Judith Stockwell Taylor - upcoming solo show

This last week, I have been framing up a pretty special collection of pastels for an upcoming show. They are the creations of Judith Stockwell Taylor of Ormstown, Quebec, and will be on exhibition at the Huntingdon Municipal Library (Lorne Street in Huntingdon, Quebec) starting this Saturday, the 28th January, 2012 (Vernissage 2 - 4 pm). And yes, she is my Mum.

"Dancer" pastel, 24" x 18", Judith Stockwell Taylor

Here is her statement: "After drawing, sketching and doodling away spare moments for decades, Judith Stockwell Taylor is discovering the joys and challenges of pastel painting. Her formal art training was limited to elementary school in her native Montreal and a single summer sketching course until the 1990s, when she first enrolled in the Painting and Drawing courses offered by Pat Walsh in the Chateauguay Valley. She immediately fell in love with pastels, with their rich colors and spontaneity of execution, and chose them as her preferred medium. After moving from Montreal to Ormstown with her family in 1970, she spent a total of more than 20 years working for the local newspaper, the Huntingdon Gleaner. Now retired, Taylor, who majored in English and History at Bishop's University in Lennoxville, is enjoying the switch from words to visual images as a way of portraying her world."

I think this work is impressive. Pastel is a challenging medium, yet she loves it and applies it with spontaneity and confidence. She has a great eye, and sense of colour, and ability to render. But what strikes me most is how these pictures communicate. Viewing her work is a somewhat poignant experience: you are subtly - perhaps nostalgically, or ethereally - moved. They are emotional, without being sentimental or in your face. Sometimes cryptic, the pieces nonetheless evoke a response. There is interplay between the subject and application of the medium. Step back and view: they are beautiful, many are masterful, and all are worthy of a visit.

Nearly all are framed and ready to go. And when they go, I will miss visiting them every day.

"End of Summer" pastel, 12" x 18", Judith Stockwell Taylor