A PUBLICATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTIST
Spring 2013
ISSUE 20
Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire the fragility and tenacity of lines
Lynn lecorre-dallaire
10 Years of cover artists
trenton perrott
THE CENTRE FOR
CREATIVE ARTS
At the Centre
Classes for all ages and levels: -Children’s Classes -Crafts -Drawing -Painting -Glass -Photography -Fibre -Pottery -Workshops
Monthly Gallery Exhibitions Gift Shop featuring local artists Birthday Parties School and Group bookings Drop In Studio Use
Gift Shop and Gallery
We are looking for high quality art and craft items created by Peace area artists for our gift shop, as well as artists to exhibit in our gallery spaces. Please contact the Centre for more information.
Alberta Culture Days
Alberta Culture Days will be celebrated September 27, 28 and 29. The Centre will be holding our 4th annual Wearable Arts Show on Saturday September 28. For more information on this and the many other events please go to www.creativecentre.ca/culturedays
Like The Centre for Creative Arts on Facebook Follow #CreativeArtsGP on Twitter
Upcoming Exhibitions April 5 - 26 Reception: 7pm on April 5
Marcy Horswill The Wall Gallery Megan Rycroft May 3 - 31 Reception: 7pm on May 3 The Wall Gallery Jim Stokes, Tia Stanway, Marj Tayler, Debbie Courvoisier and Andrea Snook June 7 - 28 Reception: 7pm on June 7
CFCA Fundraiser “Art2” The Wall Gallery Larena Shakotko July 5 - 26 Reception: 7pm on July 5
Lynn LeCorre
The Wall Gallery Klaus
Peters
August 2 - 30 Reception: 7pm on August 2
CFCA Group Show “Black and White” September 6 - 29 Reception: 7pm on September 6
Melanie Jenner The Wall Gallery Kiren Niki Sangra October 4 - 25 Reception: 7pm on October 4
Marj Taylor
The Wall Gallery
Mary Mottishaw
9904-101 Avenue, Grande Prairie 780-814-6080 info@creativecentre.ca
www.creativecentre.ca
in this issue: 4.
artist’s statement
4. contributors 5. Art out there Editor: Eileen Coristine Design & Advertising: imageDESIGN 10017 100 Avenue Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0V2 Phone: 780-532-6353 Email: info@imagedesignpros.com
11.
Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire
the fragility and tenacity of lines
16.
10th Anniversary
Publisher: Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association, Box 25227, Wapiti Road P.O. Grande Prairie, AB, T8W 0G2 Phone: 780-532-2573 (Jim Stokes) Email: art@artofthepeace.ca
Art of the peace magazine 2003 to 2013
Printing: McCallum Printing Group
32.
exhibitions & opportunities
Cover: Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire Photo by Sean Trostem, Prairie Ranger Photography
34.
trenton perrott 1957 – 2012
Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association acknowledges the financial assistance of:
©All rights reserved Art of the Peace 2013 Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Art of the Peace makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions.
29. assemblage
Artist’s Statement By Eileen Coristine With this 10th Anniversary issue of Art of the Peace I have been able to complete a circle. For my first issue as editor, in Spring 2009, I interviewed Hythe potter Bibi Clement for our cover. This spring, I was out to visit Bibi again to bring everyone up to date on what’s new in her creative realm. Back where I started, in a way, but in other ways a fitting ending. After editing nine issues of Art of the Peace I am about to hand on the torch to Susan Thompson. No stranger to Art of the Peace, Susan’s writing has been featured in the magazine since our first issue. She will be in charge from Fall 2013 and I wish her and her readers a long and happy relationship. This has been an inspiring gig and I’m very proud to have been a part of Art of the Peace since the inception of the association. Before becoming editor I served as vice-president and wrote articles frequently over the years. Along with Bibi Clement, all of our former cover artists are featured in this anniversary issue; so this is an update on everyone. And all of our cover story authors are also featured in this issue, including former editors Dymphny Dronyk, Jody Farrell and Wendy Stephansson. So enjoy this 10th Anniversary Art of the Peace Magazine: the stories of 22 exceptional regional artists, all as excited about their art as ever, presented by the talented and dedicated writers of Art of the Peace Magazine. art of the peace
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Contributors
happy anniversary – fond farewell
Eileen Coristine
adores summer and reading and writing about art. She is employed as a crisis worker at Crossroads Women’s Shelter. Through painting, pottery and practicing the Taoist art of Tai Chi she seeks balance and endures winter.
Dymphny DRonyk
is a writer, editor, mediator and mother. She is passionate about the magic of story and has woven words for money and for love (poetry, fiction, drama, novels and songs) for over 25 years.
Jody farrell
has more than 25 years experience as an editor and writer for newspapers, magazines, and education publications. She loves writing profiles of interesting people, many of whom happen to be artists.
Deb Guerette
has a background in business, journalism and communications. Story-telling has always been the best part of all that work.
Catherine McLaughlin
explores story through poetry, freelance writing, personal essays and photography. She lives in Grande Prairie.
Margaret Price wrote her first book at the age of five. With degrees in Anthropology and Art History from Vanderbilt University, she has been published in several American and Canadian publications.
Wendy Stefansson
is a mother, artist, writer, and teacher; by turns and all at the same time. Most recently, she has become a blogger. Find her musings about art on her blog: inno-particular-order.blogspot.ca.
Susan Thompson
has a degree in Honours English Literature and has worked as a freelance journalist for 12 years. She manages Hell ‘N’ Back Industries Ltd. with her artist/blacksmith husband, Doug.
Sean trostem is the owner of Prairie Ranger Photography and focuses on creative portraiture, fashion, glamour and commercial photography.
art out there...
photo by Toni Schuler
This Year the Dawson Creek Art Gallery will mark its 30th Anniversary in its current home, the heritage grain elevator on Alaska Avenue. To celebrate, the South Peace Art Society has planned a series of events including banners decorating downtown streets, an art walk, the 30th Anniversary Juried Members Art Exhibition, a cookbook by the Exploring Art Group and a 2014 desk calendar that will represent the full range of visual arts from the area.
Every Drop Builds a Dream The 30’ high by 20’ wide mural at the new Beaverlodge Pool depicts Red Willow Falls and features a glass droplet honoring each pool sponsor.
Also included in the anniversary roster at DCAG is a show by Nicole Bauberger, called Get There From Here, created during a camping trip along the Alaska Highway.
“The Beaverlodge Art Society took on designing and painting the background scene,” explains society member Vicki Hotte. “With the aid of scissor lifts, it progressed quickly.”
For more about historic DCAG, see Edna McPhail’s article on page 19.
“The transparent colours of the glass shapes merge with the painting, giving a shimmer to the painting,” says Hotte. “It was a team effort, a unique combination of two works of art, and is a jewel for the town.”
Oil painting, Nichole Bauberger
Eleven artists and 16 high school students worked on the painting and, within days of the pool’s opening, the mural was ready for the fused-glass droplets to be applied.
River Route 75, Patricia Peters
30 Years on Alaska Avenue
End of Life Art Beauty can be a comfort in difficult times. Six Grande Prairie area artists have used their skills to provide what comfort they can to people in the Palliative Care Unit at QEII Hospital. Their art works were painted on panels then installed in the ceilings above the beds in the unit. Included are paintings by Patricia Peters, Carmen Haakstad, Vicki Hotte, Tim Heimdal, Jim Stokes and Carol Adrian-Clark. The project was an idea that Bonnie Kennedy, unit manager of the Palliative Care Unit, and the staff on her floor had. Their plan was supported by the QEII Hospital Foundation and was funded by the estate of Robert Scott. “Imagine lying in a hospital bed looking at a white antiseptic ceiling,” says Cindy Park, executive director of the QEII Hospital Foundation.” Now these patients can see beauty instead.” art of the peace
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Painting the Town in Sexsmith
Commissioned by Sexsmith Hotel owners Terry and Dana Thoreson, Stoesz covered the exterior walls on three sides of the building with historic Sexsmith scenes and characters. The total area of the mural is over 7000 square feet.
Zen Doodle, Bailey Golob
“I used pictures from the archives and on display in Sexsmith businesses,” explains Stoesz. “It was difficult to pin down a specific period, but I was trying for the 1920s and 30s era.” Along with agricultural and industrial scenes the mural also depicts Nels Johnson, former owner of Nels Blacksmith Shop, and long-time friend of the hotel owners, Glen Curly, shown tossing stooks onto a wagon.
