AOTP SYMPOSIUM 2012 THREE METAL ARTISTSFOLLOWING THE LIGHT

SuzanneSandboeSEEING IS KNOWING

SPRING 2012 ISSUE 18 A PUBLICATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTIST

Alberta Culture Days

www.creativecentre.ca

E. McNaught

Upcoming Exhibitions

Call for Entries

THE CENTRE FORCREATIVE ARTS

At the Centre

May 4 - 25Reception: 7pm on May 4

June 1 - 29Reception:7pm on June 1

July 6 - 27Reception: 7pm on July 6

August 3 - 31Reception: 7pm on August 3

September 7 - 28Reception: 7pm on Sept. 7

October 5 - 26Reception: 7pm on Oct. 12

November 2 - 23Reception: 7pm on Nov. 2

Classes for all ages and levels: -Children’s Classes -Drawing -Glass -Fibre -Painting -Photography -Pottery -Workshops -Visual Arts Monthly Gallery ExhibitionsGift Shop featuring local artistsBirthday PartiesSchool and Group bookingsDrop In Studio Use

Join us September 28 - 30, 2012 for Alberta Culture Days (formally known as Alberta Arts Days), a cel-ebration of art and culture. Check out the web site as details are added at abartsdaysgp.ca

It’s coming soon, so start working on your Wearable Art pieces! The show will be held during Alberta Culture Days. Submissions due early August. More details to come. Contact the Centre for details.

The Centre Gallery The Wall Gallery

FEDERATION of CANADIAN

ARTISTS

ACACANorthern Zone ShowNorthern Showcase

Grande Prairie Photography Club

CFCA Juried Show Yellow

Leona CochraneRemembering Buildings and Places

Whitney Lee HayesMy Diverse Diversion

Mary Mottishaw, Mary Parslow, Shauna Hoffos and Carrie KlukasFourth Dimension

Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian ArtistsPeace Harmonies: Squared

Candace GunsolleyExchanging Limbs

Melanie JennerWelcoming Bliss

Chris Dehaus

Lesley Duggan

Joselyn Aldred andCortney WarrBoreal High: Class of 2012

Joan DollSouth of the Border

Christy TeasedaleChurches of Beaverlodge and Area

9904-101 Avenue, Grande Prairie780-814-6080 info@creativecentre.ca

in this issue:

EDITOR: Eileen Coristine

DESIGN, LAYOUT & ADVERTISING: imageDESIGN

PUBLISHER: Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association, Box 25227, Wapiti Road P.O. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 0G2 Phone: (780) 532-2573 (Jim Stokes) E-mail: art@artofthepeace.ca

PRINTING: McCallum Printing Group

COVER: Suzanne Sandboe Photo by Candice Popik, Popik Photography

©All rights reserved Art of the Peace 2012

Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Art of the Peace makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions.

4. ARTIST’S STATEMENT

4. CONTRIBUTORS

5. ART OUT THERE

8. AOTP SYMPOSIUM 2012 PAINTING THE BIG PICTURE

10. THREE METAL ARTISTS NATURAL FORMS TAKE SOLID SHAPES

12. MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY

14. SUZANNE SANDBOE SEEING IS KNOWING

20. THE QUINNS’ ESSENTIAL COLLECTION A GATHERING OF IDEAS

22. ASSEMBLAGE HINES CREEK ARTS AND CRAFT CLUB

23. ART BOOKS IN REVIEW

24. FOLLOWING THE LIGHT THREE FLORAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

28. EXHIBITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

30. GRANT BERG

Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association acknowledges the financial assistance of:

JODY FARRELL has more than 25 years experience as an editor and writer for newspa-pers, magazines, and education publications. She especially loves writing profiles of interest-ing people, many of whom happen to be artists, and is always willing to put things off for a good visit over coffee.

DEB GUERETTE has 25 years experi-ence as a news reporter, independent pub-lisher and communications specialist. Story-telling has been the most enjoyable element of all that work.

CANDICE POPIK is an Albertan Photog-rapher with over 10 years experience, combin-ing commercial and artistic photography to create memorable images. Born in Edmonton, and raised across Canada her view of the world around her is unique and ever changing. She loves animals, people and a good red wine.

MARGARET PRICE wrote her first book at the age of five. While certainly not destined for Pulitzer status, Margaret’s Book of Butter-flies laid the groundwork for a career in journal-ism. With degrees in Anthropology and Art His-tory from Vanderbilt University, she has been published in several American and Canadian publications.

WENDY STEFANSSON has earned degrees in English Lit and Education, as well as a diploma in Visual Arts. She is by turns (or all at the same time) an artist, a writer, a teacher and a mom. She was editor of Art of the Peace magazine from ‘06 to ‘08

SUSAN THOMPSON has worked as a freelance journalist since 2001 and has writ-ten for numerous newspapers and magazines in Canada. When not writing articles, she de-votes her time to working on a fantasy novel titled “The Back Door to Hell.” Susan lives south of Peace River with her artist-blacksmith husband and two children.

Contributors

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Process: To Carl White it’s more important than the finished piece. Grant Berg describes it as creating visual poetry and KJ MacAlister says hers is meditative. But during my process I encounter my inner critic, that voice that says I suck, my ideas suck and that everybody gets this but me. Here are three suggestions I’ve tried for silencing (or at least temporarily gagging) the inner critic so you create some art (or at least get out your supplies).

1) Name your critic and make a visual representation of him/her.

When I was young, a jolly (if often inebriated) uncle lived at my house and was called Uncle Happy. In later years I did a caricature inspired by his memory. Once, another uncle came to visit. I’d just got into colouring and proudly showed him my latest crayon work. He told me it just looked like “a bunch of scribbling”.

Taking the suggestion above, I made a new piece with a frowning face and eyebrows like inverted teepees called Uncle Not So Happy and hung it in my studio. New advice says to remove the critic’s image during art making. In hopes that they will amuse themselves elsewhere and let one get on with it I suppose.

2) Speak to your inner critic in short angry sentences.

I said “Uncle Not So Happy leave me the &*$# alone!” “I need to process,” I shouted. I said so many short angry things that my husband ran in to find out what was wrong. Just what I needed, another critic.

