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UPLANDS: WATERCOLOURS AND POTTERY

Uplands Cultural & Heritage Centre is pleased to present an exhibition of works by watercolourist Denis Palmer and potter Réjean Côtes. Denis Palmer is a storyteller as well as an artist. He prefers to create his drawings and watercolours exclusively on location and interact directly with his environment, which allows him to capture the essence of the moment: Maple syrup sugaring; Remembrance Day; the Cookshire Fair and the events that fill our daily lives with family, friends and neighbors. He records stories, anecdotes, conversations and arguments and incorporates them in his work in order to share them with his audience.

He travels regularly to Northern Quebec, Chibougamau, James Bay and La Vérendrye Park, to explore parts of Quebec with ancient stories and traditions, places where he is considered a stranger. His works attain various levels of completion, which perfectly demonstrate his creative process and artistic approach.

Réjean Côtes is a self-taught artist who has established and operated his own pottery studio for almost thirty years. His first experiences in pottery production (from 1972 to 1985) resulted in the creation of both functional and decorative stoneware and porcelain pieces. In 2005, he began firing his pieces in a wood stove.

This method maximizes the effect of fire on his work. Essentially, the position of each piece in the stove; the unpredictable way in which the ashes accumulate on and around it; the varying intensity of the flames; the amount of wood and the potter's management of the fire are all factors which influence the final look of the piece. As it is in nature, the beauty of these pieces resides in their lack of symmetry; in the evidence of extraordinary events on their surfaces and in the fact that they have been exposed to intense natural forces which, combined with the artist's design result in unique and meaningful objects.

The exhibit runs from April 1st to May 27th, 2012 at Uplands, 9 Speid Street, in Sherbrooke (Borough of Lennoxville). Uplands is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday from 1pm to 4:30pm. Entrance is FREE. For more information, call (819) 564-0409 or visit our website: www.uplands.ca.