Everything new for Barrie artist

New year, new home, new studio, new store.

Deb Grisé is off to a good start.

The self-taught Barrie artist has just released some new images, small oil paintings, to celebrate the opening of her new shop on Etsy.

The scenes, a mix of local and Ontario — Killarney, Algonquin Park, Tiny Township, Barrie area — are captured in small original paintings.

“I made the decision to open this Etsy shop as a venue for my smaller art pieces,” Grisé said. “I believe that more and more people feel confidence in online shopping, and being part of the Etsy community, gives me the confidence to offer my art online.”

While Grisé has travelled across Canada, lived in a variety of locations throughout the province of Ontario, she was born in Penetanguishene. She moved to Barrie in 2013, downsizing after her children moved out.

She credits her mother for sparking her initial interest in art. Her mother provided her with art supplies, books and videos.

“I found I really, really liked it so I just kept going,” said Grisé, adding that while her mother never took art beyond the hobby stage, she remained her best critic and best fan.

Grisé started out learning from books and kept a little blank book where she would practise painting trees and water. A workshop at Curry’s helped her with the watercolour technique. She still takes the occasional workshop because she finds it is a good learning tool.

More often these days, Grisé teaches her own art classes. She has developed six different courses which include the basics of oil and five followup classes; the average is eight students per class. She has taught workshops at the Barrie Art Club and for Quest Art School & Gallery in Midland. Her tips and techniques have been featured in online art publications such as ArtWise.

While Grisé started out in watercolours and still does the occasional painting, after nine years, she switched to oil. It was around 2000 and it coincided with a more serious focus on art.

“I had an opportunity to try it (oil painting) at no risk and thought why not,” she said. “It was such a natural progression for me (from watercolour) and so suitable to the landscape work I was doing, I never looked back.”

After a two-year test run, Grisé made the leap to full-time art around 2006. Since then, she’s had her own gallery (when she was living in Penetanguishene), participated in a variety of area art tours and several outdoor shows. Her work has been recognized in juried shows and competitions such as The Artist Magazine and her paintings are in private collections that span the globe.

She calls her style contemporary impressionism. Each painting has a story and if asked she will share it.

Grisé, a member of the Ontario Plein Air Society, said she loves to paint outside, but prefers indoor art shows to the unpredictable elements of weather.

Killarney and Algonquin Park are two of her favourite places to paint because of their rugged terrain, yet each is very different. She is hoping to make a trip to Killarney with a group of friends, all artists, in September. They have done this before and it’s a lot of fun for them.

Grisé has an exhibition of approximately 15 paintings on display at PACE Cardio, Little Lake Health Centre until March. Her larger pieces are on display at the Creative Space in downtown Barrie.

When she is not painting, Grisé enjoys sewing. She has had some of her artwork printed onto fabric to make eyeglass cases, scarves, bags and accessories which she sells at shows as well as an Etsy artisan site under the name ArtOnYouByDAG.

Resource: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com