Paintings by Jamie Plummer
September 26 to October 15, 2024
Regular Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm, evenings by appointment.
Open later for First Friday, October 4, 5-9pm.
Meet the Artist times, TBA.
Artist Statement:
As a child I always felt I was able to express myself with art. Words were never my friend. Reading was never as enjoyable as it was to others, math and most sciences were tolerated, French and physics class were suffering. The only time I felt like I was intelligent, confident and truly myself was when I was creating something. Over the years I have done a little bit of everything. I took up beading in high school and even sold my jewelry in some craft fairs. I studied and practiced photography during my undergrad and ventured into wedding photography. Theatre design allowed me to explore a large cross section of skills, technical drafting, model making, costume rendering, sculpting with form and even light. During the pandemic I sold paint poured coasters with a good friend. But all of these practices eventually turned into a chore. I enjoyed the process of creating and expression, and still do. They truly brought me joy. But the product of my work was for others. The jewelry was made for others to wear. The photos were taken to celebrate others special days, the set and costume designs were for others to act on and to wear, the coasters were sold as a means during the pandemic. And that was enough, for a while at least.
When I became a mother, that changed. Motherhood is hard. Motherhood during a global pandemic is even harder. I returned to work after 9 months of maternity leave with my first son. Four months later my father died. One month after that the world shut down and I was cut off from my creative outlet, my job. Needless to say, my mental health suffered. I didn’t realize how much I needed a creative outlet. It was during that time that I first picked up a pallet knife. I had always been intimidated by it, thinking it was beyond my skill set. But as I spread the paint across a canvas for the first time, it felt right. It felt like me. It is easy to lose yourself in motherhood and I definitely did for a while. Taking care of small humans consumes your identity and your time. In the rare instances when you do find time for yourself, you are exhausted. When I take the time to paint, I am taking back a piece of myself, remembering who I am as an individual, feeling at home, enjoying something I am good at. It is meditative, it brings me joy, it brings me peace, it brings me confidence. It is just for me.
There is nothing complicated about these paintings. There is no deeper meaning. I don’t have time for anything more than that. Ultimately what it comes down to is “I like to paint and flowers are pretty”.
“Colourful artwork can trigger the release of dopamine… leading to feelings of happiness and well-being” – Dr, Shivani Khetan, Expressive art therapist.
Artist Bio:
Jamie Plummer grew up in East Africa with the Serengeti as her backdrop. Safaris with her family were a common occurrence, driving through the Serengeti looking for animals, but mostly enjoying the grass fields, endless skies and warm sun. Summers were spent in Winnipeg, with weekends at the lake with her sisters and grandparents. Driving through the prairies with vast infinite blue skies, its far away horizon, and vibrant yellow canola fields has always brought a smile to her face; a world away from the game drives through the Serengeti but the same sky, and a familiar feeling with the warm sun on her face.
Jamie always had an affinity for art. It didn’t really matter what she was creating, it’s where she felt most at home. In school she always found a way to bring her artistic side into what she was working on.
In 2000 Jamie and her family permanently moved back home to Winnipeg where she attended Grant Park for her last 2 years of high school. A difficult adjustment and missing her African home, she spent her art classes recreating African art styles that she grew up around, the artwork that her parents collected. After high school she attended the University of Winnipeg. Wanting to take some sort of art class, she took the only practical art class the university offered, Principles of Theatre Design. She was in love. She proceeded to take every theatre course the University offered, that wasn’t onstage. She graduated with honors with a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre Design and Backstage Production. She then found her way to the University of Alberta where she completed her Masters of Fine Arts in set, costume and lighting design.
In 2013 she returned home to Winnipeg to marry her husband and start her career. She worked for several years as a gallerist at the Woodlands Art Gallery, where she was surrounded by established and budding Canadian artists. At the same time Jamie continued with her theatre life, designing shows for theatres across the city. In 2016 Jamie started in the Props department at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre as a prop buyer. It was a perfect fit. It combined all her knowledge of the backstage with her design eye, her love for creating and crafting, her knowledge of art, as well as her love of shopping. Over the next few years Jamie experienced the birth of her first son, a global pandemic, the sudden death of her father, and a promotion to the Head of the Prop Department at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Following the birth of her second son in 2023, she is loving being a mom of two while also finding time to paint simple and beautiful things that remind her of the warm sun and beautiful big skies.