Local artists offer accessible art at Metcalfe show

Three Ottawa artists are “recessionizing” the business of fine art at their very first art show this coming Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13 at the Metcalfe Town Hall on Victoria Street.

Deborah Lyall, Barbara Carlson and John Benn have come together after years of friendship to showcase their artwork that, while distinct in their styles and media, share two important commonalities: local content and accessibility.

“Our thing is to have art that’s affordable for the everyday person to buy. It’s kind of like recessionizing the way that you sell art, to have it more accessible to people who are on budget,” explained Greely framer and relatively new artist Lyall, who creates vintage fashion-inspired graphics working from old Ottawa Citizen catalogues, advertisements and photos.

While Lyall uses recycled paper, repurposed fabrics and other multimedia materials to create her fun – and often very funny – graphics, Carlson spends her time extrapolating fun and whimsical creatures, objects and fashion pieces out the junk she finds on the ground around Ottawa. Objects are scanned into their digital form, where she then works them into animated drawings from her very unique imagination.

“If you look at things you can recognize the items. If you look up close,” Lyall said.

One of Carlson’s drawings hanging in Lyall’s house is called the “homemade highrise,” an image of a towering brick apartment building made up of photos of many different houses, walk-ups and apartments around the city.

“A beautiful mind, this woman has,” Lyall added.

Carlson’s husband John Benn is perhaps the most traditional of the three, creating ‘plein air’ oil paintings of various landscapes and scenes found in Ottawa South.

Plein air painting sounds just like what it is: the artist takes his materials, sits outside in the elements and paints the scene in front of him from start to finish.

“The man is amazing. He paints outside in the cold. He will be outside being eaten by bugs all day, and it’s done in a short amount of time. Plein air painting tends to be a little more coarse,” Lyall explained.

Benn used to be a well-known etcher in the capital as well, creating intricate scenes and landscapes around Ottawa.

“It’s a really good mix, the three of us together. I think it will be an interesting show,” Lyall said.

Lyall grew up in an antique shop and now runs a picture framing business out of her log cabin home near Greely, where she is famous for making shadow boxes to display heirlooms and cherished items.

Now 50, after 20 years of framing other peoples’ art, she decided last year to start making her own.

She was inspired by her grade six teacher Bob Robb, who taught her at Blossom Park Public School and kept in touch throughout her life until he died this year.

“He always encouraged me in art, and he always said ‘How come you’re not doing it?’ I thought framing was going to be it for me. But I got this bug to start doing my own stuff about a year ago. I started working with fabric and multi media work and this is what’s happened,” she said, gesturing to the chaotic studio hung with dozens of her signature vintage silhouettes. Postage stamp-inspired cameos, variations on old-fashioned underclothes, colourful flowers, old trucks and vintage formalwear pop out of their frames around the room, outlined in black and backed with bright colours.

A quilt comprised of ornate paper stars is dedicated to Robb, whose funeral Lyall spoke at several months ago, and whose family will be at the art show. Prints of individual quilting squares will be on sale for $40.

“This gentleman always said to us, ‘Don’t live on the sidelines of your life; reach.’ So, of course, I made stars,” she said.