THEATRE

I experience life as an outsider and can easily identify with the underdog. I am constantly questioning and trying to make sense of the world I live in. Theatre does the same with its depictions of the alienated, the undervalued and the misunderstood. Theatre questions the status quo, and prompts the audience to look inside themselves for the answers.

By using the theme of theatre in my artwork, I am provided with a platform to express my affinity with so many of the thoughts and feelings presented on the stage. Collage and mixed media techniques allow me to be experimental and to work in an intuitive fashion. Every piece of art that I create is a combination of my inspirations, my life experience and my subconscious mind.

contact email: chery@ca.inter.net

"THE SCIENCE OF THEATRE" mixed media on canvas

"MATINEE" mixed media on canvas SOLD

"THE COSTUME DESIGNER" mixed media on canvas

On display at The Skingirls Spa, Vancouver, B.C.

A VIEW FROM THE BALCONY OF "A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE" mixed media on canvas

"WOMEN IN THEATRE" SOLD

"JOAN OF ARC THE STAGE PLAY"

mixed media on wood panel 24" x 20" x 3 x 3/4"

"COFFEE IS MY OPENING ACT" mixed media on canvas SOLD

"WRITE ME A PLAY" collage on board SOLD

"BARRYMORE THEATRE" mixed media on canvas

"BROADWAY THEATRE" mixed media on canvas SOLD

"DELACORTE THEATRE CENTRAL PARK mixed media on canvas

"GYPSY ROBE" mixed media on wood panel

COPPER & SILVER THEATRE MASKS" mixed media on canvas SOLD

"ON BROADWAY" mixed media on canvas

"TENNESSEE WILLIAMS"

oil on canvas 3' x 4' x 1" SOLD

"TOP GIRLS"

Behind the stage at the Centaur Theatre.

oil on canvas SOLD

"BEAUTIFUL THING"

Interpretation of the play by Jonathan Harvey

mixed media on wood panel 30" x 22" x 3/4"

"JUST A GLITCH" based on the play "Wit" by Margaret Edson.

mixed media on two wood panels

30" x 24" x 1" total

"PAINTINGS FOR SALE"

Mixed media on canvas. 24" x 36" x 1 1/2"

An interpretaion of the play, "World without shadows" by Lance Woolaver. This play narrates the life of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. Her paintings were joyful, but her life was not.

"CENSORED"

Based on the two plays "Indecent" (Paula Vogel) and

"God of Vengeance" (Sholem Asch)

mixed media on wood panel 22" x 30" x 1"

"THE PROP MASTER"

Mixed media collage on wood panel 24" x 24" x 1 1/2"

This work was created after viewing a video of how prop managers work. I was captivated by the various tasks they had to do and the creativity that was required when an actual object could not be found.They can make just about anything including lifelike food, furniture and adornments to name a few. I would have loved a job like this!

"THE WARDROBE MISTRESS"

Mixed media on wood 24" x 24". This is one of the artworks in my ongoing series of images about theatre. It is a mixed media piece on a wood panel. In the image, an overworked wardrobe mistress is being pulled away from her tasks by the very costumes she has made. They want to dance with her surrounded by the many clothes and accessories that make up her daily environment.

"AT THE THEATRE"

MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS. 16" X 20" x 1".

ANY TIME I SIT IN AN OLD THEATRE WITH ITS CARVINGS, DETAILED DECOR AND ROYALTY SETTING, I AM HUMBLED BY THE CARE THAT WAS TAKEN WITH THE DESIGNING OF SUCH A MARVELLOUS ENVIRONMENT. THIS ORIGINAL COLLAGE CONSISTS OF PATTERNED PAPER, ACRYLIC INKS, ACRYLIC PAINT, ARTIST PENS, MULBERRY & HANDMADE PAPER.

SOLD

"Glorious Gloria - Keeper of the Dream".

Inspired by the play "Gloria: A Life" by Emily Mann

Collage/mixed media on canvas. 24" x 30" x 1"

Gloria Steinem needs no introduction. While working on this piece, I was taken back to the many marches, the meetings, the consciousness raising sessions, and the formation of women's centres and galleries. Much has changed since then because of these efforts, but a lot has not. The fight for women's equal rights must continue.

SOLD

"STAGE LIGHTING #1"

Mixed media on canvas board.

SOLD

"STAGE LIGHTING #2"

Mixed media on canvas.

SOLD

"STAGE LIGHTING #3"

Mixed media on canvas.

"THE DRESS REHEARSAL" sold

Mixed media collage on canvas.

16" x 20"

This piece is part of my ongoing series about the wonderful world of the theatre. As part of this series, my interest is drawn to the absolute beauty evident in the interiors of some of the older theatres, many of which have been restored to their original style. My reference used for "The Dress Rehearsal" was the Elgin theatre in Toronto with which I took artistic license to compose a compelling setting. Materials used were a wood panel base and mulberry paper, acrylic paints, prepared papers, artist pens, glitter ribbon and plastic mesh ribbon. Step into another world!

"STREET THEATRE"

Mixed media collage on canvas.

