The WAVE is about sharing creativity with the community. Eighteen artists in 2023 are looking forward to connecting with old friends and new.

New work hangs from the back of the cottage at our stop on the tour…and sometimes on the side walls too. This year we are joined by CJ TENNANT and her colourful gemstone jewellery.

“Emerald City,” will be joining in the community fun. She spent a period of time at Pulse gallery at at The Forks this spring. Meet her at the WAVE this June.

WHAT IS THE WAVE?

The WAVE is an opportunity to connect with Art and the makers. It is Manitoba’s longest running Art road trip, now in it’s 22nd year. The WAVE Interlake Artists Studio Tour is free and family friendly. This year 18 Artists studios are opening up to inspire you on your art journey.

Check the new WAVE APP… If I can download it you can too, or go to the WAVE website, www.watchthewave.ca to select your route. If you prefer to hold a physical printed brochure in your hand you can pick one up at all artist studios along the way .

Above: Cj tennant work in progress being overseen by my painting “Blue Gums”. The friendly collaboration continues this Season on the WAVE Tour. Cj Tennant will be joining us onsite in Ponemah.

DOING THE WAVE…

With all that information at your finger tips ‘doing the WAVE” is a simple matter of gathering your friends and family and preparing to have some creative fun.

Deciding where to start and what you want to see might be your biggest challenge of the day. There is a lot to see and experience but make sure to stop by Melville Lane in Ponemah for double the colour fun. with Cj and I sharing our wares meeting your curiosity in our happy place.

Ask your Artist hosts for their local take on nearby restaurants and picnic stops for lunch or afternoon tea.

“Square Prairie; Chorus Line” is fresh off the paint wall. 20’ x 20”, painted in acrylic on canvas. Meet her in June

WHEN DOES THE WAVE TAKE PLACE?

The WAVE rolls during the third weekend in June each year. This year in 2023 that happens to be June 10th and 11th. Studios are open daily 10 am-6pm.

The second WAVE gets going on the September long weekend. In 2023, September 2nd and 3rd.

studios are open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm daily.

All venues offer an immersive experience where you get to meet the makers in their creative spaces and experience first hand where all the creative magic happens.

I love the creative ways our visitors travel to come and visit us.

HOW TO WAVE?

Design your journey according to interests. Nominate a driver.

Follow along with a brochure, the Website www.watchthewave.ca, or download the new WAVE app for mobile accessibility and get ready for a fun weekend road trip.
Watch for the distinctive Blue and White signs along Highway 8 and 9 as you drive north of the City or South from the Arborg area.

Above. “Square Prairie: Repose” 18” x 18” acrylic on canvas, 2023

FROM THE SOUTH…

You might like to travel North of Winnipeg on Highway 8 where your first choice is whether to turn right or left. Turn left and you will find Alan Lacovetsky’s Ceramics Studio. It is a sprawling wonderland fitted out with wood burning kilns and fired pottery, platters, lidded boxes, vessels and all the studio accompaniments. You might even find a cat or two as you enjoy this property.

Above: the “Graces” at their earliest stages are still in progress. They may or may not be on view during the June WAVE. There will however, be an opportunity for you to participate on an ART START, weather permitting.

Turn right…

off Highway 8 in St Andrews and you will discover the hard working Cloverdale Forge. Here Blacksmiths, Matt Jenkins and Karen Rudolf have a combined 40 years of experience and many irons in the fire. They also have many stories to share about a travelling exhibition, a micro farming initiative. and wrought iron commissions.

You can see Matt’s work in person on my deck in Ponemah.

FROM THE NORTH…

If you are starting at the Northern end of the Tour you might be grabbing a coffee and a treat at the renowned Arborg Bakery to begin. There is no judgement here.

Jerry Maryniuk, a former forensic police artist shares his comic illustrations and New WAVE artist, painter Georgina Ball, make the journey well worth your time and attention.

“Fairmont Suite”: Poppies 3”. Looks can be deceiving. This girl packs a hearty punch measuring in at 48’ x 48’. She is painted in Acrylic on Panel and shares billing with a pair of sisters. This trio were together more than my small space could handle. They had me literally painting myself into corners at the studio.

