WEYBURN – Weyburn artist Tana Cugnet will be having an art show at the Cumberland Gallery in the Legislature Building in Regina.
She has been working on mostly commissions for the past two years so she didn’t imagine she’d have a show so soon.
Cugnet said her plan was to spend the next few years working towards a show, then she received a message on twitter from a follower of her art, asking me if I had ever considered showing at the Cumberland Gallery.
If she was interested, he said he would put her in touch with the building manager at the Legislature.
“I did contact the building manager, Steve Bata, with the hope of booking a show in a year or two, however he said that he was looking for someone to show in November and December this year. He also said my agricultural and rural scenes would be a good fit since they’d also be hosting an event during Agribition,” said Cugnet.
“I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass me by when I knew that the art I had worked on for the past two years would be a great fit for this, and it would be special to see all of the commissions on display together in the Legislature,” she added, so she reached out to her clients and explained the opportunity to them.
“They were incredibly generous to lend their art for the show. With their commissions as well as the art in my personal collection, I found I had 17 pieces and enough for the show,” she said.
Some of the paintings are based on photos of rural images that she was inspired by and some are images that clients specifically requested or sent photos of.
“I generally work from photos on my iPad when I paint, and the medium I use is acrylic paint. The common thread through all of this work is that it represents scenes from around Saskatchewan and rural scenes in particular,” Cugnet explained.
Some of the paintings have been on display before and some have never been shown. None are for sale so this will purely be a show to just enjoy viewing, although she does sell prints of the images.
“I hope that anyone who is able to can join me at my reception on Monday, Nov. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Cumberland Gallery in the Legislature. If they can’t make it then, they could include a tour of my art any day the Legislature is open when they are in Regina,” said Cugnet.
The exhibit will be open to public until the first week of January.