Now I’m taking Uncle Not So Happy out of the room, having strong words with him and turning his face to the wall. If only the old &#*@ had just gently asked me about my process all those years ago.

3) My advice is to tell your inner critic “I make fine art. However it turns out, it’s fine with me.”

I hope you enjoy whatever you’re doing and find art in the process.

Artist’sStatementUNCLE NOT SO HAPPY

BY EILEEN CORISTINE

art of the peace 4

art out there...

ON THE WALLGrande Prairie’s Centre for Creative Arts has opened a new exhibition space. The Wall is a section in their gift shop area that has been dedicat-ed to small exhibitions.

“We will exhibit 12 shows per year that coincide with the exhibits in our main gallery space,” explains Can-dace Hook, executive director of the centre, “This space is great for emerging artists or even for an estab-lished artist who’s working on a more concentrated series.”

The Wall opened February with an exhibit called Pathfinder by Theresa Chauvin coinciding with a solo gallery show Dreams Do Not Come With Titles by Ken Housego.

In March the Art of the Peace Travel-ling Exhibiton was paired with a show on The Wall called Strokes of Adversity by Grande Prairie artist Rob Bignold.

MCNAUGHT ANNIVERSARYIt has been 100 years since the Mc-Naught family moved to their home-stead near Beaverlodge. To mark the anniversary the McNaught Home-stead Preservation Society will be holding a celebration including an ex-hibit of works by Euphemia McNaught and some of her artistic relatives.

“We have recently been able to lo-cate cousins in the U.S. This led to some interesting data that there was an earlier Euphemia in the family tree who was also a painter,” says society member Marjorie Henn. “We have a great uncle who also left us four paint-ings that have been passed down.”

The anniversary celebration will be held during the McNaught Festival July 21 and 22. For more info check out www.mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com

Work by Euphemia McNaught is also on display at the Alberta Gallery of Art this spring. Three linocut prints are included in the exhibition Alberta Mistresses of the Modern running un-til June 3. U

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CELEBRATE WINTERPeace of ART (the artists formerly known as the Peace River Art Club) is celebrating winter with a show in the new gallery space at the Peace River Municipal Library. To the delight of the members sales have been going well and the show has been extended for second month.

The gallery, which offers 100 lin-ear feet of hanging space, pliths for sculptures, a fireplace and several comfortable chairs, has been bring-ing new patrons to the recently reno-vated library.

“We are focusing on Peace River and Peace Region artists,” explains library manager Linda Prudholme-Warrior. “We’ve been having shows since July and are looking into also offering arts programming.”

Members of Peace of Art have been participating in an informal Art In The Library program twice a month. Vol-unteers come to the library to paint or draw and invite the public to watch and ask them questions.

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BODIES IN MOTION In February, Grande Prairie Regional College held their 2012 Arts Sympo-sium: Bodies In Motion.

“This year’s symposium addressed the notion of how humanity and cultures in the 21st century are never static but continually unfolding in time and space with new permutations, muta-tions and cross cultural influences,” explains GPRC instructor Ed Bader.

“Terrance Houle, addressed the theme in a cross cultural context and Calgary-based performance and in-stallation artist, Rita McKeough ex-plored the body moving through ac-tual time and space in various media. GPRC instructor, Elisabeth Belliveau showed her award-winning anima-tions. These are part of her interdis-ciplinary practice, bridging image and text, material and narrative. Edmon-ton-based, Trevor Schmidt (director of Northern Lights Theatre) explored the theme in the context of drama.”

The symposium was attended by ap-proximately 60 college students, fac-ulty and community members.

WHAT IS THAT YOU’RE WEARING?Recent Northern B.C. art shows dem-onstrate that almost anything can and will be worn in the name of art.

For her January show at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, Manipulation and Fabrication, Christy Burres chose a variety of very unconventional media. Her focus was experimentation with plant and animal materials.

“I find inspiration in many places, but a major influence on my work is na-ture and the plants and animals in the area where I live. I was born with a need to be creative, and working on this series has been a challenging and rewarding way of exercising that need,” Christy explains.

“There were nine pieces in the exhibit that I created using materials such as willow bark, trees, foxtail barley, raw wool, raw silk, horsehair, deer antlers, coal, haywire, grouse feath-ers, turkey feathers, witch’s hair, wolf skull, moose spine bones, used filter papers (from coal lab), moose hide, moose antlers, elk hide, gun shells and binder twine,” says the Tumbler Ridge artist.

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SUMMERTIMEWhen the Hythe Pioneer Home was expanding, the planners wanted to incorporate public art into the space. They approached Hythe artist Dar-lene Dautel to ask what work she thought could go in the mezzanine.

“I met with the planners and the ar-chitect,” says Darlene. “Then I created a sculpture out of paperclay that in-cludes three life-size kids and a twelve foot tree that is bolted to the wall. The installation is about 10 feet off the ground at the end of a long hallway.”

The sculpture is titled Summertime and the complete installation of Dautel’s work also includes a 4x6 oil painting of the children taking shelter from the rain under a rhubarb leaf.

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EXPRESSIVE ARTSEvery Tuesday and Thursday Ada Lovmo, Expressive Arts Facilitator for Canadian Mental Health Alberta NW Region, packs up art supplies and musical instruments and heads out to offer creative opportunities to people who would usually be unable to ac-cess them.

Creative Expressions drop-in ses-sions are held Tuesday afternoon at Rotary House and Thursday after-noon at the Centre for Creative Arts. Participants are welcome to explore their creative energies and discuss the challenges in their daily lives.

“This program is opening up doors for the participants,” says Ada. “ The conversation, sharing, and healing during Expressive Arts is amazing. A trust happens and in the process growth flourishes.”

“Volunteer musicians and artists are always welcome to share their time and create energy with the partici-pants at Expressive Arts,” says Ada.

A show and sale of the drop-in art-ists’ work will be held at the Canadian Mental Health Community Engage-ment Centre 9717-100 Ave., May 9th 5:30-7pm and May 10th 9am-12pm.

PEACE RIVER MURALSSince returning to Peace River follow-ing her graduation from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Shannon Brown has been turning her love of large-scale painting into mu-rals for her hometown.

