Sharing a Piece of Your Soul
Nicole Sutherland
Colourful Voices at Co.Lab Gallery
By Amy Sellors
Artists Nicole Sutherland, Anne Winkworth, and Sue Lewis debut their third art show this month at Co.Lab Gallery. The trio share a love of painting, a background in teaching, and a love for working with colour.
“Sue was the brainchild behind our first show. She asked Anne to collaborate with her, and Anne asked me,” says Sutherland. Sutherland and Winkworth have a lot in common. Both studied in the fine arts department of the University of Manitoba. While not there at the same time, both studied with the same professors, both became teachers, and both are colourists. While their subjects are often different—Sutherland focuses on landscapes while Winkworth captures the animals on her farm—they share a common language. Lewis is also a former teacher, and colour is a focus in her work as well, although in a bit of a different way, as her medium is cold wax. When she met Winkworth and Sutherland, the three formed a unique bond.
Often artists work alone, and want nothing to interfere with their vision. They don’t want to share their work before it’s complete. But these three view art as a practice, like yoga, or music, and with their education backgrounds, they value and recognize the importance of feedback and guidance. Their bond is built on trust and collaboration, and they bounce ideas off each other, talking often, shaping their pieces, and ultimately, their show. They are each other’s mirror and inspiration. “It’s interesting to share what we do with each other,” says Sutherland. “One of us will send a photo to another, asking, ‘What do you think I should do with this?’ or ‘What's your impression?’ or ‘How should I change that?’”
“When [I] find [I’m] blocked and need some advice, they will know what I’m trying to do,” adds Lewis. “It’s really nice.” Winkworth agrees. “I was an art teacher for almost 30 years. It’s exciting when you have people around that also love to work in the arts. It’s inspiring,” she says.
Sutherland says, for her and Winkworth, “colour is as important as the context of what we’re painting.” It’s also important for Lewis, who mixes wax and oils using layering techniques. “At the beginning you can use all kinds of colour,” Lewis says. “Then you reduce it, scrape it back. It’s almost like sculpting. As you get closer to being done, colour becomes more important. You want everything to work together, but still have the colours coming through.” The colours they use are their voices. “We’re sharing our experience, but it looks pink, or purple, or waxy, and just in that moment, it’s a piece of your soul,” says Sutherland.
Their previous show focused on connections, and they wrote short pieces about each one, which helps the viewer to know “why you painted what you painted,” says Winkworth. “People can connect with what they’re looking at.” Collaborating and presenting their work together challenges them, and they grow as artists. Because they provide feedback on each other’s work as they create, there's a little bit of each of them in all the work.
Colourful Voices opens at the Co.lab Gallery on August 8, with an opening event from 6–9 pm. The exhibition runs until August 22. To learn more about the artists, find them on Instagram: @nsutherland_artist, @annewinkworth, and @sucrose1.