SPRING 2012
ISSUE 18
A PUBLICATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTIST
Suzanne Sandboe SEEING IS KNOWING
AOTP SYMPOSIUM 2012
FOLLOWING THE LIGHT
THREE METAL ARTISTS
Naught
THE CENTRE FOR
CREATIVE ARTS
Upcoming Exhibitions
The Centre Gallery
May 4 - 25 Reception: 7pm on May 4
June 1 - 29 Reception: 7pm on June 1
July 6 - 27 Reception: 7pm on July 6
August 3 - 31 Reception: 7pm on August 3
September 7 - 28 Reception: 7pm on Sept. 7
The Wall Gallery
ACACA Northern Zone Show Northern Showcase
Candace Gunsolley Exchanging Limbs
Grande Prairie Photography Club
Melanie Jenner Welcoming Bliss
CFCA Juried Show Yellow
Chris Dehaus
At the Centre
Classes for all ages and levels: -Children’s Classes -Drawing -Glass -Fibre -Painting -Photography -Pottery -Workshops -Visual Arts Monthly Gallery Exhibitions Gift Shop featuring local artists Birthday Parties School and Group bookings Drop In Studio Use
Leona Cochrane Remembering Buildings and Places
Lesley Duggan
Whitney Lee Hayes My Diverse Diversion
Joselyn Aldred and Cortney Warr Boreal High: Class of 2012
October 5 - 26 Reception: 7pm on Oct. 12
Mary Mottishaw, Mary Parslow, Shauna Hoffos and Carrie Klukas Fourth Dimension
November 2 - 23 Reception: 7pm on Nov. 2
Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists Peace Harmonies: FEDERATION of CANADIAN ARTISTS Squared
Joan Doll South of the Border
Alberta Culture Days
Join us September 28 - 30, 2012 for Alberta Culture Days (formally known as Alberta Arts Days), a celebration of art and culture. Check out the web site as details are added at abartsdaysgp.ca
Call for Entries It’s coming soon, so start working on your Wearable Art pieces! The show will be held during Alberta Culture Days. Submissions due early August. More details to come. Contact the Centre for details.
Christy Teasedale Churches of Beaverlodge and Area
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
8.
AOTP SYMPOSIUM 2012
10.
THREE METAL ARTISTS
12.
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
14.
SUZANNE SANDBOE
20.
THE QUINNS’ ESSENTIAL COLLECTION
22.
ASSEMBLAGE
23.
ART BOOKS IN REVIEW
EDITOR: Eileen Coristine DESIGN, LAYOUT & ADVERTISING: imageDESIGN 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) E-mail: art@artofthepeace.ca PRINTING: McCallum Printing Group COVER: Suzanne Sandboe Photo by Candice Popik, Popik Photography
Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association acknowledges the financial assistance of:
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.
NATURAL FORMS TAKE SOLID SHAPES
SEEING IS KNOWING
A GATHERING OF IDEAS
HINES CREEK ARTS AND CRAFT CLUB
24.
FOLLOWING THE LIGHT
28.
EXHIBITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
30.
GRANT BERG
©All rights reserved Art of the Peace 2012
PAINTING THE BIG PICTURE
THREE FLORAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Artist’s Statement
Contributors
UNCLE NOT SO HAPPY
JODY FARRELL
Process: To Carl White it’s more important than the finished piece. Grant Berg describes it as creating visual poetry and KJ MacAlister says hers is meditative. But during my process I encounter my inner critic, that voice that says I suck, my ideas suck and that everybody gets this but me. Here are three suggestions I’ve tried for silencing (or at least temporarily gagging) the inner critic so you create some art (or at least get out your supplies). 1) Name your critic and make a visual representation of him/her. When I was young, a jolly (if often inebriated) uncle lived at my house and was called Uncle Happy. In later years I did a caricature inspired by his memory. Once, another uncle came to visit. I’d just got into colouring and proudly showed him my latest crayon work. He told me it just looked like “a bunch of scribbling”. Taking the suggestion above, I made a new piece with a frowning face and eyebrows like inverted teepees called Uncle Not So Happy and hung it in my studio. New advice says to remove the critic’s image during art making. In hopes that they will amuse themselves elsewhere and let one get on with it I suppose. 2) S peak to your inner critic in short angry sentences. I said “Uncle Not So Happy leave me the &*$# alone!” “I need to process,” I shouted. I said so many short angry things that my husband ran in to find out what was wrong. Just what I needed, another critic. Now I’m taking Uncle Not So Happy out of the room, having strong words with him and turning his face to the wall. If only the old &#*@ had just gently asked me about my process all those years ago. 3) My advice is to tell your inner critic “I make fine art. However it turns out, it’s fine with me.” I hope you enjoy whatever you’re doing and find art in the process. art of the peace
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photo by Paul Pivert
BY EILEEN CORISTINE
has more than 25 years experience as an editor and writer for newspapers, magazines, and education publications. She especially loves writing profiles of interesting people, many of whom happen to be artists, and is always willing to put things off for a good visit over coffee.
DEB GUERETTE
has 25 years experience as a news reporter, independent publisher and communications specialist. Storytelling has been the most enjoyable element of all that work.
CANDICE POPIK is an Albertan Photographer with over 10 years experience, combining commercial and artistic photography to create memorable images. Born in Edmonton, and raised across Canada her view of the world around her is unique and ever changing. She loves animals, people and a good red wine.
MARGARET PRICE wrote her first book at the age of five. While certainly not destined for Pulitzer status, Margaret’s Book of Butterflies laid the groundwork for a career in journalism. With degrees in Anthropology and Art History from Vanderbilt University, she has been published in several American and Canadian publications.
WENDY STEFANSSON
has earned degrees in English Lit and Education, as well as a diploma in Visual Arts. She is by turns (or all at the same time) an artist, a writer, a teacher and a mom. She was editor of Art of the Peace magazine from ‘06 to ‘08
SUSAN THOMPSON has worked as a freelance journalist since 2001 and has written for numerous newspapers and magazines in Canada. When not writing articles, she devotes her time to working on a fantasy novel titled “The Back Door to Hell.” Susan lives south of Peace River with her artist-blacksmith husband and two children.
ON THE WALL McNaught Family
Grande Prairie’s Centre for Creative Arts has opened a new exhibition space. The Wall is a section in their gift shop area that has been dedicated to small exhibitions. “We will exhibit 12 shows per year that coincide with the exhibits in our main gallery space,” explains Candace Hook, executive director of the centre, “This space is great for emerging artists or even for an established artist who’s working on a more concentrated series.”
MCNAUGHT ANNIVERSARY It has been 100 years since the McNaught family moved to their homestead near Beaverlodge. To mark the anniversary the McNaught Homestead Preservation Society will be holding a celebration including an exhibit of works by Euphemia McNaught and some of her artistic relatives.
The Wall opened February with an exhibit called Pathfinder by Theresa Chauvin coinciding with a solo gallery show Dreams Do Not Come With Titles by Ken Housego.
“We have recently been able to locate cousins in the U.S. This led to some interesting data that there was an earlier Euphemia in the family tree who was also a painter,” says society member Marjorie Henn. “We have a great uncle who also left us four paintings that have been passed down.”
In March the Art of the Peace Travelling Exhibiton was paired with a show on The Wall called Strokes of Adversity by Grande Prairie artist Rob Bignold.
Crocus Through Snow by Sharon Krushel
art out there...
CELEBRATE WINTER Peace of ART (the artists formerly known as the Peace River Art Club) is celebrating winter with a show in the new gallery space at the Peace River Municipal Library. To the delight of the members sales have been going well and the show has been extended for second month. The gallery, which offers 100 linear feet of hanging space, pliths for sculptures, a fireplace and several comfortable chairs, has been bringing new patrons to the recently renovated library.
Work by Euphemia McNaught is also on display at the Alberta Gallery of Art this spring. Three linocut prints are included in the exhibition Alberta Mistresses of the Modern running until June 3.
Members of Peace of Art have been participating in an informal Art In The Library program twice a month. Volunteers come to the library to paint or draw and invite the public to watch and ask them questions.