Pictured above is her latest, a Mex-ican-themed work which she began in Fall 2012. This mural is on the ce-ment wall outside a local café called Su Casa. Last summer Shannon painted a mural of the Peace River on two large windows at Java Do-main, a downtown coffee shop. As soon as weather permits, she will be working on the remaining third of her Mexican triptych.

Besides her outdoor work, Shannon is also involved with teaching art les-sons at the Peace River Municipal Library and is writing and illustrating two children’s books.

“I’m happy to be back here,” she says. “I don’t think we appreciate the op-portunities that we have in this area.”

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FAREWELL TO FILMIn honour of this year’s Academy Awards, Fort St. John artists were challenged to use only one medium to create wearable art and art forms; that medium was celluloid film. The result: Fashion and Form with Film.

Using reels of film has just become an obsolete method of showing mov-ies. The digital alternative is now the norm in movie theatres. To celebrate the end of the celluloid era, Stage North Theatre Society, On The Rocks Nightclub and the Northern Environ-mental Action Team collaborated to turn the annual event Oscar Night On The Big Screen into Fashion and Form with Film.

All entries were required to be made up of at least 75% reused celluloid. The Aurora Theatre supplied rolls of film for the competitors to work with and all entries were modeled on a runway during the event.

The event was a competition offer-ing a prize of $1,000 first prize. The winner of Fashion and Form with Film was Iliana Londono.M

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art of the peace 7

AOTP Symposium 2012 PAINTING THE BIG PICTURE BY EILEEN CORISTINE

The ninth annual Art of the Peace Symposium kicked off March 2 with the opening of the Art of the Peace Travelling Exhibition in the Centre for Cre-ative Arts Gallery in Grande Prairie. Over the next two days, participants were inspired, encouraged and instructed by painter Carl White, carver Grant Berg and ceramicist KJ MacAlister.

Carl White decided early on that the legitimacy of art as a career called him to live that life fully. Not wanting to be a part-time artist he committed to a path he calls “I will choke until I swallow”. Not only does this path have him working as an artist fulltime, he also gives every aspect of his life the same focus and energy; all of it is art.

As well as creating masterful works, mainly through painting very large canvasses in oil, White spends as much time altering, obscuring and scratching poems onto them. Often he completes a piece by pouring or splashing paint onto a canvas that is five or six paintings deep.

“I love it (art) but laugh at the folly of it too,” he said. “I am classically irrev-erent, I love it but I’m not attached to it.” Much more significant to White than his paintings themselves is the experience of making them. “A paint-ing is the snakeskin that is left behind from the process of growth,” he says. And to him the point of doing art is to experiment and to challenge himself towards growth.

Grant Berg loves art and makes sure it is present in his life every single day. The Sexsmith stone-carver appreciates, creates and gives to the art community through his works and through his good works as chairman of the Prairie Art Gallery Board of Directors, board member of the Centre for Creative Arts and member of the Premier’s Council on Arts and Culture.

LEFTKJ MacAlister workshop

FAR LEFTGrant Berg, KJ MacAlister and Carl White

RIGHTGrant Berg workshop

FAR RIGHTCarl White workshop

art of the peace 8

AOTP Symposium 2012 PAINTING THE BIG PICTURE BY EILEEN CORISTINE

Berg’s love of art began as a teenager when a serious illness resulted in his staying in a hospital for an extended period. “The artworks in the hospital were a mental escape from the pain I was in,” he says “and those works still influence my carvings today.”

His admiration for artists Emily Carr and Lauren Harris is especially evident in Berg’s carved trees.

“The moment I started working with stone magic happened. Seeing inside the stone and seeing inside me,” says Berg. Inside of him are all the stories from his Cree and European family histories and memories of the good and bad experi-ences in his life. “I knew carving was going to be an adven-ture and I have documented my journey.”

“I live art fully,” says Berg. His early illness gave him a deep appreciation for life and he fills his days with skill and dedica-tion, determined not to waste one minute of precious time.

“What I’d like to say to artists,” says Berg, “is draw from your own background, embrace your influences and turn the negatives in your life into positives in your art.”

KJ MacAlister has travelled to Japan where the people “im-merse themselves in beauty every day” and claims that making that trip changed the way her brain works. Since her return she has had a new way of looking at her surroundings and her pottery.

KJ feels that texture gives each piece a life of its own. The texture comes from a variety of sources including the clay, the type of glaze and firing and the many found objects that she uses to enhance the surface. “Each bowl is its own journey, even physically,” she says. On their journey, her favorite pots have gone through wood-firing. That process of extreme heat and extreme unpredictability ensures that you “will never have the same pot come out of two different firings.”

The love of wood-firing inspired MacAlister to build a small kiln at Pipestone Creek, where she was raised. Her rural upbringing has been a strong influence in her work, both in form and in texture. “Spending my childhood with trees around me, why wouldn’t I make pots that look like bark when I grew up?” she asks. “I can be so immersed in the tactility of what I’m doing that it is almost a meditation.”

At present, MacAlister is employed offering technical sup-port and instruction at Clayworks Studio-Link in Edmon-ton. Spending her days with clay and inspiring the people around her, she’s often captured by the natural things in our lives that can be used to make art.

Closing her presentation with questions MacAlister asked, “Would your experience change if drinking from a cup had a tactile experience with it? Would it be enhanced? Keep your eyes open for the texture in your world.”

art of the peace 9

LEFTWest WindGreg Gourlay

CENTREAngel of a FishCindy Nychka

RIGHTChairLana Agar

Three Metal

ArtistsNATURAL FORMS

TAKE SOLID SHAPES

BY DEB GUERRETTE

Weld vt. hammer or press (pieces of heated iron

or steel) into one piece

Forge vt. shape (esp. metal) by heating in a fire

and hammering

Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition

Turning hot metal into art comes naturally

for three Grande Prairie artists, whose

work and play led them into it.

