CELIA MEADE

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"Small Round Tree"

Celia Meade, "Small Round Tree," 2001, oil on panel, 12.5" x 13.25".

CELIA MEADE

By Jill Sawyer

Trees can seldom be described as having personalities, but Celia Meade’s trees have a frank, open gaze that immediately engages the viewer. Pared down to rounded strokes of green on straight trunks against clear blue skies, some in elegant rows and some standing on their own, Meade’s trees represent nature in its simplest form. The Calgary-based artist spends a lot of time in parks with her dog, and from that she seeks to “capture a fraction of the beauty that trees have to offer.” Her canvases complement the geometric, brightly-lit space of Deborah Herringer Kiss’ new gallery. Herringer Kiss says that Meade’s trees have attracted a lot of attention from other artists. The paintings, she says, are a reminder that “trees are not fodder for paper and cardboard boxes, pine dressers and Popsicle sticks.” A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Calgary, Celia Meade has work in public and private collections including Fairmont Hotels and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. See her work at an exhibition in June, 2004, at the Herringer Kiss Gallery in Calgary.