WINCHESTER — For the past year Winchester artist Carrie Keller has been working on the Warrior Women Series of portraits and on January 18 will be hosting the Warrior Women Vernissage at Winchelsea between 6 and 9 p.m.
On display at the vernissage will be the portraits of the 22 women who have participated in the series. Keller explained each participant met with her, had their photos taken and after having a conversation with each person, she was conceptualized the armour, weapon of choice and war animal to be portrayed with the woman warrior in each painting. Once completed, the painting was placed in a specially designed frame resembling metal armour she personally created for the series.
Keller explained the inspiration for the series came from her witnessing the often-unacknowledged strength and courage of ordinary women and the dedication shown by Keller’s mother as she raised nine children on her own after their father passed. The portraits are viewed by the artist as an acknowledgement of the strength of women and while they were “a lot of fun to paint”, the Warrior Women series has allowed her to “break out from usual motifs and to do something that was purely from heart”.
The January 18 Warrior Women Vernissage will enable the public to view the paintings, meet some of the Warrior Women and purchase prints of their favourite painting. For more information please visit the event’s Facebook page or contact the artist at paintings2order@eastlink.ca or visit https://paintingstoorder.com.
