SOUTH RIVER — Jennifer Daniels said she didn’t practice art for 25 years.
“Now I have 25 years of artistic energy to spend,” said the South River-based artist who is opening a show at Renée’s Café this Saturday.
Daniels began studying art as a child, and was an accomplished sculptor as a teen. But she left behind her love of art to pursue a career as a cabinet and furniture maker, she said.
She had stowed away a photograph of the side of an old barn, she said, and the desire to paint it is what drew her back to art.
“I painted it and said ‘why am I not doing it?’ I was born with a gift,” Daniels said.
She decided to take two years and dedicate herself fully to art.
Daniels paints for eight to 12 hours a day.
During her artistic renaissance, she moved from Almonte, Ontario to South River. The show at Renée’s will be her first local one.
The show, which she calls The Colours of Life, consists of three basic themes.
There’s work that examines the contrast of black and white and the balance between light and dark, she said.
Many of her works are brightly-coloured close-ups of flowers.
The last theme included in the show is Daniel’s pointillism, where she uses thousands upon thousands of dots to convey an image.
Some of the works, she said, are exercises that she created to challenge herself to see if she could paint a specific item, like water, for example. “I challenge myself and see if I can do it,” she said.
Daniels is all about pushing herself to create.
“I have a lot of artists, writers and musicians say they’re waiting for inspiration,” she explained. “But the more I paint, the more I want to paint. And the more I wait, the more I want to wait.”
Daniels already has future projects planned to keep her busy.
She wants to create art tied in with charities.
She said she’s thinking about creating nature works that she could sell to benefit an ecology group, animal works to benefit animal rights groups, as well as sell art that could benefit a cause specific to males and females.
“I’m so lucky to be doing what I love,” she said, “and I may even be able to help others.”
Daniels show opens at Renée’s Café in South River on May 2 at 7:30 p.m. The display will be up at the café through May and June.
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