Four painters offer four points of view at a special studio showing of work July 4 and 5. Artists Ginny Vail, Jen Drysdale and Odette Venuti have teamed up with Christy Sverre at her home studio overlooking the water in Gibsons to present a prolific array of colour and style for show and sale this weekend.
All are full-time artists with art school background and all are striving to move forward with their work. Vail’s background is in design, and when she retired from managing her store, The Swallow’s Nest, nearly two years ago, she wanted to spend more time in the studio.
“I tried not to design, just started painting,” she said. “Odette told me, ‘enough with the mixed media.’ I stopped sticking stuff down and spent the last six months painting. It’s challenging.”
Venuti said she tries not to think as she paints but to allow her subconscious to emerge. “I act/react,” she said. The result is soft, colourful dreamscapes. Drysdale is also moving away from her former more representational work – her trademark plaid-shirted men in the forest – to be “freer and more expressive.” Sverre likes colour and energy. Her paintings are almost a crossover, semi-abstract, in which an object is visible, though hazy.
The four meet regularly to critique their work and enjoy the small group atmosphere.
“Together, it gives more interest to a show,” Vail said. “We have different styles and talent. We have expertise in different areas.”
“We respect each other’s work,” Venuti added.
The four painters invite the public to view on July 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Look for Sverre’s studio sign at 612 Marine Dr. in Gibsons. In addition to their show pieces they will have some smaller work available and will have a prize draw for art cards both days. More about the individual artists can be found at: www.fourpointsofview.com
The women are not the only ones holding a show that weekend. But no one is being competitive about the other group of five who will hold an art show at the same time.
“It seems that artists are working together more,” said Gibsons visual artist Nadina Tandy. “They’re not just doing solo shows, but getting together and giving critique to other artists.” In this spirit Tandy will join with four others to host a pop-up art show in Wilson Creek for two days only, July 4 and 5. She views it as a chance to show her previous work that is in her own private collection and that clamours for new viewers.
The space that was used by five local artists recently for a previous show was still available – a vast warehouse with lighting and infrastructure for hanging paintings. Two of the artists from the former warehouse show, Kasia Krolikowska and Lore Schmidts, were eager to continue.
“Let’s do a no-rules painting party there,” suggested one of the artists.
Tandy responded and several artists met to work on a collaborative piece that will hang in the show. “The painting is ground zero of where this idea began,” Tandy said.
The idea to hold a pop-up art show grew quickly and soon word spread to Ian MacLeod, an abstract artist from Halfmoon Bay, who saw it as an opportunity to show new work.
“We’re all pretty excited,” he said. “I respect what the other artists do.”
Roberts Creek artist Gordon Halloran, stopping by to see the space, saw its potential as well, and he will show sculptural pieces that reprise his ice art of previous years.
Visitors are invited to see both shows: Four Points of View and the Pop-Up Art Show – it’s not a competition. “We’re all friends,” MacLeod said.
In addition to the art for sale, Tandy will have some prints available and MacLeod will have art cards. He will be on site to talk with the public on Saturday only as he’s also celebrating his 45-year wedding anniversary that weekend. For a bonus on Saturday, there will be a musical guest. Calm as a Bomb is a duo who perform their energetic mix of original songs covering love, small towns, love, advice and love.
You can meet the five artists from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days at The Warehouse, 1877 Field Rd. in Wilson Creek.