Untitled by Rob Bignold
The anniversary celebration will be held during the McNaught Festival July 21 and 22. For more info check out www. mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com
“We are focusing on Peace River and Peace Region artists,” explains library manager Linda Prudholme-Warrior. “We’ve been having shows since July and are looking into also offering arts programming.”
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BODIES IN MOTION In February, Grande Prairie Regional College held their 2012 Arts Symposium: Bodies In Motion.
“Terrance Houle, addressed the theme in a cross cultural context and Calgary-based performance and installation artist, Rita McKeough explored the body moving through actual time and space in various media. GPRC instructor, Elisabeth Belliveau showed her award-winning animations. These are part of her interdisciplinary practice, bridging image and text, material and narrative. Edmonton-based, Trevor Schmidt (director of Northern Lights Theatre) explored the theme in the context of drama.” The symposium was attended by approximately 60 college students, faculty and community members.
SUMMERTIME When the Hythe Pioneer Home was expanding, the planners wanted to incorporate public art into the space. They approached Hythe artist Darlene Dautel to ask what work she thought could go in the mezzanine.
Hide by Christy Burres
“This year’s symposium addressed the notion of how humanity and cultures in the 21st century are never static but continually unfolding in time and space with new permutations, mutations and cross cultural influences,” explains GPRC instructor Ed Bader.
“I met with the planners and the architect,” says Darlene. “Then I created a sculpture out of paperclay that includes three life-size kids and a twelve foot tree that is bolted to the wall. The installation is about 10 feet off the ground at the end of a long hallway.”
WHAT IS THAT YOU’RE WEARING? Recent Northern B.C. art shows demonstrate that almost anything can and will be worn in the name of art. For her January show at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, Manipulation and Fabrication, Christy Burres chose a variety of very unconventional media. Her focus was experimentation with plant and animal materials.
The sculpture is titled Summertime and the complete installation of Dautel’s work also includes a 4x6 oil painting of the children taking shelter from the rain under a rhubarb leaf.
By Trevor Schmidt
“There were nine pieces in the exhibit that I created using materials such as willow bark, trees, foxtail barley, raw wool, raw silk, horsehair, deer antlers, coal, haywire, grouse feathers, turkey feathers, witch’s hair, wolf skull, moose spine bones, used filter papers (from coal lab), moose hide, moose antlers, elk hide, gun shells and binder twine,” says the Tumbler Ridge artist. art of the peace
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One of Dautel`s life size sculptures
By Elizabeth Belliveau
“I find inspiration in many places, but a major influence on my work is nature and the plants and animals in the area where I live. I was born with a need to be creative, and working on this series has been a challenging and rewarding way of exercising that need,” Christy explains.
Since returning to Peace River following her graduation from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Shannon Brown has been turning her love of large-scale painting into murals for her hometown.
EXPRESSIVE ARTS Every Tuesday and Thursday Ada Lovmo, Expressive Arts Facilitator for Canadian Mental Health Alberta NW Region, packs up art supplies and musical instruments and heads out to offer creative opportunities to people who would usually be unable to access them.
Pictured above is her latest, a Mexican-themed work which she began in Fall 2012. This mural is on the cement wall outside a local café called Su Casa. Last summer Shannon painted a mural of the Peace River on two large windows at Java Domain, a downtown coffee shop. As soon as weather permits, she will be working on the remaining third of her Mexican triptych.
Creative Expressions drop-in sessions are held Tuesday afternoon at Rotary House and Thursday afternoon at the Centre for Creative Arts. Participants are welcome to explore their creative energies and discuss the challenges in their daily lives.
Besides her outdoor work, Shannon is also involved with teaching art lessons at the Peace River Municipal Library and is writing and illustrating two children’s books.
“This program is opening up doors for the participants,” says Ada. “ The conversation, sharing, and healing during Expressive Arts is amazing. A trust happens and in the process growth flourishes.”
“I’m happy to be back here,” she says. “I don’t think we appreciate the opportunities that we have in this area.”
A show and sale of the drop-in artists’ work will be held at the Canadian Mental Health Community Engagement Centre 9717-100 Ave., May 9th 5:30-7pm and May 10th 9am-12pm.
Mural at Su Casa
“Volunteer musicians and artists are always welcome to share their time and create energy with the participants at Expressive Arts,” says Ada.
Photo by Katelin Dean, Alaska Highway News
Working Intentely - Ann-Marie Kiyawasew
PEACE RIVER MURALS
FAREWELL TO FILM In honour of this year’s Academy Awards, Fort St. John artists were challenged to use only one medium to create wearable art and art forms; that medium was celluloid film. The result: Fashion and Form with Film. Using reels of film has just become an obsolete method of showing movies. The digital alternative is now the norm in movie theatres. To celebrate the end of the celluloid era, Stage North Theatre Society, On The Rocks Nightclub and the Northern Environmental Action Team collaborated to turn the annual event Oscar Night On The Big Screen into Fashion and Form with Film. All entries were required to be made up of at least 75% reused celluloid. The Aurora Theatre supplied rolls of film for the competitors to work with and all entries were modeled on a runway during the event. The event was a competition offering a prize of $1,000 first prize. The winner of Fashion and Form with Film was Iliana Londono. art of the peace
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AOTP Symposium 2012 The ninth annual Art of the Peace Symposium kicked off March 2 with the opening of the Art of the Peace Travelling Exhibition in the Centre for Creative Arts Gallery in Grande Prairie. Over the next two days, participants were inspired, encouraged and instructed by painter Carl White, carver Grant Berg and ceramicist KJ MacAlister. Carl White decided early on that the legitimacy of art as a career called him to live that life fully. Not wanting to be a part-time artist he committed to a path he calls “I will choke until I swallow”. Not only does this path have him working as an artist fulltime, he also gives every aspect of his life the same focus and energy; all of it is art. As well as creating masterful works, mainly through painting very large canvasses in oil, White spends as much time altering, obscuring and scratching poems onto them. Often he completes a piece by pouring or splashing paint onto a canvas that is five or six paintings deep.
FAR LEFT
Grant Berg, KJ MacAlister and Carl White
LEFT
KJ MacAlister workshop
RIGHT
Grant Berg workshop
FAR RIGHT
Carl White workshop
art of the peace
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“I love it (art) but laugh at the folly of it too,” he said. “I am classically irreverent, I love it but I’m not attached to it.” Much more significant to White than his paintings themselves is the experience of making them. “A painting is the snakeskin that is left behind from the process of growth,” he says. And to him the point of doing art is to experiment and to challenge himself towards growth. Grant Berg loves art and makes sure it is present in his life every single day. The Sexsmith stone-carver appreciates, creates and gives to the art community through his works and through his good works as chairman of the Prairie Art Gallery Board of Directors, board member of the Centre for Creative Arts and member of the Premier’s Council on Arts and Culture.
2
PAINTING THE BIG PICTURE
BY EILEEN CORISTINE
Berg’s love of art began as a teenager when a serious illness resulted in his staying in a hospital for an extended period. “The artworks in the hospital were a mental escape from the pain I was in,” he says “and those works still influence my carvings today.” His admiration for artists Emily Carr and Lauren Harris is especially evident in Berg’s carved trees. “The moment I started working with stone magic happened. Seeing inside the stone and seeing inside me,” says Berg. Inside of him are all the stories from his Cree and European family histories and memories of the good and bad experiences in his life. “I knew carving was going to be an adventure and I have documented my journey.” “I live art fully,” says Berg. His early illness gave him a deep appreciation for life and he fills his days with skill and dedication, determined not to waste one minute of precious time. “What I’d like to say to artists,” says Berg, “is draw from your own background, embrace your influences and turn the negatives in your life into positives in your art.” KJ MacAlister has travelled to Japan where the people “immerse themselves in beauty every day” and claims that making that trip changed the way her brain works. Since her return she has had a new way of looking at her surroundings and her pottery.
