Carol Redmond

UNTITLED

A recent aquisition from Canyon Road Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, this is the work of an artist we've admired since seeing one of her pieces in our neighbour's home. Now two of them hang on Chicora Avenue! Doubly amazing, as Redmond is a Canadian native, now resident in Denver.

"My body of work consists of oil and mixed media paintings on dimensional wooden supports, which combine representational depictions of organic forms, patterning, and abstract imagery. Within a single piece I bring together unlikely combinations of elements, often contrasting the traditional and the contemporary and experimenting with methods of representation and surface treatments. I typically divide the surface of my pieces into multiple panel grids, diptychs or triptychs as a way to synthesize the varying elements and achieve a sense of unity in the composition. Historical traditions in still life painting and the dimensional frames surrounding Renaissance-era triptychs have influenced the development of my work. Contemporary sources which I look to for inspiration include embroidered textiles, minimalist furniture, and architectural design.

"I often start a piece by painting a simply shaped organic form or botanical image on one of the individual panels. For me painting these forms is a way to poeticize the often unnoticed fragments from nature, such as seedpods, twigs, or stones. When developing imagery on the other panels I try to achieve a balance between contrasting elements, using minimal forms and subtle textures alongside intricate patterning, for example. I embellish the additional panels with raised relief, varnished collage, pigment rubbed into incised lines, or encaustic. "

Jean Honoré Fragonard

THE BOLT

The Bolt is one of the most passionate images of seduction produced in the eighteenth century. The man’s straining gesture to engage the door lock and prevent the woman from fleeing is the perfect analogy to his yearning sexual desire. The implied violence of the episode is somewhat undercut by the theatrical nature of the scene, exemplified in the balletic posture of the woman and the coyly placed apple on the bedstand, suggesting that temptation has been employed to reach this stage. The apple, with its connotation of original sin, is also significant in that this work was painted for the Marquis de Veri, supposedly as a pendant to another of his ten Fragonards, an Adoration of the Shepherds (now in a private collection) of exactly the same size as The Bolt. Both works date from the late 1770s and make use of a similar range of colors and a Rembrandtesque burst of light. In the case of The Bolt, this dramatic chiaroscuro is particularly effective, leading the viewer’s eye along the diagonal from the intensely lit bolt down and across the woman’s body to her delicate foot hidden in the shadows but clearly pointed toward the large bed. From this we can conclude that her “fall” is inevitable. The possible juxtaposition of this most secular of subjects with the Adoration of the Shepherds has led to the suggestion that the artist and patron intended to contrast sacred and profane love or sin and redemption.

The copy on display at Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast was purchased from the poster shop at the Musée du Louvre in 1996, and framed by Alan Gallery in Toronto. It is currently part of the rotating collection.

Janet Forrester Ngala

BUSH BANANAS

Janet Forrester Ngala, born July 1937, paints the Dreaming from Ernabella and Maryvale, which were told to her by her Grandparents. She often travels to the Dreaming sites of her family to paint. Her works have been selected for numerous group exhibitions throughout Australia, including a touring exhibition with the Australian National Gallery. Janets work was included in a major exhibition of the Jukurrpa artists at the Araluen Art centre, Alice Springs in 1989 and in several subsequent shows including Desert Dreamings, Grand Hyatt, Jakarta 1992, London 1993, Sydney and Melbourne 1994-1998 and the Australian Embassies in Washington and New York 1999. Janet's work is highly sought after, and her works have been acquired by collectors in New York, England, Switzerland, Germany and Rome. She has a unique style of double-dotting that gives her paintings a unique three-dimentional look.

Forrester's Bush Bananas is one of a pair of original Aboriginal paintings hanging at Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast, both purchased from a gallery in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia, in 2001. They hang in the living room.

'Rama and Sita II,' relief panel. Victims of betrayal, and exiled, Rama lovingly embraces the beautiful Sita as they wander around in the magnificent Dandaka forest. Attention is drawn to their exquisitely detailed attire as well as the opulence of the forest, conjuring Hindu mysticism and Balinese local art. Rama and Sita are two of the main deities in the Ramayana, known for their pious and romantic attributes. Sita symbolizes the mother earth while Rama is God Wishnu incarnated.

The panel hanging in Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast was purchased from the artist in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia during our visit there in the fall of 1999. This piece is in the dining room.

The Cluny Tapestry

Sense of Hearing

Sense of Taste

The original, circa 1512, is currently on display at the Cluny Museum in Paris. It was given to Claude le Viste by Jean de Chabanne as an engagement present. The strength of the Lion and the purity of the Unicorn are thought to symbolize the union of marriage.

This tapestry canvas is one of the series of six which form the famous set of "The Lady with the Unicorn." These are generally considered to be the finest works of textile art that Survive from the middle ages. Little is known of the first 300 years of their existence until they were discovered by the writer George Sand in 1844, hanging at the chateau of Broussac in France. In 1853, three panels were found rolled up in the town hall of Broussac, damaged by dampness and rats. The Cluny Museum in Paris was able to purchase them in 1883. They are now displayed there in their own circular room to great effect. The theme of the set is the depiction of the five human senses, one per tapestry with one concluding piece. Here the sense of hearing is shown by the beautifully dressed lady playing the harpsichord. The rounded Dark Blue Island which serves as the base for the scene is covered with growing flowers and the main background is scattered with flowering branches This mille-fleurs background was very popular in fifteenth century tapestries.

The pair on display at Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast was needlepointed by Jim's father, Larry Lingerfelt of Salome AZ, c.1985, and framed by Alan Gallery in Toronto. They hang in The Tower Guest Room.