WHO:

Along with the Northern and Southern lights , introduced above, that bookend our Studio tour, there are 16 other stops along the way through the Village of Dunnottar, Winnipeg Beach, Sandy Hook, Gimli and places in between. 

Take in one or all of the open studios as you explore Manitoba's Prairie in bloom. Stop for lunch in local towns along the way, take a dip in the lake, walk a beach or pose for a selfie on a pier. Ask your Artist host for their recommendations, suggestions and local tips.

We are grateful to our WAVE visitors who enrich our experience of community every season. These two BFF’s are modelling the scale of the Mandart Fuzzy Blankets, and my book “Wisdom at the Crossroads”.

The Interlake Artists community is a hard working group of creatives passionate about where they are and what they do. They have made Manitoba’s WAVE into the longest running Art Tour of its kind in the province.

Each year we look forward to sharing our journey in art. We also love to catch up with all the events and stories that have evolved in your lives between WAVE events.

The three C’s: community, creativity and connection are a definite driving force that motivates me to continue to roll with the WAVE.

Above, Last minute preparation for The WAVE often last late into the night ahead of the first day at our venue.

The bunkie as we like to call our overflow accommodation and Creative venue is also called into action as my summer studio. That little deck out front is a favourite breakfast spot. It is sunny yet sheltered and from that little vantage point I have communed with hummingbirds as they peer into the window to see what’s blooming on the paint wall.

We also have resident chipmunks living in the adjacent woodpile and a sunny bird bath in view. Together with the Eagles that make our front tree a morning stop on their travels, they provide hours of entertainment. Keep an eye out for them when you visit our venue.

A new diptych is ready for the WAVE. She is 18” x 24’ but as yet is still waiting for an official title.

The right hand side is similarly unnamed. Meet her on or in the Bunkhouse in June.

Whatever the weather…

The WAVE goes ahead whatever the weather. My husband, recent winner of employee of the month, is an excellent WAVE assistant. He annually makes rain coats for all the outdoor paintings…just in case of inclement weather. They have come in handy in the past but we are hopefull we will not have a need for them this coming WAVE weekend.

“In life and in art the journey is the destination”

More new work will be on display. “Fairmont Suite; Poppies 1” will be among the offerings on the exterior. Scale is best appreciated in person. This big girl is 48’ x 48’, acrylic on panel.

Mandart North Studio, June 10 and 11, 10-6pm daily..

Like I said scale is hard to distinguish online. This “Field Study” of the Square Prairie Series measures up at a comparatively small 20’ x 20”, acrylic on Canvas, also newly minted in 2023.

FINAL REMINDER…

The WAVE Interlake Artists’ Studio Tour gets rolling,

June 10th and 11th 

and September long weekend. 

Saturday and Sunday 10-6 daily 

Join us Mandart North Studio, June 10 and 11, 10-6pm daily for some creative fun along the road less travelled.  The WAVE rolls rain or shine in June and September annually. www.watchthewave.ca for online details, updates and maps.

Beyond the 18 artists Studio’s opening to WAVE enthusiasts this season there is so much to see and do along the way. i am in Ponemah so our iconic piers are a crowd favourite for swimmers and non swimmers alike. Piers are up from the July long weekend and begin their annual fall retreat after September long weekend.

Don’t forget to add your name in to the draw for $100 of spending money to be cashed in by the winner at your chosen WAVE studio. We look forward to seeing you on the tour.  
travel safely, all best,

Amanda 

Childhood memories are deeply etched for this prairie boy, now dad to these prairie girls.

My current studio is a tiny nest.

Dad drives the toboggan train…many moons ago.

Welcome back

Thanks for joining me for a virtual visit today.

 I want to invite you back into my studio which is very cozy right now, atmospherically light filled and as a bonus tempered with heat in the winter and cooled air in the summers, in life as in art, there is always a balance right and the question, Do I want the comfort of heat or do I want a larger but colder space to work in? I might miss the 800 square feet I once enjoyed but I love not having my water bucket freeze on the window sill overnight in the depths of winter, or the need to wear multiple layers of clothing to work in.

