Imagining Winnie, a multi-media presentation that creates a space for imagining the heart that loved Tom Thomson. Paintings and installation by Beverley Hawksley with music by Sarah Spring. August 5 to 28, The Art Space Gallery.
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