Experience Ignite “Life can be a lifelong journey of exploring art and having fun with it,” says Melanie Hellum, visual arts facilitator for the Ignite Project. “I meet with kids 12 to 18 weekly and we try out zen doodles, anime, steam-punk, or more traditional styles.”
“We will be having the 50th anniversary of the Thoreson family owning the hotel on May 31st this year,” says Terry Thoreson. “The mural is the beginning of our celebration.”
The kids’ works will be shown at Fairview Fine Arts Centre through April in a show called Experience Ignite.
The Ignite Project, now in its second year, includes music and drama and is an initiative of the North Peace Youth Support Association. art of the peace
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The Horizon Project The winner of the Shoot for Reel Youth Film Mentorship Project was announced March 18. A production team from Grande Prairie Composite High School will receive a $10,000 production package and see their film lead the Best of Fest films at the Reel Shorts Festival on Sunday, May 5th. Winning the project means a busy seven weeks for writer/producer Imogen Pohl (Grade 11), director Nathan Fast (Grade 12), cinematographer Chillton Alstad (Grade 12), and editor Mike Evans (Grade 12) as they film and edit their comedy script HB. The 2013 festival will also feature the world premiere, on opening night, of The Horizon Project, the 24-minute film created during the Shoot for Reel Internship Program last summer.
Photo by Eileen Coristine
Project coordinator, Pam Mackay explains that Ignite, “gives kids the opportunity to explore self-expression with an experienced facilitator,” adding, “This could set them up for a fruitful hobby or a lifelong career.”
Photo by Beauchamp Photography
Artist Rick Stoesz spent the sultry days of summer 2012 painting in the sunshine.
“The number of films shot and directed by Shoot for Reel interns premiering at this year’s festival shows that Grande Prairie is truly a filmmaking community,” says Terry Scherbak, Reel Shorts organizer.
Ezra Peters of Whitelaw is, as of this printing, the top ranked artist in the 2013 Canada Post Community Foundation stamp contest. The challenge, open to youth under 15, asked the question: Can one child’s creativity solve other children’s challenges? Eight-year-old Ezra’s entry, Floating Adrift, is described on the foundation’s website deliverhope.ca as “a plasticine piece showing how children can be floating through life with no support.” Canada Post judges selected five finalists out of all the contest entries. Selection of the winner of the top five will be the result of online voting, ending on March 29th. If he should happen to be the winner, Ezra will take home an RESP for $2,500 and a $200 gift certificate from Toys ‘R’ Us as well as 25 books of his stamps. Proceeds from sales of the winning stamp will be donated to support childrens’ charities across Canada.
Pottery by Starr Bulmer at Stroke of Genius
Mister Popularity
Peace River Museum Since Fall 2009, the Peace of Art Club and the Peace River Museum have been holding monthly exhibits of local art on their Art Wall. Winter 2013 has featured paintings by Wendy Wagner, photos by Sharon Krushel and fused glass by Gil and Sharon Doucet’s 50th Avenue Workshop in Berwyn.
Growing Art in Grimshaw
“Art and museums are perfect partners,” says museum curator and director Laura Gloor. “Artists convey back to us our views of the world and in this way help preserve both heritage buildings and landscapes but also our perspectives of the world around us.”
Artists in the Grimshaw area have two new venues from which to offer their work to local shoppers. The Events Aurora General Store Project on Main Street offers artists and crafters daily, weekly and monthly vendor spaces.
Gloor commends Peace of Art member, Rhonda Warren, for the success of the wall dedicated to the shows.
Airbrush artist, Peggy Smith, has also opened a studio and art gallery, called Stroke of Genius, in the former Canada Post building on Railroad Avenue. Opening last November, Smith offers everything from large paintings and handmade furniture to delicate felted jewelery.
“We will be celebrating 25 years of the art club with an exhibit in our Main Gallery—mainly a retrospective journey—for the months of April and May,” says Gloor. “The Art Wall will feature Valerie Palmer.”
Smith, whose large-scale murals decorate the walls of the Mile Zero Regional Multiplex, uses the studio behind the gallery to produce commissioned airbrushed tailgates, helmets, and gas tanks. Increasingly popular sellers are her airbrushed panels, usually depicting gothic scenes.
Passion Flowers, 50th Avenue Workshop
Photo by Bryony Peaters
“The artists are very excited to have a venue to promote and sell their work in order to continue to grow and produce more, so I hope I can make it success,” says Smith.
art of the peace
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TREX
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
For the 2012/2013 Travelling Season the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie Presents Three New Exhibitions: 30 Miles Before Breakfast Elizabeth Verhagen
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) has supported a provincial travelling exhibition program since 1981. The mandate of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program is to provide every Albertan with the opportunity to enjoy visual art exhibitions in their community.
View From Athabasca Hotel in Jasper
Three regional galleries and one arts organization coordinate the program for the AFA: Northwest Alberta: Art Gallery of Grande Prairie Northeast and North Central Alberta: Art Gallery of Alberta Southwest Alberta: The Alberta Society of Artists Southeast Alberta: Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
6 Points of Resilience Catherine Hamel
Fun Wrapped in a Glove
Ether and Procession
Peter von Tiesenhausen Icarus IV from the Ether Series
Generously Supported By:
encana
™
natural gas
For a complete list of exhibitions visit aggp.ca
Located in the Montrose Cultural Centre 9839 103 Avenue, Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6M7 P: 780-532-8111 | F: 780-539-9522 | E: info@prairiegallery.com
Come
Original Works
ENJOY the FUN!
by Local Artists Lower Level, QEII Hospital Grande Prairie For exhibition oppourtunities call: 780-830-4855
McNaught Homestead Heritage
Melanie Jenner
� Art
Retreats � Hiking Trails � Historical Art Studio/Schoolhouse
2013 Special Events: Saturday April 6th
Wine & Cheese Fundraiser Gala
Dan Wourms ceramics and mixed media
Sunday July 28th
Annual McNaught Festival + IODE Strawberry Tea Live music, art demos, exhibits & children's activities
October
Ghost Walk
Halloween fun for families
www.mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com art of the peace
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danwourms@gmail.com wourms.wordpress.com etsy.com/shop/DanWourmsCeramics
The Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms
Framework s
Suzanne Sandboe
Eileen Coristine
Active Member
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780-568-4124 art@suzannesandboe.com
780 494 3410 ecoristine@hotmail.com
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art of the peace
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Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire: the fragility and tenacity of lines WRITTEN by susan thompson PHOTOGRAPHY BY Sean Trostem
winning cover artist In the Fall 2012 issue, Art of the Peace Magazine issued an invitation to all Peace Region artists to compete to be our Tenth Anniversary Cover Artist. When the competition closed on January 31, 2013 there were 27 entries. Art of the Peace would like to congratulate winner Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire and invite you to read about what makes Lynn and her art such a winning combination.
Winning cover artist Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire has always been driven to explore new techniques and methods, ever since she began taking drawing lessons as a child. “I think sometimes you have to go way off in left field in order to find a new direction,” LeCorre-Dallaire says. The artist has been painting landscapes in acrylic “en plein air” for over a decade, and has exhibited these works several times over the years. For example, 18 of her landscapes were on display at the QEII Hospital in Grande Prairie in her “Seeking Colour” solo exhibition from November of last year to January of 2013. In fact, LeCorre-Dallaire is a well-known fixture in the Peace region’s art community as both a painter and an art educator, as well as through her work at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie and the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre. She is also no stranger to Art of the Peace, having had her work featured in the 2012 to 2013 Art of the Peace Travelling Show and numerous other exhibitions over the years.