GREG GOURLAYWith forging hammer in hand, Greg Gourlay strikes at an imaginary piece of hot metal, demonstrating how he would round or bend it using a homemade tool. A variety of met-al rods, some with short curls, and others with elongated bends and twists, hang on a rack he’s fashioned beside a heavy metal work stand. “You start with a piece of rod. Take what you need; heat it, add stuff on to it, bang it out, roll it, chase it around - this will be for another (coat rack) piece like in the house,” he says, now holding a long piece of twisted metal. Natural forms abound in the shapes Gourlay creates, in metal sculptures, in stacks of figure drawings he has done, and in wood and ceramic works. “I draw from life, pretty much,” said Gourlay, who retired this year, after 13 years of teaching high school art in Beaverlodge.

A recent metal rod sculpture is “based on a cycle of natural forms,” he says, showing the piece still in his basement. “It’s all forged, loosely based on lily pads, water life, fish and animals, insects, the natural world.”

Another piece, a small sculpture model in tin called ‘West Wind,’ “implies the winds blowing across the Nose Moun-tain, as seen from the highway to Beaverlodge.” Applying techniques he learned at an ornamental iron work course he took in England some years ago adds to the calibre and uniqueness of his metal work.

Gourlay grew-up in Cambridge, Ontario, where his father worked in a machine shop. He started down the same path as a youth working with his father, and then “came out west to be a teacher,” when he was 22.

Though he has yet to show his work formally, Gourlay’s long relationship with art and craftsmanship is intrinsic to his home and shop. The shop itself, in the back of his yard in Grande Prairie, is a carefully restored 1920’s vintage cabin from the Huallen area.

art of the peace 10

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CINDY NYCHKAAn Open Air Garden of sculptures, birdhouses, figures and a seascape sits atop a roof at the QEII Hospital. In good view for pediatric and other patients, the ‘garden’ includes metal art pieces created by Cindy Nychka, a welding instructor at Grande Prairie Regional College. Completed in fall 2011, the three pieces made for the Open Air Garden are Nychka’s first commissioned project. Nychka’s created smaller metal art pieces at her leisure, but the commitment was a good motivator to complete a series of pieces, and she admits “it was pretty exciting getting that project done.”

Made of steel, stainless steel, brass and copper, the pieces include a pyramid, a tall circle-figured girl and a seascape of fish swimming in textured and twisty strands of metal weeds. To create a blister-pocked effect in the long weeds, the copper was exposed to salt and vinegar, and sealed in a container with ammonia. “It will turn green – it’s like it weathers it,” Nychka said.

Nychka grew up in the Beaverlodge area. She didn’t plan on a career as a welder, or a teacher at first either, but her creativity has been there all along. Introduced to welding by a family friend, Nychka worked in the oilfield to complete her journeyman ticket. She was taking a brief break from welding to do leatherwork, a craft she’s enjoyed for over 20 years, when a former instructor from Fairview sought her as-sistance. “I was just going to fill in for a short time,” said Nychka, in her office at GPRC, where she’s been an instruc-tor for 10 years. Nychka has no shortage of ideas or desire to create. Largely self-taught in art, she enjoys courses in differ-ent mediums, such as stained glass, whenever she has time. “I have lots of stuff stored up, just like a volcano,” she says.

The opportunity to instruct a new Introduction to Metal Art course for GPRC this year is very exciting for her. “It means more time to work with metal,” she says, smiling. “I’ll have to prep for class.”

LANA AGARWhen Lana Agar has time to weld for the fun of it, art proj-ects start to take shape from the bits and pieces of metal stashed in a special corner of her workplace shop. Agar is a journeyman welder, with a steady job in the oilfield and a plan underway to be dual-ticketed as pipefitter by the time she’s 30-years old, making time for art projects hard to find.

“If I have a spare day, if it’s ever slow, it’s, oh yay, it’s art day today!” Agar said, hanging back late at the shop one eve-ning after a long day in the field. That’s when metal-shaped things not meant for the oilfield start to emerge from the back of Waydex Services shop in Grande Prairie industrial park; pieces like a crazy chair with arm and foot extensions, a coat rack with three sapling like shoots reaching tall, bent together at trunk and at top, or round-top gates with sail and scroll bent swirl shapes.

Agar works mostly with steel, but sometimes copper too, and while the welding brings a piece together, it’s “not just welding, but bending, twisting, a lot of grinding,” she says. Sometimes teased by her workmates about what a piece is going to be before she gets time to finish it, Agar says she’s always been motivated to create, with most of her ideas derived from things she sees around her.

A large drying rack, complete with snow-capped mountains, tree, snowflake and cabin shapes, is one of her larger, fun and functional creations, now in good use by fellow sledders. Another piece, a long-legged ostrich-like bird with coiled bands of plumage atop its head, falls into a category Agar calls, “not meant to do anything, but turned out pretty cool.”

“I’ve always liked art, and grew up being very crafty,” says Agar, who moved from Keremeos, B.C. to the Peace region with a sister after high school.

art of the peace 11

Macro PhotographyBY CANDICE POPIK

Macro photography is the art of taking a picture of some-thing extremely close up. You can use a regular point and shoot camera on its macro setting or your DSLR cam-era with a macro lens (which is made to shoot at 1:1 or greater meaning “life size”). There are also close-up ex-tensions you can buy to put on the end of a regular lens that will allow you to focus at closer distances.

Find natural light if possible, but if you have none, use ex-ternal flashes and/or reflectors to bounce light around the object. An on-camera flash will not work; it will cause your subject to be overexposed and have harsh lens shadows.

Macro photography gives a beautiful depth of focus so play with your aperture to get the effect you want. Remember though, the smaller your F-stop (2.8 for example) the smaller your depth of field. Let’s say you are taking a photo of an insect of some sort, you will have to decide which part of the insect you want in focus. If you use a higher F-Stop (5.6 or

greater) then you will get more of the insect in focus. Make sure you use a tripod to help steady yourself, or use shutter speeds that are higher (1/100 +). This will compensate for camera shake caused by your hand. Camera shake is more obvious in macro photogra-phy. You may find you need to use manual-focus; auto-focus may not focus on the part you want to be in focus!

Everything behind your subject will be blurred out (a term called bokeh). To keep the focus where you want it, ensure that your background doesn’t have things in it that will jump out and distract from the subject.

And lastly, BE CREATIVE. Almost anything can become art close up so change your angles, change your light source, change colours. Anything can be beautiful or fascinating up close depending on how you compose it. Don’t limit your-self and always experiment!

