Artist Vivian Chamberlin of Gibsons couldn't imagine a life without painting.
She's 86 - she doesn't mind you knowing her age - and she's still learning and growing in her art. Though the eyes are not working as well as they once did because of age-related macular degeneration, Chamberlin still notices her surrounding with the vision of one who loves the town she has lived in for 46 years - 44 of those in Hopkin's Landing.
It's still a small town," she said. "Still friendly."
In her walks around a Gibsons' neighbourhood recently, she noticed a number of wonderful character homes: one house looks like it was once a church except for a residential addition, and another house has complicated architecture, making it tricky to paint. A view of Hopkin's from the water captures the essentially vertical nature of the area and another Hopkin's home sports touches of red and blue.
At first, Chamberlin would pause, sit on her walker and take photos of the houses or sometimes sketch them on the spot.
In her studio she began a series of paintings that will be on show at The Gibsons Landing Gallery opening this week. It's a small show, more like a special feature in the tiny gallery's centre space. The Landing Gallery, which has been in operation for 10 years now on Marine Drive, is organized as an artists' co-operative and showcases the work of about 20 participating artists.
As a primarily landscape artist, Chamberlin employs a technique developed over the years that starts with an earth colour as her ground. She sketches over it in yellow to suggest light, then uses natural colours to finish her painting. It gives the paintings a sunshine luminosity that is attractive.
There are four paintings in Chamberlin's character home series in acrylic, plus one other in watercolour - not her usual medium, but it was done this summer while studying at the Gibsons School of the Arts. Chamberlin was very involved with the set up and operation of the school, and she still likes to attend its classes. She was also involved with the building of the Coast's Arts Centre approximately 30 years ago and was president of the SC Arts Council for its first two years. In addition, she has painted four murals to back the displays at the Elphinstone Pioneer Museum (now SC Museum and Archives.) She also recalls her time when she worked as a volunteer at the Hunter Gallery in Gibsons, an artist-run store, which operated into the late '80s.
"We never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings there, so we accepted all the work that came in," she remembers.
These days The Landing Gallery is more rigorous in jurying all of its art. But there are no worries about Chamberlin going rusty; she paints all the time and keeps up her active membership in the Federation of Canadian Artists.
The Character Homes show continues until Oct. 26. Phone 604-886-0099 for hours of opening at the Gibsons Landing Gallery.
