I’ve known for a long long loooong time that there is an awesome amount of artistic talent in this region, but it’s always nice to see that talent up close. This was my second attempt at covering an art Vernissage in the past couple of months, the first was at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill… which did NOT go as planned [see them here]. This one went a lot better, at least everything was in focus this time, and it was held at Hawkesbury’s ‘Centre Culturel Le Chenail Cultural Centre’ (or the ‘5C Gallery’, as I like to call it).

The artists involved in the “Heart Horses” exhibition — which, until a few minutes ago, I thought was called “Fire Horses” — which runs at the ‘5C Gallery’ until May 17, come from the larger regional community — including St. Eugene, Vankleek Hill, Alfred, and L’Orignal — featuring Suzanne Bohay [homepage], Jeannine Bastien [Facebook], Nathalie Frenière [homepage], Crystal Beshara [CAPRAC Profile], Carole Lavigne [CAPRAC Profile], Tina Petrovicz [CAPRAC Profile], and Vankleek Hill legend, Susan Jephcott [CAPRAC Profile].

…CAPRAC, or the ‘Conseil des arts Prescott Russell Arts Council’ [homepage], which helped put together the ‘Heart Horses’ exhibition, is a ten-year old artist-run organization that helps “to support the development of artists, organizations and all those involved in arts, culture and heritage activities.”. And, as of about ten minutes ago, I’m an Official Member of the organization… I just have to figure out exactly how I’m going to fit in with their definition of ‘artist’, which would be “an individual working in an artistic discipline” because I don’t really do that… at least I don’t think so.

I’ve always thought of myself as a News Photographer, very recently I started referring to myself as a ‘Street Photographer’ — like a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less talented Fred Herzog, or (insert manic laughing emoji here) Vivian Maier. I’ve never, ever, thought of myself as an Artist. I also have to come up with a Biography, and some kind of Artist Declaration… which, I assume, is where I stand on a chair in public and yell something like “I declare myself to be an Artist” three times, then jump off the chair into a ‘superhero landing pose’ [explanation here] while screaming ‘namaste motherf#&ker’… or something like that.

…this is actually the ‘Year of The Fire Horse’ in the Chinese Calendar. The Chinese zodiac has twelve main yearly cycles, each with their own animal — rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Then there are ten symbols that represent the Ying / Yang of the element forms — wood, fire, earth, metal and water. So, at some point, over about sixty years, you’ll get a ‘Earth-Rooster’ (dirt chicken?) year. This recent sixty-year cycle brings us the “Fire Horse”. According to ‘The Guardian’ newspaper [story here], “…the fire horse year is widely expected to bring intense, fast-paced change on a personal and global level.” Which is definitely something we do not need Globally anymore, but really this makes too much sense for it to be nonsense.

…anyway, all of the photos below are actually in focus, which is a win. So, just click on one to get the carousel started, and don’t forget to leave a comment… seriously, let me know what you think. Thanks.

PS: the guy in the red shirts is real. His shirt says: “There are three useless things in this world — a dull knife, an unloaded gun, and a Liberal.” At least he seems to have had a good meal.