780-568-3334 | cell 780-518-5071 | tcmuseum@gpnet.ca

Gordon Mackey

People’s ExpressionsNature’s ReflectionsAbstract Impressionsand Things

Acrylics and Graphite

Studio/Gallery at Teepee Creek Open by arrangement

- Local Art

- Willow Works pottery

- Ready-made frames

- Pre-cut mats in various sizes and colours

- Handmade and unique occasion cards

9903 - 100 Avenue, Peace River, AB (the green building on the corner)

Frameworks Custom Framing & Gallery

780-624-1984

Custom Picture Framing

art of the peace 12

Located in the Montrose Cultural Centre

9839 103 Avenue, Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6M7P: (780) 532-8111 | F: (780) 539-9522 | E: info@prairiegallery.com

For a complete list of exhibitions visit www.prairiegallery.com

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) has supported a provincial travelling exhibition program since 1981. The mandate of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program is to provide every Albertan with the opportunity to enjoy visual art exhibitions in their community.

Three regional galleries and one arts organization coordinate the program for the AFA:Northwest Alberta: Art Gallery of Grande Prairie formerly known as The Prairie Art GalleryNortheast and North Central Alberta: Art Gallery of AlbertaSouthwest Alberta: The Alberta Society of ArtistsSoutheast Alberta: Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition ProgramTREX For the 2011/2012 Travelling Season the

Prairie Art Gallery presents four new Exhibitions:

Evy and Betty: Celebrating our Peace Region Matriarch'sEuphemia McNaught and Evelyn McBryanEuphemia McNaught watercolour on cardn/d from the AFA collection

hole/Whole Kim HuynhSerial Number 2Chine-colle Lithograph on Paper, 2009

Liberation From Natural FormsRon KostyniukRoad Map Series: Falling IconSprayed Enamel on MDF

EvolveTina MartelPhotograph of reflection of resulting paper Smart Car from the Evolve Project during the Works Festival in Edmonton, 2010Photograph on fabric

Generously Supported By encananatural gas

™

Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre780-624-4261 | 10302- 99 Street, Peace River, Alberta T8S 1K1

www.peacerivermuseum.com | museum@peaceriver.net

a photographic journey along our river

Paddling the Peace...May - August, 2012

Dan WourmsCeramic,

Oil & Acrylic

780.518.6790 danwourms@gmail.com

Available at Unique Gallery

Original Works by Local Artists

Lower Level,QEII Hospital10409 98 StreetGrande Prairie, AB

Exhibition opportunities available by contacting Carrie at 780-830-4855

Faye Oszli

art of the peace 13

Suzanne Sandboe

SEEING IS KNOWING

BY MARGARET PRICE

Behind her unrestrained veil of creativity, wheth-er she’s working on an expansive, transparent watercolour mural of the local landscape for an area school, doing her own framing or churning out clay, kiln-fired pieces in her beautiful, 2,000 square foot “Canvas & Clay Art Studio” in the country, Suzanne Sandboe exudes qualities we associate less with leisurely, painterly artists and more with stock brokers and brain surgeons: am-bitious, determined and always, always busy. “I need to have 48 hours in the day instead of 24 hours,” she jokes. “There aren’t enough hours to get everything done, but I always manage.”

But going beyond that veil, there’s another part of the artist that finds its way into her work. Sand-boe also works part time as controller for her hus-band’s Grande Prairie based company. A book-keeper by trade, she employs the same skills necessary to succeed in her part-time profession as she does in pursuing her passion: detail orient-ed, analytical, methodical, with meticulous eyes always open and searching for something. “I think the artist sees things differently than most people do,” she says.

Born and raised in the Peace Country, Sand-boe, who traces her ancestry to both Norway and Czechoslovakia, fondly recalls a childhood growing up on her parents’ farm, deeply in tune with nature and the surrounding landscape. The yearning to begin creating art began at a very

Suzanne Sandboe

SEEING IS KNOWING

BY MARGARET PRICE

LEFT Bonebed

PHOTOS BY CANDICE POPIK

art of the peace 15

she says. “I’ve taken some workshops over the years, but my primary learning is through experimentation and what I’ve gathered from workshops and what I’ve gathered from doing things on my own. I know a lot of artists have this sort of philosophical story behind all of their work, and I’m sort of not that way. I don’t have a lot of ‘art speak’ when it comes to explaining what I do, I just do what I do because I love doing it. I enjoy creating, painting and drawing, I just don’t know if there’s much philosophy behind it.”

All modesty aside, Sandboe’s repertoire of workshops is ac-tually quite impressive, including wheel throwing with Bibi Clements in 2000, pottery with Yasuo Tirada in 1999 and watercolours with Jim Adrain in 1990, the first watercolour workshop she ever took. To further her education, she par-ticipated in the Red Deer College Summer Series Art Pro-gram, where she gained additional instruction in waterco-lours and wheel throwing. In addition to being a student in several workshops, she has taught watercolour workshops in Grande Prairie, Beaverlodge and Sexsmith, and hopes to possibly begin teaching classes in her studio in the fu-ture. Her professional associations are extensive. She was accepted as a member of the Federation of Canadian Art-ists three years ago, joined the Alberta Society of Artists 12 years ago and joined the Peace Watercolour Society 27 years ago, where she has served on the executive board for over 18 years.

young age, and it came very naturally, as she was in lower grade school when she first realized that she could draw. Developing this talent over the years on her own, she began experimenting with different mediums and started paint-ing with watercolours, enthralled by the immediacy of the medium. “I’ve always kind of wanted to try everything,’ she says. “I enjoy many different things so as a result I’ve kind of dipped my fingers in a lot of different pies and tried lots of different things over the years.”

