November 26-December 16
Artist's Reception: Saturday, November 26, 1pm-4pm

It’s All Who You Know is an exhibition of figurative drawings and paintings by Dayna Barley-Cohrs.

The exhibition includes both drawings and paintings, some of which are studies to accurately depict the subject while others are attempts to capture a feeling, mood or personality.  

The portraits are of Dayna’s family or friends, people with whom she holds a personal connection. “I enjoy the challenge of representing in art people that I know and who will see the work when it is completed,” says Dayna. “This is very different from rendering models who you have no personal connection with and have no idea of what their personalities are like.”  

During the year and a half it took to make the drawings and paintings for this show, Dayna discovered that creating these portraits that will be seen in a small community added another dimension to the process.   

“Many people who view the works also have a connection to the people in the paintings,” says Dayna. “Though I may never have met the viewers, the viewers have met my subjects and hold a personal connection to them. It may be a friend, an acquaintance or a family member.”  

Dayna kept this in mind as she worked to produce an accurate depiction of her subjects’ features, but also as she strove to reveal a bit of their personality. “Through the portraits, I have tried to capture what I feel is my subjects’ personality and to view the subjects not only through my eyes, but through the eyes of others as well,” explains Dayna who, with her husband, cleared their land and built by their own hand, a straw bale house in the village of Vankoughnet.  

It’s All Who You Know is Dayna’s first solo exhibition and her first major body of work since graduating from the Ontario College of Art & Design in 2003. “This show represents my journey to relearn my technique. The more I paint and immerse myself in my art, the more I am discovering about myself and how I relate to my work,” reveals Dayna. “These paintings represent my attempt to begin painting professionally and to produce the quality of work and expression in painting I know I am capable of.”  

Preparing for this show was not easy. “Having to relearn my technique meant sometimes spending hours painting over something I had already completed but not to my satisfaction.” As a mother of a three year old son and a 10 month old baby daughter meant that Dayna had to paint when her children were preoccupied or napping. “It was difficult to complete larger pieces and I questioned my work many times, never having the time to truly focus on one thing,” says Dayna who works with oil paint and charcoal. “But there was nothing more rewarding than when my son would come home from a day away, excited to see what was on my easel and instantly recognizing the person in the portrait.”  

Since returning to painting just last year, Dayna’s work has met with recognition and success. In the spring of 2010, she exhibited her first painting since leaving the Ontario College of Art and Design at Muskoka Arts & Crafts’ 33rd Annual Spring Members’ Show at which she received an Award of Excellence for Portraiture. That summer, she was accepted for Muskoka Arts & Crafts 48th Annual Summer Show and also participated in Art in the Heart, a program with the Town of Bracebridge that supports new and emerging artists.  

About her upcoming solo exhibition, Dayna remarks: “I am both anxious and excited to see and hear the reaction to my work.”  

An opening reception is being held on Saturday, November 26, between 1pm and 4pm. The exhibition continues until December 16.

 

        If you would like to receive e-mail notices of our upcoming exhibitions and shows, 
please send an e-mail with your request including your full name and e-mail address.


Located at 15 King Street in Bracebridge, the gallery is open year-round, Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm. It is closed during the last week of September and the second week of October as well as between Christmas and New Year’s Days. Please check the Calendar of Events for the actual dates. For a map, please follow this link.

Exhibitions are booked one year in advance.  To learn how to apply for a show, please follow this link: Exhibition Application.

The Chapel Gallery was opened in September, 1989. Housed in a reconstruction of the first Presbyterian Church in Bracebridge, the Chapel Gallery hosts exhibitions of art and craft by our members and other local and provincial artists. Exhibitions are selected by the Gallery Committee and change every three to four weeks.

DIRECTORY
Calendar of Events  |  Chapel Gallery  |  Christmas Show
Contact Us  |  Join Us  |  Life Time Members  |  Links  |  Members' Studios  |  Muskoka Arts & Crafts' Guidebook
  News  Permanent Collection  |  Spring Members' Show  |  Summer Show  |  Student Art Awards
Who We Are
  |  Who Art Thou? A Mystery Art Sale  |  Workshops 
Muskoka - A Designated Arts Community
Home


website designed, copyrighted and maintained by
Muskoka Arts & Crafts
Muskoka Arts & Crafts Inc. is located in the District Municipality of  Muskoka, Ontario, Canada.