RINGS ON HER FINGERS
mixed media - transparent watercolour and acrylic archival varnish
10.25 x 11.5 in.
unframed
SOLD

Measha Brueggergosman is a “woman of color” in all senses – colorful in her zest for life, her clothes, her sensuality, her experience of so many cultures, her sharp wit. She is all these things, but Measha is a private person and that’s what comes out in these paintings. Over a period of 3 years, I sat in on rehearsals in 3 cities, went backstage during intermissions, and was with Measha in a tiny, cement-walled dressing room as she warmed up for her numbers. Being at such close range to the power and beauty of that voice and her person was electrifying, and an unforgettable gift. The hours I spent with her on vacation with friends and family, relaxing unadorned, contemplative, preoccupied with her thoughts – I’ve seen that, too. What I see in “Glass House” is Measha in touch with the source that powers her.

Ann Balch, 2010

GLASS HOUSE
oil on canvas
30 x 40 in.
unframed
SOLD

New Brunswick's Ann Balch has been working as a full time professional artist since 1996. She was elected to the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour (CSPWC) in 2001 and the Society of Canadian Arts (SCA) in 2007. Her work was juried into the 80th Anniversay exhibition of the CSPWC in Toronto in 2005. She won the 2004 Jarvis Award for Excellence in Transparent Watercolour for her painting "Eye of the Beholder", which hangs in Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General. In 2001, her work won the Charles Comfort Award for Excellence in Figurative Painting at the CSPWC's annual juried exhibition in Toronto. Ann was one six Canadian watercolourists to be represented at the Fifth International Watercolour Biennial held at the Museo Nacional de la Acuarela in Mexico City 2002-2003. Thirty three countries participated.

Her work has been featured in the documentary film A Question of Beauty; in Canadian Brushstroke magazine and several American and international art magazines; and in a book published by International Artist. She was a finalist chosen from over 11,000 entries in the 2008 annual international competition of the American publication "The Artist's Magazine", and in 2006 finished among the top ten in American Artist "Watercolor" magazine's competition.

Although her love affair with watercolour continues, Ann has rediscovered her love of oils in the past few years and has included both in recent exhibitions. Work is held in collections in Canada and the United States, including the Canadiana Fund State Art Collection, the New Brunswick Art Bank, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Canada, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour Diploma Collection, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation and the City of Moncton collection.

WHAT IS A TRANSPARENT WATERCOLOUR?

Transparency is the quality of watercolours that allows the passing of light through glazes of paint to reflect off the paper's surface. Transparency as a classification of watercolour indicates no white, bodycolours or gouaches (opaques) were used. In a transparent watercolour, the white of the paper is preserved by the artist wherever a white statement is intended in the painting.

WHAT IS AND WHY USE ACRYLIC ARCHIVAL VARNISH?

Ann has eliminated the need to cover her watercolours with glass by finishing them with an acrylic archival varnish protecting them from UV rays, moisture and dirt. The acrylic archival varnish bonds with the watercolour pigment and paper and the resulting image may be regarded as an acrylic impregnated image. These pieces are referred to as "mixed media", but they retain the visual quality of a watercolour while letting the viewer experience the painting in a more direct way.