THE ACCIDENTAL AGENT
Ms. Dagmar Rathjen
dagmar@gwendolynbest.com
One afternoon in late October 2010, I noticed some intriguing paintings of cats and crows at the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa. I was so taken by them that I immediately called the artist to purchase a piece.
As it turned out, the artist had many more paintings at her house. Could I come by to see them? -- By all means, come by any time.
A few weeks later, I went to Gwen's house and discovered a treasure trove of works. I photographed them then and there, and set out within the hour to show them to some local gallery owners.
Two of them, Don Monet of Cube Gallery, and Ingrid Hollander of Orange Art Gallery, generously offered to show some of Gwen's pieces at their Christmas shows.
All of Gwen's paintings sold out at Cube, as did several more at Orange. Orange decided to take on Gwen as one of its regular artists, and her first solo show was in May 2011. Further, Richard Banister of Ottawa's well-respected Snapdragon Gallery (now closed) was particulary interested in Gwen's abstracts, and he commissioned several large pieces for his gallery.
In the meantime, we found an excellent website designer, with a background in art and design, who had already created web sites for other local artists. It was all we could do to keep up with Dinesh Anandavel, who not only provided training for Gwen and myself, but who also took the pictures of Gwen's paintings for this site. This gem of a person and consumate professional can be contacted at Blackorchidz.
Since those first heady days of launching Gwen's mysterious yet loveable creatures onto the Ottawa art scene, she has garnered a loyal following of fans which keeps on growing. Please refer to the Events page to see where Gwen will be showing in 2012.
If you are an art lover would like to purchase an original Best, or a gallery owner interested in showing Gwen's works, please do not hesitate to contact me. Both Gwen and I would be delighted to meet with you at a location of your choosing, or at her home studio. Further, we are open to meeting with you for any other purpose, such as the licensing of Gwen's images.
We look forward to hearing from you.
En français:
Chers amateurs d'art, si vous préférez communiquer avec moi en français, je suis parfaitement à l'aise dans la langue de Molière. Gwen et moi serons ravies de faire votre connaissance et de discuter de toute question entourant ses oeuvres. Merci beaucoup de votre intérêt et au plaisir de se rencontrer.
Auf Deutsch:
Aber wenn sie am liebsten mit mir auf Deutsch kommunizieren wollen, dann können Sie das ebenfalls. Herzlichen Dank für Ihr Interesse, und ich freue mich von Ihnen zu hören.