Wild Goose Studio

 

Cindy McKenna and her husband Hans Veenvliet have moved their Southampton art studio, Wild Goose Studio Canada, to Blyth’s main street. Since taking over the storefront, they have re-imagined the space, inside and out, and spent months making it a dream space for themselves.

 

Veenvliet is a woodworker who crafts everything from furniture to memorial pieces. He started out as a stonemason and a contractor, but left most of that work behind and started focusing on woodworking after a friend asked him to turn a family member’s violin into a memorial piece. Veenvliet has since repeated that process multiple times with other instruments, deconstructing the body and reforming the pieces into something unique.

 

He also works with live-edge wood in both furniture and artistic design. McKenna is primarily a painter, having dedicated most of her life to the craft. She also teaches art through the studio, running painting workshops for children.

The couple fell in love with Blyth when one of Veenvliet’s pieces was shown at the Community Show hosted by the Blyth Festival Art Gallery.

 

The couple moved into the space in 2019 and the extensive renovations started soon after and haven’t really stopped since.  The front of the store is scarcely recognizable from its previous incarnation with natural wood replacing everything at the storefront and the side of the building. The interior has been stripped back to exposed brick, creating an inviting space for both the exhibition space and the studios in which McKenna works and teaches. 

 

Visit the gallery, which is open with COVID-19 restrictions in place, on Blyth’s main street at 432 Queen Street.