arts
In Praise of Beer
Festiv-Ale is Regina’s biggest celebration of finely brewed refreshments
O
ver the last ten years, Adele Lohmann has watched the Saskatchewan beer market grow and evolve. What was once the province of a handful of large manufacturers has been overrun by microbreweries, small producers specializing in unusual or offbeat beers. This glut of specialty products can be traced back to the dawn of the craft beer movement, which began in Britain in the 1970s before finding a home on the American west coast. The first group of upstart breweries to challenge the major producers — notably Great Western and Big Rock — paved the way for a host of much smaller companies. Today, the beer market is as large as it is diverse — and many of the newest products to hit shelves in Saskatchewan will be
on display at Festiv-Ale, the beer exposition Lohmann helped start nine years ago. “Everybody is more sophisticated,” Lohmann says of the evolving beer market, the driving force behind events like Festiv-Ale. “Not in a snooty kind of way, but more sophisticated in their choices and selections on everything they consume, whether it’s food or technology products. Everybody is way more knowledgeable now, and the information is out there so people can make their own choices. I think it’s just the way the world is evolving, where people are more selective and not just taking what’s right there in front of them. They are going and looking for something to inspire them.” A yearly event, Festiv-Ale offers discriminating drinkers an opportunity to sample some of the
by alex J MacPherson
two hundred or so available beers while enjoying live entertainment by several Saskatchewan bands. The show features a wide variety of conventional beers — from lagers and ales to thick, creamy porters and sharp pilsners — as well as many more exotic selections. Lohmann expects fruit-based beers (which are made from fruits and vegetables rather than the usual grains like wheat and barley) to be a major force at the 2014 event. She also plans on sampling several unusual stouts (a type of dark beer made from roasted malt or barley hops). But, she says, “We have had a good cross-section every year.” Festiv-Ale, which runs over two consecutive days, also offers drinkers a chance to discuss and learn more about their favourite beers. Fans of the microbrew movement are almost always eager to discuss
the technical aspects of making beer. Brewers eager to make inroads in Saskatchewan, meanwhile, are more than happy to discuss their craft. And while Festiv-Ale is meant to offer everybody involved a chance to experiment with and enjoy drinking a wide selection of beer, Lohmann says it also serves as a reflection of changes happening in Saskatchewan. “I have noticed quite a bit of change,” she says. “Just from social events, now you see a lot more products. You see a lot more selection on
the menu in every restaurant you go to. Ten, fifteen years ago, you’d have maybe five or six mainstream beers and that was basically it. Now almost everywhere you go, whether it’s a newer restaurant or an older restaurant or a chain, they have a lot of choices. Even in the liquor stores it’s very visible. I think people really are responding.” Festiv-Ale Jan 31 + Feb 1 @ Conexus Arts Centre $35 @ Conexus Box Office, conexusartscentre.ca
Tree Line
Amy Dryer’s vibrant expressionist paintings were inspired by a burned out forest in Montana
I
t began with the trees. In the summer of 2012, Amy Dryer and her husband, Aaron, spent several days driving through Montana. One afternoon they discovered a vast expanse of burned-out forest. It was a giant arboreal graveyard, the charred husks of dead trees casting their spindly shadows over the barren landscape. But even fire could not stop nature, and blades of fresh green grass were emerging from the sooty earth “We stopped along the highway and just walked through the forests,” the Calgary-based artist says. “It was really kind of haunting. The wind blew through the trees and had this strange whistling echo. I just thought the space was amazing, almost sacred. I was really inspired by that. I wanted to go back to my studio and reflect that in my work.” 1. Amy Dryer, Lit, 2013, oil on canvas.
Photo: courtesy oF amy dryer
by alex J MacPherson
The sketches Dryer made that afternoon became the inspiration for Tree Line, a collection of large canvases painted in her distinctive expressionistic style. Dryer became interested in German expressionism — a theory designed not to capture reality itself, but a subjective emotional response to reality — while studying at Alberta College of Art and Design and, later, the Glasgow School of Art. She cites Egon Schiele and his jagged, tortured portraits as a major influence. Most of her paintings, whether of anonymous figures, distinct individuals, or skeletal urban structures, are big and open and raw — emotion channeled through the brush. “What I like most about German expressionism is the distortion of reality, and [the] magical interpreation of people and place, body and architecture,” she says. “I’m interested not in darkness all the time, but finding hope within that
darkness, bits of light, new grass coming up after a forest fire. This under-layer of possibility.” This hint of possibility is the essence of Tree Line. By using contrasting colours, vigorous brushstrokes, and expansive, enveloping canvases, Dryer is able to evoke the stark contrast between charred remains and fresh green leaves, between violent death and miraculous rebirth. A deeply personal memory distilled into a universal feeling.
Tree Line Through January 31 @ Sarah James Gallery (exclusively online) / Assiniboia Gallery
Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com
9 Jan 24 – Jan 30 @verbregina
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