The Studio 1010 Art Group is hosting their annual Fall Art Show and Sale at the John V. Hicks Gallery in the Prince Albert Arts Centre this month and hosted a reception on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The 1010 art group is a group of local artists who meet every Monday afternoon to work on their individual art projects. There is no oil or water based oils and there is no instructor. They are named after the address of the Arts Centre and have been around for over a decade in the city.
Studio 1010 has been painting each Monday in the space across the hall from the Hicks Gallery for 14 years.
New member Joanne Brooks had done art in the past, but with work and family she didn’t have time until her friend Judie Relitz asked her to join this year.
“I now stopped work completely so I thought, ‘yeah, I want to get back at this,’” Brooks said. “You come here and you just set up a table. You work away and you chit chat. There is no pressure and the time goes so fast. It’s so relaxing.”
Brooks likes the no pressure atmosphere of the group.
“You pop in, set yourself up, do whatever and there is no pressure to finish anything and you just talk about life and you wander around and check what other people are doing and get some tips,” she explained.
The group started after a few members met in art classes. They wanted to continue doing casual painting, so they approached the Arts Centre about a space. The centre agreed to rent them a space, and the group has been going strong ever since.
Gerry Hanson in on the opposite end of the spectrum. She started painting with Studio 1010 in 2007.
“I didn’t know how to paint,” Hanson said. “I knew nothing about it. I took a few lessons, but I didn’t understand what they were telling me so I just do my own thing.”
The only real rule for the group is no oil-based paints.
Hanson said the one concept that made her join was that it was about having fun as much as creating art.
“I never painted,” she remembered. “I didn’t know how. I didn’t know anything about it except I liked to draw when I was a kid.
“I was going to aquacize and this lady that is an artist said come and paint with us and I said I don’t know how to paint. She said, ‘well, come anyway’ so I came and started and never quit,” Hanson said.
“You learn from other people (and) because we have been painting together so long we are friends as well, so it’s a social event every Monday,” she added.
Brooks said that she is still learning as she goes too.
“Well I’m still working on it. I have never done watercolor so I am working on watercolors and that’s a challenge because it’s a lot of techniques, but I am improving,” she said.
Brooks said the extended dabbling in visual arts with others allows them to develop their own style, and the time flies.
“Your mind is totally on what you are doing, not on everything else,” she said.
Brooks added that it also allows you to meet new people with similar interests
Hanson echoed that sentiment as well.
“Some people are very artistic and they take lessons and they are doing their thing but everybody else is doing their own thing,” he said. “We help each other when we can but there is no pressure.”
Both Brooks and Hanson would encourage people to join the Studio 1010 group.
“We have this thing where the first time you come you don’t pay any fees or anything and we only collect enough fees to pay the rent,” Hanson said. “It’s only like $60 for the year, it started at $20 but the rent keeps going up.”
“Absolutely, yeah come and give it a try and absolutely,” Brooks added. “(The) art’s great. There are no rules. What in life has no rules?”
Relitz is in charge of collecting the money to pay the yearly fees. They currently have around 15 members whereas before the COVID-19 pandemic there were 20.
Any extra money is used to bring in guest artists.
“If we have extra money we use it for somebody to come in and show us something,” she said.
If you are interested in joining Studio 1010 contact Relitz at j.frelitz@sasktel.net for further information. They meet on Monday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and you can set up a table and join.
Studio 1010 does this show at their home base and also host a show at the Library in April. The Studio 1010 show runs at the Hicks Gallery until Oct. 23.
Relitz said the shows are booked through the Mann Art Gallery as the two are affiliated and Tia Furstenberg assists with creating the show.
“She does such a great job,” Relitz said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
