I have been gone away for 3 weeks visiting Paris, Barcelona and Ireland. An amazing trip for sure but what is burning on my mind to relate is the official announcement that the exhibition entitled ‘Double Take’, will open at the McMichael Art Gallery in September, 2012. It is an exhibition of almost 100 original works of over 50 Canadians from the collection of The Portrait Gallery of Canada. The portrait of artist Mary Pratt that I painted for my ‘High Tea’ series is owned by the Portrait Gallery and was chosen to be part of this show. “Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing Canadians”, spans over 400 years of portraiture.
For me, this is yet again another lesson in ‘you never know what can happen’. I received a phone call almost 3 years ago asking my permission to include the Pratt portrait in this new exhibiton curated by Carolyn Cook. The show would open in 2012 in Charlottetown, PEI and then tour for 2 years but showing at the McMichael was never mentioned at the time. My friend Lawrie emailed me this past April, to say she had just seen the exhibition in PEI and had no idea that my work would be included. Seeing my work there, altered her perception of me.
So it is important to exhibit. It is important to let the work leave the studio. And it is wonderful to feel grateful when something turns out to be bigger than initially imagined.