So, Just like at home where spaces within spaces have popped up and been given new designations, during these past 2 years, I have all kinds of specified areas here at the studio, they just happen to fit into about 140 square feet. 

You will have to imagine liberal use of air quotes as I describe my space. For those who have been there I hope you recognise it from the description. 

At the studio I have a lunch and meeting room, which is in reality two hand me down leather bucket chairs and a side table In between that is loaded with collections of rocks and twigs and shiny things. I sometimes touch or hold some of these while I am taking a contemplative break to look at and think about the current composition on the painting wall. 

I have a reference library which doubles as a privacy screen when the door is open and a kitchen or tea station on the bottom shelf when it is closed. My painting wall is of course the main attraction at about 10 feet long but I also have a cutting and creative table that I refer to as the office with canvas storage beneath it. Butted tightly up against the window wall is my writing desk which is also my painting table strewn with supplies, brushes, pallets, paints in tubes and tubs and a water bucket.  My hardy reblooming orchids have moved to the new space here with me too. They love the light and the view to the river and supervise the place when I am not here on weekends and evenings.. Weekdays are my regular routine here

 On this morning my Riverview desk is uncommonly cleared and is spaciously accepting of notepaper and my thoughts. Later in the day it will morph to its usual disorder to accommodate my paints as I get back to a commission I am just beginning. I have been working large lately or as large as my painting wall can accommodate. 4 x 8 foot diptychs have bloomed pretty regularly here throughout the pandemic. 

This new one is a 4 foot square canvas that is at that early stage where the underpainting is energetic fun that aims to cover the surface in colour in a loose and expressive way. It is at this stage that I usually write an intention with gesso on the surface as I am prepping it as a little extra reminder for me as the process evolves.

“Child’s Play”, Acrylic and Chalk Pastel on Paper, 2001

This morning with a clean desk feels like a pause before the action begins. My view to the river is covered in winters white, trees are bare structures along the river trail and from here through those trees standing witness to all the comings and goings, I have a front row seat to take in all the action on the river. There are skaters gliding by on freshly groomed river ice, solo and with purpose, or  in pairs and groups at a more relaxed pace. There are runners, dogs, walkers and fat bike cyclists too. It’s a community on the move embracing the outdoors in very, very, cold weather.

The view has gotten me thinking about communities and the outdoor spaces that speak to us, that invite us to play and to have fun in and around. So as a reminder to play in the great outdoors, I want to introduce you to a painting from the very early days of studio practice that I am calling “Child’s Play” , see the illustration above.

It was painted on a  half sheet of water colour paper, split horizontally, in 2001.  The first lesson this 11’ x 30” mixed media piece is reminding me is again the need to keep accurate records. I seem to be learning that one in hindsight. If you are an artist just starting out, keeping accurate records might be my best advice.

 “Child’s Play”, lives behind glass in our living room above a long silent upright piano adjacent to the Starbucks corner we chatted about last time.

You know, it’s hard to go back to look critically at early work without being critical. This piece is so different to what I am working on now, “Childs Play” is small and on paper and way more representational than anything I have done in a very long while. I am trying not to be judgemental with current eyes on my archive but I have to say it would never qualify as one of my best works. Instead it is a  representative of a specific time and place in both life and in art.. Beyond that it is also a reminder of the growth in my practice as a painter over the last 20 or so years and that is a perfectly good reason to keep older art in view.

As a side note here I very recently learned another lesson from this painting as I played a preview of the recording to gather my husband’s impressions. He emphatically added a disclaimer disagreeing with my critical observations. In stating his admiration for this painting he reminded me just how subjective the visual world is. Everyone’s opinions matter and he loves this little piece.

This painting was inspired by a Christmas visit to my husband’s hometown in small town Manitoba, and may have even been a gift. As a side note I don’t recommend gifting art because art is such a subjective and personal choice.

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”,

Said William Morris, and he was right.

And though this one was for a gift for my hubby, it represents something uniquely personal and so it gets a pass in our home. It came about after a discussion of favourite spaces and places growing up. As an ex pat Australian in 2001 I was always curious about landscape. I wanted to know what had inspired this former kid on the prairies, how seasons played a role and of course how snow came literally into play. 