Although she has lived in St. Albert, High Level, and Jasper, the artist now considers Grande Prairie her true home and finds herself inspired both by the supportive arts community and the landscapes of the Peace. LeCorre-Dallaire says there is nothing like painting a landscape while being in the midst of one. In a sense, the world is the painter’s studio. “I prefer to be in nature because I am in the elements and then you’re in the proper lighting,” she explains. “You know when you’re driving and you see a scene, like the way the light is sitting on the land at that time of day with the long shadows? It’s just very inspiring to me and I want to capture that.” This immediacy is both a blessing and a curse for the artist, because she must work very quickly to capture the alwaysfleeting light and colours she is drawn to in the first place.
left Portrait of a Dying Tree art of the peace
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Top left New Growth top right Felted Nest bottom RIGHT (left to right) Bird Nest I, Empty Nest, Bird Nest II
unique differences and sometimes I start to see ideas of personification in some ways,” she says. “Even the sky, how it’s constantly changing—it’s a huge challenge to try and capture that because sometimes you’re trying to paint the sky and it will change ten times while you’re trying to paint it,” she says. However, never one to limit herself, LeCorre-Dallaire she also works with a variety of other methods and materials. “It’s the one thing that I’ve done consistently and I still enjoy painting the landscapes, but sometimes it’s nice to look for a new challenge,” she explains. “Sometimes I do sketches outside, sometimes I will work from photographs, sometimes I am looking at reference books, and sometimes I tear up old artwork and prints too. I work with a variety of media. I don’t necessarily have one way of working. It’s whatever will work for that piece.” Recently, LeCorre-Dallaire’s work began to take an interesting turn when she found herself trying to capture the beauty of trees. “The more I’ve been looking at trees and studying trees, the more fascinating they become. You start to see all the art of the peace
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For example, she found the inspiration for a new piece while she was cross-country skiing one day. “I came across this tree and it looked like it was hit by lightning or something, so it had clearly cracked, but instead of falling to the ground it fell right in between the branches of another tree. It’s almost like the other tree caught it. It stayed like this a long time, so it’s sitting at an exact 90 degree angle, leaning in between this other tree.” This seeming cooperation between trees has become a metaphor of connection for the artist. “A lone tree is fragile because it can break in the wind or a storm, but a group of trees, a forest, has strength,” she says. LeCorre-Dallaire’s recent drawings and paintings have explored this idea, some of them showing lone trees and others showing how trees can “work together.” She has been working for about a year and a half on a show for the Centre of the Creative arts with this theme in mind, and her work was also featured in The Forest Show, a travelling exhibit by the Alberta Society of Artists.
Trying to express this idea of isolation versus connection through trees, the artist found herself experimenting with a new technique. She began running her drawings under her sewing machine, stitching lines instead of making them with a pencil or brush. “I used to sew a little bit and then I completely got out of it because I wasn’t interested in sewing things; but to sew drawings is something completely different. It’s fun. It’s really like drawing with a sewing machine. It’s just a different tool.” LeCorre-Dallaire completed a minor in clothing and textiles as part of her Bachelor of Education degree majoring in art from the University of Alberta, and has always been drawn to the tactile quality of textiles, but her new fascination with the lines of trees allowed her to explore those qualities in relation to paper.
ing which pieces to add to the work and which to leave out. “It started out I was just working with little pieces of water coloured paper, and then doing drawings of trees, and running it through the sewing machine, and then adding watercolour or some other mixed media like pastels or something to it. But I realized I could only work small under a sewing machine, and I wanted to get bigger with my artwork, so the only way I could do it was if I could start collaging small parts of stitched work into a large drawing. That’s why it’s become very mixed media,” she explains. Her larger works have also become more abstract as she plays with the duality of scale, mixing the details of trees and nature within the larger collaged composition.
It was these layers of materials and meaning that attracted the “A lone tree is fragile because it jury of the Art of the Peace’s tenth “I started to make the connecanniversary cover competition to tion that working with thread and can break in the wind or a storm, LeCorre-Dallaire’s work. While sewing, thread is line, and when normally the Art of the Peace you’re stitching, there is this conbut a group of trees, a forest, editorial committee chooses the cept of the fragility and tenacity of has strength.” artist for the cover of the next line and thread, and the fragility magazine, for our celebratory and tenacity of trees. That’s my 10th Anniversary issue we asked connection,” she says. a judges’ panel of three former cover artists, Carrie Klukas, Ken Housego, and Carmen “Thread on its own is very weak; it’s easily broken. But when Haaksatd to jury a cover competition. In the end, they chose you start stitching lines, it’s very strong. Depending on the LeCorre-Dallaire. LeCorre-Dallaire’s winning artwork is also type of paper that I work on, of course sometimes the stitch featured at the Art of the Peace Tenth Anniversary Exhibition line will rip the paper and make it fragile, and sometimes it will opening on April 11th at the Kin Gallery in Centre 2000. make it strong, so I’ve been really exploring the materials.” The artist has found that rag paper works best for sewing lines because it is fibrous, allowing it to glide easily through the sewing machine, while velum paper has also proved strong enough for the machine but creates ghost-like contoured forms. Even when the paper she uses does tear, LeCorreDallaire can incorporate these tears into her collages, choos-
“What I liked about her work was the originality, and the cohesiveness of the trio [she submitted],” explained judge Carrie Klukas. “She has multiple layers going on as well as mediums. I love that I can view this work on a few levels. It’s not a quick read.”
left Moonlit Tree centre Field with Aspen right Sunset Over the Forest
art of the peace
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Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire: Teaching Art Students to Be Creative by susan thompson
As much as she is an artist, Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire is also an art teacher. She started teaching art right out of high school as a summer job in St. Albert, doing a weeklong program here and there on the side. “I realized I enjoyed teaching art so I just kept going. I went into education and majored in art,” LeCorre-Dallaire says. “I think the one thing that has helped me a lot as a teacher is my diverse training in the arts, first graphic style in college, and then fine arts in university. At first I used to say to myself, ‘I can’t make it as an artist because I’m all over the map, I want to do this and I want to do that,’ and I did a little bit of everything. On one hand, it’s a hindrance for being an artist, trying to develop a body of work and trying to hone your skills, but it was a huge asset for teaching.”
creativity. I start off with a problem I give them, but in the end it opens the doors and everybody comes up with something completely unique.” The second way LeCorre-Dallaire helps her students build their skills is by teaching them that mistakes are not necessarily failures. “Mistakes happen,” she says. “Those are what I call teachable moments, when something didn’t work out or somebody spilled paint on somebody’s work—those things are always going to happen. A lot of kids, and adults too, get easily frustrated. You want to throw in the towel and start over; you want to crumple up the piece of paper because you think it’s ruined. I never let them.”
Instead, LeCorre-Dallaire helps her students come up with a creative solution or fix for the mistake, incorporating it into the artwork. Often, what seemed like a catastrophic mistake can be incorpo“Mistakes happen. Those are rated so well it seems it was never there. And somewhat I call teachable moments, times, a mistake can take when something didn’t work out a piece of art in an entirely new and exciting direction.
LeCorre-Dallaire has now been teaching for over 25 years, and has helped art students of all ages develop their skills and creativity. When she teaches, LeCorre-Dallaire focuses heavily on design theory and creative problem solving skills. She approaches those two aspects of instruction by first breaking the myth that creativity is completely open-ended. “They say paint whatever you want, and you draw a blank,” she explains. “Creativity comes when you’re given limitations.”
or somebody spilled paint on
somebody’s work—those things are always going to happen.”
In college, LeCorre-Dallaire learned design fundamentals through projects that were set up as design problems for students to solve. “I try to give that kind of concept to my students,” she says. “Okay, you have to draw a house but you can only use geometric shapes. You can draw an alien but you can only use organic or curved shapes. I always give specific limitations to every project to force them to push their boundaries of
“It pushes [my students] further to another way of completing something,” LeCorre-Dallaire says.
Ultimately, however, LeCorre-Dallaire feels she is still learning herself by teaching others. I guess I’m still like a kid who doesn’t want to stop learning,” she says. “I enjoy being a student as much as I love teaching.”
left Lynn LeCorre-Dallaire in her workspace art of the peace
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10th Anniversary art of the peace magazine 2003 to 2013
by Eileen Coristine
“The world is ready, again, for the artist,” wrote Jody Farrell in Art of the Peace Magazine Issue 1, published in Fall 2003. And over the past decade our magazine has proven that Peace Region artists are ready for the world. Since 2003 we’ve featured 22 artists on our covers, and each of those people has continued to produce and contribute to the growth of art in our region and throughout the world. Ever wonder what’s going on with these artists, what they have been doing since you read about them and what they are excited about now? To satisfy your curiousity, and to celebrate our ten years of publication, we revisited all of these artists—even Edna McPhail, who unfortunately passed away in 2008 but whose legacy continues to support art in her community—and asked them these very questions. The answers we got will delight you as much as the original stories did; these people are inspiring and as their art evolves it brings the incredible pool of Peace Region talent to an ever-increasing audience. Here’s to the painters, sculptors, filmmakers, muralists, potters and weavers who have already graced our covers. And here’s to the next ten years of Art of the Peace Magazine— look out world!