In high school, a mentor gave Sandboe a set of oil paints and all the supplies needed, so she moved into painting with oils, an artistic form she would adhere to for several years to come. While she enjoyed this medium, she felt a strong desire to return to painting with watercolours, a yearning to return to the start after having benefited from years of ex-perience. “Any art should be progressing, your work should be improving and changing, and you learn new things as you go along and you experiment and try new things,” she says. “As I look back on my career as an artist, things are much different now than they were 25 years ago when I first starting painting. Your style grows and you become a much more solid, well-rounded, confident artist and you become a sort of master at your medium.” And once she found her way back, things just took off from there. She began selling her work through Unique Gallery in Grande Prairie in 1989, making a name for herself in the area. From 2002 to 2006, her work could be found at the Front Gallery in Edmonton. “When you’ve been around and doing art for as long as I have, people get to know you, and I’ve been very well sup-ported by the Peace Country,” she says.

But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Sandboe is that she is primarily self-taught, citing love and passion as her impetus for creating. “I didn’t actually go to art school,”

art of the peace 16

Needless to say, Sandboe isn’t exactly a novice in the Peace Country art world of massive scenes of the Western Canadi-an landscape, gorgeous mountain vistas and serene images of forests and rivers. “It’s about painting the local community and the people and the things that happen here,” she says. “As I grew up, we did a lot of fishing and camping, and so I enjoy the mountains, rivers and nature. It’s kind of a com-mon thread that runs through my work, the countryside, the landscape and the history of people.”

Her ties to the local landscape can be best seen in a work she completed last year for the County of Grande Prairie’s Farm Family Award, entitled Four Up, Ace, King, Gypsy, Ginger –a striking, heartfelt work that belied her background as a young, headstrong farmer’s daughter. Another work derived from and reminiscent of her childhood is Saddle Hills Evening, a glowing, almost ethereal piece inspired by her time spent on her father’s and grandfather’s cattle graz-ing bush land up north in Saddle Hills. Soft beams of light stream through the forest, and a sense of nostalgia settles over the scene. “This piece is of the evening sun setting through the trees, and it’s just what it’s like up there, with all the poplars and aspen,” she says. “It’s beautiful, it’s very peaceful, and we spend a lot of time up there. Our family has always been very close but going back to the land has kept us close.” Angel Glacier Pond at Mt. Edith Cavell dem-onstrates Sandboe’s ability to convey emotion and a story in

FAR RIGHTFour Up, Ace, King, Gypsy, Ginger

RIGHTSaddle Hills Evening

a painting. Roughly 12 years ago, she and a group of artist friends set off on a trip to Jasper to record the landscape, with easels and paint in tow. “The mountains are very near to my heart,” she says. “It was really cold out and we spent the whole day up there. The atmosphere was incredible, full of mist and clouds.”

But Sandboe, always the experimenter, wouldn’t be fulfilled just adhering to one subject matter. While she loves to paint landscape, she is particularly drawn to portraying historical items. Take, for instance, her work Outta Gas. While out tak-ing a drive one day and looking for things to paint, Sandboe came across a group of old buildings that were most likely old country or hardware stores. Moved by the historical sig-nificance of the scene, she decided to record the moment. “I was driving along and spotted these amazing old build-ings,” she says. “There was the shell of an old gas pump there, and it just struck me: they’re out of gas.”

Despite the immediacy in her work, sometimes the process can take years in the making. Roughly 20 years ago, Sand-boe traveled down to Pipestone Creek for a family reunion, where, unbeknownst to the artist, paleontologists would make a notable dinosaur fossil discovery. “I had gotten up really early one morning and gone down to the creek to do some sketching, about 6 a.m., and I remember it really well because it was kind of spooky and it was cool and damp, and no one was up at the campsite,” she says. “I went down there and spent the morning drawing and I walked away with several sketches in my sketchbooks.” Two sketches

LEFTSuzanne with a selection of her watercolours

FAR LEFTIdeal light filtering onto Suzanne`s old oak painting table

art of the peace 17

from this trip eventu-ally made their way into finished works, one, entitled Bone-bed, which Sandboe had the honor of pre-senting to Dan Ayk-royd and his wife at last year’s inaugural ball for the fundraiser for the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grande Prairie. The other painting, en-titled Midnight Moon on Pipestone, was donated to the museum itself. Despite seeming like straightforward images of landscape, Sand-boe’s talented hand draws the viewer in with striking vi-sual elements and allows the viewer to see beyond the sur-face, becoming acquainted with and eventually knowing a deep, emotional realm.

When beginning the creative process, Sandboe often be-gins with a sketch, taking photographs as a backup, al-though she states that she be-lieves that what you see and then transfer, pencil to paper, is not necessarily what stands out in a photograph, prefer-ring instead to have a quick sketch of what it was that grabbed her in the first place. “I grew up in the country, so I’m always looking for things to paint,” she says. “I’m always paying attention to the environment and what’s around me.” Whether she’s going out with the sole intention of finding an object to paint, or if she just happens upon something fas-cinating and worthy of being recorded on canvas, she con-tinually exists with eyes open. “What I paint is what I see,” she says. “I don’t just sit down and make up something, I like to see it, feel it or experience it, and that’s kind of what I do. I’ve got my eyes open and when I see things, I become enthused and it makes me want to create and paint. It just comes to me naturally.” The spontaneity in Sandboe’s work is palpable, and while many artists might overwork a land-scape, not quite knowing when to stop adding elements

to a work, she strikes a balance between composition and liveliness, her muted watercolours always convey a story, a feel-ing, an expression.

Describing her style as “realistic yet paint-erly,” Sandboe’s broad artistic range allows her to be ca-pable of doing a lot of different things, en-

gendering a body of work that manages to stay fresh and interesting instead of becom-ing stale and stagnant. “In my work, I like there to be a lot of expression and I like to try and tell a story,” she says. “I want the viewer to get something out of the painting when he or she looks at it.”

As far as future plans go, Sandboe, always the busy art-ist, has a few shows coming up, including a show for the Federation of Canadian Artists and a group exhibition with the Peace Watercolour Society, as well as a list of commission work to complete. She hopes to do a solo show soon, most likely with a historical focus. “I’d like to do something about our heritage, our roots, where we come from,” she says. My

grandparents came from the old country and arrived in Can-ada, so I think it would be interesting to explore how they landed, where they went and how they lived.”

For Sandboe, seeing is knowing, and knowing is essential to the creative process. “Someone once told me paint what you know and you’ll be a lot more successful at what you do,” she says. “And that’s exactly what I do.”

