Painter finds beauty in familiar Winnipeg scenes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2016 (3811 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PAINTINGS OF WINTERPEG: Artist Elena El loves her adopted home and country — she came here in 2006, after living and studying in Haifa, Israel, and before that, studying classic drawing and painting at the College of Fine Arts in Odessa, Ukraine.

She enjoys painting the buildings, homes, and people she sees in Winnipeg. For her new show at Cre8ery on Adelaide Street, called Winnipeg Like & Share, there will be an opening and reception with an artist’s talk Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

El will display 16 paintings from 2016, plus previous work from the last two years.

Art lovers will see many places they recognize, such as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Buccacino’s restaurant at dusk in Osborne Village with its famous Happy Hour sign sitting out on the sidewalk.

These are the kind of paintings you see of Paris, except Elena is a Winnipeg booster. “There is a rich culture and there are great people in Winnipeg. You can find everything you want here.”

The show runs April 30 to May 10.

The 43-year-old artist believes people love art that helps them see their own lives. “A couple got engaged on a bench in Assiniboine Park and they bought a painting from me because it was the same bench.” She says many people are also sentimental about their homes. “Sometimes, people move and they want me to do a painting of the house to help them keep their memories.”

BOCCE NIGHT IN CANADA: Not surprisingly, the sport called bocce — which combines co-ed bowling on a small turfy pitch, with restaurant servers and trays going by every 15 minutes — is gaining great popularity in Winnipeg. In fact, the Mona Lisa Restaurant Bocce League has had to double its limit to 48 teams from 24 to accommodate demand on its two bocce pitches. It just opened registration and people are scrambling to be part of the four-month bocce party.

“You don’t need any skill and we’ll teach you the game,” says league convenor Marilena Moccia. Teams have crazy names such as the Bee-Occes, Gio No Show, Keep Calm and Bocce On, DE-Bocce-ry, Dom and the Dolls, Bocce Babes… you get the picture. Each team requires a minimum of four people, with enough serious spares so everybody can go on summer holidays. This year, teams play once a week from June to early fall with noisy playoffs in October and a big final bash with awards and prizes. It’s only $75 per “grown-up” for a whole summer of fun, and it’s arguably better for your health than dinner-and-a-movie. Bocce boss Moccia is at 204-488-3687, or find forms online at www.monalisarestaurant.ca.

SEXY NEW STELLA’S: Stella’s Café and Bakery on Pembina Highway and Clarence just had its beautiful black leather seating delivered. (Yours truly had her face pressed flat against the window and saw it.) The latest iteration of the popular Winnipeg chain is a sophisticated-looking Stella’s — black furniture, slate-grey floors, black windows as walls. And this restaurant-bakery combo is big, running all the way to the back lane, with a big parking lot behind it. This is the kind of place that doubles as a daytime eatery and evening-out dinner spot.

This is a different kind of Stella’s, trading the yogurt and granola vibe for more of an uptown flair. Though it’s subtle, you can find it easily — on the same block with Delicious, the vegetarian restaurant, and Best Pizza and Donair, with its bright orange signs. Workers confirm this Stella’s is coming along fast, and on the brink of opening, so keep watching the “opening soon” signs. Those in the know are betting on one to two weeks.

LAFFS & EATS FOR A FREE SCHOOL: Don’t cook this Friday — it’s the Stand Up for Diversity comedy fundraiser, which involves a Bud, spud and steak dinner at Club 200. Five comedians are helping raise money for the Inspired Explorations Learning Community or what used to be called a free school (now called an independent school), meaning a freer learning experience. It aims to open in the Robert A. Steen Community Club in the fall of 2016. (The website is www.inspiredexplorationslearning.com.)

The Diversity show features four veteran comics — Lara Rae, Dana Smith, Ryan Ash and Florence Spence — plus newcomer Veronica Gingles, 52, who’s only been performing for five months. Gingles first experienced doing standup at Smith’s Ladies Only open mike in December at Jekyll & Hyde. She was No. 12 , and plenty nervous. “But I quickly got caught up in the thrill of it. The more people laughed, the more I wanted to stay up there.” (It took the flashing light to get her off the stage.)

Gingles’ comedy centres around her recent transgender experience, and the weird and funny things she’s been experiencing. Since Dec. 1, she’s made it her mission to be a real comedy contender, and has performed more than 20 times at open mikes.

Tickets are $25 for the 6 p.m. dinner; “show-only” tickets are $10. To purchase, call Tracy at 204-296-9880 or drop in at the bar.

WINNIPEG SOCIAL, NO WEDDING! Art City is presenting a fundraiser Saturday called the Golden Age of the Winnipeg Social. Think 1960s, when young people were playing 45s and LPs. The night features live music with Hifi Priestess and a Guess Who tribute by members of bands Surprise Party and Ultra Mega. Also there’s dancing to music from DJ Hunnicutt and DJ Co-op. Naturally, they’re serving cheese cubes, rye bread, cold cuts, kubasa, dill pickles, Old Dutch chips, and Jeanne’s cake. It’s called “a real Winnipeg social — for everybody.”

It’s also a fundraiser for not-for-profit Art City — an inner-city centre at 616 Broadway dedicated to providing people of all ages with high-quality art programming, free of charge. The social starts at 8 p.m. in the Skyview Ballroom at the top of the Marlborough Hotel (with its mile-high windows).

Art City suggests people dress in 1960s garb, recalling the days when socials in halls and community centres were every-weekend happenings.

Tickets are $25 (because it’s a 2016 fundraiser, after all). They can be found at Art City, Into the Music, or Music Trader, and available online on eventbrite.ca). Tickets are $30 at the door.

The Art City crew says: “Dance non-stop, and make the scene in the city known as the rock ‘n’ roll capital of Canada!”

Got tips, events going on, been rubbing shoulders with Winnipeg who’s who? Email Maureen, at mscurf@shaw.ca.