It was Gleneagles artist Sara Gardner husband’s clothier who inspired her to paint a perspective on fashion.
“The concept of a travelling tailor intrigued me and I started studying clothes and shoes more closely and the idea came to life,” says Gardner.
“This gentleman travels around from business to business and home to home to measure and tailor custom clothes for men and women. This was a new concept to me, and I was quite fascinated by it.”
Gardner has literally taken a casual approach with her art for a new exhibition, What We Wear, at Ambleside’s Silk Purse Arts Centre.
“With the exception of a couple of dress shirts and high heeled pumps, most of the items I’ve painted for this series tend toward the casual side. I think that’s because that’s more me and what I relate to,” says Gardner. “I was also looking for my next art challenge – painting a white shirt in a realistic manner, with light and shadows seemed to fit the bill.”
That sartorial experiment led her to paint shoes and a variety of other attire. The more Gardner painted with this fashion in mind, the more she realized how natural the brush strokes felt.
“Lots of casual wear, the occasional dressy accessory for a night out, and I think the men’s shirts came in from my time working in business,” she explains.
Painting large bright abstracts elicits a calming effect on those who view her art, hopes Gardner.
Her latest work reflects how fashion is an art form unto itself and an extension of our personality.
“I think my fashion choices often speak to what I do with my time too,” says Gardner.
“If I’ve been painting all day, and I’m rushed and need to pick up the kids from school, I’ll just throw on something clean and easy – my Mom Gear. Not to mention that if you saw me in my painting clothes, you’d know for certain what I do with my time.”
Gardner painted from photographs for her What We Wear series, however she has started sketching a lot lately to improve her drawing.
“I’ve learned that sketching can both tighten an artist up, but also loosen up their style,” she says of the experiment.
Gardner fell into art making by accident.
“The honest truth is that we reno’d our basement a few years ago, in 2013, and we had all these freshly painted but empty walls. My husband and I couldn’t find anything we liked (in stores) … so I decided that one day while my husband was travelling that I would give painting a try,” says Gardner.
She bought a big canvas, and went to work.
“The feedback I received was encouraging, so I painted another, and another, and Sara Gardner Art was born,” she says.
Gardner is presenting 17 pieces for What We Wear, most of which will be on display in the natural lit Silk Purse Gallery with windows that look out to the ocean.
Joining Gardner in the current exhibition is fellow North Shore painter Jenn Ashton, who takes an introspective look at stages of growth and familiar milestones through her colourful selfie portraits.
“Remember that time when?” Ashton will ask you as you look on and then smile in recognition of your own memories.
Ashton paints very intuitively, she says.
“In that I begin with no plan and often don’t know what the painting will be, or look like until I am very close to the end product. I basically move paint around until I see an idea.”
While on a trip down memory lane, Ashton did a series of 16 quick ink sketches of her face and then stepped back.
“When I was finished it was easy to put a name and memory to each one,” she says. “I think the image that made me laugh the most was the one where I was trying on my sister’s makeup.”
The majority of Ashton’s contribution to the show was sketched quickly in the moment. The main piece, “The Light In Her Eyes,” was a blind sketch from a selfie photo (blind in that she only looked at the photo as she sketched and not the paper she was drawing on).
“My hope in all of my work is that it will elicit a smile or laugh or moment or recognition from the viewer, as I know we all have that place of authenticity and can connect at that level,” says Ashton.
“In this work specifically I hope that the viewer too, will come away with not only a bit of knowledge about a ’70s North Van kid, but an introspective awareness of our similarities as human beings as well.”
The exhibition runs July 4-23 at Silk Purse Arts Centre, with an opening reception July 4 from 6-8 p.m.