BOTTOMMidnight Moon on Pipestone Creek

TOPOutta Gas

art of the peace 18

Stepping across the driveway at her Buffalo Lakes area home to enter a bright, open, two-story studio makes going to work for Suzanne Sandboe as natural and comfortable as painting itself comes to her. “Kind of like a little house,” the studio is a wood-frame building, with 10-foot first floor ceilings, tall windows and many other built-in features. “The taller ceiling is great,” said Sandboe, standing in the gal-lery of her Canvas and Clay Art Studio. With canvases and murals that often span eight feet or more, “it provides a little head space… just to be able to display art, and it gives me the ability to do some bigger pieces.”

The couple settled on their acreage in 1983, raising two boys, with Sandboe painting in the family’s kitchen through-out those years, she said, recalling, “art stuff under the beds,” and framing pictures in the basement.

Finally in 2007, after considering different options, they started building the studio. A framer was hired to build the main structure, and other parts contracted, but they also did a lot of the work themselves, with the studio ready enough to occupy after two and a half years.

At 1000 square feet, the main floor has an acid washed, varnished cement floor, with in-floor heating, and is primarily a large open gallery room. Separated by French doors, a kitchen area is complete with cupboards, sink, fridge, stove and working-island on wheels. “We tried to put in every-thing, to make it user friendly,” Sandboe said.

While Sandboe says she “debated white” for the walls, she went with light beige to “bring a little life to the place.” The

Suzanne SandboeCANVAS AND CLAY ART STUDIO BY DEB GUERRETTE

surround-sound they included is user friendly too, as is the built-in vacuum on both floors, forced air heating for the second floor, and other well-planned features. Both flores-cent and track lighting are used, with Sandboe’s old oak painting table in a corner of the gallery area, angled to face the tall windows on the east and north sides of the gallery.

Offering workshops is one of Sandboe’s plans for the stu-dio and either the kitchen or gallery area can be used for that. A kiln, a small work area and some shelving for pottery is also set up in the kitchen area. The second floor is the framing studio. Furnished with antique couches and chairs it includes a bedroom and bathroom, making the studio a ready and comfortable guest house for visitors.

“My art is my business. I will always, always, always paint. But who knows, down the road, it could be an in-law-suite, or bed and breakfast,” Sandboe said. The best part of the dedicated space she now enjoys, “is being able to work away at your project and then just go away from it, and it’s still there in the morning waiting for you to come back and work again.”

The Canvas and Clay Art Studio was meant to be more than just convenient too, says Sandboe, who “loves,” the art stu-dio cottage industry she’s seen on west coast islands that is “part of the culture there.” “That’s kind of the idea here,” she says of her studio, “a place for people to come to, a place to hang my art, a place to work from. I still show my work (oth-er places) but this is kind of a one-stop shop. People can come in and see what I do, and buy art here if they want.”

Photo by Candice Popik

art of the peace 19

When you visit Murray and Christine Quinn’s house, art is part of the landscape. In their front yard lies the shining hull of a boat entirely made of electrical cable. The piece is by their dear friend Peter von Tiesenhausen and the Quinns commissioned it, knowing it would be created particularly for their own front yard. Perhaps the boat could not exist anywhere else; von Tiesenhausen’s work is famously con-scious of the land it inhabits.

“It’s about the place, a sense of place, his place. To me, it’s really about a lifelong journey. On a cruder level, the shape of the boat is feminine. It’s all organic,” explains Murray Quinn. The piece also has one crucial similarity to everything else in the couple’s art collection. “That’s really what we’re looking for; that it’s got deeper levels of meaning.”

The Quinns own what is probably the largest collection of von Tiesenhausen’s work. They donated a chunk of that collection to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, after being asked for an installation piece. The renowned collectors also pride themselves on their hospitality and ambassadorship for the city of Grande Prairie and its arts scene.

“I am defensive of Grande Prairie,” Quinn says. He and his wife visit cities around the world, and he has learned from experience that the criticisms made of Grande Prairie could be made of any city. Quinn is also quick to point out the strengths of the local art community. “The gallery under construction is world class,” he says adamantly. He was

TOP IcarusPeter von Tiesenhausen

RIGHTSleep or Chaos (Self Portrait)Harold Klunder

The Quinns’ Essential CollectionA GATHERING OF IDEAS

BY SUSAN THOMPSON

LEFTAnna ParkinaChris Lipomi

art of the peace 20

the chair of the Prairie Art Gallery’s board for two years, so Quinn has seen the collapse of the gallery from the inside, as well as its resurrection.

“I want people to say they have to go back to Grande Prai-rie,” Quinn says, and he means it. The Quinns not only wel-come friends and family to their home; they often enter-tain visiting artists and have had college instructors bring classes to view their collection. Still, they feel it only fair to warn people that some of the art inside their home is not for children, and some can be off-putting or even offensive to adults.

“There is graphic nudity in our collection,” states Murray Quinn. “There is art that deals blatantly with issues around death. It’s not a ‘pretty’ collection. It’s not purely aestheti-cally driven.” However, Quinn is also quick to defend the art he loves, which he says is not about intentionally shocking people. “The ones people might consider the most shock-ing I think are the most beautiful pieces we own,” he ex-plains. “Shock value in art is a cop-out. There’s got to be a much broader conversation going on than just a punch in the face. I think that’s lazy art.” The idea is what’s important to the couple. “The idea, and of course visually it has to work,” qualifies Quinn. “Maybe not work in a pretty way, but it has to be powerful.”

Interestingly, while Quinn is well-respected for his knowl-edge of contemporary art, he has no formal art education. Instead, he reads magazines and searches the internet daily. “I have a B.S. in Botany and I’m a landscaper. There are websites, blogs, and magazines if you’re interested. So there are lots of places to go. Twenty years ago you couldn’t do this, although the internet doesn’t replace seeing the art-work in the flesh or visiting an artist’s studio.”

In fact, Quinn is very encouraging to the budding collec-tor, recommending attending art openings and getting to know dealers, and looking for local art but not limiting col-lections only to local art. In art collecting, Quinn believes there is a price range for everybody. “We’re not mega rich

collectors. I’m a landscaper. My wife is a forester. We’re just regular working people.” However, he warns that a collec-tor needs the right mindset. “If you start flipping artworks you’ll be dropped out of the loop. Dealers hate to see that. They want to see people collecting, building collections, and hopefully donating them later.” If a collector starts buying art by young painters and then selling them three years later for profit, that’s a red flag.

