A Guelph artist is paying tribute to the city of Guelph in her own unique way: 20 distinguished acrylic paintings of the Royal City.
“It’s really my way of saying thank you,” says artist Barbara Salsberg Mathews who has taught art in high schools for over 25 years in Toronto and moved back to Guelph three years ago.
To kick off her project, Royal City Gems, Mathews asked community members on Facebook what they would like to see portrayed through her art, and the responses from community members poured in suggesting landmarks such as the Petrie Building, the Bernardi Rooster, the Gryphon statue, the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, Rocky’s hotdogs and much more.
“I share the art and they're like ‘oh my dad used to go to Rocky’s’, ‘my mom had her first kiss there,’ ‘Mrs. Contini made the best homemade relish. It's never been the same since she stopped,’'’ says Mathews.
“These are the things that life is made from.”
Mathews says she wants the community to congregate at her exhibition at Silence to get nostalgic and share memories of the city Guelphites call home.
“The more I hear about these stories, I pour it back into the artwork,” says Mathews.
She says she feels a sense of gratification when members of the community are able to connect with her art.
“To be honest, one person who has been following my art on 'If you grew up in Guelph, Ontario do you remember...', came up to me and she gave me the best gift. She said, 'I've lived here all my life, I walk by these places all the time and when I see your work, suddenly I see such a celebration, such beauty,' and that was the answer to me. That made me feel so good,” says Mathews.
She says she’s doing this exhibition for the people of Guelph adding that it is important to respect the land, its people and the history of the city.
Mathews says she has been creating art as a child. During her teens, she wrote and illustrated two children's books.
She met her husband at the University of Guelph as a student. Once she returned to Guelph after 35 years, she was once again in awe of the city’s unparalleled beauty.
Her collection of paintings aims to capture the beauty of the landscapes and architecture through lighting and a uncommon perspective.
For example, the Gryphon painting is in the perspective of the Gryphon itself,
“I just take lots of walks. I look for beauty. Its a technique I've created because I used to be in a nasty workplace. I had a bully boss. And to help me - so I wouldn't feel anxiety walking to work -I would look for beauty and I would look for the most beautiful leaf a day and I started focusing my mind to look for beauty,” says Mathews.
Mathews says part of the process of her painting is enquiring about her subject’s history which results into her curiously getting triggered.
“It's opening up portals to the past,” says Mathews.
Mathews says by looking for beauty in common and unconventional places such as the Ontario Veterinary College parking lot on homecoming night a year ago, she is able to capture stories behind the scenes.
“Look at the rich purple and the greens, it was eerie and beautiful. Magical,” says Mathews.
“I let the picture suggest the story, it talks to me. It tells me where it should go. I have to listen to my intuition as well as my intellectual brain.”
Mathews has received numerous grants and awards for her artwork from the Canada Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Society of Artists 138th Annual Open Juried Exhibition Curry’s Art Store Prize.
Her exhibition at Silence will take place from Oct. 2 to Oct. 27. There will be an opening reception Oct. 4 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Her paintings can be viewed on her website.
