Dufferin News Contributor Gets 3rd at McMichael Art Show

Tangled Reflections by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson.
Part of Connie Munson's ARCHIVAL COLLECTION - Analogue Meets Digital World — *Tangled Reflections* by Connie Munson

Dufferin News Contributor and local photographer Connie Munson’s (ecmunson) Tangled Reflections recently placed third in a category at All Things With Imagination, a McMichael Juried Competition.

The exhibition, All Things With Imagination, was conceived to honour the Group of Seven’s 100^th anniversary of their first exhibition and inspired by Arthur Lismer’s quote, “Art is not in possession of those who can draw, write poems, make music or design buildings. It belongs to all those who can see their way through all things with imagination.“

McMichael members were prompted to explore the seminal influences of the Canadian landscape, both past and present, on their artistic expression and its impact on a sense of Canadian identity. For more information and to view the winning pieces check out the All Things with Imagination | McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

The analogue capture, Kodachrome 64, circa 1980, was taken by Munson in Victoria Park, Kitchener and was rendered on aluminum, 16×20 inches, for the competition. The show is hanging in the Community Gallery at McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg through June 2021.

“Victoria Park in the heart of Kitchener has its slightly unruly spots where ducks like to nest, the grasses left uncut in some patches and branches longer and sweeping down over the water,” states Munson, “My apartment was a few minutes from this domesticated wildness. I walked there daily and always with my Pentax K1000 Spotmatic. There was only room for one set of eyes behind a camera and I needed to know it was what I saw, my eyes, and my vision. Watching the seasons pass through the park with my walks, I felt a growing peace. It was a time of introspection for me with much to untangle in my life.”

Moody Blues by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson; 30x45 inches, acrylic print, floating frame by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson.
Part of Connie Munson's ARCHIVAL COLLECTION - Analogue Meets Digital World — *Moody Blues* by Connie Munson

Connie Munson is an avid self-taught photographer. There are many testaments to her passion for this art, demonstrated through her work with both analogue and digital platforms. Her classical composition and dramatic use of natural light and atmosphere add a strong presence to her pieces. On top of this, she has built five darkrooms!

“My search for the ephemeral and enduring, often hidden in plain view, pulls me forward into a scene. And it’s those intangible qualities and ambience which create the drive and passion behind my photography.”

Active in several arts organizations since her retirement four years ago from teaching high school in Richmond Hill with the YRDSB, Connie now sits as a director on the Headwaters Arts board as chair of Marketing & Communications.

There are several online arts shows and holiday markets that Connie Munson is currently participating in, allowing the public to obtain some of her work. Most recently she is in the Mississauga Arts Council’s online shop for their members which can be browsed through here. Munson’s product line starts with dramatic landscapes on coffee mugs and framed photographic prints in three sizes and continues with two series of Limited Edition Giclee prints from her Archival Collection.

The first is a series of six captures in colour at 14×20 inches, while the second is from her darkroom days with five shots in black and white at 11×14 inches. Both series are printed with the Giclee archival inks on acid-free art papers, available unmatted, matted, or framed and matted. Select captures are also available as custom orders to be rendered on aluminum, canvas, and acrylic as Limited Edition runs of twenty.

Crimson Glory by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson — *Crimson Glory* by Connie Munson

Half of the captures in this six-piece mini-collection have won distinctions in the past 13 months. Placing third in a category of the All Things With Imagination show is Tangled Reflections hanging in the McMichael Gallery, Crimson Glory, was juried into a show and is now hanging in the Ontario Legislative Assembly’s In-Camera Dining Room at Queen’s Park, Toronto, through December 2021, and Moody Blues, having earned an Honourable Mention, was also on the catalogue cover for Joshua Creek’s 2019 Juried Competition for Artists of Halton and Peel.

While her solo show at the Millcroft Inn and Spa in Alton for December and January is pending due to pandemic restrictions, there are many online shows where you can view the work of ecmunson. As a member of the Latow Photography Guild, she is in Arts Burlington’s Online Christmas Sale that is found here.

Connie is also a member of the Palette & Pencil Guild with Credit Valley Artisans in Georgetown, and their online Christmas shop is here. Moreover, as a member of a Mississauga based arts collective, her work is in their Virtual Holiday Bazaar ArtTrendZ: An Artists’ Collective Facebook page under Ellie’s Emporium.

Mother Duck by Dufferin News Connie Munson

Old Apple Trees by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson

Moody Blues by Dufferin News Contributor Connie Munson

Click/Tap the images to see them up close

“Although I do not live in Dufferin County nor the Headwaters Region, I can truthfully say ‘my heart is in those hills!”, says Munson, “Many of my current rural vistas are inspired from drives along Heart Lake Road, while I roam far and wide up into the Dufferin Hills and Halton Hills for shots of barns and farmlands. It resonates so strongly for me having grown up on a dairy farm in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York.”

In addition to being a renowned photographer and active member of the arts community, Connie Munson has had a multitude of written pieces published in newsletters, as well as Peel Weekly News and Dufferin News. In many of her columns, Munson features many local artists in her columns, including Ann Randeraad, Robert Chisholm, and Marnie Cooke. Recently, she has promoted a wide selection of holiday markets being run by several arts collectives and other non-profit organizations, including the Museum of Dufferin’s Holiday Treasures.

“As our first contributor, Connie has been integral to the publication”, said Josh MacEwen, editor of Dufferin News and founder of Dufferin’s Spotlight. “The style of her writing and the quality of her content is superb. Furthermore, the subject matter that she covers fills a void in the community. Media coverage of the arts has been insufficient in Dufferin County. Connie Munson is leading the way by highlighting local artists and the arts groups they belong to. We have already seen interest from others who would like to build on this, showing the value that Connie is bringing to Dufferin through her work.”

For those interested in learning more about the variety of work that Connie Munson creates, she can be reached at ellie73m@yahoo.ca. One can also contact Connie for a complimentary copy of her brochure, Analogue Meets Digital World Archival Collection. Free delivery is offered to locations within 50km of Toronto Pearson Airport on orders over $75.00.

References – Dufferin News Contributor Gets 3rd at McMichael Art Show

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