Former local artist to be featured at Atikokan gallery

By Ken Johnston Editor Five years ago Vanessa Keeash emerged on the local art scene as a budding artist when a teacher at Rainy River High School recognized her talents and encouraged her to pursue them full bore. Now she has reached another pinnacle. Starting on March 9th and running until March 28th 31 pieces of her art will be on public display at the Open Window Gallery in downtown Atikokan. At 23, Keeash said she tried to take a break from her art in the past couple of years, but could not seem to get away from it. And fortunately for the public she gave back into her natural talents and kept pumping pieces out. “People kept asking me to do their portraits. I could not say no and never really set my brushes down for very long,” said Keeash last week. A naturally talented artist, Keeash attended Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario for one year after high school. But then decide to take a break and moved back to this area. Meanwhile, the former Stratton resident’s family had moved to Atikokan which is where she is today. Seeing other artists’ work displayed in the gallery there, she decided to take a brave step and show them her work in hopes of landing an exhibit. She was elated when they said yes but suddenly realized that she did not possess enough of her own work to fill the gallery. So she has been very busy the past several months painting and sculpting. While she likes sculpting she says “Painting people is my passion.” Almost all the people in the exhibit are from the Atikokan area and she encourages people from across the Rainy River District to come and see her work. “You might recognize someone’s portrait!” “My exhibit portrays emotions I have personally gone through in life.” It is called “Through My Eyes.” There is no admission charge to the exhibit and there is a grand opening planned for March 9th. She hopes to return to school this fall and finish her degree in Fine Arts and perhaps even become an art teacher. Meanwhile she says that even though she has been busy working on the exhibit, she has not stopped thinking about new works. “For me sketching is my day dreaming. I constantly watch people and can draw or paint them from memory. At my exhibit you will see a glimpse of my life through my eyes.”