If you've ever studied a painting of fruit in a bowl or flowers in a vase and wondered why the artist even bothered, then the next show at Gibsons' Westwind Gallery opening on May 15 could be for you.
Ten artists were given the challenge that became the title of the show, What is Still Life? Almost all of them were landscape or abstract painters and had never tried a still life before. Many famous artists have tackled the subject: consider Cezanne's renderings of fruit or Van Gogh's sunflowers. What could Coast artists bring to the table?
The results are dynamic. They range from the classic poses as in Kiff Holland's depiction of orange segments abandoned on a plate - a meal interrupted, perhaps - to the exploration of mundane objects like Cindy Riach's colourful lawnmower.
Perhaps lawnmowers were not what the French had in mind when they used the phrase nature morte to describe still life painting (loosely translated as dead nature), yet the squat ugly machine is a familiar sight in our gardens and has a certain earthy charm.
Several examples of work going on display this Saturday are stunning: Kim LaFave has depicted a macro vase of giant dahlias that burst with eye-popping splendour. In Love My Lemons, Greta Guzek takes the classic theme of fruit in a bowl and presents brilliantly luminous lemons in a contemporary patterned dish.
"It's exciting and it's out of her comfort zone," said Westwind's Morley Baker who is delighted with the response to his challenge.
Judy Heyer's flowers in a vase are bathed in extraordinary light, revealing her talent with the medium. It is as if the viewer has opened a window onto a summer morning. Lenore Conacher's traditional painting shows bottles and vases in her trademark jewelled tones of amethyst and teal.
Artist Elizabeth Evans is new to the Coast and the Westwind Gallery, but not to painting. She studied under the fabled Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer in the '60s and progressed into her own brand of landscape painting using a style akin to pointillism - the technique of placing little dots of colour on the canvas. In this case she uses not points, but little bricks of colour, to render the classic landscapes in a new way. She has dubbed her style brickilism.
For the Still Life show, Evans has observed another common garden item, the watering can, and she depicts the army of colourful cans at the ready, spouts turned in one direction, as if poised for action and ready to follow the small can in the vanguard. The arrangement illustrates an experienced eye for composition and design.
Landscape is a random order of nature, explains Baker, but a still life asks the artist to rearrange nature in pleasing ways.
Gloria Masse often paints animals, but she tackles this rearrangement of still life with tongue in cheek. In her painting, Red Wine, Aged Cheese and Olives, she lines up these articles with obsessive symmetry.
By contrast, Carol LaFave lets her peeled shrimp parts spill in messy array out of a bowl. Other artists on display are Nadina Tandy, who uses her textures and simplicity to convey a simple message, and Josefa Fritz Barham.
A still life by a Sechelt artist, the late Britton Francis, will also be exhibited. Entitled Flowers, Birds, Sugar and Cream, Francis renders a lace tablecloth in watercolour - a difficult feat for the most talented artist. The dainty china depicts detailed images of birds and flowers that mirror a similar design on a parasol.
The opening reception for What is Still Life? is this Saturday, May 15, from 4 to 7 p.m. and everyone is welcome. The show will feature about 25 paintings and runs through May 29. Find out more on www.westwindgallery.net or by phoning 604-886-9213.
