Margruite Krahn

The paintings in this exhibition are merely paint, oxide, egg yolk, canvas, and wood. I could take a knife to the images, slash and burn them, so that all that remains are the ashes. No material image.

However, the physical materials when put together have the potential to go beyond the physical image. Images, like musical notes, when placed in certain patterns will create something lasting. I believe that this happens when the artist, as master and servant to the craft, accepts his/her duty to search for beauty and truth. I do not mean this statement to sound inflated or like some romantic idealism. For me, it has become a hard, irreducible fact.

Maturity as an artist means I am more vulnerable. I no longer approach the blank canvas with preconceived ideas of the completed image. I approach with a sense that I am about to interpret beauty and truth and how that plays out within my limited understanding of the world and the nature of God.

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Five of the six paintings in “the Alchemy of Life” follow a symbolic interpretation of alchemy. The ancient alchemist in observing the flight of birds recognized in them the symbolic nature of the human soul undergoing spiritual development. The bird as symbol represents both the physical and spiritual world as they reflect certain archetypal experiences encountered by the soul as it goes through transformation. In alchemy, the process moves from Nigredo/Black Raven ,  Albedo/White Swan, Citrinatus/Yellow Pelican or Peacock, to Rubedo/Red Pheonix. The rooster, also an ancient spiritual symbol, coupled with the familiarity of chickens that roam my yard, completes the sixth painting in this exhibition.

Gyclee Prints                                         18" x 33"     $200

Originals                                                                    $5000 each

-      The paintings in this exhibition are merely paint, oxide, egg yolk, canvas, and wood. I could take a knife to the images, slash and burn them, so that all that remains are the ashes. No material imag

-          Margruite Krahn

This Gallery features a sampling of the effects of red, green, and blue LED lights against the tone on tone paintings.The camera angles and lighting effects were captured by photographer Ryan Bergen (www.ryanbergen.com). These images have not been altered by Photoshop or any other program.

Metal Prints of images                      12" x 18'        $175

Gyclee prints of images                    17" x 33"      $200

Collage wall float frames by Labworks - custom orders

Egg Tempera and Oxides

During a 2009 trip to Zimbabwe, I was struck by the rich colours used on the local mud huts and concrete floors. I returned with oxides (natural red earth) that had been blown into Zimbabwe from the Kalahari desert, with the intent of working with this new medium. After some experimentation with binders, I was particularly pleased with the look of combining oxide and egg yolk. As I raise my own chickens, eggs are readily available.

In 2011 while on a trip to Provence, France, I again came across the vivid colours of oxide in the Roussillion area. I returned from my trip with a larger colour palette. I began to marry this medium with my love for history, the cottonwoods of Neubergthal, the Canadian Shield (where I canoe), and community life.  Exploring oxide as mixed media can also include latex house paint, egg white varnish, linseed or Thompson seed oil, and polyurethane.

 Observant of the people and life around her, in the Community Life Series, Krahn portrays the depths of personal relationships in community life as she witnessed them. Her interest in people and their affinity with the land, each other, and their history permeates these large works.

Cards and gyclee prints available for all images

Cards : $5.00 each or 5 for $20  

Gyclee prints: $75 - $500 

RESURFACING:MENNONITE FLOOR PATTERNS…

Since 2001 I have been actively involved in the restoration, presentation and documentation of Neubergthal, an 1876 Mennonite Street Village and National Historic Site. At times I have felt like an archeologist unearthing “stories” within the walls and floors of the housebarns.

One such story, is the floor patterns created and painted by the women in the home. Preserved under layers of carpet and linoleum are anywhere from one to three layers of hand painted patterns on the floor boards. The journey to seek out and document these patterns took me beyond Neubergthal to other villages and housebarns in southern Manitoba. Although this was a functional art form that some will remember as late as the 1960’s, the layers of flooring, pattern, design, and colour take us deeper than the surface.

I suspect that the practice of hand painting the floors was brought from Prussia in the early nineteenth century to South Russia (Ukraine) and, from there, to Manitoba with the Mennonite migration of the 1870’s. The fifteen or so housebarns I have scoured through were built between c.1880 and c.926. A typical Mennonite house consists of a Russian bake oven in the centre with four rooms surrounding it: The Groot Stow (great room), Kjleen stow (small room or bedroom), Kjaakj (kitchen), and Faare Tuss (front room). At one time, all the floors were painted with a yellow ochre base and a floral motif of up to six colours. Typically, the kjleine Stow (small room, or bedroom) did not have a pattern. Around 1920, linoleum was introduced and with it the influence of geometric patterns. Somewhere around this time, high traffic areas, such as the kitchen, were changed to a grey or grey-green base with a floral or geometric motif. The petals of the floral motifs were painted with a brush while the centre was often stamped with a potato or other circular object. As patterns became more geometric, narrow tires, rope, vegetables, pails and other items were used to create the design. Stencils cut out of meat wrappers and cereal boxes were often in later years.. Thus far I have documented over 30 patterns from the foloowing villages- Neubergthal, Neuhorst, Sommerfeld, Grunthal ( West Reserve), Chortitz ( West Reserve), Village of Altona, Eigengrund, and Mexico.

Please stay posted for further information regarding sawdust floor patterns in earthen floors and recently discovered patterns.

Custom order floor cloths          $30.00-$40.00 sq ft.

Medium: Canvas, Black latex paint ( Satin), Impasto ( molding paste), sandpaper ( remove some of the black paint to highlight the white impasto), subtle acrylic paints as highlights.

Note: all pieces are 4’ in length or height x anywhere from 4”-9”

Resurfacing: Mennonite Floor Patterns, A Field Journal, is a journal for sketching and writing. It features floor patterns inspired by the handpainted floors by the Mennonite women and men of southern Manitoba, Canada between 1870's-1940's.

Cover: linen on 100lb paper

Inside paper: 80lb off white. 

Size: 6"x 9"

Pages: 128, 22 with images, 53 with lines for writing, 53 blank for sketching

Price: $25 each

           $22 for 2

           $20 three or more

note: tax included. Shipping not included

payments: e transfer or cheque

mail to: Box 2411, Altona, Manitoba, Ca. R0G 0B0

email: margruitekrahn@gmail.com