These were favourite hats and favourite past times… snapshots taken on Tower Hill in the middle of the Canadian Prairies.

Our experiences differed obviously. I was never too fond of the cold and knew only oceans and sandy beaches. Ironically I ended up in the middle of a northern continent. It was also ironic that I was kicked out of my local swimming club as a winy preteen for complaining about cold water. To my defence it was an unheated outdoor, Olympic sized swimming pool at the start of an Australian spring… and training started at 6am in the mornings. It was without a doubt nippy. Older swimmers taught us to smear our shivering skinny bodies with Vaseline, like the English Channel swimmers, to insulate us from the cold water. The action of swimming warmed us up but never quite enough for me. To this day though, the water remains my happy place and I am proud to be a lifelong weekday swimmer at the Y where I swim indoors in a heated pool with no Vaseline required.

In 2001 when I painted “Child’s Play”, as a new to the Canadian climate young mother, one of the first lessons I learned in this country was that everything is better when you dress for the conditions. That lesson was quickly followed by the freedom of sliding, intentional and otherwise. 

Tobogganing at Tower Hill I learned, was a feature at the top of my hubby’s childhood list. The hill was part of an incidental greenspace in the small western Canadian town he grew up in. It still had a large pocket of scrubby forest at the base of the toboggan hill that all the town’s kids called their own.  That was before the late 2000’s when a new subdivision claimed some of that forested green space for the backyards of a new cul-de-sac. Generations of town residents who had grown up playing hide and seek and building forts under its summertime canopy were clearly disappointed.

Discussion of this place animated my husband’s features as he described memories of games, real and imaginary, neighbourhood kids painting wooden clothespins that raced in spring runoff water down the hill, the winner aerodynamically carved with a blade all the country kids carried (I am told) was the first to reach the deep forest puddles at the bottom of the hill. Each season featured its own exploits that took place in this treed realm at the collective heart of the under ten crowd who found ample ammunition there for the shooting sagas featuring stick guns and duelling swords.

He shared stories of his experiences in that forest with me as we walked from Grandmas house to the hill to go sledding. Dad was the head of the toboggan train and behind him he dragged two small girls on their bellies, on sleds, for this afternoon family adventure.

In illustrated letters I made the old fashioned way, literally cutting and pasting snapshots and text, we shared our North American experiences with cousins and grandparents overseas who like me had no experience with winter games.

“Our Christmas is cold and white at Grandmas house” we wrote,

There are no bikes being ridden on the streets as there are in Australia at Christmas. There are no beaches to swim at but Santa still comes to our house with too many gifts and we eat too much of everything”

“Daddy pulled us in a toboggan train. He likes to take us where he played when he was young” the story reads.

“It was quiet and peaceful on the way through the forest to the hill. Eventually we had to pull our own sleds. Small branches and twigs were coated white with tiny ice crystals” the pictured letter continued before action shots of kids alive with the thrill of motion sliding downhill on snow whooshed past.

 It makes me smile thinking of those simple pleasures. The picture letter ends with an invitation for cousins to join us for a white Christmas, to remind them they did not have to be sweaty and hot in an Australian summer, they could come to Canada where cooling off was a s simple as unzipping a jacket or taking off hats and mitts.. The story ends with hot chocolate as most events did in those long ago winters. I have since quit the hot chocolate

My life experience meant winter white was not part of my equation. We are who we are and we each bring our own preferences to what we do whatever that is and wherever that might be. The painting “Child’s Play”, from my perspective focused on the lush undergrowth of that favoured forest because the growing season was more familiar to me.

 My experience of the Australian bush also came into play. In a eucalyptus forest there is no fall season where the tree divests itself of its leaves and the branches lay bare like the North American deciduous norms. Instead much to the chagrin of homeowners, whose backyard features a native gum, leaves run an independent lifecycle where some leaves are dropping year round. A close look at leaf litter will show a range of colours in play all the time so spring green is not the only fair weather colour in the landscape of foliage that I painted. Strong earthy reds and rusty browns show up in this composition in the under layers.

