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Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Arts: Trees and botanicals featured in artist’s ‘Beauty and Resilience’ exhibit
A cropped image of “Joy in the Shadows” by Petra Zantingh. (SUPPLIED)

The work of artist Petra Zantingh is on exhibit at the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre for the month of May.

The exhibit, “Beauty and Resilience” is inspired by the contrast between urban and natural landscapes and similar differences in life.

It features paintings of fading and hardy flowers reflecting subtle layers of emotional expression, of fragility and strength.

Zantingh says botanicals, trees, roots and vegetation are common subjects in her work “because of their profound and enigmatic spiritual and physical nature.”

“My paintings set out to capture the spirit and souls of trees,” she says on her website.

“Trees are magnificent living beings. They are engineering miracles, structured to withstand wind and weather.”

Produced on wood panels, the works use water, watercolour, ink and water-soluble graphite.

The process requires patient manipulation to achieve transparent layers that create subtle nuances.

Zantingh says she has an inkling of what will develop in producing her paintings, but that the outcome is often a surprise.

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