Paintings + Piano Show at the Hearth Gallery
The confluence of visual art and music
The Hearth Gallery invites you to immerse yourselves in the synergy of paintings and piano. Three Bowen Island artists are collaborating in a colourful and lively exhibition, open from March 12 to 31. The show features paintings by Denise Pugash, Gregg Simpson, and live performances of original music composed by Nicole Thomas Zyczynski.
All three artists explore the interweaving of visual art and music. Gregg’s art is improvised, and expresses visually how sound and colour relate to create landscape forms. He credits his past career as a jazz drummer for his development as an artist: “I played a lot of improvised free jazz, which influenced my concept of abstraction.” His works are called Soundscapes. These are moving landscape forms, representing shapes of colour which create their own music.
Denise Pugash paints landscapes on Bowen Island and the south of France. “I see specific colours when I listen to music. I listen to the combinations of colours in a painting. I try to create a specific mood and emotional impact in a painting. The outcome may be harmonious or contain an unexpected clash. In music, discordance creates tension in a piece, and these moments of imperfection and resolution communicate emotion.”
Nicole, as a composer, writes and performs original music that is conceived by her innate response and interpretation of Denise’s paintings. “Denise’s paintings were a new inspiration for me. Each painting and its colours triggered in me a unique melody, motif, harmony, rhythmic pulse and mood. It has been a true delight to see how well the two parallel art forms marry and serve as inspiration to each other.”
During the exhibition, the artists will be present on selected days at the Hearth Gallery, and will provide interactive demonstrations of their collaboration.
To listen to Nicoles music that accompany the paintings, please click HERE
You are all invited to our artist pARTy, Saturday March 15th from 6 to 8 pm. Free for all.
A confluence of visual art and music
PAINTINGS + PIANO
OPENS MARCH 12TH- 31ST, 2025
JOIN THE ARTISTS, LIVE AT THE GALLERY
Gregg Simpson - Artist in Gallery: March 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 & 30 from 12 to 2 pm
Denise Pugash - Demonstrations: March 15, 16, 21 & 22 from 12 to 3 pm Painting: Weekdays from 1 to 3 pm
Nicole Thomas Zyczynski - Performance: Wednesday through Sunday March 19 to 30th (except March 23rd) from 1 to 3 pm
Gallery Hours
Open Daily 11am-5pm
Closed Tuesdays
ARTISTS STATEMENTS
This series began with an idea of dedicating it to Wassily Kandinsky, the pioneer of abstract art, who said “Art Should Aspire to the Condition of Music”. This certainly applies to abstract painting.
My concept of abstraction also relates to my past career as a jazz drummer where I played a lot of improvised free jazz while at the same time developing my art career. My paintings and works on paper are usually improvised from the start without preliminary drawings and this series continues my exploration of how sound and colour can relate to create landscape forms.
I begin a work very spontaneously, often with it lying on the ground and soaked with water to make the colors flow. Then they are later rendered into fixed forms with precise contours. The gouache and pastel works are called Soundscapes. These are moving landscape forms, shapes made of colour which create their own music.
-Gregg Simpson
I divide my time between Bowen Island, and a small town in the south of France. Here on Bowen, I love being immersed in nature: mountains, forests, and the ocean. I find endless inspiration in observing how familiar landscapes are transformed by light and atmosphere. I try to capture the fleeting moments that speak to me, and are precious since they are so transient.
Rain forest landscapes contrast with the intense light and dry terrain of the south of France. In Provence, my favourite times of day are early morning and late afternoon, when the light is gentle and golden, and the shadows are slanted and luminous. The quality of the light intensifies colors and makes every object glow, from bowls of fruit to landscapes.
I was amazed when Nicole played her beautiful compositions, which were inspired by my paintings. Her interpretations create moods, and add depth and expression to the images. Like a painter, she uses a palette of piano sounds to create a soundscape. I also see colour in music. Notes, chords, and key signatures bring to mind specific colours and moods that enhance and guide my art. Nicole’s composition “Little Lamb” created a picture in my mind, which inspired me to compose the corresponding painting.
- Denise Pugash
I have always considered music to be my first language. Music, like visual art, bridges the gap in verbal communication. Music heightens emotional perception.
My previous compositions were inspired by people and places. Denise’s paintings were a new inspiration for me. Each painting and its colours triggered in me a unique melody, motifs, harmonies, rhythmic pulse and mood. For some of the paintings, the colours spoke to me first. In others it was the subject or atmosphere. I like to call these pieces of music “improvisations” as they were composed without hesitation or calculation - these pieces were immediate in their execution and came from a place deep within me.
It has been a true delight to see how well the two parallel art forms marry and serve as inspiration to each other. Music and painting share a palette in common - the painter her colours and brushes, and the musician her melodies and harmonies. They intertwine to lend depth and meaning to the story. We invite you to immerse yourselves in the synergy of paintings and piano.
- Nicole Thomas Zyczynski