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The McNaught Homestead Fall 2003 By Catherine McLaughlin The homestead has been transformed over these ten years and made more accessible. Betty McNaught’s studio, once a log school house, is completely restored and now used for meetings, art workshops and art shows. Restoration on the big barn is in progress with new shingles and some logs replaced. Trails have been cleared. Elementary school children visit to hike the trails and receive instruction in drawing from nature. Ken Jones, a trained instructor from Fairview who is associated with Dunvegan Fish and Wildlife, has worked with children at the site demonstrating how to build bird and bat houses from the wood kits he prepares. The children research Betty’s story and the significance of historic sites before their visit. The McNaught Festival is an annual summer celebration on the homestead featuring artists working on-site, music, storytelling and poetry, children’s activities, horse drawn wagon rides and the I.O.D.E. Strawberry Tea, a fund raiser for the local community. A catalogue of the lifetime of art created by Euphemia ‘Betty’ McNaught is being compiled with the assistance of Robert Steven of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. Plans continue for the construction of a boardwalk and observation blind on McNaught Lake. Access to the lake will invite the public, especially youth, to learn about the diverse bird population including nesting trumpeter swans associated with this wetland. This project will continue the traditions associated with Betty and other artists at the homestead. Visit mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com for more information about the McNaught Homestead and its programs.
Tim Heimdal Spring 2004 By Dymphny Dronyk Tim Heimdal, renowned for his vibrant murals, and much sought after for his extraordinary set design talents, is still a steadfast contributor to both Grande Prairie’s theatre world, and its streetscapes. He also remains passionate about visual and performing arts. He is fascinated by visual art on a grand scale and by big spaces that can be transformed by art. Much of his work is an ode to the history of the Peace Country and its stories. “The ideal of painting murals is to create some kind of an ambiance that is soulful and peaceful, and to take back the streets in a way that celebrates fine art,” He says. If anything has changed in Tim Heimdal’s artistic life in the past decade, perhaps it is that his commitment to integrity is even deeper, and that the landscape on which he makes his mark is changing more quickly than ever before. “In this time of rapid growth when new buildings pop up every week, the peaceful feeling that a mural can evoke is more important now than 15 years ago,” he muses. “Theatre and art can move you—can be poignant and significant. If everything is considered completely, it can shape your whole life. There’s a sense of honour—an obligation to give the audience the complete experience, to make it believable.” “As an artist you’re listening to where the energy will take you. You may not arrive where you expected.” Top Euphemia McNaught Bottom
Rose 1, Tim Heimdal
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Peter von Tiesenhausen Fall 2004 By Jody Farrell A decade after his Full Circle exhibition featuring five wooden sculptures, The Watchers, showed at the former Prairie Art Gallery, Peter von Tiesenhausen brought “the guys” back to the newly-named Art Gallery of Grande Prairie as part of his recent multi-media installation, Elevations. The two-month exhibition opened in December 2012, and featured a map of the massive circular journey those wooden sculptures made, along with a video compilation of the trip. Canadian Art is doing an online article of the show, which includes many new large-scale works such as the monumental chainsaw-sculpted-wooden-plank-relief of North America’s highest mountain peak, Mount McKinley. Following his participation in the five-year Demmitt Community Centre project near his home, the artist chose to focus on his own work. “A seven-week residency at the Banff Centre more than a year ago was the starting point,” Peter explains of his return to creating art. “I have since completed a large semipermanent installation at the Leighton Centre west of Calgary, worked with some contemporary dancers, was invited to Joe Fafard’s studio to work with five other artists, and presented at various conferences including Under Western Skies at Mount Royal University.” Having also shown in the recent group exhibition, Ecotone, at the SAAG in Lethbridge, Peter is spending a month this spring at the Prometheus Solar Foundry in Lunenburg, using only the sun and mirrors to melt bronze for casting. After that, he will assist and mentor grad students at York University in Toronto. “In the meantime I am in the studio, enjoying it immensely between traveling and giving talks about my work,” Peter says.
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Jim Stokes Spring 2005 By Jody Farrell Jim Stokes, the Grande Prairie artist whose profile appeared in this magazine’s 2005 Spring/Summer issue, continues to work full time creating art. A mentor to countless others, Jim is also one of many to participate in a local model drawing group that has been meeting for well over two decades. “My main focus has been continuing to explore the prairie landscape in a series of exhibitions of large paintings at the Scott Gallery in Edmonton,” Jim says. “Those works have been well received.” Another big challenge for Jim was to follow up on a 25-yearold plan to co-exhibit with longtime friend and artist Carmen Haakstad, which finally came to fruition in their Journey 2012 at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie last June. The works were accompanied by a 72-page catalogue that followed the lives of the two artists as well as those of their homesteading families. “That show was very fun to pull together, “ Jim notes. “I managed to revisit some figurative canvases I had put aside many years ago and resolve the ideas. As well I have become increasingly keen on exploring sculpture, these last two years.” Jim even built his own foundry to cast his work in his backyard. Much of his sculpture, like his painting, focuses on surrounding nature. “I keep trying to refine and grow as an artist,”Jim says, adding that, “Sometimes you need a nudge to move forward. I have found that life usually has a few ‘knocks’ available for that purpose!”
Edna McPhail Fall 2005 By Jody Farrell Edna McPhail was a Dawson Creek-based artist and great arts advocate who was featured on our cover in our 2005 Fall/Winter issue. She passed away on October 20, 2008, at 85 years old. In a local obituary on her life, it was written: “Over the years (Edna) would remain a shining presence in the community, tirelessly trying to change it for the better. She demonstrated her determination and leadership when she almost single-handedly led the campaign to convert Dawson’s last grain elevator into an art gallery.” Edna spoke about the grain elevator-cum-art gallery in her Art of the Peace magazine interview: “I was standing there (near the grain elevators), thinking about what we could do, and it just came to me,” Edna recalled in 2005. “It all happened fairly quickly, as the committee learned that the sale was conditional upon their moving the buildings in 40 days. Here it was, this big building slowly moving down the street, and hardly a person batting an eye. The pigeons came right along with it, never moving off.” The elevator was renovated and opened as The Dawson Creek Art Gallery, and now, nearly 30 years later, attracts as many history buffs as arts enthusiasts throughout the year. Kim Fast, Curator with the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, says the facility’s permanent collection features quite a few of Edna’s works. “We are celebrating our 30th anniversary in our heritage elevator art gallery and will have a juried exhibit from September 16th to October 12th, 2013, featuring works from the last 30 years including work by Edna.”
Charity Dakin Spring 2006 By Jody Farrell Charity Dakin is in her element living on an acreage near the Athabasca River; as she is with the artistic voice she’s grown comfortable calling her own. A self-taught western, wildlife and landscape artist, Charity says she is always looking at other artists’ works, reading, and experimenting with different styles and techniques. “Ultimately, you have to find your own voice. Being able to finally say— this is my voice; this is where I am comfortable and fit, that has been a big relief.” Charity moved with her husband and two children from Manning to the Athabasca area in 2009. Their acreage—with its garden, berry patches, and small orchard—is where she still finds inspiration and subjects for sketching and painting. Since 2006, Charity has completed works for a few solo exhibitions and continues to enter shows. She received the Calgary Stampede Western Showcase, Gallery’s Choice Best of Show award in 2010 for a painting entitled Morning Encounter, and other awards in 2011 and 2012. Creating ways for others to connect with her art on a more personal level is an important focus for Charity, and progressive videos posted on her website are one of those efforts. “I work hard to do a lot of the smaller things and keep people informed, just with insights and what inspired it. I think that’s what generates a personal connection for people.”
This page Top After the Game Was Over, 1988, Edna McPhail this page Bottom Haying on the Baron Homestead, Charity Dakin opposite page Left Photograph of Elevations Exhibition, Peter von Tiesenhausen opposite page Right New Snow Broken Ice, Jim Stokes art of the peace
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Carmen Haakstad Fall 2006 By Jody Farrell Carmen Haakstad’s paintings were featured in AOTP’s 2006 Fall/Winter magazine. Last June, his collaborative exhibition with Jim Stokes, Journey 2012, opened the new Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. It was, for both artists, the culmination of 30 years of creative output, along with a promise made in their youth to someday pay tribute to the landscapes that so influenced their art. “Well, I must say, Journey 2012 was a milestone for my art career,” Haakstad says now. “I saw it as the closing of the first chapter. I am closer to completing my professional career in public service so I am planning my longterm goal to be painting full-time.” “With that in mind, I have booked three shows over the next three years. They keep me producing when I get lazy and sit on the couch rather than go to my studio. I have only completed a few works since my last show. I have six paintings on the go right now and am almost completed one that I started painting in 1986. It has taken on a whole new look and feel.’’ Haakstad works on wood, using oil paint for medium. “My most recent images are impressions from my childhood; memories of working on the farm, and my love for wood grains. They have a voice of their own. I just work at capturing the beauty that is already there.”
