Kincardine artist draws inspiration from Lake Huron, forests, and the spirit on the wind

Kincardine artist Margriet Van Erp, well-known for her beautiful stained-glass pieces, also enjoys making clay creations and oil-painting, and finds her inspiration in Lake Huron, landscapes, trees, forests and the "Spirit on the Wind."

One of the founders of the Victoria Park Gallery in downtown Kincardine, she has her artwork on display in the guest gallery for the month of October.

An artist for more than 25 years, she and her husband, Ted, moved to Kincardine in September of 2002. Six months later, she opened the SeeView Gallery and Art Studio on Queen Street and it was open year-round until 2013. She now maintains a "by-appointment" studio and showroom in a unit in the same building for custom and wholesale artwork.

Early in her career, she created handbuilt claywork in low-relief sculpture, including tiles, masks and vases. Later, she took up stained glass, using a technique with overlays of lead and thin mylar film, with the glass surface as a canvas, allowing the illustrative design's quality.

During the 1990s, her focus was custom architectural glasswork, and she designed and produced hundreds of custom stained-glass projects for homes, businesses and churches in the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and Toronto area. After an 18-year career in advertising and design companies in Toronto, she became a full-time artist in 1997.

Van Erp continues to sell her stained-glass works in gallery gift stores across Ontario.

However, her focus for the past five years has been painting, illustrating, and abstract art.

"It's like prayer," she said. "You go through the experience as you create. I started out as a painter. Then, I added clay work, and then the stained glass. Now, I'm back to painting, illustrating and drawing. I enjoy the clay work but it is too technical for me to do all the time now."

She and Ted are also renovating a century school house near Chesley, taking it back to its original historic look. It was Sullivan School House No. 9, built in 1881.

This is her first time as a guest artist at Victoria Park Gallery.

"I was surprised but pleased to be asked," she said. "it's great to be here, to once again show my work in the community where I belong. I'm also pleased to see what the gallery has become."

The gallery is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, check the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/victoriaparkgallerykincardine/