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| Floating World by Linda Finn acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 inches |
This post is dedicated to the memory of Northern Ontario artist, Linda Finn. (1945 - 2025) obituary here
It's also about some other late artists from northern Ontario Canada, a place I have lived for over 30 years. I feel that each of them worked very hard to support art and artists in our beautiful, spread-out community. I’m writing this post to sing out their names with respect.
Linda Finn's paintings, prints and assemblages were a constant at the Perivale gallery here on Manitoulin. I sought out her innovative work whenever I visited the gallery.
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| The War Letters Project in the Art Gallery of Sudbury 'April 1917' is on the back wall. Screen print on bible pages, acrylic on paper , photo etching and lithographs on paper, assembled in 2007 by Linda Finn |
In 2017, Linda Finn had a solo show at the Art Gallery of Sudbury and displayed The War Letters Project. an ongoing body of work that she had begun in 2007. The project included a wide variety of art pieces; assemblages, paintings, prints and book-works and toured to eleven Ontario galleries over a period of years.
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| detail of Linda Finn's assemblage of bible pages printed with repeated images of a soldier |
Each piece in the project started from letters that Linda's grandmother Essie received from soldiers over the two world wars. The artworks are all shown with better photos on Linda's website (here). While there, you might be interested in the 20 minute video (The Old Tin Box) that tells the story of this project.
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| Essie's letter, monoprint with chine colle on paper, 2008 (detail) by Linda Finn |
Now, I want to take a moment to mention three other artists who I personally mourn. Each of them reached out to me and made me feel part of the art community of northern Ontario when our family moved to Manitoulin from Kenora in 1993. I looked to them as mentors, although they were only a few years older than me. They developed their careers before the internet which means that online images of their work are rare. I’ve provided each artist with two links however, and more information and some images can be found if you click.
I apologize if this post seems too personal or dark. Death is not talked about much. But you know, I feel that I’m not actually saying enough about these friends of mine when I consider all that they have done for Canadian art. I’m just naming them.
Ann Suzuki (died 2021) her obituary here
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| ear hear earth heart by Ann Beam, acrylic on paper, 24 x 30 inches |
Ann Beam (died 2024) her website here
Ray Laporte (died 2022) his obituary here
My friends. Remembered here. I miss them and continue to be inspired by each of them.
Now, in the spirit of memory and joy, may I show you the prayer cloth that I finished last night?
Perhaps it is more of a play cloth. The transferred painting was done by my middle daughter, Grace, when she was five years old. She painted the mermaid and the merman on paper which I then transferred with a hot iron to polyester fabric. I was teaching this kind of art in the schools at the time and we used the technique at home for birthday party t-shirt-making and the like. The heart at the bottom was painted just once, then ironed three times onto the cloth, each time getting a little fainter. I will be seeing Grace this weekend and will give her the quilt. I think that the twins can use it for their dolls.
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| Mermaid Quilt by Judy Martin, heat transfer on polyester, dyed velvet, hand stitched, 28 x 33.5 inches 2025, original painting by Grace Martin when she was five years old |
