Blooming Bounty

Floral paintings by Agnes Bellegris at Melt Studio and Gallery

A world of beautiful floral paintings awaits visitors to the Focus Project Gallery at Melt Studio located at Base31. Artist Agnes Bellegris has created a joyful series of paintings, inspired in part by the Instagram photos from Dahlia May Flower Farm. “I love flowers, but I don’t do gardening, and I saw these photos from Dahlia May, and I asked the owner, Melanie [Harrington], if I could make paintings based on them, and she said ‘yes’, and I was surprised the she even took the time to reply to me,” said Ms. Bellegris. In addition to creating floral paintings based on the Instagram photos, she will arrange a bouquet of flowers and create paintings from real life, as well as from photos that she herself has taken.

Agnes Bellegris did not have a formal art education, instead studying journalism and Public Relations at university, but painting has always been a part of her life. About 15 years ago, while living in Calgary, she became a member of the Cochrane Arts Club and started taking courses and workshops, working with mentors to build her skills. She found inspiration in the works of Western artists such as Linda Wilder and Randy Hayashi, as well as in the abstract floral work of American artist Lynn Whipple. In recent years, she has been coached and mentored by renowned Hamilton artist Julia Veenstra. Ms. Bellegris describes herself as an “emerging artist” and works in three broad areas under the common theme of the natural world. In addition to florals, she also does landscapes and animal portraits. “As an emerging artist, technically I’m supposed to focus on one thing and really build that area, but I find I really enjoy that broad scope because it allows me to not feel pigeonholed into one space and become tired of doing it. At shows, the florals do well, but for commissions I tend to do animal portraits or landscapes of favourite places people have been to,” she said.

Painting was also a way for her to preserve her sanity during the lockdown phases of Covid. Her husband is a medical doctor in a leadership role, and during Covid one of the command centres was set up in their home in Hamilton. Add to that their children being home from university, and Ms. Bellegris said an escape into art was her saving grace. “I would just go down to the basement, where I have my studio, and I would just paint. That whole time was a hard space to live in, for everybody, especially for people in medicine—who are still feeling the residual effects,” she said. Her paintings are vividly coloured, and she works in acrylic.

“I love the vibrancy of the colours in acrylic over watercolours. And the drying time is much faster than oil paints, where you would need special ventilation to work safely.” She said that when people view her paintings she wants them to see hope. “I want them to see that the world can be very colourful, and you can bring in joy and colour with the simple things in life.”

From the comments left in the guest book, it seems that she has struck a chord. She points out comments such as “I have a big smile on my face”, or “These are gorgeous”, and “This makes me so happy”. She said that actually seeing her paintings up on the wall of the Focus Gallery gives her a new perspective. “Seeing these paintings on a wall and not stacked and stored in my own little studio space, really lets me see the fruits of my labour.” The show runs until July 23. More of Agnes Bellegris’s work can be seen at artwithagnes.com. The Focus Project Gallery is a rental space for solo artists within Melt Gallery. For more information, please visit meltstudiogallery.com.