Robert Guest Spring 2007 By Catherine McLaughlin After making more than 3000 pieces of art the creative process still excites Robert Guest. Current projects include a major piece for the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie auction and one to support the McNaught Homestead Society. Guest draws on his memories from 1943, along with years of research, for two major oil paintings that he works on in daylight. It was World War II and as a boy on the farm on the Wapiti River he looked overhead to watch fighter planes that had come north from Great Falls, Montana and flew over the farm en route to Alaska and on to Siberia. “The planes were so close I could see the colouring. I saw them and remembered them. This is a tribute to the bravery of the flyers. The Beaverlodge Mountain, the unique landscape I knew, is in the background,” says Guest. The completed paintings may go to the Glenbow Museum, to North Vancouver, or perhaps to the Peace Country if there is interest. In the evenings Guest plays with colour, inspired by the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, and Georgia O’Keefe. “Colour makes us tick,” says Guest. These are days of change for Guest and his wife Myrtle as they prepare to move in the coming months from Grande Cache to Nanaimo. “The art isn’t moving here,” says Guest. “I need to be closer to the art markets on Vancouver Island. And our family is there. We want to live closer to our grandchildren before they’re all grown up.” This page top Sky Clearing, Carmen Haakstad this page Bottom Photograph of Kvass Lookout in Willmore Park, Robert Guest opposite page left Two of the three installations in The Ghosts on Top of My Head, Brian Jungen opposite page right Still from the film Sandcastle, Anne Marie Nakagawa art of the peace
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Brian Jungen Fall 2007 By Wendy Stefansson I admit it. I’m a stalker. I’ve been following the career of Fort St. John artist Brian Jungen since his 2007 profile. Mostly, I’ve kept a safe distance, following his world-wide career from the comfort of my own home. Then in the summer of 2011, I stumbled upon his exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2012, I searched out his work at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany. And later in the same summer, I saw his permanent installation, The Ghosts On Top of My Head, at the Banff Centre. Installed in 2011, the “ghosts” are three much-larger-thanlife antler forms, rendered in grids of stainless steel, painted white. Reading like an autoCAD drawing come to life, they function as benches; conceptual outdoor furniture. Echoing the cast-off antlers that can be found on the ground in Banff as well as in the Peace Country where Jungen grew up, the artist references both the timelessness of the natural environment and the most modern of technologies; both the organic and the designed, both the living and the created. He also references his own heritage. At the same time that I was in Banff, Jungen’s film Modest Livelihood was being premiered there as one of the international extensions of dOCUMENTA. Co-created with Duane Linklater, the film follows the two men—both of First Nations descent—as they stalk a deer. I didn’t see the film then. I hope to catch it when it shows at the Catriona Jeffries Gallery in Vancouver this summer. The stalking continues.
Anne Marie Nakagawa Spring 2008 By Margaret Price Anne Marie Nakagawa has changed her approach to art, rethinking its meaning and its intersection with commerce. Since we last spoke, she’s completed a dramatic short film, entitled Sandcastle, worked on several commissioned films for not-for-profits and almost completed her documentary, Point of Return. Nakagawa explains that since filmmaking is a rather commercial and market-driven industry, her involvement in it has created a blurred sense of what art is. “No art exists within a vacuum (and even a painter thinks about if he will be able to sell his painting to eat), and there are always pressures coming from either industry preferences or an art critic, but I’m trying to reconnect with the essence of what pure expression is and its transcendent potential,” she says. “Before, I was more open to being molded by certain exterior forces in order to be what is described as a film director.” In Point of Return, she questions whether or not capitalism exists in nature by examining the narratives of three main subjects: writer and ex-Jain monk Satish Kumar, co-leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland and political theorist John Barry, and environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Vandana Shiva. The resulting film is comprised of interwoven images of our current relationship with the natural world, actual interviews and verité scenes illustrating the disparate views of some who believe in the sacred nature of life, and others who believe in its dispensability.
Laine Dahlen Fall 2008 By Margaret Price Since appearing on our cover, Laine Dahlen has retired from his position as instructor of the Visual Arts Program at Northern Lights College. “The transition has been difficult, because I miss the student interaction and the atmosphere of a working studio. It has been a revelation to me that I have lost an identity that was such a large part of my life,” he says. “The challenge now is to try and create a new one. Suddenly time, health and studio space have become major issues.” His artistic focus has now turned exclusively to drawing. Over the past three and a half years, he has produced a few small paintings, primarily commissions, but his studio space has not been conducive to large projects. Using a charcoal/pastel lift approach for the drawings, the subject matter is directed toward memories of his youth. “I have limited myself to one or two colours in the charcoal ground and have found this to be very liberating,” he says. “It allows me to concentrate on tone, texture and composition. The blacks and greys help to pull the imagination back into the past. I have always felt that art work should have a story connected to it, either in a direct or indirect way, so these drawings are a perfect fit for me at this time in my life.” Dahlen has been directing some energy back into performing music, and hopes there are some future possibilities in that area as well.
Tina Martel Fall 2008 By Margaret Price Tina Martel continues to teach in the Fine Arts Department of Grande Prairie Regional College. In June and July, 2010, Martel created evolve for the Works International Art and Design Festival in Edmonton, which continued the tenuous exhibition of 2008, for which she produced a cast of a full sized half ton truck in handmade paper. “The paper symbolized the fragility of both the environment and the economy in Northern Alberta,” she says. “The truck was chosen as an icon for the culture. For evolve, I cast five Smart cars in paper with the idea that smaller, fuel-efficient cars are a more hopeful icon for a changing culture. After the exhibition I took the cars around Edmonton and photographed them in various locations.” In September 2011, ten photographs from the evolve installation were printed large scale on fabric and are currently on tour across Alberta through the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie AFA TREX exhibition program. She also has work touring with Paper, Pulp, Pages, an Alberta Crafts Council exhibition of contemporary paper artists. The show opened in Edmonton in April, 2012 and will be in Calgary at the Leighton Centre in summer 2013. Martel’s current project is a combination of a journal/sketchbook chronicling the artist’s journey through breast cancer last year. She produced hundreds of drawings and mixed media sketchbook pieces while going through extensive treatments. Simultaneously, she wrote about the experience. It is still in its fledgling state, but ultimately will be published in book format. This page top Fort Raven (French Fries), Laine Dahlen this page Bottom Skecthbook 2, Tina Martel opposite page Top Birds on a Wire, Bibi Clement opposite page Bottom Repose, Ken Housego art of the peace
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Bibi Clement Spring 2009 By Eileen Coristine In the summer of 2009, potter Bibi Clement’s Vigil of Angels was the inaugural show at the Prairie Art Gallery’s Contemporary Gallery. Although since then she has been through a series of health crisis and injuries, Bibi has emerged from it all ready to explore a whole new sculptural art form. “I want to start doing my angels and a wolf in bronze,” Bibi says. “My idea is to have the pieces facing the viewer so that as you pass by the pieces are following you. I think this will be eerie and intriguing.” In order to do this, Bibi will have to learn a whole new skill set, including building a forge at her farm north of Hythe. During her career Bibi has taught herself many arts including dance, fashion design and the pottery that has been her life for 40 years. Other plans for the farm include building a new wood-burning kiln and an on-site gallery. Despite her ups and downs, Bibi hasn’t stopped making art and finds that she feels more creative now than ever. “I have dreams but will have to take them a day at a time.” As she says this, she glows with excitement about her future. “These days I’m doing what I want to do, just doing what I feel from my soul.” “It’s been a long haul,” says Bibi, “but I’m pushing through to stay healthy and for me this is a beautiful time.”