 Those early works on paper followed a similar path. First under painted in acrylic which I often watered down to be similar to gouache or watercolour. I was precious with materials then and didn’t want to waste whole sheets on these early experiments that got me back in touch with my creative self.

 The underpainting gave me a foundation for the composition. I had previously had an attachment to earthy ochres and neutral oxides that I painstakingly blended together. At this time I was trying to train myself to resist greying everything down so I bought myself some chalk pastels so I would be forced to hold one colour at a time in my hand as I worked on top of the painted acrylic base. I am also keen on clear colour so I am in the habit of washing brushes a lot, some might say excessively but hey it keeps the colour clear and that is my preference.

In early works like this one I may have done some sketching or at least roughed in the basic structure of the composition in pencil and I was most definitely using photo references as I began. In this painting I gave precedence to the literal landscape. My goal here was to document an actual place and to provide an invitation into a space that had been so precious from the child’s perspective. 

It was interesting; Scale my husband explained was noticeably different returning to that sacred forest as an adult with our own children. The density of the foliage and the size of the trees that had once dwarfed him felt a little scrubbier and less the imposing fortress that had contained the exhilaration of breaking trail through long prairie grasses while chasing or being chased by a buddy in the undergrowth.

Art I find, can take us to places, both real and imaginary, it can inspire process in the creator and it can process aspects of inspiration from the past and bring that inspiration into the present. I hope you have pieces in your home that inspire memories of attachment to special places in your history 

This episode of the podcast ends with a brief meditation. This one was a reminder for me of the importance of the pause. and the comfort of looking to our memories for experiences within the landscapes that have brought us joy. You can find the episode by clicking the link below or searching out, Season 1, Episode 2 , Wisdom at the crossroads, The Podcast ,wherever you listen to your podcasts.

I hope you will accept the gift of a few minutes in your own presence by listening in. May you find your own rhythm: where nothing is forced, nothing is extended and nothing is withheld.

Next Tuesday we will gather here again to be “Enlightened at Beaver bay”. Please consider joining me as we reflect on how some of my favourite paintings have evolved and what wisdom i have found at the crossroads where action and presence meet. Invite a friend , drop me a line, with your questions or comments, subscribe or leave a review. It all helps to get a new venture off the ground.

Thanks for being here. I am Looking forward to meeting you here again soon

all best, Amanda

Apple URL for the Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/widsom-at-the-crossroads/id1609992256

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5AbmRHQor17IeJJivYaYJf

The village of Dunnottar on lake Winnipeg is characterized by its stick dock Piers. Reassembled seasonally they are the perfect communal gathering place.

When you see this bouquet down the end of Melville lane you will know you have arrived .

The Interlake has so many things to offer like this inland ocean on our doorstep.

Gathering in community is a privilege. It is a gift to share space , friendship, events and activities with others who share our passions ( if not our bloodlines) and a combined history. This is really something remarkable and particularly sought out by the immigrant population of which I am a member.

For those whose life choices have kept them within at least a half day drive of where they began, who readily come across friends, family and acquaintances who have witnessed their origins, there is not the same impetus to reach out to encourage new friendships or to seek out new and independent communities. 
For those like me however, with an adventurous spirit and zest for discovery and challenge we can find ourselves far from our first homes and way beyond our original stomping grounds. For us, community takes on a larger meaning. 

I have been a resident in Manitoba since January of 1991, a citizen since 2007 and a part of cottage country since 2013. I joined the wave after our family settled into Ponemah as summer residents. Here I have had the pleasure of meeting the many creative characters of The Interlake. 

Now in its 18th year, the  Wave Interlake Artists Studio Tour, often emulated, remains, Manitoba’s largest running artists studio tour. Over 50 artists have participated and 29 individuals are involved in 2019’s June and September wave tours. They are all eager to invite you into their personal spaces on this free family friendly weekend and welcome you into their personal community as a new friend. 

The communities I have formed since my arrival in Manitoba in 1990 continue to inspire me ( you know who you are) I enjoy people, I enjoy learning of their histories and am happy to be included in future histories as our friendships develop.