KJ feels that texture gives each piece a life of its own. The texture comes from a variety of sources including the clay, the type of glaze and firing and the many found objects that she uses to enhance the surface. “Each bowl is its own journey, even physically,” she says. On their journey, her favorite pots have gone through wood-firing. That process of extreme heat and extreme unpredictability ensures that you “will never have the same pot come out of two different firings.” The love of wood-firing inspired MacAlister to build a small kiln at Pipestone Creek, where she was raised. Her rural upbringing has been a strong influence in her work, both in form and in texture. “Spending my childhood with trees around me, why wouldn’t I make pots that look like bark when I grew up?” she asks. “I can be so immersed in the tactility of what I’m doing that it is almost a meditation.” At present, MacAlister is employed offering technical support and instruction at Clayworks Studio-Link in Edmonton. Spending her days with clay and inspiring the people around her, she’s often captured by the natural things in our lives that can be used to make art. Closing her presentation with questions MacAlister asked, “Would your experience change if drinking from a cup had a tactile experience with it? Would it be enhanced? Keep your eyes open for the texture in your world.”
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Three Metal Artists NATURAL FORMS TAKE SOLID SHAPES BY DEB GUERRETTE
Weld vt. hammer or press (pieces of heated iron
GREG GOURLAY With forging hammer in hand, Greg Gourlay strikes at an imaginary piece of hot metal, demonstrating how he would round or bend it using a homemade tool. A variety of metal rods, some with short curls, and others with elongated bends and twists, hang on a rack he’s fashioned beside a heavy metal work stand. “You start with a piece of rod. Take what you need; heat it, add stuff on to it, bang it out, roll it, chase it around - this will be for another (coat rack) piece like in the house,” he says, now holding a long piece of twisted metal. Natural forms abound in the shapes Gourlay creates, in metal sculptures, in stacks of figure drawings he has done, and in wood and ceramic works. “I draw from life, pretty much,” said Gourlay, who retired this year, after 13 years of teaching high school art in Beaverlodge.
or steel) into one piece
Forge vt. shape (esp. metal) by heating in a fire and hammering Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition
Turning hot metal into art comes naturally for three Grande Prairie artists, whose work and play led them into it.
A recent metal rod sculpture is “based on a cycle of natural forms,” he says, showing the piece still in his basement. “It’s all forged, loosely based on lily pads, water life, fish and animals, insects, the natural world.” Another piece, a small sculpture model in tin called ‘West Wind,’ “implies the winds blowing across the Nose Mountain, as seen from the highway to Beaverlodge.” Applying techniques he learned at an ornamental iron work course he took in England some years ago adds to the calibre and uniqueness of his metal work. Gourlay grew-up in Cambridge, Ontario, where his father worked in a machine shop. He started down the same path as a youth working with his father, and then “came out west to be a teacher,” when he was 22.
LEFT
West Wind Greg Gourlay
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CENTRE
Angel of a Fish Cindy Nychka
RIGHT
Chair Lana Agar
Though he has yet to show his work formally, Gourlay’s long relationship with art and craftsmanship is intrinsic to his home and shop. The shop itself, in the back of his yard in Grande Prairie, is a carefully restored 1920’s vintage cabin from the Huallen area.
CINDY NYCHKA
Made of steel, stainless steel, brass and copper, the pieces include a pyramid, a tall circle-figured girl and a seascape of fish swimming in textured and twisty strands of metal weeds. To create a blister-pocked effect in the long weeds, the copper was exposed to salt and vinegar, and sealed in a container with ammonia. “It will turn green – it’s like it weathers it,” Nychka said. Nychka grew up in the Beaverlodge area. She didn’t plan on a career as a welder, or a teacher at first either, but her creativity has been there all along. Introduced to welding by a family friend, Nychka worked in the oilfield to complete her journeyman ticket. She was taking a brief break from welding to do leatherwork, a craft she’s enjoyed for over 20 years, when a former instructor from Fairview sought her assistance. “I was just going to fill in for a short time,” said Nychka, in her office at GPRC, where she’s been an instructor for 10 years. Nychka has no shortage of ideas or desire to create. Largely self-taught in art, she enjoys courses in different mediums, such as stained glass, whenever she has time. “I have lots of stuff stored up, just like a volcano,” she says. The opportunity to instruct a new Introduction to Metal Art course for GPRC this year is very exciting for her. “It means more time to work with metal,” she says, smiling. “I’ll have to prep for class.”
Photo by Cleo Hope Photography
An Open Air Garden of sculptures, birdhouses, figures and a seascape sits atop a roof at the QEII Hospital. In good view for pediatric and other patients, the ‘garden’ includes metal art pieces created by Cindy Nychka, a welding instructor at Grande Prairie Regional College. Completed in fall 2011, the three pieces made for the Open Air Garden are Nychka’s first commissioned project. Nychka’s created smaller metal art pieces at her leisure, but the commitment was a good motivator to complete a series of pieces, and she admits “it was pretty exciting getting that project done.”
LANA AGAR When Lana Agar has time to weld for the fun of it, art projects start to take shape from the bits and pieces of metal stashed in a special corner of her workplace shop. Agar is a journeyman welder, with a steady job in the oilfield and a plan underway to be dual-ticketed as pipefitter by the time she’s 30-years old, making time for art projects hard to find. “If I have a spare day, if it’s ever slow, it’s, oh yay, it’s art day today!” Agar said, hanging back late at the shop one evening after a long day in the field. That’s when metal-shaped things not meant for the oilfield start to emerge from the back of Waydex Services shop in Grande Prairie industrial park; pieces like a crazy chair with arm and foot extensions, a coat rack with three sapling like shoots reaching tall, bent together at trunk and at top, or round-top gates with sail and scroll bent swirl shapes. Agar works mostly with steel, but sometimes copper too, and while the welding brings a piece together, it’s “not just welding, but bending, twisting, a lot of grinding,” she says. Sometimes teased by her workmates about what a piece is going to be before she gets time to finish it, Agar says she’s always been motivated to create, with most of her ideas derived from things she sees around her. A large drying rack, complete with snow-capped mountains, tree, snowflake and cabin shapes, is one of her larger, fun and functional creations, now in good use by fellow sledders. Another piece, a long-legged ostrich-like bird with coiled bands of plumage atop its head, falls into a category Agar calls, “not meant to do anything, but turned out pretty cool.” “I’ve always liked art, and grew up being very crafty,” says Agar, who moved from Keremeos, B.C. to the Peace region with a sister after high school. art of the peace
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Macro Photography BY CANDICE POPIK
Macro photography is the art of taking a picture of something extremely close up. You can use a regular point and shoot camera on its macro setting or your DSLR camera with a macro lens (which is made to shoot at 1:1 or greater meaning “life size”). There are also close-up extensions you can buy to put on the end of a regular lens that will allow you to focus at closer distances.
greater) then you will get more of the insect in focus. Make sure you use a tripod to help steady yourself, or use shutter speeds that are higher (1/100 +). This will compensate for camera shake caused by your hand. Camera shake is more obvious in macro photography. You may find you need to use manual-focus; autofocus may not focus on the part you want to be in focus!
Find natural light if possible, but if you have none, use external flashes and/or reflectors to bounce light around the object. An on-camera flash will not work; it will cause your subject to be overexposed and have harsh lens shadows. Macro photography gives a beautiful depth of focus so play with your aperture to get the effect you want. Remember though, the smaller your F-stop (2.8 for example) the smaller your depth of field. Let’s say you are taking a photo of an insect of some sort, you will have to decide which part of the insect you want in focus. If you use a higher F-Stop (5.6 or
Gordon Mackey
Acrylics and Graphite
780-568-3334 | cell 780-518-5071 | tcmuseum@gpnet.ca
People’s Expressions Nature’s Reflections Abstract Impressions
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Everything behind your subject will be blurred out (a term called bokeh). To keep the focus where you want it, ensure that your background doesn’t have things in it that will jump out and distract from the subject. And lastly, BE CREATIVE. Almost anything can become art close up so change your angles, change your light source, change colours. Anything can be beautiful or fascinating up close depending on how you compose it. Don’t limit yourself and always experiment!
