Mother and Child Reunion

About Mother and Child Reunion

This contemporary painting by Toni Hamel features the image of the beloved character Woodstock.

In her singularly original way, Canadian artist Toni Hamel pays homage to a beloved pop culture character created by famed cartoonist Charles Shultz.
This fun oil painting features the little bright yellow bird called Woodstock and its ‘child’ sitting facing one another on the branches of a lush deciduous tree.
The colour palette is fresh and modern—bright green, yellow, touches of sky blue and gray. Hamel’s work is inspired by universal life experiences, and the titles of her work often reference the music of her generation.

“The title of this piece is borrowed from a Paul Simon song. A fun exercise in colour and form, but also uplifting and fun to look at.” Toni Hamel

Toni Hamel was born in Italy in 1961. In the early 1980s, she acquired a BFA from the Accademia di Belle Arti of Lecce in Italy. Upon arriving in Canada, she furthered her studies and attained a post-graduate Certificate in Computer Graphics from Sheridan College (Canada, 1991).
The recipient of several awards, among others, she received the Golden Key National Honour Society Award from the University of Toronto (Specialist Programme in Psychology, 1997) and the Lubiam Prize (Milan, 1983).
Her work has been exhibited in public and commercial galleries in Canada, the USA, and Europe. It is included in the public collections of Mr. J.J. Abrams, Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, Ms. Julia Roberts, the Archives of Ontario/Government of Ontario, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, the Omer DeSerres Corporation, as well as many private international collections. Toni Hamel lives and works in Kingston, Ontario.