Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful week and were able to stay somewhat dry during the heavy rain we’ve had over the last few days and weeks. Based on Environment Canada stats for Oct. 16, the area received 72.5 mm of rain and the day before, 40.6 mm of precipitation was recorded. That is a whopping 113.1 mm in just two days while in 2020, 94.4 mm was recorded for the entire month of October!
The 2021 Sunshine Coast Art Crawl begins Friday, Oct. 22 and runs through to Sunday, Oct. 24. Based on information found on the Art Crawl website, there are 38 Halfmoon Bay artists listed with 16 of those at venues that can be visited in person. There are many disciplines to choose from with some amazing creativity and talent. Here are two that I found quite interesting and hope to visit over the weekend.
Gigi Hoeller Art Gallery, located at 8000 Birch Way, has on display some incredible works of art. Gigi moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2007 and shortly thereafter converted her garage into an art gallery. Gigi said, “I’ve known since I was four years old that I was meant to be an artist and was always very creative; however, when living in an isolated community on Vancouver Island prior to moving to the Sunshine Coast, I couldn’t get my hands on any paints.” Gigi began with oil pastels in the sixth grade and evolved into what she creates now, which is all fingerprinted with oil pastels.
Her creativity is always evolving, sometimes filling in the painting gaps by creating little collages and more recently art dolls out of recycled materials. “Painting is always a constant, being inspired by our beautiful natural surroundings and whatever chooses to show itself from my heart and soul. Art is a way to connect, process, grow, and release whatever is coming up inside of me... It is a way of journeying through life.” Gigi loves the Art Crawl and is very grateful for the hard work put on by Linda Williams and her amazing team of volunteers. Visit her website at gigibutterfly.com to learn more about her and view her creations. Art Crawl #144, Purple Banner #40.
Another unique artist in Halfmoon Bay is Elly Van Alfen, Art Crawl #139. This is Elly’s first time participating in the Art Crawl and she is excited to show her creations. Elly began her fibre craft journey very early when her grandmother showed her how to sew, knit and crochet, and quilting became a passion more than 30 years ago. Elly does traditional quilting but has found that the modern technique is what she most enjoys. Traditional quilting relies on a grid of regularly repeating designs, symmetry, sashing, borders, often complicated patchwork, and simple quilting. In contrast, modern quilts go off the grid and use asymmetry, minimalist designs, and a more improvisational style with unusual arrangements of blocks and settings. Elly says, “Lately I am more drawn to working with solid colours, appliqué, machine quilting as well as hand quilting. Living on the Sunshine Coast inspires me to work with natural colours.” Her quilts and wall hangings are a labour of love and are simply amazing!
There are six venues in the Eureka area of Halfmoon Bay, Elly’s being one of them, so hopefully the artists will see many visitors who will most definitely have variety of incredible art to enjoy. For more Art Crawl details, venue maps and disciplines, go to suncoastarts.com/art-crawl. Happy “art crawling” everyone!
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Be safe, be gentle, and always be kind.