Ken HouseGo Fall 2009 By Wendy Stefansson I click open Ken HouseGo’s new web page and begin to scroll through photos of his recent works. Some of them I know; others are new to me. At some point, I realize I am smiling. HouseGo’s work is deeply rooted in the material world: in the very human impulse to touch and to look at things; to pick up an object and turn it over in one’s hands, to find joy in it because of its texture and its heft, its form and its lines, its colour and the way the light plays over it. To wonder where it came from; to imagine the story of its origins and how it came to be here, at this moment, in one’s own hands. Incorporating such objects into his mixed media constructions, HouseGo brings life and humanity to his art; the complex overlay of multiple story lines. But at the same time, HouseGo sees his recent works as “a reexploration of the two-dimensional surface.” Look closely and you’ll find more overlays: layers of colour created with dyes, paints, pencils, and the natural patinas of oxidized metals. Describing his works, HouseGo writes: “Reading more like poems, sculptures...are painted and paintings are built. I have come to realize...that the artwork and materials are not separate but one in the same act of creation.” “Materials and ideas,” he says, “are bedfellows discovering each other, in a flash of laughter.” art of the peace
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Larissa DolL Spring 2010 By Wendy Stefansson When I catch up to painter Larissa Doll, it is her baby’s first birthday. The baby, a girl, has just started walking in the days leading up to our conversation. It’s an amazing moment, but it isn’t a moment for making art. It is, however, the kind of moment that art is made of; that art is made about. Doll directs me to a 2010 painting of hers entitled Mother in the Market. In it, a woman nurses her baby languidly, absently. “It’s a moment I can relate to now,” Doll laughs. The woman’s face takes on an almost mask-like quality; the lips a mere sketch in contrast with the vitality of the hands, or the detail and dimensionality of the skirt. However, as you move up the face towards the eyes, the mask comes alive. The face animates. On a trip to France prior to making this work, Doll had seen Picasso’s 1907 painting of a mother and child, their faces rendered as African masks. The masks which inspired that painting had come, Doll says, from the Congo; a place where she and her husband had lived from 2004 to 2006, a place decimated and de-humanized by war. In Mother in the Market, Doll reverses Picasso’s masking, choosing instead to reveal this woman in all of her raw, and wretched, and unspeakably rich humanity. She gives one Congolese woman back her face.
Carrie Klukas Fall 2010 by Wendy Stefansson “Is love a lost language?” Grande Prairie artist, Carrie Klukas, floats this question to me casually over tea. But it is also a question asked by her recent paintings, and perhaps not so casually. Klukas has recently begun adding a textual element into her already complex and layered abstract paintings. She has integrated the love sonnets of Victorian-era poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning between the layers of her paint. Klukas’s process has long involved adding paint then sanding it away, alternately making and un-making the work. But now she is also using language as underpainting; as subtext; submerged below the surfaces she creates, barely visible. The poetry that emerges is fragmentary. Like an archaeologist, one tries to piece together the shards of a broken object, a broken idea. Finding what has been lost, remembering what has been forgotten, re-learning the language of love. But Klukas wonders if embedding messages of love in her work charges them with a positive energy that supersedes the text itself; that reaches out to people on a visceral level. Klukas first showed these paintings at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre this past summer. This was her second solo exhibit, following on the success of her first one: Just Breathe in Dawson Creek in the fall of 2011. This past fall she was part of the group exhibition Fourth Dimension at the Centre for Creative Arts in Grande Prairie. art of the peace
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Mary Mottishaw Spring 2011 By Margaret Price The landscape of the Peace and its space continues to inspire mary mottishaw. Currently, she is creating works for a show with kit fast, entitled Convergence, based on multiple impacts on the landscape of the Peace Region, from mapping, through settlement to gas and resource development. After showing at Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George in September 2012, the show is scheduled for August 2013 at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery. “This series allows me to express myself in layers,” she says. “I took a post secondary Visual Culture class recently that changed how I make my art. I put a lot of thought into the selection of colour, symbols and materials so they express my ideas but also leave room for the viewer’s interpretation and response.” Works in this series include mixed medium paintings, hand pulled prints and drawings. Additionally, she’s working on a series for herself involving grids, circles and elastic bands. Some of these pieces were shown at the Centre for Creative Arts, Grande Prairie, in The Fourth Dimension show, October 2012, and she has booked that space for October 2013 in an attempt to take the pieces to a larger scale. “I’ve purchased ten feet of hardware mesh and five pounds of elastic bands,” she says. “I think I’ll be spending my summer afternoons tying elastics to the grid! It’s one of those bodies of works where I can’t really place my finger on what it represents, but I feel compelled to keep at it.”
Mary Parslow Spring 2011 By Margaret Price Mary Parslow has been involved in several shows, including The Fourth Dimension with two artists from Grande Prairie, Shauna Hoffos and Carrie Klukas, as well as fellow Dawson Creek artist and close friend, mary mottishaw. The show provided plenty of scope for the artist on the metaphorical aspects of working in printmaking. “Especially,” she laughs, “since after doing lots of scientific research I still wasn’t able to grasp the concept!” In addition to creating works she hopes to debut at her first solo show, Parslow has been networking with two groups of artists: The Flying Colours Group, a welcoming, creative community that meets every week in Fort St. John, and the Peace River chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists. Her latest piece, entitled Raven, took first place at a FCA show in Vancouver. “The attitude of the subject matter suggests what I observe about ravens,” she says. “They seem to know where they are going and what they want. I like the fresh and loose way the gelatin and ink put the image barely there, highlighting the bare bones of the image and the immediacy of the moment.” Recently she has been influenced by workshops by Suzanne Northcott, Carl White and Elizabeth Harris. “Mostly in terms of liberating me from the inner critic and starting and finishing something without dragging it on,” she says. “All the while taking notice of what is going on deep inside and having a conversation with the piece about what comes next.”
This page LEFT Paradox Freedom While Attached, Mary Mottishaw this page RIGHT Raven, Mary Parslow opposite page TOP Mother in the Market, Larissa Doll opposite page BOTTOM Combustion, Carrie Klukas art of the peace
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Jennifer Bowes Fall 2011 By Margaret Price Jennifer Bowes is still a full-time instructor and program coordinator at Northern Lights College. She also spends her time doing curatorial work and working on an exhibit for a show curated by Amy Fung, entitled They Made a Day be a Day Here, which runs at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie from June 7 through August 25, 2013. The show will then travel to the Mendel Art Gallery and The School of Art in Winnipeg. Above all else, her work still focuses on repetition. “I am interested in what happens when you remove a process (in this case: writing a diary) by imposing another process on top of it by altering, erasing, and seeing what is left behind. I am influenced by silence, but one that is full, imbued with meaning.” The work in question is Beyond Surrender, in which Bowes has been taking apart all of her diaries, cutting them into two-inch squares and folding them into small boxes. The end result should yield 30,600 boxes. In this piece the written voice is persistent, legible in parts, but the meaning has changed—the words re-organized. “They become something different than they once were,” she says. “Transformed from tidy bundles to tiny boxes, into a wall, the text becomes overwhelming in scale. It is at once a declaration of loss, but a persisting memory that triggers reflection, even more so than in their original state.”
Suzanne Sandboe spring 2012 By Margaret Price Suzanne Sandboe has been busy working in watercolours and acrylics since being featured as a cover artist. In Fall 2012, Sandboe completed more paintings for the QE II Hospital Foundation for Festival of Trees. She took part in the Federation of Canadian Artists Show in Fort St. John as well as the Fall Peace Watercolour Society Show at the Centre for Creative Arts and the FCA 2012 Juried Travelling Exhibition. Next came a project for Points West Living in Grande Prairie, a large acrylic painting for their foyer. “I am happy to say that I have also donated framed prints of my painting Evening Rays in the Saddle Hills for each of their ten hospice rooms,” she says. “It makes me happy to contribute to this much needed and essential service and facility in Grande Prairie.” Currently, she is enjoying working on new acrylics, including one entitled Vernaiolo, a striking, abstract composition. “I really enjoyed the workshop that I took with Carl White last spring and find some of his influence in my acrylic work these days, letting the paint do what it will with runs, spatters, glazing and a little abstraction,” she says. “It’s always fun to try something new and different and is good to mix it up a little.” Never one to take her work lightly, she still continues to work in watercolour and plans to host a fall watercolour workshop as well as a fall open house at her studio, the Canvas and Clay Art Studio.
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Marjorie Henn George Henn Fall 2012 By Deb Guerrette After building a new house just outside Beaverlodge in 2011, George Henn is picking up the pace on his weaving again. In a new basement studio, George has woven towels, runners and scarves over the past winter.
