The annual Friends of the Gallery (FOG) unjuried show at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt is always full of surprises. Each artist may submit only one work. This year 75 artists submitted, and since this is an active, artistic Coast, many exhibited very recent work.
Here are some gems: Helen Broadfoot's oil painting Tea and Oranges, for example, revealed her continued evolution as an artist. Monica Robb also showed her progress with a watercolour of the Gibsons Landing harbour building. The rough-hewn log structure pops out of the picture in sharp relief and even the lone figure is rendered chunkily to match the overall look of the building.
Mudito Drope's portrait entitled It's All About Teachers is instantly recognizable as the face of Roberts Creek artist Maurice Spira. He is also showing a characteristic satirical work. In Spira's picture, a hefty half-man, half-meatgrinder sports a Canadian tie and is surrounded by the flags of many nations. Who is being ground to a pulp in the meat grinder? The little people.
R.B. Wainwright always pushes boundaries. His panel is about two metres tall and entitled Tennessee Tornado. The dim outlines of houses swirl in a grey background, and if you look closely, another figure can be seen in the cloud.
Susanne Biden's sculptural piece is titled West Coast Fecundity, and her stained earthenware represents a natural form that sparks the imagination. It could be a fleshy flower opening or some kind of sea creature waving tentacles. Anneke Pearse's fibre artwork features a benign crow on the watch within a hand-pieced border.
Tam Harrington's Reliquary, a sculptural piece that includes a silver hand within a metal box, attracted attention. Harrington graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design with a BFA and a love for assemblage. Also, she descends from a bloodline of Stelco steel workers. Her collected shiny metal discards are incorporated into an original artwork that fascinates. Definitely an artist to watch, Harrington was one of the so-called "Rare Birds," a group of women metalworkers who showed at Vancouver's Pendulum Gallery last June. Another artist of great originality is Francine Desjardins who showed her L'Arbre de François. A tree of life in the centre of this mixed media piece seems to grow out of a digital matrix base. Shades of Avatar?
Trees proved to be a common theme throughout the show from June Malaka's acrylic of the forest floor to Donna Swain's Awakening Light, a collage and mixed media piece in the Group of Seven style. Marguerite Kotwitz uses the tree image in her porcelain clay work, Mother Oak. Kevin McEvoy's photograph Santa Barbara Palm zooms in to the very fibres of the tropical tree, while Katherine Johnston's Snickett Park reminds us we don't have to go far from home to enjoy the foliage.
The FOG show continues until Jan. 31. The Doris Crowston Gallery (Arts Centre) is at 5714 Medusa and is usually open Wednesday to Sunday. Best to phone first, 604-885-5412, and check hours, as the gallery is staffed entirely by volunteers.
