Stephen Vance, Staff
Last October the Meaford BIA put out a call to artists for proposals to create artwork for the exterior wall of the Muxlow pharmacy at Nelson Square, and the winning artist saw his paintings put on display Thursday June 2.
“It’s a real honour,” said Meaford artist Herbert Pryke as municipal workers affixed his two paintings to the wall. “This is the first set of paintings, these will be up for a year, and then they’ll feature another artist, and so hopefully this will set a precedent for people to make sure that we get some really good quality artwork up in Meaford.”
Artists’ proposals were to follow the theme established by the BIA – ‘Inspired by Southern Georgian Bay’.
“The finished art will demonstrate contemporary artistic excellence, be conceptually timeless and enduring, be iconic or highly visible and be engaging to the surrounding community and visitors,” said the BIA in their call for proposals from artists in October.
The winning artist moved to Meaford three years ago, and he said that his new home and its surroundings have proven to be an inspiration for his art.
“You’ve got Georgian Bay, so how could it not?” said Pryke with a smile.
The two paintings now on display, one which captures Walter’s Creek in the autumn, and the other an apple orchard (“it’s Meaford, so I had to do something with apples,” he explained), were several months in the making, and Pryke said he was excited to see them go up on the wall.
“They’ve been in my studio for months while I worked at away at them, because they’re quite big at four by eight foot, it takes a bit of time. So to do the drawings, to make sure the design’s right, to make sure the composition works, and staring at them every morning when I go downstairs, so finally they’ve gotten out of the nest, and they’re ready to fly,” said Pryke.
Pryke’s art has been featured at many juried and solo shows including Richmond Hill Group of Artists, Art Aurora, Society of York Region Artists, Artcures Exhibition and Ontario Plein Air Society. He is past President of the Richmond Hill Group of Artists, and currently member of The Blue Mountain Foundation of the Arts.
Since moving to Meaford Pryke has helped many aspiring artists with his popular ‘Paint Jams’ and summer art camps. In his workshops he share the therapeutic benefits that can be found through artistic expression.
He also welcomes commissions, and says that if you have a favourite landscape that would would like to capture in a painting, you can contact him by email at: h.pryke@bell.net.