Fall 2012 By Deb Guerrette Marjorie Henn hasn’t found a way to slow down on the many commitments in her life that keep her from full-time painting, but despite the bustle of her days, a creative process also stays active within her.
George calls this flat work the tradesman side of weaving. Flat weaving is how he started in the craft, drawn to it since his first experience working a loom at a workshop in 1979.
Sometimes an idea percolated for years bursts forth at stolen moments, Marjorie says, like the few moments she had waiting for a phone call one recent evening, when a particularly phenomenal sky at sunset reminded her of a work she has been meaning to do.
A brushed wool scarf is a more delicate recent project, and George is also resuming design work on a life motif tapestry he began some years ago.
“I went and sketched it and the whole composition came together in five minutes. I thought—wow—I know my brain was working on it subconsciously,” she says.
The motif includes interpretive scenes of his life in ten-year periods. More of his life in Beaverlodge, connection to special people, community, and always the landscape in his world, are scenes still to be designed, George says.
After a move in 2011, the wide-open view her new Beaverlodge area home provides of surrounding skylines has had a powerful impact on Marjorie.
It is the impressions his tapestry designs evoke that George judges his art by—such as bringing a breeze-like shimmer to the horizon over the mountain lake in his Rock Lake tapestry. “Weaving is such a difficult and time consuming medium that is has to express more than just what you see is what you get,” George says, “If you can photograph or paint it, why weave it.”
“My appreciation for sky and landscape has jumped way up higher than it ever was before. I feel a bigger power coming to me. I used to be very careful about my skies, now I want to be freer, or wilder if you will.” With five or six paintings due for spring shows and auctions, and other commitments also on the horizon for 2013, Marjorie is still determined to experiment more, integrating her talents with both line drawing and painting, despite continued deadlines.
As he continues his flat weaving, his life motif and other projects, using up an abundance of weaving materials will keep him busy for as long as he can foresee.
This page LEFT Lost Teen Years 1940 – 1950, George Henn this page RIGHT Reflections on Pierre Grey Lake, Marjorie Henn opposite page TOP Beyond Surrender, Jennifer Bowes opposite page BOTTOM Vernaiolo, Suzanne Sandboe art of the peace
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This column is normally about the artists across the Peace who gather in groups to share their skills and passion to build our local arts scene and community. For the tenth anniversary of Art of the Peace, it seems only appropriate to reflect on the people who dedicated the last decade to building the magazine you hold in your hands. The original idea behind the Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association was really a vision. The magazine the association began to publish was a means to the end of bringing all of the diverse and talented artists in our region together.
where we get information out to everybody,” Stokes says. The magazine was, and still is, designed at Image Design in Grande Prairie, and it has thrived thanks to the talented contributions of many local editors and writers over the years. “We tried to go right into the [artist’s] studio and take it right in there, in-depth, for other artists,” Stokes explains.
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“We took the view, as I see it anyway, that art can be a big tent and it’s better when you can get everybody in, and have all facets of visual art,” remembers current Art of the Peace president Jim Stokes, who attended the founding meeting. “We wanted to cover what was really happening right across the board—commercial establishments, museums, individual artists, and everything in between, the whole wild scramble of it going on. We wanted to avoid ghettoization. We wanted to see the whole picture.” On this issue’s back page Stokes fondly memorializes Trenton Perrott, past executive director of the Prairie Art Gallery, as a true friend to the arts and the catalyst that sparked the first meeting. Artists Marjorie Taylor, chair of the Prairie Art Gallery at the time, and Dale Syrota also attended, and Dale served as president of the association for years. “We invited a lot of local artists and groups. There are of course groups for all kinds of interests, from watercolour to figure drawing, so we thought we would bring them all together and see if we can get this exchange happening
Thanks to Perrott, the very first symposium was also conceived, bringing artists from outside of the Peace by susan thompson to teach and launch discussions of the many aspects of art, strengthening the skills of our own artists and building ties with the larger Canadian art community. The annual Art of the Peace Symposiums continue to educate and inspire regional artists of all kinds. “We’ve really worked hard to be regional in focus, including both the Alberta Peace and B.C. too, to bring that together which is a natural thing,” Stokes says. Today, Art of the Peace has a circulation of 1500 readers and is distributed throughout the Peace area and to galleries province-wide. Although the association and the magazine have benefited from the help of far too many people to list here, Stokes also warns against burning out volunteers and the need to keep finding new people; not always an easy task. To that end, please consider ensuring the next decade of arts coverage and education by becoming a member of Art of the Peace. Find out more about membership on our website, or call Art of the Peace president Jim Stokes at 780532-2573 for details.
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Art of the Peace
Beginner Spinning Marion Walker March 23rd, 10am – 4pm
Exhibits & Events 10th Anniversary Exhibition Kin Gallery, Centre 2000, Grande Prairie Opening reception and announcement of Cover Competition winner: April 11th, 7pm Exhibition showing until June 27th
Get Hook! Rug Hooking in the Traditional Cape Breton Style Brenda Doucette March 23rd, 1pm – 4pm
Opportunities Art Symposium Art Gallery of Grande Prairie October 18th – 20th
Beginner Weaving Karen Brown Tuesdays, April 9th – 30th 7pm – 9pm
Juried Exhibition - Spring 2014 Art Gallery of Grande Prairie Details at www.artofthepeace.ca
Beginner Oil Painting Janet Enfield Thursdays, March 28th – May 9th 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Felting on Silk Carrie Klukas Beginner felting experience needed April 13th, 10am – 5pm
Exhibitions+ Opportunities CHECK OUT WWW.ARTOFTHEPEACE.CA FOR MORE DETAILS, LOCATIONS AND HOURS
Beaverlodge, AB Beaverlodge Cultural Centre Exhibits & Events 20th Annual Quilt Show & Sale April 7th – 25th Canadian Federation of Artists - Peace Area April 28th – May 23rd Beaverlodge Regional High School Art Students Exhibition May 26th – June 13th Sara MacIntyre Show & Sale June 16th – July 4th Dan Arberry Show & Sale July 7th – August 1st Tim Heimdal Show & Sale August 4th – 29th Patricia Peters Show & Sale September 1st – 26th Carmen Haakstad Show & Sale September 29th – October 24th Beaverlodge Art Society Miniature Show & Sale October 27th – November 21st Programs Beginner Wheel Throwing Adult Pottery Susan Dean Tuesdays, March 12th – April 2nd 7pm – 9pm
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Introduction to Henna Michelle Forrester April 20th, 1:30 – 4:30pm Call 780-354-3600 for more info or visit BeaverlodgeGallery.com. Opportunities Gallery exhibition and gift shop sales opportunities are available. Call 780-354-3600 for info.
McNaught Homestead Exhibits & Events McNaught Festival and I.O.D.E Strawberry Tea 2013 July 28th, 1pm – 5pm Strawberry Tea 1pm – 4pm Admission by donation Opportunities The Schoolhouse Studio is available for retreats, classroom, gallery or meetings. For info call 780-512-6316 or visit McNaughtHomestead-Heritage.com
Dawson Creek, BC Dawson Creek Art Gallery Exhibits & Events Art Auction Gala May 3rd, 6pm – 8pm Opportunities For information on opportunities for exhibition, visit online at DCArtGallery.ca
Fairview, AB Fairview Fine Arts Centre Exhibits & Events Experience Ignite Ignite Youth Centre April Artists at School May Creations, Inc. Annual Fundraiser Decadent Desserts, Live Entertainment, Canvases May 1st – May 30th, 7pm – 10pm Melanie Hellum Show & Sale June Members’ Summer Show & Sale July Gordon Mackey Show & Sale August Three CJ Lyons & June Lyons September Programs Weavers Mondays, 1pm Painters Wednesdays, 7pm Quilters Thursdays, 7pm Potters Thursdays, 7pm
Grande Cache, AB Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre Exhibits & Events High Art Passport to the Peaks & Recent Works Robert Guest June 8th – 28th Wildlife Photography A visual presentation on the joys and pitfalls of photographing wildlife. Margaret Abraham June 5th, 7pm
Sandboe
PROGRAMS Exhibiting the Palette Pals Art Club and local art year round. Visit GrandeCache.ca for info.
