Our latest project is called "Winter Enchantment", to design a piece inspired by what we love about winter. I have to be honest and say that the only reason I like snow and winter are for sentimental reasons; around Christmas and New Years, the snow makes those lights outside glow at night. Other than that, it's cold, wet and gets in your boots and makes you uncomfortable the rest of the day. There is one inspiration I did turn to, however, to feel the 'enchantment' of the winter season, and that was to The Group of Seven, a famous group of painters who pioneered Canadian landscape art when many artists thought at the time it to be "unpaintable or unworthy of painting." Their works of art are now part of a rich, artistic culture and these images serve as iconography to our picturesque beauty of Canadian wilderness.
I remember a field trip in grade school to the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, ON, where nearly 6000 pieces of art by the Group of Seven are housed and displayed. I loved these paintings, and seeing the beauty of my country through the eyes of artists such as these men and women make me proud to be a Canadian ... thus, by default, enjoying the 'enchantment of winter'. No? My choice inspiration for this project is one of my favourites, Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris. I had also found a lovely pendant that I thought echoed the styles of many of the Group's works.
