"Art is the Window to your Soul" is the name of Joanne Young's new art show at Showcase Gallery.
A collection of old and new pieces make up the display of paintings, with fresh pieces added, as she creates them.
"It's kind of like, as the paint dries," she says.
Young has also painted the large windows that encase the gallery and her artwork is viewed through openings she has created in the shape of hearts. It was done in recognition of February being Heart Month and the month of Valentine's Day, she says.
While the glass is a window to the show, Young explains why she called the show Window to your Soul:
"You express yourself through art, and the inner you comes out. I have a connection with windows and I've made a play on it. You see both ways, inside and outside of the world, and in person."
Her pieces aren't simply pictures, she says, adding they all have meaning. A large triptych (set of three side-by-side panels) was painted while thinking about the devastating tsunami that hit Japan last year.
Chalk pastels aren't something she often works with, but they were they only manageable means of creating artwork when she was confined to a hospital bed. The resulting drawing represents her rediscovery of the medium.
A couple of sizable pieces are old wooden frame windows painted with plants. Young says she enjoys painting on glass because the paint seems to flow, much the same as it does on silk, which is her favourite canvas.
People may have noticed Young has transferred her love of painting on glass, to decorating storefront windows in the downtown area.
"It's a creative challenge and that's why I enjoy doing it. The positive feedback is nice, too. It's very fulfilling, as well as making other people happy."
While Young's storefront paintings are on display until the windows need refreshing, her Showcase Gallery display is open to the public until the end of February. The gallery is located in the main lobby at 475 Birch Ave. Hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.