Framework s
Cu stom Framing & Gallery
Custom Picture Framing - Local Art - Willow Works pottery - Ready-made frames - Pre-cut mats in various sizes and colours
and Things
- Handmade and uniq ue occasion cards
Studio/Gallery at Teepee Creek Open by arrangement
780-624-1984
9903 - 100 Avenue, Peace River, AB (the green building on the corner)
TREX
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
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. Three regional galleries and one arts organization coordinate the program for the AFA: Northwest Alberta: Art Gallery of Grande Prairie formerly known as The Prairie Art Gallery
Northeast and North Central Alberta: Art Gallery of Alberta Southwest Alberta: The Alberta Society of Artists Southeast Alberta: Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre Generously Supported By
encana
For the 2011/2012 Travelling Season the Prairie Art Gallery presents four new Exhibitions: Evy and Betty: Celebrating our Peace Region Matriarch's
Euphemia McNaught and Evelyn McBryan Euphemia McNaught watercolour on card n/d from the AFA collection
hole/Whole Kim Huynh
Serial Number 2 Chine-colle Lithograph on Paper, 2009
Liberation From Natural Forms Ron Kostyniuk
Road Map Series: Falling Icon Sprayed Enamel on MDF
Evolve
™
natural gas
Tina Martel
Photograph of reflection of resulting paper Smart Car from the Evolve Project during the Works Festival in Edmonton, 2010 Photograph on fabric
For a complete list of exhibitions visit www.prairiegallery.com
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
Paddling the Peace... a photographic journey along our river
May - August, 2012
Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre 780-624-4261 | 10302- 99 Street, Peace River, Alberta T8S 1K1 www.peacerivermuseum.com | museum@peaceriver.net
Dan Wourms Original Works by Local Artists
Ceramic, Oil & Acrylic
Lower Level,QEII Hospital 10409 98 Street Grande Prairie, AB
Available at Unique Gallery Faye Oszli
Exhibition opportunities available by contacting Carrie at 780-830-4855
780.518.6790 danwourms@gmail.com
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Suzanne Sandboe SEEING IS KNOWING BY MARGARET PRICE PHOTOS BY CANDICE POPIK
Behind her unrestrained veil of creativity, whether she’s working on an expansive, transparent watercolour mural of the local landscape for an area school, doing her own framing or churning out clay, kiln-fired pieces in her beautiful, 2,000 square foot “Canvas & Clay Art Studio” in the country, Suzanne Sandboe exudes qualities we associate less with leisurely, painterly artists and more with stock brokers and brain surgeons: ambitious, determined and always, always busy. “I need to have 48 hours in the day instead of 24 hours,” she jokes. “There aren’t enough hours to get everything done, but I always manage.” But going beyond that veil, there’s another part of the artist that finds its way into her work. Sandboe also works part time as controller for her husband’s Grande Prairie based company. A bookkeeper by trade, she employs the same skills necessary to succeed in her part-time profession as she does in pursuing her passion: detail oriented, analytical, methodical, with meticulous eyes always open and searching for something. “I think the artist sees things differently than most people do,” she says.
LEFT Bonebed
Born and raised in the Peace Country, Sandboe, who traces her ancestry to both Norway and Czechoslovakia, fondly recalls a childhood growing up on her parents’ farm, deeply in tune with nature and the surrounding landscape. The yearning to begin creating art began at a very art of the peace
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young age, and it came very naturally, as she was in lower grade school when she first realized that she could draw. Developing this talent over the years on her own, she began experimenting with different mediums and started painting with watercolours, enthralled by the immediacy of the medium. “I’ve always kind of wanted to try everything,’ she says. “I enjoy many different things so as a result I’ve kind of dipped my fingers in a lot of different pies and tried lots of different things over the years.” In high school, a mentor gave Sandboe a set of oil paints and all the supplies needed, so she moved into painting with oils, an artistic form she would adhere to for several years to come. While she enjoyed this medium, she felt a strong desire to return to painting with watercolours, a yearning to return to the start after having benefited from years of experience. “Any art should be progressing, your work should be improving and changing, and you learn new things as you go along and you experiment and try new things,” she says. “As I look back on my career as an artist, things are much different now than they were 25 years ago when I first starting painting. Your style grows and you become a much more solid, well-rounded, confident artist and you become a sort of master at your medium.” And once she found her way back, things just took off from there. She began selling her work through Unique Gallery in Grande Prairie in 1989, making a name for herself in the area. From 2002 to 2006, her work could be found at the Front Gallery in Edmonton. “When you’ve been around and doing art for as long as I have, people get to know you, and I’ve been very well supported by the Peace Country,” she says. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Sandboe is that she is primarily self-taught, citing love and passion as her impetus for creating. “I didn’t actually go to art school,” art of the peace
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she says. “I’ve taken some workshops over the years, but my primary learning is through experimentation and what I’ve gathered from workshops and what I’ve gathered from doing things on my own. I know a lot of artists have this sort of philosophical story behind all of their work, and I’m sort of not that way. I don’t have a lot of ‘art speak’ when it comes to explaining what I do, I just do what I do because I love doing it. I enjoy creating, painting and drawing, I just don’t know if there’s much philosophy behind it.” All modesty aside, Sandboe’s repertoire of workshops is actually quite impressive, including wheel throwing with Bibi Clements in 2000, pottery with Yasuo Tirada in 1999 and watercolours with Jim Adrain in 1990, the first watercolour workshop she ever took. To further her education, she participated in the Red Deer College Summer Series Art Program, where she gained additional instruction in watercolours and wheel throwing. In addition to being a student in several workshops, she has taught watercolour workshops in Grande Prairie, Beaverlodge and Sexsmith, and hopes to possibly begin teaching classes in her studio in the future. Her professional associations are extensive. She was accepted as a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists three years ago, joined the Alberta Society of Artists 12 years ago and joined the Peace Watercolour Society 27 years ago, where she has served on the executive board for over 18 years.
FAR LEFT
Ideal light filtering onto Suzanne`s old oak painting table
RIGHT
Saddle Hills Evening
Needless to say, Sandboe isn’t exactly a novice in the Peace Country art world of massive scenes of the Western Canadian landscape, gorgeous mountain vistas and serene images of forests and rivers. “It’s about painting the local community and the people and the things that happen here,” she says. “As I grew up, we did a lot of fishing and camping, and so I enjoy the mountains, rivers and nature. It’s kind of a common thread that runs through my work, the countryside, the landscape and the history of people.” Her ties to the local landscape can be best seen in a work she completed last year for the County of Grande Prairie’s Farm Family Award, entitled Four Up, Ace, King, Gypsy, Ginger –a striking, heartfelt work that belied her background as a young, headstrong farmer’s daughter. Another work derived from and reminiscent of her childhood is Saddle Hills Evening, a glowing, almost ethereal piece inspired by her time spent on her father’s and grandfather’s cattle grazing bush land up north in Saddle Hills. Soft beams of light stream through the forest, and a sense of nostalgia settles over the scene. “This piece is of the evening sun setting through the trees, and it’s just what it’s like up there, with all the poplars and aspen,” she says. “It’s beautiful, it’s very peaceful, and we spend a lot of time up there. Our family has always been very close but going back to the land has kept us close.” Angel Glacier Pond at Mt. Edith Cavell demonstrates Sandboe’s ability to convey emotion and a story in
LEFT
Suzanne with a selection of her watercolours
FAR RIGHT
Four Up, Ace, King, Gypsy, Ginger
a painting. Roughly 12 years ago, she and a group of artist friends set off on a trip to Jasper to record the landscape, with easels and paint in tow. “The mountains are very near to my heart,” she says. “It was really cold out and we spent the whole day up there. The atmosphere was incredible, full of mist and clouds.” But Sandboe, always the experimenter, wouldn’t be fulfilled just adhering to one subject matter. While she loves to paint landscape, she is particularly drawn to portraying historical items. Take, for instance, her work Outta Gas. While out taking a drive one day and looking for things to paint, Sandboe came across a group of old buildings that were most likely old country or hardware stores. Moved by the historical significance of the scene, she decided to record the moment. “I was driving along and spotted these amazing old buildings,” she says. “There was the shell of an old gas pump there, and it just struck me: they’re out of gas.” Despite the immediacy in her work, sometimes the process can take years in the making. Roughly 20 years ago, Sandboe traveled down to Pipestone Creek for a family reunion, where, unbeknownst to the artist, paleontologists would make a notable dinosaur fossil discovery. “I had gotten up really early one morning and gone down to the creek to do some sketching, about 6 a.m., and I remember it really well because it was kind of spooky and it was cool and damp, and no one was up at the campsite,” she says. “I went down there and spent the morning drawing and I walked away with several sketches in my sketchbooks.” Two sketches art of the peace
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from this trip eventually made their way into finished works, one, entitled Bonebed, which Sandboe had the honor of presenting to Dan Aykroyd and his wife at last year’s inaugural ball for the fundraiser for the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grande Prairie. The other painting, entitled Midnight Moon on Pipestone, was donated to the museum itself. Despite seeming like straightforward images of landscape, Sandboe’s talented hand draws the viewer in with striking visual elements and allows the viewer to see beyond the surface, becoming acquainted with and eventually knowing a deep, emotional realm. When beginning the creative process, Sandboe often begins with a sketch, taking photographs as a backup, although she states that she believes that what you see and then transfer, pencil to paper, is not necessarily what stands out in a photograph, preferring instead to have a quick sketch of what it was that grabbed her in the first place. “I grew up in the country, so I’m always looking for things to paint,” she says. “I’m always paying attention to the environment and what’s around me.” Whether she’s going out with the sole intention of finding an object to paint, or if she just happens upon something fascinating and worthy of being recorded on canvas, she continually exists with eyes open. “What I paint is what I see,” she says. “I don’t just sit down and make up something, I like to see it, feel it or experience it, and that’s kind of what I do. I’ve got my eyes open and when I see things, I become enthused and it makes me want to create and paint. It just comes to me naturally.” The spontaneity in Sandboe’s work is palpable, and while many artists might overwork a landscape, not quite knowing when to stop adding elements
to a work, she strikes a balance between composition and liveliness, her muted watercolours always convey a story, a feeling, an expression. Describing her style as “realistic yet painterly,” Sandboe’s broad artistic range allows her to be capable of doing a lot of different things, engendering a body of work that manages to stay fresh and interesting instead of becoming stale and stagnant. “In my work, I like there to be a lot of expression and I like to try and tell a story,” she says. “I want the viewer to get something out of the painting when he or she looks at it.” As far as future plans go, Sandboe, always the busy artist, has a few shows coming up, including a show for the Federation of Canadian Artists and a group exhibition with the Peace Watercolour Society, as well as a list of commission work to complete. She hopes to do a solo show soon, most likely with a historical focus. “I’d like to do something about our heritage, our roots, where we come from,” she says. My grandparents came from the old country and arrived in Canada, so I think it would be interesting to explore how they landed, where they went and how they lived.” For Sandboe, seeing is knowing, and knowing is essential to the creative process. “Someone once told me paint what you know and you’ll be a lot more successful at what you do,” she says. “And that’s exactly what I do.”