Like all relationships, a friendship requires some effort to maintain and prosper and without that family of origin dominating my time and energy, the development of these chosen families is important, prioritized and celebrated. 

The Interlake community is no different. This is a hard working group of creatives passionate about where they are and what they do.

Canadians seem to have a particular attachment to their summer residences which they call,  the lake, the cottage, the cabin, or the camp. These often rustic spaces resonate with their histories and connection to place, with the roots put down together in shared experience, with friendships and activities or events, and time well spent together in each other’s company. 

I fondly recall sitting around a campfire with the Steele and Richie clans on a far away and aptly named, “Pretty Beach” in NSW Australia over a Christmas holiday. (Canadians please know the Southern Hemisphere celebrates Christmas at the peak of their summer holidays.) 

Col Steel’s directive to point a pinky finger at the fire whose smoke is coming your way is a no fail strategy. It is an example of an action that forms a small part of who we are and that resonated long past that particular moment in time. 

I continued to share that important tidbit with my Canadian contingency as we share space and time around my own lake country fire place. Try it. You won’t be disappointed. It is a testament to the formative connections we make through events and activities as part of a community

My studio at the lake is a work in progress. It began with a gallant effort to salvage an 8’x 16’ shed at the back of the property that was new to us in 2013. After 10 uninhabited years and one original owner we happily undertook a grand effort to understand and assimilate into the Canadian affinity for the lake and the cottage/cabin/camp.

We novices had much to learn but have heartily bonded with summer routines and scenes at our little abode just an hour north of the city on the water at Ponemah. 

By season 2 we started to figure things out and realized the inaugural effort to resurrect the shed as studio was a fools errand and in hickory dickory dock fashion, it was levelled to the ground, mice and all. 

The new bunkie, a purpose built replacement with a loft arose in the  shed’s place. It boasts a lake view, windows affording a lovely cross breeze, a napable day bed I am yet to try out and best of all, no mice. 
The bunkie hosts our overflow guests  more often than not and twice annually fills with selected contents of my Exchange District Studio for the Wave Interlake Artists Studio Tour. 

I appreciate community, love our summer routines and friends and enjoy welcoming wave participants to our little haven to see what has bloomed on my canvases or in silk over the last season. 

Participants contributing to the healing blanket project during 2018’s WAVE Tour.

The WAVE is all about the people and has been known to bring movie stars to our door.

2019’s Wave Studio Tour this June was preempted  by a blustery 34 degree day of preparation on Friday which ended in a spectacular storm. The weather took out power in the region for hours and inspired an evening of candle light interactions. It toppled hydro poles like dominos on highway 8 and quenched the thirst of trees and cottage gardens after a very thirsty spring.

As per past WAVE years our bunkie was graced with the company of friends old and new. Three sets of new neighbours in our area is a record for a section of the Interlake known for generational ownership. It rained, it poured. My diligent, supportive husband made raincoats for each and every painting that hung on the cottage’s exterior walls. The birds sang between downpours and I swear the grass grew right before my eyes. Our local eagle even hovered curiously at one point just above the peaked bunkie roof, blessing us with his or her eagle energy and helping us to soar. 

The community that is so important to me as an immigrant came out in support despite the weather. Neighbours old and new and batches of girlfriends, young couples and families bonding on a spring weekend roadtrip graced our little haven and we connected over colour. How lovely is that? 

Sunday is another day and whatever the weather holds it will be a privilege to spend time with my husband and daughters enlisted in the combined effort to share time and space with wave goers who are also seeking community with their individual parties on the road trip together. 

It is a lovely way to discover the gems of Manitoba’s Interlake, along with the people who do and those who wish to know, this place. 

What a privilege I am given to be able to call myself a part of such a community of artistic, hard working and inspired souls. 

The bunkie ready for company in June.

Bunkie later in the season.

Come join us, rain or shine in June and September annually. www.watchthewave.ca for online details where Mandart North is Studio #6 on the tour.

Hope to see see you there ,
Amanda Onchulenko

Click to read Amanda’s article on the Articulation Textile Group blog.