Art in the Saw Mill in Verona

Craig Bakay | Aug 30, 2017

Dave Gilmore has exhibited at Verona’s Art in the Saw Mill since it began in 2013.
An engineer by trade, he began to take up painting seriously about 10 years ago after he retired to 14 Island Lake.
“I guess it’s full time now in retirement,” he said. “I enjoy it, it’s a good way to pass the time and it seems to make people happy.”
He said he enjoys showing his work as well.
“I do enjoy showing,” he said. “It’s a chance to mix with people and explain your art as well.”
His subject matter tends to come from what he sees around him but he’s starting to lean a little more towards abstraction as his art evolves.
“How you choose subjects is usually something that inspires you inside and out,” he said. “I like colourful scenes, fall colours especially.
“But I like buildings too.”
Gilmore’s artistic education is quite diverse. He lived in England for a time and took courses from three different artists and studied with Kingston artist Don McCallum.
He numbers among his prized possessions two brushes that once belonged to the Group of Seven’s Edwin Holgate.
Gilmore credits a love of the Group of Seven with his new-found interest in abstraction, such as the works of Lawren Harris an A. Y. Jackson.
“It’s a journey,” he said of art and painting. “You can’t expect to make your bread and butter in art unless you’ve got a unique approach.
“But it’s fun.”
Art in the Saw Mill featured nine local artist/artisans this year including Gilmore, Elaine Farragher, Havery, Virginia Lavin, Ali Williams, Carolyn Bloye, Bill Anderson, Judy Skeggs and Waters Edge Pottery.