The Moorings Gallery, Mahone Bay

is pleased to present a solo show by Carol Hansen

Arboreal Ardour

July 17 – July 29, 2010

Opening Reception: July 17th 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Carol Hansen shares with us in her exhibit, Arboreal Ardour, a collection of exquisitely executed images of trees.  Her use of soft pastels as a medium is very masterly and through the careful juxtaposition of colour she invites the viewer into her contemplative view of nature.
 Says Carol about this exhibit:
                My imagery has followed my journey from city to country, and back again, from student to wife to mother. Two years short of my fiftieth birthday, my exhibit Pathways questioned the path my life would take in my second half century.
                 Then, unexpected events turned my life upside down, snapping me like branches in a hurricane.  When the worst of the storm passed I saw the majestic crowns of the trees outside my window, which have withstood the onslaughts of nature, time and humanity.  Scarred and ancient, yet they continue to blossom, and leaf out each spring.  I began to explore the image of the tree as a symbol of laces vacated, the advancement of age, being rooted, but always learning and exploring.
                 My sons are no longer mine.  They have become their own men, and have thrown aside the stakes and ties I erected around them.  My husband is the strongest of trees and bends to the wind without breaking.  He does, however, cast sideways glances into the woods for lost golf balls.  My mother grows tinier, and more gracious each year, much like a bonsai.
                 Life is not what we make of it, rather how well we can retie the loose ends, from its constant unraveling.  When the weight of this threatens to crush me, I go for a walk, my gaze raised high to   the treetops, and always return –rejuvenated.  The trees in this exhibit symbolize hope, and that broken branches are nothing more than a side effect of life.
 Carol Hansen was born in South Africa and immigrated to Canada in 1975. She is a graduate of NSCAD University, Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in 1983, and has studied pastel in the United States. She was awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant while studying at NSCAD.  Carol has been involved in art making for twenty-three years. She has also taught art in the elementary school system. She has had several solo shows and has participated in group shows regularly since 1986. Her work has been collected across the Maritimes.
 
For more information about the show please contact the gallery by phone 902-624-6208 or e-mail info@mooringsgallery.com. The gallery is open daily until Christmas.