ESTEVAN — Katie Wempe was left marvelling at the number of people who attended her first-ever art exhibit.
A reception was held for the Estevan artist Jan. 30 at Art Concepts Custom Framing. More than 80 people, including many friends and family members, turned out to view her work and congratulate her on the exhibit, which has more than 20 of her selections.
Wempe said the exhibit turned out really well.
“A lot of the art was made when I was a teenager … and there was a lot of the art that was grouped together, so it all flowed collection-wise,” said Wempe in an interview with SaskToday. “There was six collections, so they all flowed together nicely.”
Many of the paintings are abstract art, she said, with faces and emotion-based pieces using different colours.
“The art was made when I was a teenager, experiencing different emotions and growing. The best way to describe it was a visual diary; instead of reading a diary, you could look at it.”
Wempe prefers abstract art because expectations are different from other mediums. She views abstract art as a really easy way to express yourself and get your thoughts on a page.
“As an artist, you can set the bar on what you want it to be, but you don’t feel the pressure to set the bar extremely high,” she said.
Art serves as a release for her, she said, because she gets to be herself and let her soul speak.
Art Concepts was great to work with, she said. Her parents have been getting items framed by business owner Theresa Fuhr for a long time. She recalls visiting the business as a child and attended art receptions at the building.
“They are amazing to work with and lovely people,” said Wempe.
A lot of amazing artists have had their artwork on the walls before her, she said, and she is proud to have her work on the same walls as them.
“There is a lot of amazing local artists who are doing an amazing job,” she said.
One of her selections was for sale and was purchased by her brother Garrett for $950. Her mother Stacey was selling copies of her book A Million Times We Cry.
“A lot of my artwork is about emotions and feeling them, and my mom’s book is about grief and loss and dealing with that,” said Katie Wempe. “It was a very emotion-filled night. My mom got to speak after me.”
The exhibit is expected to remain at Art Concepts until the end of February.
