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Artists in the Charleswood, Tuxedo and Headingley areas will be rolling up their drop cloths and rolling out the red carpet for guests on the Harte Trail Studio Art Tour this weekend. Twenty artists in a wide variety of mediums will be welcoming people of all ages into their creative spaces to showcase their works.
For watercolourist Terry Murray, who has participated in six of the seven years the studio tour has operated, the tour marks the end of a creative year. “It puts a closure on the year of painting that I had, and then, I start thinking about and looking forward to the next year,” she smiles, noting that the tour serves as an artistic litmus test for how people are responding to her creations. “You do get feedback from people on your work, and I think that informs us about what’s a pleasing aesthetic to others.”
That pleasing aesthetic is easy to find for Murray and for the artists living alongside the Harte Trail. With surroundings like the Assiniboine Forest and Assiniboine Park in the near vicinity, nature imagery is a common theme amongst the artists on the tour. Murray’s inspiration comes from places like The Leaf and the botanical gardens, and as a result, a lot of her work is floral in nature. “I tell people all the time how blessed we are in this city that somebody had the foresight to put that space there so we could be inspired,” she says.
Tour participants will receive a passport at the first studio they visit and will collect stamps along their journey to the various studios. Murray notes that this year, participants who get five or more stamps will be entered into a draw for money towards buying a piece from the artist of their choice.
For Murray, the point of the tour is not to make a profit on her works, but to engage with the people around her for inspiration. “It’s really exciting to be able to share what we do,” she says. “Often, we work in isolation, and here, you get to actually talk about the process of your work.”
The Harte Trail Studio Art Tour will be hosted on September 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. at participating studios. More information can be found on the tour’s website.