TOP
Outta Gas
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BOTTOM
Midnight Moon on Pipestone Creek
Suzanne Sandboe CANVAS AND CLAY ART STUDIO
BY DEB GUERRETTE
Photo by Candice Popik
Stepping across the driveway at her Buffalo Lakes area home to enter a bright, open, two-story studio makes going to work for Suzanne Sandboe as natural and comfortable as painting itself comes to her. “Kind of like a little house,” the studio is a wood-frame building, with 10-foot first floor ceilings, tall windows and many other built-in features. “The taller ceiling is great,” said Sandboe, standing in the gallery of her Canvas and Clay Art Studio. With canvases and murals that often span eight feet or more, “it provides a little head space… just to be able to display art, and it gives me the ability to do some bigger pieces.” The couple settled on their acreage in 1983, raising two boys, with Sandboe painting in the family’s kitchen throughout those years, she said, recalling, “art stuff under the beds,” and framing pictures in the basement. Finally in 2007, after considering different options, they started building the studio. A framer was hired to build the main structure, and other parts contracted, but they also did a lot of the work themselves, with the studio ready enough to occupy after two and a half years. At 1000 square feet, the main floor has an acid washed, varnished cement floor, with in-floor heating, and is primarily a large open gallery room. Separated by French doors, a kitchen area is complete with cupboards, sink, fridge, stove and working-island on wheels. “We tried to put in everything, to make it user friendly,” Sandboe said. While Sandboe says she “debated white” for the walls, she went with light beige to “bring a little life to the place.” The
surround-sound they included is user friendly too, as is the built-in vacuum on both floors, forced air heating for the second floor, and other well-planned features. Both florescent and track lighting are used, with Sandboe’s old oak painting table in a corner of the gallery area, angled to face the tall windows on the east and north sides of the gallery. Offering workshops is one of Sandboe’s plans for the studio and either the kitchen or gallery area can be used for that. A kiln, a small work area and some shelving for pottery is also set up in the kitchen area. The second floor is the framing studio. Furnished with antique couches and chairs it includes a bedroom and bathroom, making the studio a ready and comfortable guest house for visitors. “My art is my business. I will always, always, always paint. But who knows, down the road, it could be an in-law-suite, or bed and breakfast,” Sandboe said. The best part of the dedicated space she now enjoys, “is being able to work away at your project and then just go away from it, and it’s still there in the morning waiting for you to come back and work again.” The Canvas and Clay Art Studio was meant to be more than just convenient too, says Sandboe, who “loves,” the art studio cottage industry she’s seen on west coast islands that is “part of the culture there.” “That’s kind of the idea here,” she says of her studio, “a place for people to come to, a place to hang my art, a place to work from. I still show my work (other places) but this is kind of a one-stop shop. People can come in and see what I do, and buy art here if they want.” art of the peace
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The Quinns’ Essential Collection A GATHERING OF IDEAS BY SUSAN THOMPSON
When you visit Murray and Christine Quinn’s house, art is part of the landscape. In their front yard lies the shining hull of a boat entirely made of electrical cable. The piece is by their dear friend Peter von Tiesenhausen and the Quinns commissioned it, knowing it would be created particularly for their own front yard. Perhaps the boat could not exist anywhere else; von Tiesenhausen’s work is famously conscious of the land it inhabits. “It’s about the place, a sense of place, his place. To me, it’s really about a lifelong journey. On a cruder level, the shape of the boat is feminine. It’s all organic,” explains Murray Quinn. The piece also has one crucial similarity to everything else in the couple’s art collection. “That’s really what we’re looking for; that it’s got deeper levels of meaning.” The Quinns own what is probably the largest collection of von Tiesenhausen’s work. They donated a chunk of that collection to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, after being asked for an installation piece. The renowned collectors also pride themselves on their hospitality and ambassadorship for the city of Grande Prairie and its arts scene.
TOP
Icarus Peter von Tiesenhausen
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LEFT
Anna Parkina Chris Lipomi
RIGHT
Sleep or Chaos (Self Portrait) Harold Klunder
“I am defensive of Grande Prairie,” Quinn says. He and his wife visit cities around the world, and he has learned from experience that the criticisms made of Grande Prairie could be made of any city. Quinn is also quick to point out the strengths of the local art community. “The gallery under construction is world class,” he says adamantly. He was
the chair of the Prairie Art Gallery’s board for two years, so Quinn has seen the collapse of the gallery from the inside, as well as its resurrection. “I want people to say they have to go back to Grande Prairie,” Quinn says, and he means it. The Quinns not only welcome friends and family to their home; they often entertain visiting artists and have had college instructors bring classes to view their collection. Still, they feel it only fair to warn people that some of the art inside their home is not for children, and some can be off-putting or even offensive to adults. “There is graphic nudity in our collection,” states Murray Quinn. “There is art that deals blatantly with issues around death. It’s not a ‘pretty’ collection. It’s not purely aesthetically driven.” However, Quinn is also quick to defend the art he loves, which he says is not about intentionally shocking people. “The ones people might consider the most shocking I think are the most beautiful pieces we own,” he explains. “Shock value in art is a cop-out. There’s got to be a much broader conversation going on than just a punch in the face. I think that’s lazy art.” The idea is what’s important to the couple. “The idea, and of course visually it has to work,” qualifies Quinn. “Maybe not work in a pretty way, but it has to be powerful.” Interestingly, while Quinn is well-respected for his knowledge of contemporary art, he has no formal art education. Instead, he reads magazines and searches the internet daily. “I have a B.S. in Botany and I’m a landscaper. There are websites, blogs, and magazines if you’re interested. So there are lots of places to go. Twenty years ago you couldn’t do this, although the internet doesn’t replace seeing the artwork in the flesh or visiting an artist’s studio.” In fact, Quinn is very encouraging to the budding collector, recommending attending art openings and getting to know dealers, and looking for local art but not limiting collections only to local art. In art collecting, Quinn believes there is a price range for everybody. “We’re not mega rich
collectors. I’m a landscaper. My wife is a forester. We’re just regular working people.” However, he warns that a collector needs the right mindset. “If you start flipping artworks you’ll be dropped out of the loop. Dealers hate to see that. They want to see people collecting, building collections, and hopefully donating them later.” If a collector starts buying art by young painters and then selling them three years later for profit, that’s a red flag. The Quinns’ collection is proudly not built for profit. In fact, Murray Quinn scoffs at the idea of making money from collecting art. “If you want to make money collecting art, I am not exaggerating: you need to be a multimillionaire to do it.” However, to the Quinns, “It’s a great investment in every other way. We are so thrilled and so happy to live in a house filled with art.” In fact, the greatest riches the Quinns enjoy as a result of their collecting seem to be the friends they’ve made. “I love artists,” proclaims Quinn. “They’re such interesting people. They think differently.” The Quinns may be tireless advocates for Grande Prairie’s art scene, but they also make a minimum of two trips a year to cities such as Montreal and Toronto to buy art, meet with dealers, and visit artists’ studios. In fact, the couple were looking forward to just such a trip at the time of this writing. “It’s always exciting when you find that ‘new’ artist even if it’s someone who’s been working forever. It is an addiction and it seems over time it takes a little more to satisfy that addiction.” “Maybe there’s a compulsion in being a collector,” muses Quinn. “That excitement of buying an original piece of artwork – that’s as good as it gets. It makes us feel something. It challenges us.”
