Orange cones and yellow sunsets

Access to the King Museum is somewhat hampered these days by large yellow diggers and rusty dump trucks doing sewer work along King Road. But you CAN get in -Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10-4 pm. Just pretend you are at a driver training course and wend your way around the orange cones into the parking lot. It is well worth a visit.

The current art show is a teaser for the upcoming Schomberg Street Gallery September 14. Each of several artists in the SSG has contributed a piece of work for this show. And, although the subjects are somewhat traditional, the renderings are astounding in their originality.

Take sunsets - a favourite among visual artists. Here you see: the bold colours of a city sunset with the CN Tower standing tall in the middle, the soft hues over a Scottish moor with a stark rock formation in the foreground, peaceful sunsets over calm water - Lake Huron, and a coastal rendition with a greenish sky,

There are several paintings with a natural theme, another favourite of artist in King who live in the country and appreciate its attributes: bright fuscia bleeding hearts, pond lilies surrounding a single pink bud, an iconic King field full of tall grasses, a prairie field with finely detailed birch trees, a sheep so soft you want to pat him, a dog waiting outside for its owner to step through the door and take him for a walk. Two artists use gold in their work - a butterfly painted on gold leaf and a winning King horse in a golden hue. Well there is one other dog, a poodle, who is on a trip out of the country, and into the city to buy Pucci and Wroolf Lauren.

There are only two portraits in the show. They are presented side by side, uniquely different and yet very much alike - with their captivating eyes, their seductively-long hair, and their provocative mouths, speaking to the observer and saying...what?

There are two artists who work in wood, and one potter, showing bowls and a zipper. Yes a zipper - and it is partly unzipped. But no touching! There is an abstract called "Synchronicity" which calls out for individual interpretation. And one of my favourites - "Contentment"  - a wedge of cheese, a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. Time to go home and open the pinot grigio.

Sue