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ANNOUNCER: From our city to yours...
WOMAN: I'm Jennie Bovard for Accessible Media.
My favourite colour is pink and purple.
BOVARD: Marie uses many colours in her art.
But obviously, she has her preferences.
The 23-year-old Halifax artist has recently
made a name for herself through her vibrant work.
Erin Laende is a support artist who works with Marie.
So, right now I just work with Marie one day a week.
And we come together to her studio.
So, I pick her up in the morning,
and then we just work all day.
And sometimes, we work together on things,
and sometimes we work separately.
And we listen to music and, you know, just work.
BOVARD: Marie and Erin describe one of Marie's pieces.
ERIN: Is this about love?
About love inside.
What's the shape right in the middle?
It's a heart. Of course.
The shape of a heart.
BOVARD: Magic in Her Hands: The Art of Marie Webb has found a place
in the hearts of those who viewed the exhibit
at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Dale Sheppard is the gallery's Curator of Education
and Public Programs.
When she saw Marie's work,
she knew the public had to see it too.
It was so exciting and I really felt that it needed to be seen.
It was important.
And even though she was really young,
there was something really special there, and inspiring.
And incredible sense of colour and design.
A real joyfulness and openness,
and in some ways a simplicity,
but a complexity that just kind of drew me in.
So, I wanted to share that with the public,
so we decided to do the exhibition.
Marie's exhibit is drawing to a close here in Halifax.
But it was so very well received that there are plans
to bring the exhibit to other galleries
throughout the province.
Sheppard says her work makes you reflect on your own life.
It just makes you realize, like, hey, be who you are,
accept who you are. You know, we're all human.
And I don't know, her work just really sends out
this incredibly powerful message.
BOVARD: Marie was born into a long line of artists.
Her grandfather is renowned painter
and Order of Canada recipient, Tom Forestall.
Marie's parents are both esteemed artists themselves.
Her mother ReneƩ started Team Possibles in 2007,
an art group for young adults with Down syndrome.
Her father Nick says from the very beginning
they knew Marie was a creator.
The minute that she was able to sit in a chair
and put her hands on a surface we could see her hands moving.
So, we just shoved something into her hand.
And then she very soon recognized
that she was the one making the marks.
And, uh, and so from then on,
we started photographing everything she did.
So we thought, this could be interesting,
'cause we don't know if this has ever been done before.
To actually track somebody this young with Down syndrome
and see what happens.
BOVARD: He says, for Marie there's no specific time to make art.
it's just a way of life.
You can make art when you're taking the shell off your egg
in the morning.
Or paint with jam on the plate.
Or go outside and do something in the snow, I mean, you know.
Everything is visual to her at home.
Marie, cozied up with her tea and blankets
works away on her next piece
which is sure to inspire like the rest of her work.
Erin Laende says Marie stays true to herself in her artwork.
That's what art should be.
It should be an opening up of, you know, who you are,
and not be afraid of who you are.
MARIE: Thank you.
And, you know, a way of expressing that,
a way of creating and experimenting with things
that you like and who you are.
And just the pure joy of making.
And I think we lose sight of that.
What are some of the other shapes. I see a lot of...?
MARIE: Stars.
I like stars.
ERIN: Why do you like stars?
MARIE: I see stars in my dreams.
BOVARD: Stars in her dreams and magic in her hands.
Jennie Bovard, AMI Halifax.