The Flower Diary

I am delighted to be taking part in this exhibition at the Dignam Gallery, of 21st Century women artists celebrating the life of Mary Heister Reid. I will be participating alongside Alison Galley, Heather Gentleman, Mary Lennox Hourd, Carolyn Jongeward, Margaret Rodgers, Jocelyn Shaw and Anita Stein.

During her extraordinary life Mary Hiester Reid (1854–1921) produced over 300 mesmerizing still life and landscape paintings. A member of the Women’s Art Association of Canada (WAAC) and the first woman artist to have a solo show at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Hiester Reid’s remarkable example opened a door to a hundred years of Canadian painting by women. Her Century at Last, a 21st-century celebration of her legacy, brings together the art of eight WAAC members in a salute to the shapes, colours, subjects, tones and styles of Mary Hiester Reid.

On Thursday 8th October there will be a launch and signing of a new book commemorating the life of Mary Heister Reid by the author Molly Peacock.

In this sumptuous and precisely researched biography, celebrated poet and biographer Molly Peacock brings Mary Hiester Reid, foremother of painters such as Georgia O’Keefe, out of the shadows, revealing a fascinating, complex woman who insisted on her right to live as a married artist, not as a tragic heroine.

The Dignam Gallery – 23 Prince Arthur Avenue, Toronto.  https://womensartofcanada.ca/

My work for sale can be seen here: https://catharinesomerville.com/flora/

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