Heather Latter
Three young artists are getting a taste of recognition by showcasing their work at the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre.
The pieces by Maggie LeMesurier, Sydnee McLeod, and Cameron Cawston will be on display until the end of the month.
Andrea Avis, the library’s program director, decided to host such a display since she understands it is the first step in a young artist’s career.
“My daughter is an artist and she got started by displaying her art and becoming confident in her artistic ability,” Avis explained.
“It really helps you gain that confidence.”
After viewing some of LeMesurier’s pieces, Avis suggested to the 13-year-old that she display her work.
“You have to gather the drawings,” she had told her.
“They have to be appropriate for a general audience. They have to be framed nicely.”
Then last month, Avis viewed McLeod’s artwork at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
“I thought when she’s done, she could bring her art to the library for the young artists’ display,” she reasoned, though adding she wanted one more artist for the display.
“So I asked some students who suggested she call Cameron,” Avis said. “He was really keen to come and came right down [to the library] with four sketches.”
Each of the three artist showcase something unique with their work.
Cawston’s sketches, for instance, seem to portray real life—displaying a tiger, bird, and two hands grasping for a rose—while several of LeMesurier’s pieces take on a manga and anime style.
“I didn’t know anything about manga or anime until I saw a friend of mine from school starting to draw it,” she wrote in her artist’s biography.
“Next thing I knew, I was reading manga comic books and watching anime, then got into drawing and painting.”
Although she’s been drawing since she was little, LeMesurier feels her drawing matured in Grades 5-6. Then in Grade 7, she began with the manga and anime style.
She added she just draws what comes to her mind.
“Sometimes when I’m sitting down and thinking, something comes to mind,” LeMesurier explained, noting her mom suggested she draw something that inspires her.
“I drew a girl with rainbows coming from her heart,” she remarked.
“I like singing and I don’t have a favourite colour, so I had to use every colour of the rainbow.”
LeMesurier wants to be an artist as her future career.
“Some artists work a lot [and] get paid a lot of money, so I’d really like to do that job because it seems fun,” she remarked.
“I like drawing a lot. It became a hobby and then became something I really want to do when I get older.”
McLeod’s artwork, meanwhile, is focused on photo editing and manipulation.
“It’s a mix of old and new stuff,” the 17-year-old explained. “There are a few older pieces and the bigger ones are more of the newer ones I’ve done.
“They show how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned through Photoshop because that was a big challenge for me to learn.
“It’s an honour to have them display,” she added. “I’ve only ever had them displayed online.”
But McLeod also had her work displayed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival last month.
“I had applied for an artistic display at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and was accepted,” she noted.
“So I blew up some photos, put them on canvas, and hung them in the trees.
“It was really cool to see them on the path,” McLeod enthused.
And since she already had photos prepared for that, when she was asked to display them at the library here, she was it was easy to set up the display.
“Photography has always been a part of my life because I’ve travelled a lot, so I wanted to capture pictures,” McLeod noted.
“But I hadn’t really done any photo manipulation until two years ago.
“I saw other people doing it and I thought it would be cool to try it.”
She noted her brother, Wyatt, is a big help in her creative process.
“He will take the pictures for me,” she explained.
“We work really well together,” she added. “He’ll come out wherever I ask him. I’ll tell him my idea and he’ll capture it.”
She then takes the photos and creates her artwork with it.
While McLeod isn’t sure she’ll follow it as her career, she is considering becoming a graphic artist.
“Regardless, I know I’ll always want photography to be a part of my life,” she remarked.
Avis, meantime, stressed she’s happy to be able to provide young artists a venue to display their work.
“Realizing the struggle that it is, it helps to get your name out there and get the appreciation for what your passion is,” she explained.
“I’m happy for any artist to come forward and ask to have an opportunity to display here,” Avis added.
“Otherwise, it comes from me guessing at who’s out there.”
Avis encourages people to check out the art on display until the end of August.