LEFT
Loner Roger Ballen
CENTRE
Felix, June 5, 1994 A.A. Bronson
RIGHT
Untitled #6 Jack Burman
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It’s not always easy for artists to find a space where they can create, yet such a space can be incredibly important. Often, having space to work makes the process of creation possible. An artist’s home or private studio can be one such space for creation, but it might also be too small or illequipped to work on larger or more complex projects. Even if it is the ideal space for an artist working alone, a home studio still doesn’t offer the pleasures of socializing or learning new skills from other artists. Artist-run spaces offer this, and if they include a gallery, can even circumvent the public and private systems for displaying art and provide an alternative venue totally controlled by the artists themselves. The Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club has been fortunate. The club obtained a large, well-equipped space in the Dave Shaw Memorial Complex and was able to move their meetings and group activities there in the early 1980’s. BY SUSAN THOMPSON The club’s portion of the complex includes a pottery area, a kiln in its own room, a sewing area, a weaving area, and although the club no longer has a major painting component, a painting area. For the cost of the membership fee all members are entitled to use the space, and the club also holds courses there.
it also means club members have somewhere to socialize, support each other, and learn from one another. That’s a major part of the attraction for Vass, who has been a part of the club since it began forty years ago. She points to Norma Kabanak, who was president of the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club for some 27 years, as her inspiration to stay with the club. Despite the fact that Kabanak is now 95 years young and living in Beaverlodge, the two remain in touch and continue to share a passion for arts and crafts. However, like many art clubs, the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club has seen a slight decline in membership and is struggling to find new, younger members. As a result, the club hasn’t had as many courses in recent years. Vass blames the pressures of jobs and children and the modern world for keeping younger members away. However, without an influx of new members, this longtime club will not be able to pass on its knowledge and skills to a new generation. Quilting, weaving and sewing are all heritage skills, a link to the past and a way to create in the present. When so many art clubs are desperate to find a space of their own, it’s also important to see the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club’s space continues to be used for years to come by enthusiastic new crafters.
assemblage
HINES CREEK ARTS AND CRAFTS CLUB
As for what it’s like to have such a big facility, long time member Lorena Vass told me, “It’s wonderful! As a weaver, not everyone has space in their own home for a floor loom. The quilters love it too because they have two big special tables where they can lay out their fabric.”
The Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club meets every Wednesday from 1-4 pm, and new members are always welcome. For more information, you can also call Loreen Vass at 780494-3841 or current president Pat Rossler at 780-494-2334.
The club’s communal space not only means that there is somewhere for club members to complete large projects;
Gift Shop
780-835-2697
watercolours, local pottery, knitwear, Calvin Cornish prints, dichroic glass, jewellery, quilted and hand woven items
www.fairviewfinearts.com
Sandboe Suzanne 22
• pottery/glazing ng • oil & acrylic painti • watercolour • paper arts • quilting ics • batik & encaust gy alo ne ge • • wool felting • portraiture urses • childrens art co
Monthly Gallery Exhibits AFCA, ASA, PWS
780-568-4124 | art@suzannesandboe.com | www.suzannesandboe.com
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Spring Course
• First Impressions by Gene Schulz - April • Artists North Show & Sale - June • Members Summer Show - July • Artists at School/Creations, Inc - May • Connie Larsback & Friends - August • Creations, Inc - May 31 at 7pm
Eileen Coristine 780-494-3410 ecoristine@hotmail.com
art books in review BY WENDY STEFANSSON
COVER AND UNCOVER: Eric Cameron
Cover and Uncover takes us on a journey through the long career, layered thought processes and sublimated passions of Calgary-based artist Eric Cameron; from his early “Process Paintings,” through a brief stint in video experimentation, to his mature works — his Thick Paintings (to be continued). These latter works, begun in 1979 and continuing to the present and beyond, are perhaps less paintings than sculptures made of paint. Over a period of more than 30 years, Cameron has painted literally thousands of thin layers of white and grey gesso around small artifacts of his day-today lived experience — a book of matches, an alarm clock, an apple, an egg, and a cup and saucer (amongst many others). Inside his paint he has literally contained fire, entombed time, concealed the forbidden fruit, preserved potential life, and obscured daily intimacies. Like a pearl being formed, each object is repeatedly, ritually, almost obsessively coated with a nacre of gesso; until it is not only unrecognizable, but is strangely, organically beautiful. Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists & the Peace Watercolor Society PWS
780-228-3741
Peace Country themes and wilderness vistas Unique Gallery Grande Prairie
Cultural Centre Beaverlodge
Picture Perfect Grande Prairie
Cameron’s Thick Paintings (to be continued) represent a life lived. They are a sort of book of days, counting the days of his life in coats of paint; in his own words “‘a reconciliation with the inevitabilities....’” With essays by art theorists Peggy Gale, Ann Davis, Diana Nemiroff and Thierry de Duve, Cover and Uncover is a thoughtful, complex, and engaging book about a thoughtful, complex, and engaging artist.
For other information and images see www.beaverlodgegallery.com art of the peace
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Following The Light
THREE FLORAL PHOTOGRAPHERS BY SUSAN THOMPSON
Gertrude Stein famously said “A rose is a rose is a rose”. Yet throughout human history flowers have been used not only to beautify our homes and lives, but as symbols and metaphors for everything from romance to femininity to the cycle of human existence itself. These three floral photographers all emphasize the learning curve they followed to become better able to capture their own visions of the world with a camera. Just like the flowers they photograph, they are constantly seeking the light,
KLAUS PETERS
Klaus Peters first got into photography in 1993, taking photos for his wife Rika Peters, a painter. She needed something to use as subjects for her paintings, but Klaus found that he enjoyed taking the pictures for himself as well as for his wife. “From there it developed,” he explains, pun perhaps intended. “I started out with beauty. I see a scene, and say oh, that’s a picture, that’s something I want to capture.” In 2003 Peters went digital, and his photography took off. “I think that the price of a photo in those days was about one dollar a photo. Now I was taking pictures left, right and centre and it didn’t cost me a thing. It freed me up to learn. I could take ten pictures instead of two pictures, and that learning curve really helped me.” However, Peters still credits his wife’s artistic eye for helping him learn to compose a photo. “I was a carpenter by trade and everything had to be straight and level. I had to relearn what crooked meant. She taught me a lot about composition.” “Flowers are my passion, and then comes birds. With the flowers, I go into macro, and then you can learn to take pictures that are out of focus, instead of the carpenter’s way.” Peters now spends each winter taking photos of flowers, such as a recent photo shoot of daffodils. “In the wintertime it’s an indoor sport.” However, he doesn’t limit himself only to flowers, making sure to capture images of everything from the birds at the feeder outside his window to the nesting blue herons he hopes to see this spring. Peters’ work is regularly displayed at Picture Perfect in Grande Prairie, and most recently a dozen of his photos were also displayed at the Ovations Theatre.
