Symeon van Donkelaar

Local Colour Artist

Artwork Gallery

Artist Symeon van Donkelaar makes artwork that strives to connect his audience with their natural surroundings by extracting colourful pigments from soils, rocks, plants, and even bonesLocal Colour Portraits showcases the uniqueness of the Canadian landscape.

Each portrait is an artwork of contemplation, reconnecting us to the land and inviting us to experience it. They combine an earth pigment with a natural element, such as water, ice or fire. In each portrait, the significance of these local colours is revealed—challenging us to have a deeper respect for the earth

"Woad Vat #7" from Conestoga, 2019.
"Watson Chimney" from Kitchener, 2019.
"Conestoga Landscape #4" from Conestoga, 2019.
"Copper Cliff Runoff #3" from Sudbury, 2018.
"Copper Cliff Runoff #3", Detail.
"Copper Cliff Runoff #2" from Sudbury, 2018.
"O'Donnell Burning Fields #4", Sudbury, 2018.
"O'Donnell Burning Fields #11", Sudbury, 2018.
"Silver Birch Hill #4", Dempster Hwy, 2018.
"Silver Birch Hill #4", Detail.
"Mastodon Ivory Black #1", from Dawson City, 2017.
"Mastodon Ivory Black #1", Detail.

Soils of Sudbury

Dynamic Earth, Sudbury, Ontario, 2018.

Connecting the Dots

Arnica, Kamloops, British Columbia, 2012.

A Local Colour Project

Minarovich Gallery, Elora, Ontario, 2010.

The Craftsman’s Studio

CAFKA, Kitchener, Ontario, 2007.

Pilgrimage: Finding Canada’s Local Colours

The Craig Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2015.

Unterwegs

Open Art Venue, Mitte, Berlin, 2011.

Iconographer’s Workshop

University of Toronto’s Art Centre, Toronto, Ontario, 2006.

What Remains

Leder’s Farm, Edmonton, Alberta, 2015.

Seeing Local Colour

Fergus Grand Theatre, Fergus, Ontario, 2011.

The 100 mile ART Project

Cambridge Centre for the Arts, Cambridge, Ontario, 2008.