On one of the hottest days of our summer so far, humid… humid…humid… I set off on the bus to head downtown Toronto to the Bau-Xi Gallery where the fabulous and internationally acclaimed Vancouver based contemporary artist, Bobbie Burgers was having an exhibition.
It was to be my artist date this week – time to fill up on soul infusing love and beauty. Well, by the time I got to the subway, I was already getting supremely hot and sticky, and I have to say this is not one of my favourite feelings. Then, for some reason, I had it in my head that the gallery was right near one of the subway stops, so I intended to endure the heat with a smile.
Well, not only was my impression off the mark, I also had the wrong street number in my head. I kept walking and walking. Sweat breaking out and dripping down my back. Wind blowing my hair and wilting it from the humidity.
I kept walking and walking until the visual I had of where I thought the gallery was became a ‘what in the world was I thinking?’ realization. Haha. When I finally arrived at Bau-Xi the epiphany came, ‘Oh yeah, this is where it is!’
The gallery was packed and I just wanted to find a cool place to collect myself. Oh well, onward I went pitching that smile in my heart, because after all I was about to experience a feast for my eyes and soul and meet an artist I admire.
The exhibition did not disappoint. Nor did the artist herself – Bobbie is a lovely lovely spirit and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet her.
From what I heard the exhibition sold out in the first 15 minutes, but, I suspect the paintings were probably spoken for before the show officially opened.
I took my time with each painting. Thoroughly breathing in each stroke of colour and the glorious flowers that inspired her.
My favourite piece in the exhibition was hands down the one titled ‘Lightly Touching Down’ – at 84 x 66 in. it captured a joy in me.
I purchased Bobbi’s artwork book, which I began to read this morning. I had to stop because it’s so gorgeous – in art and words, that I want to savour it. I will definitely write a separate blog post for her book.
In the meantime, here’s a snippit from her time living in France that made me sigh with appreciation:
As I paint, I muse that my painting is like the printout from a heart monitor in a hospital. Yes, I am still here, my heart is still beating. The tiny jig and jags are always going forward but jagging up and down in a fury of lines, then calm. They appear right before my eyes – skips and pulses, highlights and lowlights. They roll out and keep moving forward, as if my hand could interpret my heart and its years of looking out across fields, feeling all the sunshine and cold winds and human effort that has gone into them.
~ Bobbie Burgers
It’s no wonder her paintings and books sell nearly as fast as they are available.]
