Holly Dean
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The ARTIST
Holly was born in Oshawa, Ontario in 1958. She graduated
from grade 12
and plunged headlong into a 20 year career in the Printing
industry
while running a part time design and calligraphy business.
Primarily
self-taught, she also participated in workshops by local
and
international calligraphers and artists.
Holly became involved in the Calligraphic Arts Guild
of Toronto and
was a founding member of the Uxbridge Celebration of
the Arts. She
later joined the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa and the
Merrickville
Artist's Guild.
She moved to Merrickville in 1988 and became an active
member in the
Merrickville arts community. In November of 1996 she
left her job to
pursue her creative passions full time. Calligraphy
and design evolved
into paintings with words. Since becoming a member of
the Canadian
Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, Holly and her partner,
writer Larry
Thompson, have collaborated on limited edition artist
books.
Holly has participated in many top Canadian art and
craft shows over
the years, as well as solo and group art exhibits. In
2001, she and
Larry built their "cathedral to art" - a home
studio/gallery in
Merrickville where they create and display their art
and books.
Proving the truth in "if you build it, they will
come", Holly and
Larry have been very busy keeping up with orders for
Relic Costume
Balls for Cirque du Soleil since 2001. During the first
year, more than
16 people in Merrickville were creating these beautiful
ornaments! The
orders are still coming, with steady sales at Cirque's
shows around
the world.
This idea was inspired by Holly's "Faerie Rounds"
- glass balls filled
with intriguing bits of calligraphy and paper scraps
from the artist's
studio. Cirque's Relic Costume Balls are also glass,
a bit larger, and
are skilfully filled with pieces of show costumes from
their
sewing-room floors, characters from the show programs,
the show logo
and a quote written in calligraphy. These ornaments
are great momentos
to take away from each performance as well as being
a model of
recycling! Relic Costume Balls are available at Cirque's
web site:
www.cirquedusoleil.com. Holly's Faerie Rounds are available
at her own
web site: www.hollydean.ca.
In 2002 Holly was invited to be the first Artist-in-Residence
at
Queen's University, Faculty of Education. She spent
an invigorating
four weeks teaching art workshops, creating a body of
work and putting
on an exhibit. She was invited back in January of 2004
to repeat this
successful endeavour.
THE ART
Whirling images and words make up Holly's inner world.
A world rich in
colour, beauty, age and love. Drawing on the chaos within,
she fulfills
her need to create a visual feast for eye and soul through
collage,
encaustic, acrylic, ink and oil.
Her original mixed media paintings combine layers of
mystery: rough
texture, calligraphic line and word, essence of metal
and hue of
precious stone.
The Studio at Greyweathers
Box 574, 606 Elgin Street
Merrickville, ON K0G 1N0
(613) 269-3714
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
www.hollydean.ca
[email protected]
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