Guild artists ready for annual ‘Small Paintings’ show

The Beach Guild of Fine Art’s annual Small Paintings for Small Spaces show will take over the Gardener’s Cottage in Kew Gardens on the last weekend in May.

2016 marks the 19th year for the show at the cottage, and 35 artists from the guild will take part. Some member artists will be out on Queen Street doing live paintings, so art lovers and the merely curious can get an idea of what it takes to go from blank canvas to finished painting.

Pieces in the show are limited to a total 65-inch border so work is conveniently sized for small living spaces (or for those whose walls have limited open space remaining). Work is priced to match – this annual show is a great chance for collectors to pick up affordable work from their favourite local artists.

Show convenor Jordana Heney has only been in the guild for two years, but already has an appreciation for the place the Guild and the venue hold in the neighbourhood.

“I didn’t grow up in Toronto and I’d never seen inside the cottage before last year, but I understood right away the sense of longevity in the community that The Beach Guild and places like the Gardener’s Cottage have,” Heney says.

“I hadn’t even been part of the guild a whole year when I was asked to convene the show for 2015,” she says. “I enjoyed the outcome enough that I was happy to do it again.”

Heney, originally from Ottawa, is a graduate of Sheridan College’s bachelor of illustration program, and brings an illustrative quality to her work. Using mostly acrylic and ink, her compositions feature flowing figures and decorative line work framing vibrant colours

Small Paintings for Small Spaces runs from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 27, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 at Kew William’s Cottage, also known as the Gardener’s Cottage, on the east side of Kew Gardens near the foot of Lee Avenue.

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