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LEFT Tulip Petals - Klaus Peters CENTRE Wild Roses After Rain - Sharon Krushel RIGHT Untitled - Kim Scott
SHARON KRUSHEL
Sharon Krushel is a floral photographer who, like Peters, began photography almost accidentally. Her first nature photography was for the purpose of Powerpoint backgrounds. She found that song lyrics were more visible on dark backgrounds, and started looking for images with a dark background but a few flowers catching sunlight. The images came to symbolize something for Krushel, a meaning she continues to pursue in her photography. “There are certain images I find speak to me. I’m looking for images of hope, grace, survival, and perseverance.” “Sometimes we get feeling trapped in a work situation or other environment where we feel that the artist in us is being paved over. I remember heading for the hills feeling extremely weighed down and depressed on a very dreary day in late May, when I came upon a tiny wild violet barely visible under a dump of snow. It was at the topmost point of my hike, and I had not brought my camera. So I walked down through the snow, the slush, and the mud to get my Nikon, and I don’t even know how long I was on my belly on the ground photographing this little Johnny Jump Up smiling bravely at me from under that heavy, wet blanket. I went back the next day with my camera, and there it was open to the light, with only one drop of melted snow remaining on one petal.” For Krushel, it was a profound message, a sign in flower form. “I seem to see life in pictures, but I so often couldn’t capture what I saw. A lot of times it would be specific lighting, but the photograph would turn out differently,” she explains. Krushel now feels that her work has progressed to the point where she can capture the way she sees things, showing tiny pieces of light in the darkness.
KIM SCOTT
Kim Scott was recently invited by the Prairie Art Gallery to show the photos she has taken of the gallery restoration during the last six months. This exhibit will be her first public show since she left school. Scott studied photography after high school, and also took architectural photography for three years at university but eventually put photography on hold for two decades. During that hiatus, Scott noticed her vision deteriorating. “Due to my perseverance in finding a doctor who took me seriously the brain tumor pushing against my optic nerve was removed. I noticed when it came back a second time, and had more surgery plus radiation. The radiation left me with some memory and attention troubles, but luckily, most of my vision came back.” This very literal change in Scott’s vision still affects her and her photographic works. “Every day I am consciously aware of and thankful for my vision. I regained nearly normal eyesight after both surgeries. Because of the remaining double vision, I do need to turn my body more than my head to look left or right. And, I read with one eye closed, just like I take pictures. One eye is for close, the other for far away. Each eye sees colors a bit differently, so I have a choice.” “It is so thrilling to learn different ways to photograph and process, and my favorite has been macro flowers. Macro photography shows us hidden landscapes, sometimes populated with their own now visible creatures.” Scott adds that flowers celebrate life, something she has also learned to do since her surgeries. Scott also finds that she has not only become fascinated with floral subjects, but the very light that illuminates them. “Light hides and light reveals. It is the glow of backlight, the texture of sidelight, and the strike of front light, the last of the light and the first, especially when I am up all night. Sunshine shows textures, shadows, and drama, while cloudy days reveal shape and form,” she says. “I follow the light.” art of the peace
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Come with us!
McNaught Homestead Heritage 100 years since the McNaughts' came to the Homestead
Friday July 20th
Wine & Cheese Reception
Special Exhibit of Artwork by Euphemia and Family
Night Fog and Old Birch Trees Shaded pencil drawing 14" x 11" Spring 1986
Robert Guest Call the Prairie Art Gallery for information 780-532-8111
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Saturday July 21st
Beef-on-a-bun Dinner & Barn Dance
Sunday July 22nd
Annual McNaught Festival & I.O.D.E. Strawberry Tea Live music, art demos, exhibits & children's activities
www.mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com
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Vicki Hotte
101 - 816 Alaska Ave, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4T6
Tel: (250) 782-2601 www.dcartgallery.ca
BFA
Original Art from the Peace Region Available at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre
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> Canvas, Fine Art & Photo Paper > Giclee Quality Prints Printing from $7/sq.ft. (scanning and colour correction are extra)
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30
th
Anniversary!
Mar 19th & 20th - Montrose Cultural Centre Apr 29th - St. Marie School in Spirit River 10-5pm Jun - Fairview Fine Arts Centre Nov 3rd & 4th - Montrose Cultural Centre Hosting our 30th year Anniversary Sale!
We are now accepting applications for new members! Please contact us at 780-518-5071 artistsnorth@live.ca or visit us on Facebook
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Art of the Peace EXHIBITS & EVENTS Art of the Peace Travelling Show Peace River Municipal Library and Cultural Centre May 1st – 31st Grande Cache Tourism Centre July 18th – August 9th Art of the Peace Dream Home Exhibit 2012 Dream Home at 10632 158 Ave, Westlake Village May 11th – June 29th May 16th Wine and Cheese Art Appreciation Night. All Art of the Peace members and guests are welcome.
OPPORTUNITIES Coming in 2014 Juried exhibition at The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in spring 2014 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the city of Grande Prairie. Watch for details at www. artofthepeace.ca
PROGRAMS Hot Glass - Slumping with Wendy Olson-Lepchuk April 21st, 1 – 3pm and April 22nd, 6 – 7pm Cost: $50/student 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 100th Anniversary July 20th – 22nd OPPORTUNITIES The Schoolhouse Studio is available for retreats, classroom, gallery or meetings. For info call 780-512-6316 or visit McNaughtHomestead-Heritage.com
Exhibitions+ Opportunities CHECK OUT WWW.ARTOFTHEPEACE.CA FOR MORE DETAILS, LOCATIONS AND HOURS
Beaverlodge, AB BEAVERLODGE CULTURAL CENTRE EXHIBITS & EVENTS 19th Annual Quilt Show & Sale April 1st – 26th
Dawson Creek, BC DAWSON CREEK ART GALLERY EXHIBITS & EVENTS Exploring Art March 26th – April 21st
Toni Schuler Show & Sale April 29th – May 24th
Mixed Media from School District 59 April 23rd – May 12th
Beaverlodge Regional High School Art Students Exhibit May 27th – June 14th
Peace Liard Juried Art Show May 14th – June 10th
BACS 2nd Bi-Annual Juried Show June 24th – July 26th Carrie Klukas Show & Sale July 29th – August 23rd Beaverlodge Art Society Miniature Show August 26th – September 20th Vivian Farnsworth Show & Sale September 23rd – October 25th Carol Mayer, Tanya Proctor, Merv Webber, Laurie Wedler Show & Sale October 28th – November 22nd Eileen Coristine & Melanie Hellum Show & Sale November 25th – December 20th
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In The Summertime June 11th – August 19th Cailey Oldershaw August 20th – September 15th Piecemakers Quilt Exhibit September 17th – October 13th Peace Watercolour Society October 15th – November 10th PROGRAMS Intermediate Digital Photography May 2nd, 9th & 16th, 6 – 8pm Cost: $165/student Traditional Rug Braiding for Adults April 28th & 29th, 10am – 4pm Cost: $50/student
OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities for exhibition. More info at DCArtGallery.ca
Fairview, AB FAIRVIEW FINE ARTS CENTRE EXHIBITS & EVENTS First Impressions Gene Schulz April Artists at School/Creations Inc May Artists North Show & Sale June Members Annual Summer Show July Connie Larsback & Friends August PROGRAMS Phone the Centre at 780-8352697, email finearts@telus.net or visit FairviewFinearts.com
Fort St. John, BC FORT ST. JOHN COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL EXHIBITS & EVENTS Art In The Park Centennial Park July 1st
NORTH PEACE CULTURAL CENTRE EXHIBITS & EVENTS Annual Art Auction April 28th Elizabeth Harris April 5th – May 3rd Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists May 4th – 31st PROGRAMS Adult Guide To Digital Photography Mondays, 7 – 9pm April 23rd – May 28th Cost: $75/student
Grande Cache, AB GRANDE CACHE TOURISM & INTERPRETIVE CENTRE EXHIBITS & EVENTS Exhibiting the Palette Pals Art Club and local art year round. Check out GrandeCache.ca for more info. Art of the Peace Travelling Show July 18th – August 9th
Grande Prairie, AB CENTRE FOR CREATIVE ARTS EXHIBITS & EVENTS CENTRE GALLERY Northern Showcase ACACA Northern Zone Show May 4th – 25th GP Photography Club June 1st – 29th Yellow CFCA Juried Show July 6th – 27th Remembering Buildings & Places Leona Cochrane August 3rd – 31st My Diverse Diversion Whitney Lee Hayes September 7th – 28th Fourth Dimension Mary Mottishaw, Mary Parslow, Shauna Hoffos & Carrie Klukas October 5th – 26th Peace Harmonies: Squared Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists November 2nd – 23rd WALL GALLERY Exchanging Limbs Candace Gunsolley May 4th – 25th Welcoming Bliss Melanie Jenner June 1st – 29th Chris Dehaus July 6th – 27th Lesley Duggan August 3rd – 31st Boreal High: Class of 2012 Joselyn Aldred & Cortney Warr September 7th – 28th South of the Border Joan Doll October 5th – 26th Churches of Beaverlodge & Area Christy Teasedale November 2nd – 23rd PROGRAMS The Centre has classes for everyone! Check out our website, CreativeCentre.ca or call 780814-6080. OPPORTUNITIES We are currently looking for instructors to teach a variety of classes.
