A new exhibit called “The Big Blues/Les Grands Bleus” has its opening between five and seven o’clock tonight at the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre.
It’s a joint project of painter Nathalie Freniere of Vankleek Hill, near Ottawa, and ceramist Lise B.L. Goulet, who was born in Timmins and splits her time between Ottawa and Toronto.
Goulet says in their work, she and Freniere express a preoccupation with the environment and climate change.
“What happens in the environment is beautiful, but disturb that ecosystem, then you’ve got problems,” she remarks.
And while an anglophone thinks of being blue as a negative thing, Freniere says in French, it denotes serenity.
“It has a different connotation,” she explains. “Actually, it really ties well with what we’re trying to say, which is ‘what are you doing to it, are you doing something for it?”
Freniere’s husband, jazz pianist Didier Chasteau, will be playing at tonight’s opening.
Hear more from the artists and Goulet’s connection to renowned local artist Clem Berini in the complete interview right here.