Artist vision

With big blockbusters getting most of the attention, public awareness of other art forms could improve, says a local painter.

Linda Dell moved to her Court Street studio three years ago to paint. She decorated her store with her paintings from wilderness expressions to classical works. Dell participated in the HandMade in Thunder Bay summer sampler tour on Saturday.

She said the point of the tour was to encourage cultural awareness and for people to connect with their community artisans and galleries.

"We could all work on elevating our cultural awareness," Dell said. "The more people are engaged with art the more they value their experience. People have exchanged their dialogues about art for dialogue about film."

Dell said people tended to discuss and critique films more than other art forms. She said people used to discuss paintings and sculptures but that practice has become less common.

"When you are looking at a painting you aren’t just looking at a thing," she said. "It is an interpretative process and a passage of time." 

To encourage people to explore the 18 locations on the Tour, there are prizes for people to win by filling a set of 6 ballot stamps and entering by the end of July.

Dell said although she participated in previous years, she was to get to know the other local artists and storeowners better this year. She said they work together often despite being competitors.

"It is not just about purchasing…although that is nice," she said. "It is more about appreciating our creative culture and if people choose to support it — all the better."

Dell invited stone sculptor Jason Nelson to her store to show off some of his creations. Nelson, from Sault St Marie, said he enjoyed having a creative outlet and chose stone as his medium of expression.

What interested Nelson about stone carvings was the permanence of a sculpture that could stand the test of time, he said.

"I like the tradition behind stone sculpting,” Nelson said. “There is a rich history. When I started studying art in high school, I was really intrigued by the Renaissance, the classical, the Baroque and neo-classical sculptures. That's what really got me interested in it.”

Nelson traveled to British Columbia where he learned how to sculpt. He then moved to Thunder Bay and taught a seven week course at Confederation College.

The biggest sculpture Nelson worked on was weighed 300 pounds and added that stone sculptures didn't require strength but just the right tools.