GRANDE PRAIRIE MUSEUM EXHIBITS & EVENTS 100th Anniversary of the Alberta Federation of Labour Rodacker/Campbell Gallery
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 about any of our programs.
ART GALLERY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE
(formerly The Prairie Art Gallery) EXHIBITS & EVENTS Art Insight Tours Free one hour tour of a behindthe-scenes look into the gallery’s mission to preserve, inspire and explore. To book a tour time call 780-357-7486.
Journey 2012 Jim Stokes & Carmen Haakstad May 11th – July 15th Winter on the Wapiti Robert Guest May 11th – Fall 2012
QEII HOSPITAL, THE COURTYARD GALLERY EXHIBITS & EVENTS GALLERY Faye Oszli March & April Rev. John Konu May & June TREX Travelling Exhibition July & August Janet Enfield September & October SHOWCASES Candace Gunsolley April - June OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS Festival of Trees Art Market is looking for any artists or artisans that wish to take part in this years festival in mid November. Please call Carrie Klukas at 780830-4855.
UNIQUE GALLERY
High Prairie AB HIGH PRAIRIE & DISTRICT MUSEUM OPPORTUNITIES If you are interested in showing your work at the High Prairie & District Musuem please call 780523-2601.
Manning, AB MANNING ART COMMITTEE EXHIBITS & EVENTS Manning Street Festival Anything That Goes Art Walk May 26th
Peace River, AB Matta Fest Dunvegan Provincial Park May 6th For more information, call Christina at 780-765-2141.
PEACE RIVER MUNICIPAL LIBRARY AND CULTURAL CENTRE
See The Works The 27th Annual The Works Art & Design Festival, a 13 day celebration of art and design in Downtown Edmonton will take place for the 27th year June 21 – July 3, 2012. The Festival will have a core of themed exhibits on collaboration including a feature exhibit from Indigeneity a Calgary based Aboriginal Artist collective. The Works Canadian Aboriginal Artist Program, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts since 2009, features contemporary Aboriginal artists addressing big picture issues that face Canadian Aboriginal people. This program is presented LIVE on the Festival’s main site, Sir Winston Churchill Square and will see over 160,000 visitors. Members of Indigeneity will participate in demonstrations, lectures and informal discussions, which are all open to the public free of charge. Indigeneity, supports radical artwork and thinking towards contemporary indigenous art through diverse disciplines and is dedicated to the support of contemporary First Nations and indigenous art and new media.
EXHIBITS & EVENTS Nikki Gour Solo Exhibition April 3rd – 28th Art of the Peace Travelling Show May 1st – 31st Ron Kostyniuk Liberation From Natural Form June
2D or not 2D.
The Peace River July OPPORTUNITIES If you are interested in showing your work at the Peace River Municipal Library and Cultural Centre please call 780-624-4076. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS The Peace River July For exhibition opportunities email lprudholme@prmlibrary.ab.ca
PEACE RIVER MUSEUM
ArtÊandÊdesignÊcomeÊaliveÊinÊdowntownÊEdmonton.
EXHIBITS & EVENTS Artists of the Peace Art wall rotates on a monthly basis.
OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities for exhibitions. Call Dan at 780-538-2790.
TheÊWorksÊArtÊ&ÊDesignÊFestivalÊÊÊÊJuneÊ21Ê-ÊJulyÊ3,Ê2012ÊÊÊtheworks.ab.ca
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Grant Berg I have a deep connection with the art of Lawren Harris and Emily Carr and their Canadian landscapes of trees, mountains and skies. I love to challenge myself by carving the intangibles, things often painted but never sculpted like the Northern Lights, storms or a night sky. Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” I couldn’t agree more. I place a stone on a rotating stand and start turning it and repositioning it until I see the statue inside. This stage is the most exciting, as the sculpture takes its future shape. It takes a lot of feeling, interpreting the flow, art of the peace
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direction and character of the stone and seeing how the lines of one side influence and complement the others. The last stage, refining and polishing, might take up to 77 per cent of the time in the overall process. It’s that time and effort that ultimately make the piece glow with presence and gives it it’s breath. I am always aware that I need to capture light and create shadows so that the piece has a captivating presence. It’s like creating visual poetry.
fine arts conservatory be amazing...
• We offer lessons in piano, voice, guitar, drums, percussion, violin, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, cello, french horn and baritone • Quality instruction by qualified instructors • Welcoming students of all ages and levels of ability • Comfortable studios and facilities • Rates for instruction vary from $15 - $50 per 1/2 hour lesson
be inspired...
By our qualified instructors
Cello
Music for Young Children
Trumpet, Beginner Brass
Katarzyna Szczeniak Masters of Music
Jeannette Borstad MEd., BEd, BMus, MYC Level 1
Rod Vanstone BEd.
Drums
Percussion
Violin
Travis Fowler Music Diploma
Geoff Whittall BMus (Hon), MMus
Euphonium, Tuba, French Horn, Baritone
Piano
Brooklyn Biegel Gr. 9 RCM Sarah Card
Fay Bredeson BMus
Gwendolyn Bartek Gr. 10 RCM, MEd, BA Carmen Bartel LTCL, BMus Alison Dalgleish Gr. 8 RCM Carmen Gorgichuk LMus, BMus, MMus Kathryn Seppala ARCT Jeremy Thielmann Performers ARCT Stephanie Webster BMus
Guitar
Photography
Sarah Biedermann Travis Fowler Music Diploma Sophia Gould Music Diploma Chris McIntyre BMus
Doug Duplessis BA, BEd.
Lawrence Dommer BMus., BEd.
Flute, Saxophone, Clarinet Robert Howey BMus, MMus, DMus
GPRC Oriana Girls Choir
Voice Stacy Berg BFA in Drama, RCM Theory 2, RCM Gr. 8 Voice Fay Bredeson BMus Travis Fowler Music Diploma Mary Ann Lynch Diploma Music, RCM Gr. 9 John Murray BMus (Hon), MMus Ellyn Otterson BMus Katherine Skretting BA, Diploma Stephanie Webster BMus
Photoshop, Illustrator Doug Wills BFA, PCMT
To Register for any of our Programs:
Fine Arts
Visit, Phone, Fax or Email: GPRC Fine Arts Conservatory Room L212 10726-106 Avenue Grande Prairie, AB T8V 4C4
Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 12pm & 1pm - 3pm (Ph.) 780-539-2444 (Fax) 780-539-2446 fbredeson@gprc.ab.ca
2012 C AR MEN H A A K STA D & JIM STOKES
a c ol le c t io n o f wo r k s
May 11 th to July 15 th, 2012 | Opening Reception: May 11 th at 7pm | Journey2012.ca
Formerly The Prairie Art Gallery #103, 9839 – 103 Avenue, Grande Prairie, Alberta T8V 6M7 | Phone: 780-532-8111 | www.prairiegallery.com