The Artist: Holly Friesen

Working painter learning to live with the unresolved questions in my heart while painting from the inside-out. Beauty is my compass, fire is my heartbeat, the earth is my body.

~ Holly Friesen

Holly Friesen was born in Saskatchewan, studied Visual Arts at John Abbott College in Montreal, painting at York University in Toronto, and with various other artists across Canada and in Europe over the years. More importantly, she has painted from close observation of nature for over 20 years. Throughout her many years of travel she discovered the portability of watercolours and developed her observational skills by painting on location. For the last five years she has rediscovered oils and their luscious physicality and acrylics with their versatility. The scale of her paintings has grown to accommodate the large movement she feels within herself and the earth around her. Her newest pieces are largely informed by the internal metaphors and dream images she encounters when working from the “inside” of the earth landscape.

Holly Friesen directs and coordinates a large barn studio in Mont-Tremblant with a group of artists. The barn serves as both a summer studio and a gallery allowing direct contact between the artists and the public, which is an important element for Holly. In the winter she returns to her Montreal studio located in the Complexe du Canal Lachine.

Holly Friesen

4710 St Ambroise / Studio 350 ~ Montreal QC ~ (514) 484-6583

hollyfriesen@gmail.com ~ http://www.hollyfriesen.com/ ~

theroaringinside.blogspot.com

Artist Statement

I feel I am no longer observing the natural world around me but rather, in a reversal of roles or perception, the natural world seems to be observing me. Painting is a direct response to this living, breathing earth. Working and being outside with the stillness of the rocks, the shifting light patterns and the music of the river are all vital parts of this interconnected weaving.

Painting spontaneously and quickly, brushstrokes become intuitive movements that follow breath and echo emotional responses. This dynamic energetic exchange feels as though I am being held within an intelligent, sentient field, which expresses and animates itself through colors, shapes and movement. I am humbled and awed by this process.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010 Western Skies Environmental Conference Mount Royal University,Calgary, AB

2010 The Wilderness Within EK Voland Galerie d’Art, Montreal, QC

2000 Rebirth Artbeat Studio, Mont-Tremblant, QC

1995 Wintergreen Gallery, Mont-Tremblant, QC

1994 Beaconsfield Library, Beaconsfield, QC

1994 Bank of Montreal, Mont-Tremblant, QC

1992 Awakening Club Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant

1989 Carol Levine Gallery, Pointe Claire, QC

1988 Recent Works by Holly Friesen, Auberge Sauvignon, Mont Tremblant, QC

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010 McGill Visual Impact McGill University, Montreal, QC

2010 Montreal Art Expo Just for Laughs Museum, Montreal, QC

2009 Autumn Avenue Art Gallery,10 King, Montreal, QC

2009 Eros La Maison des Arts & Culture, St Faustin, QC

2008 Transition La Maison des Arts & Culture, St Faustin, QC

2007 - 2009 St-Henri Artwalk St-Henri, Montreal, QC

2008 Montreal, QC IASD Exhibition Galerie Art Neuf, / Nancy Richter Brezski award given by International Association for the Study of Dreams, San Francisco, California

2007 La Maison des Arts & Culutre, St Faustin, QC

2007 Domaine St Bernard Art Symposium, Mont-Tremblant,

2007 Ottawa Art Festival, Ottawa, Ontario

Art in the Park, Ottawa, Ontario

2005 - 2006 Galerie Place de la Gare, Mont-Tremblant, QC

2006 Galerie d’Art du Vieux Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant QC

2005 Déo Signos Galerie Samuel-Ouimet, Mont-Tremblant, QC

200 Inner Ryhthms Artbeat Studio, Mont-Tremblant, QC

2002 Earth, Water & Sky Artbeat Studio, Mont-Tremblant, QC

1989 Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto, Ontario

1988 Le Salon du Printemps, SCA, juried Complexe Guy-Favreau, Montreal, QC

1988 Vision One Gallery, Montreal, QC

1988 Toile Etoile Gallery, Montreal, QC

1992 Station Mont Tremblant, Mont Tremblant, QC

Art Projects

1995-2005 Founder & Director of Artbeat Studio, Mont-Tremblant, QC
Private Art School for children & adults

2005-2006 Art Director of Galerie d’Art du Vieux Tremblant, QC

2007-2009 Founder & Director of the Art Barn, Mont-Tremblant, QC

Cultural Center & Art Gallery

2009-2010 Artistic Director & Curator of Galerie Ateliers du Village, Mont-Tremblant

"Wild Earth" acrlyic, diptych 72" x 54"

"Weaving Roots of Time" acrylic, triptych 48" x 72"

"Release 3" acrylic, 20" x 16"

"Out on a Limb" 40" x 60" acrylic

Muse 2

"Lover's Limbs" acrylic 36" x 48"

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