24" x 30"

This artwork features theatre posters on a wall that have been left to deteriorate and suffer at the hands of graffiti artists and pranksters.

It is reminicent of a wall I saw in New York as few years ago.

""STAGE DOOR"

Collage on canvas

This collage/mixed media has been created on canvas using found papers, mulberry paper, artist pens and acrylic paint.

This is the place where actors go in and actors exit and where fans anxiously await them to have their Playbills signed. If you can locate this door, you are in luck!

14" x 18"

"DANCING AT LUGHNASA - AN INTERPRETATION"

This collage/mixed media on canvas was created using acrylic paints, mulberry paper, artist's pens and found papers.

22" x 30"

The image was inspired by the play by the Irish playwright Brian Friel. It is a memory play with five sisters and a young boy whose lives change with the entry into their lives of the boy's father and a missionary priest brother. There is poverty and financial insecurity which is further enhanced with the opening of a knitwear factory and the loss of the only paid job in the family. Religious beliefs are questioned.

A radio nicknamed "Marconi" that works sporadically leads the women into sudden outbursts of wild dancing. So, when things are tough, throw your baking flour into the air and dance!

"SONG FOR UKRAINE" Mixed media/collage on canvas. 16" x 20"

I was positively intrigued by the organists taking part in an international pipe organ competition. The determination, the skill and the passion that they put into their work was truly impressive. So many keyboards, pedals, knobs to coordinate!

When I hear the first opening notes of an organ piece, it feels like the heavens are opening up, therefore there is sky in this artwork along with the pipes. Music can also be a theatrical performance! The image was created using acrylic paint, artist pens and paper on canvas.

"I AM NOT A DIME A DOZEN" Mixed media collage on canvas. 16" x 20"

Originally, when I started creating this piece, my idea was to create an image that told the story of the play, "Death of a Salesman". My first efforts were done on a large canvas with quotes, drawings and layers of scenes covering the surface. The image of Willy Loman driving towards his death and the thoughts he had about his ambitions and failures was central to my emotional responses prominent in the artwork.

The primary work that I did didn't please me because too much was going on, too confusing and my original response was lost. So, taking a knife, I cut out what mattered and here is the result-much smaller, but more effective, at least for me it is.

The canvas has layers of paper, acrylic paint and pencil with one glued-on canvas piece of a figure in the bottom right. It is ready to hang with wire and hooks on the back as well as a protective finish on it.

"SAMUEL BECKETT"

Mixed media on paper. 9" x 12"

This is a portrait of the playwright Samuel Beckett. It was created on paper using collage, markers, pencils, watercolour & acrylic paint.

"LILLIAN HELLMAN -THE SMOKER"

9" X 12" MIXED MEDIA ON PAPER.

This is a portrait of the playwright Lillian Hellman. While researching information for this image, every photo of Hellman had her with a cigarette. Hence, the title.

"Paula Vogel"

9" x 12" Mixed media /collage on canvas. This is my recent artwork featuring women playwrights. This is Pulitzer prize winner for drama Paula Vogel. In every play she sends a message to her late brother Carl. She inserts "just a little something" in the atmosphere of every play to try and change the homophobia in our world. If you look closely at this image, you will see the letters CARL behind her. More to follow...

"Nobody Sings About It"

9"x 12" mixed media collage on paper. Portrait of Caryl Churchill, award winning playwright and social activist. This image depicts various images of Caryl Churchill with a mad forrest in the background which was the name of one of her plays. The title of this image is taken from a song about menopause and aging in the play Vinegar Tom.

"Because I'm A Black Woman"

Portrait of Adrienne Kennedy, playwright who has written over 20 plays and made her Broadway debut last year at the age of 91 with "Ohio State Murders". Her theory about why it took so long: "It's because I'm a Black woman."

Ink pens, watercolour pencils, acrylic and pencils on paper. 9" x 12".

"MACHINAL - AN INTERPRETATION"

This artwork is inspired by the Sophie Treadwell play, "Machinal". This 1920's play addresses the themes of the suppression of women, freedom from societal expectations and industrialization. It is based on the true story of a woman who was in a loveless marriage and murders her husband. She became the very first female to be executed using the electric chair. This mixed media collage on canvas was created using paper, brush pens, acrylic gouache, acrylic paints and pencil.

"Edward Albee"

This is my portrait of the Pulitzer prize winning playwright Edward Albee showing him deep in creative thought. In the background are hazy images of characters from his play, "Three Tall Women".

9" x 12" Mixed media/collage on smooth 100 lb Bristol paper using Derwent Inktense pencils, gouache, paper, artist pens, and pencil.

"ONCE- MOSS HART" In 1930, Moss Hart, armed with yellow writing pads, chocolate bars, soda and a bag of sandwiches, went to Brighton beach to work on "Once In A Lifetime". He formed a chair out of the sand piles and settled in to write.

"WINTER GARDEN THEATRE-THEN AND NOW"

24" x 18" x 1 1/2"

Mixed media on wood panel with gold metallic leaf around the edges.

"DAVID HOCKNEY TAKES THE STAGE WITH HIS DOGS" mixed media on canvas 20" x 24"