Recent Newspaper Article

Click on the image to be able to read it up close

(I will transcribe it later into a blog posting).

Recent article in "The Senior Times"
about the opening night cocktail for "Ancient Reverie".
Photographer Melanie Pilon, Written by Hayley Juhl
Performers (in photo) Caroline Tremblay & Christina Lacombe.

Artist explores whimsy in three dimensions
Hayley Juhl
October, 2010

There are rumours in April-Anna’s art. Of time, of transformation and of music.

The 34-year-old’s multimedia works mix photography, acrylic and a universe of colour to create works that are whimsical as their names: Raven Dreaming in Twilight, Lotus Rainbow, Ancient Reverie.

This is not obvious art. It inspires contemplation. A mixed-media canvas that was birthed over a six-month period engages the viewer.

Charcoal hills are presented in changing light, the subtle shapes of trees a reward for the attention. In the not-still lake beneath them, one discovers a false reflection of imagined constellations in swirling, impatient colours.

In Fire Flies in Dawn’s Twilight, one can pick out not only fireflies but rumours of lotus flowers along the edges. “It’s hard to find the words to define what the subconscious knows,” artist April-Anna says. Photos: Mely Pilon

And what is this? Fairies dancing in the charmed waters? Lotus flowers floating there? The name of the piece is the clue: Fire Flies in Dawn’s Twilight.

Lotus flowers would not have been an unreasonable assumption. It is almost a game to find the flower in each image; the lotus is April-Anna’s seal.

She has always had an affinity for the flower, she says, but it has taken on a greater meaning in recent years as she grapples with the flower’s deeper symbol, transformation.

“The galaxies and molecules and worlds,” she says.

“It’s so hard to find the words to define what the subconscious knows.”

April-Anna understands that art is more than paint on canvas.

At a vernissage on Oct. 1, she tempted guests with artfully presented canapés. They nibbled and sipped wine while being serenaded by accomplished violinist Rosa Lannes.

With taste buds and artistic passions nearly sated, April-Anna introduced flutist Caroline Tremblay and a circus performer, Christina Supernova, who danced with black-light-glowing balls that swirled like bright shadows of the plants hinted at in the paintings surrounding her.

The balls were complemented by churning patterns of body paint and an elaborate mask – more of the artist’s work, designed to move her creations into the third dimension.

Visit theartofapril-anna.blogspot.com. The artist is accepting appointments for Halloween body-painting. Email aprilanna@gmail.com