Judy Tomlin & Melanie Harris | Watercolour Wanderers

Oct 20

Judy Tomlin &
Melanie Harris
Watercolour Wanderers

Edge Gallery, November 4 - 26, 2022

Judy Tomlin and Melanie Harris are longtime friends with a shared enthusiasm for creativity. Connected through family ties and as former work colleagues, it was their shared interest in watercolour that bonded their friendship. Their watercolour journeys began with visits to sketch and paint at the kitchen table, over snacks and tea (and the occasional glass of wine!), and later sitting alongside each other to sketch plein air. Judy and Melanie further fed their creative cravings, and desire to learn watercolour, taking on-line art classes and travelling south together to attend in-person workshops.

Both are inspired by the Yukon’s vast outdoors, spectacular scenery and unique history, and enjoy the calm peacefulness that noticing the beauty around them brings to their art. Judy and Melanie only recently began sharing their watercolour paintings with the public. This exhibit is a glimpse into their watercolour wanderings.

JUDY TOMLIN

The Yukon has been my home since I moved as a teenager with my family to Haines Junction in 1975. I have lived in Whitehorse now for many years and travel regularly with my husband to explore more remote areas of our spectacular territory, camping, hiking, kayaking, and cross-country skiing in many parts of the Yukon. The scenery and interesting things we see stimulates my creativity and informs my artistic endeavors.

Art and creativity have always been part of my life, with skills being learned from family members, books, numerous workshops, and many years of practice. My long-term artistic and creative practice has primarily involved fibres and textiles, ranging from embroidery to felting, quilting, and macrame, often using thrifted, vintage, and found items. In recent years I have also developed an interest in sketching and watercolour painting. I attempt to capture the beauty of our experiences as well as the interest of the seemingly ordinary in my sketchbook journals and in larger watercolour paintings. This exhibition is the first time I have publicly shared my watercolour paintings, and it is my hope that they demonstrate the beauty and stillness I experience in the outdoors, and the calm and peacefulness I find in sketching my surroundings.

MELANIE HARRIS

I live in the Yukon with my husband and daughter and am inspired daily by the beauty that surrounds us, whether it be our spectacular mountains, emerald waters, or dramatic skies.

I have always been interested in art, and dabbled with a variety of mediums over the years, but have developed a passion for working in watercolour. In that pursuit, I was inspired by and participated in numerous in person and on-line painting workshops instructed by world renowned watercolour artists including Fabio Cembranelli, Alvaro Castagnet, Thomas Schaller, Birgette O’Connor, Angela Fehr, among others.

Following retirement in 2017, I began painting in ernest and developed my own body of work that captures the peace, tranquility, and rugged beauty of the Yukon landscape. I recently began sharing my work more broadly at a local gallery (Arts Underground) and on-line.

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Melanie Harris

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Judy Tomlin
Melanie Harris