Grande Prairie, AB Centre for Creative Arts Exhibits & Events CENTRE GALLERY Marcy Horswill April 5th – 26th Janet Enfield May 3rd – 31st CFCA Fundraiser Art June 7th – 28th Lynn LeCorre July 5th – 26th
Musicians Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Sundays
CFCA Group Show Black and White August 2nd – 30th
Sit ‘n Stitch Tuesdays, 1pm & 7pm
Melanie Jenner September 6th – 29th
Spring courses include Glass 101, Glass Fusion, Loom Weaving, Paverpol, Encaustics, Needle Tatting, Drawing, and Bead Embroidery. Phone the Centre at 780-835-2697 email finearts@telus.net or visit FairviewFinearts.com for details.
Marj Taylor October 4th – 25th
Fort St. John, BC North peace Cultural centre Exhibits & Events Pottery Pam Hagen April
Hats off to 30 30th Annual Art Auction April 27th Kids Fun for All Art Exhibit June North Peace Artists Show & Sale July & August For further information call 250-787-0993, email scoultry@npcc.bc.ca or visit npcc.bc.ca
WALL GALLERY Megan Rycroft April 5th – 26th Jim Stokes, Tia Stanway, Marj Tayler, Debbie Courvoisier and Andrea Snook May 3rd – 31st Larena Shakotko June 7th – 28th Klaus Peters July 5th – 26th Kiren Niki Sangra September 6th – 29th Mary Mottishaw October 4th – 25th Programs The Centre has classes for everyone: beginner, intermediate or advanced oil painting, sewing, photography, pottery, and clay. Check out our website, CreativeCentre.ca or call 780-814-6080. Opportunities We are looking for instructors to teach a variety of classes.
Grande Prairie Museum
HERITAGE DISCOVERY CENTRE Art of the Peace Ongoing until June 30th
Opportunities for Artists We are always looking for talented artists to display their works: 3D works for the Hospital Cubes; 2D works for the Courtyard Gallery; and for various styles of work for the Festival of Trees. If you are interested in the any of the above, please call Carrie Klukas at 780-830-4855.
Phone 780-532-5790 for more information and admission prices.
Unique Gallery
Exhibits & Events RODACKER/CAMPBELL GALLERY Wedding Dream Ongoing
Programs Tours and school programming available phone 780-532-5482.
Grande Prairie Regional College Exhibits & Events Exhibits throughout the year in the Glass Gallery. Programs The Fine Arts Department at GPRC offers courses in Music, Art and Drama with a focus on student learning and success. We offer a range of programs in both traditional and new medias. Call Joanne at 780-539-2443 for more information.
Art Gallery of grande prairie Exhibits & Events Formerly Exit Five: Portable Monuments to Recent History January 11th – April 28th The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal 1941 – 1960 February 15th – April 30th Another 75 Million — Ashes: Bison Drawings of Adrian Stimson Redux March 22nd – September 1st They Made A Day Be A Day Here June 7th – August 25th Robert Guest: Winter on the Wapiti Until September 1st Upcoming and current exhibitions can be found on aggp.ca
QEII Hospital, The Courtyard Gallery Exhibits & Events GALLERY Melanie Jenner March/April Lisa Shannahan May/June TREX Traveling Exhibition July/August Cathy Stafford September/October SHOWCASES Recreational Therapists QEII Hospital Programs January – March Bird Show July – September
Begin the rest of your creative life with us in the…
VISUAL ARTS
Opportunities Opportunities for exhibitions. Call Dan at 780-538-2790.
High Prairie, AB high prairie & district museum Opportunities If you are interested in showing your work at the High Prairie & District Museum please call 780523-2601.
Drawing • English • Introduction to Design Painting • Portfolio Development • Sculpture Visual Culture • Visual Fundamentals
Peace River, AB PEACE RIVER Municipal library and cultural centre Exhibits & Events Building Stories April
For more information please call a Student Recruiter or visit our website. 196/12.11.07-j
nlc.bc.ca • 1-866-463-6652
Mark Ladd and Trudy Plaizer May Wild Things June DMI Inspired Exhibit — Peace River Art Club July Retrospective Show — Peace River Museum and Archives August Art Days — Open Show Call for submission details September Our Wilderness is Wisdom October
Silk Painting Workshops For Groups and Organizations/Community Projects Benefits to the participant:
Relaxation – Inspiration – Empowerment We offer: Silk-painting Workshops: variety of projects for your events Silk-painting Classes: skill training for hobby or home-based business At your location – all materials provided - no previous experience required
Benefit your community: We donate 5% of the proceeds to your local women/children support-group.
Opportunities If you are interested in showing your work at the Peace River Municipal Library and Cultural Centre please call 780-624-4076. For exhibition opportunities email lprudholme@prmlibrary.ab.ca
PEACE RIVER MUSEUM Exhibits & Events Peace of Art – A 25 Year Celebration This exhibit features past and present artists April 1st – May 30th Roots of the Peace – Wholesome Bounty Features the production and growing of food in the Peace from a historical as a well as a contemporary perspective. June – October
12 years of experience in conducting workshops
Mila Lansdowne
for groups and individuals including school & community workshops
Lead Artist/Instructor/Owner
More information at www.artforhappiness.com www.Mila-Ca.com Art for Happiness, Tumbler Ridge, BC, e-mail: mila@persona.ca
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left Untitled, 2004 Right Photo by Jim Stokes
Trenton Perrott 1957 – 2012 by Jim Stokes
I remember when I first met Trenton, probably in 1980 or ‘81. There was this buzz about town that “you have to meet Trenton!” He was doing these incredible dinner theatre plays at Timothy’s restaurant downtown. Now when I say, “dinner theatre”, you will perhaps think of a fun sex-farce, nice flashy fare for mainstream taste. Well this was nothing like that. Trenton was writing these plays and they were much more contemporary—very avant guard! Trenton was keen on the stuff being done by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago (and the tough guy stance of writers like Sam Shepard). Trent’s curious dramas, almost on the edge of absurdism, were quite an eye opener for a shy, beginning painter like myself. Trenton had a sort of loose ensemble, drawn from the younger actors in town, who would be in his shows. He did things like art of the peace
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“A Night with Beckett”, a revue of readings and short pieces by the master. Trenton was very proud of the calling card, saying just “Best regards to all, Sam” that came in the mail after he sent the program to Beckett’s agent! Trent and I met to discuss displaying original art in the restaurant for a more immersive experience. I recall many great chats in the early 80s about theatre, painting, all of the arts, and a lot of talk about what was authentic and what was needed now! Trenton was the coolest cat, really. He had a political science degree, from the University of Alberta, had knocked about Europe a bit, and back in the old hometown was fixed on writing plays! He lived in the Swan Motel and arose late. His hero was Beckett and he liked David Mamet a lot! Way back then, just out of school, Trenton’s vision was about collaboration in the arts, about linking things and building something better. At his memorial mixer, many spoke very eloquently of Trent’s contribution, in so many areas and to so many projects. I was struck by what a great mentor Trenton was to so many of us, in so many fields. Writing, making art, excelling in arts administration, and raising a family. Trenton became incredibly involved in the community. He was a person who saw the Big Picture. This is very common in the career arc of energetic people who have a healthy work ethic. Growing up on the family homestead, north of Debolt, Trenton worked hard, but he also knew how to enjoy life. He had excellent taste in painting, music and had a great palette for a fine vintage. Elsewhere in this Tenth Anniversary edition of our magazine, Susan Thompson’s Assemblage column tells of the beginnings of Art of the Peace; a big project that has depended on so many volunteers. The catalyst that got this all fired up was Trenton Perrott.
art peace of the
ART SYMPOSIUM 2013
painting the big picture 10TH ANNUAL
October 18, 19 & 20
ART GALLERY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB
For details: artofthepeace.ca
TH E AR T GA LLERY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE IS NOW OPEN! We hope you will be inspired to visit our newly restored building and continue our journey of exploration, inspiration, and preservation of the human spirit through art. Since 1975, the community has created an engine for creativity, one that will never cease to expose the minds of this community to the newest, the most innovative, and the most beautiful creations of our society and it is our honour to continue protecting, nurturing, and enhancing that legacy. The future of the Art Gallery is just as surprising, enlightening, rewarding, exciting, and mysterious as is the experience of art itself.
Photos by: Teeple Architects
#103, 9839 – 103 Avenue, Grande Prairie, Alberta T8V 6M7 | PHONE: 780-532-8111 | EMAIL: info@aggp.ca | FREE ADMISSION GALLERY HOURS: Monday – Thursday: 10 am – 9 pm | Friday: 10 am – 6 pm | Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm | Sunday: 1 pm – 5 pm
W WW. AG G P. C A