The Quinns’ collection is proudly not built for profit. In fact, Murray Quinn scoffs at the idea of making money from col-lecting art. “If you want to make money collecting art, I am not exaggerating: you need to be a multimillionaire to do it.” However, to the Quinns, “It’s a great investment in every other way. We are so thrilled and so happy to live in a house filled with art.” In fact, the greatest riches the Quinns enjoy as a result of their collecting seem to be the friends they’ve made. “I love artists,” proclaims Quinn. “They’re such inter-esting people. They think differently.”

The Quinns may be tireless advocates for Grande Prairie’s art scene, but they also make a minimum of two trips a year to cities such as Montreal and Toronto to buy art, meet with dealers, and visit artists’ studios. In fact, the couple were looking forward to just such a trip at the time of this writing. “It’s always exciting when you find that ‘new’ artist even if it’s someone who’s been working forever. It is an addiction and it seems over time it takes a little more to satisfy that addiction.”

“Maybe there’s a compulsion in being a collector,” muses Quinn. “That excitement of buying an original piece of art-work – that’s as good as it gets. It makes us feel something. It challenges us.”

CENTREFelix, June 5, 1994A.A. Bronson

RIGHTUntitled #6Jack Burman

LEFTLonerRoger Ballen

art of the peace 21

It’s not always easy for artists to find a space where they can create, yet such a space can be incredibly important. Often, having space to work makes the process of creation possible. An artist’s home or private studio can be one such space for creation, but it might also be too small or ill-equipped to work on larger or more complex projects. Even if it is the ideal space for an artist working alone, a home studio still doesn’t offer the pleasures of socializing or learn-ing new skills from other artists. Artist-run spaces offer this, and if they include a gallery, can even circumvent the public and private systems for displaying art and provide an al-ternative venue totally controlled by the artists themselves.

The Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club has been fortunate. The club obtained a large, well-equipped space in the Dave Shaw Memo-rial Complex and was able to move their meet-ings and group activities there in the early 1980’s. The club’s portion of the complex includes a pot-tery area, a kiln in its own room, a sewing area, a weaving area, and although the club no longer has a major painting component, a painting area. For the cost of the membership fee all members are entitled to use the space, and the club also holds courses there.

As for what it’s like to have such a big facility, long time member Lorena Vass told me, “It’s wonderful! As a weaver, not everyone has space in their own home for a floor loom. The quilters love it too because they have two big special tables where they can lay out their fabric.”

The club’s communal space not only means that there is somewhere for club members to complete large projects;

Gift Shopwatercolours,

local pottery,

knitwear, Calvin

Cornish prints,

dichroic glass,

jewellery, quilted

and hand

woven items

Monthly Gallery Exhibits

Spring Courses

• pottery/glazing

• oil & acrylic painting

• watercolour

• paper arts

• quilting

• batik & encaustics

• genealogy

• wool felting

• portraiture

• childrens art courses

• First Impressions by Gene Schulz - April

• Artists at School/Creations, Inc - May

• Creations, Inc - May 31 at 7pm

780-835-2697www.fairviewfinearts.com

• Artists North Show & Sale - June

• Members Summer Show - July

• Connie Larsback & Friends - August

it also means club members have somewhere to socialize, support each other, and learn from one another. That’s a major part of the attraction for Vass, who has been a part of the club since it began forty years ago. She points to Norma Kabanak, who was president of the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club for some 27 years, as her inspiration to stay with the club. Despite the fact that Kabanak is now 95 years young and living in Beaverlodge, the two remain in touch and continue to share a passion for arts and crafts.

However, like many art clubs, the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club has seen a slight decline in membership and is struggling to find new, younger members. As a result,

the club hasn’t had as many courses in recent years. Vass blames the pressures of jobs and children and the modern world for keeping younger members away. However, with-out an influx of new members, this long-time club will not be able to pass on its

knowledge and skills to a new generation. Quilting, weav-ing and sewing are all heritage skills, a link to the past and a way to create in the present. When so many art clubs are desperate to find a space of their own, it’s also important to see the Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club’s space continues to be used for years to come by enthusiastic new crafters.

The Hines Creek Arts and Crafts Club meets every Wednes-day from 1-4 pm, and new members are always welcome. For more information, you can also call Loreen Vass at 780-494-3841 or current president Pat Rossler at 780-494-2334.

780-568-4124 | art@suzannesandboe.com | www.suzannesandboe.com

Sandboe Suzanne AFCA, ASA, PWS

assemblageHINES CREEK ARTS AND CRAFTS CLUB

BY SUSAN THOMPSON

art of the peace 22

art books in reviewBY WENDY STEFANSSON

COVER AND UNCOVER: Eric Cameron

Cover and Uncover takes us on a journey through the long ca-reer, layered thought processes and sub-limated passions of Calgary-based artist Eric Cameron; from his early “Process Paint-ings,” through a brief

stint in video experimentation, to his mature works — his Thick Paintings (to be continued).

These latter works, begun in 1979 and continuing to the present and beyond, are perhaps less paintings than sculp-tures made of paint. Over a period of more than 30 years, Cameron has painted literally thousands of thin layers of white and grey gesso around small artifacts of his day-to-day lived experience — a book of matches, an alarm clock, an apple, an egg, and a cup and saucer (amongst many oth-ers). Inside his paint he has literally contained fire, entombed time, concealed the forbidden fruit, preserved potential life, and obscured daily intimacies. Like a pearl being formed, each object is repeatedly, ritually, almost obsessively coated with a nacre of gesso; until it is not only unrecognizable, but is strangely, organically beautiful.

Cameron’s Thick Paintings (to be continued) represent a life lived. They are a sort of book of days, counting the days of his life in coats of paint; in his own words “‘a reconciliation with the inevitabilities....’”

With essays by art theorists Peggy Gale, Ann Davis, Di-ana Nemiroff and Thierry de Duve, Cover and Uncover is a thoughtful, complex, and engaging book about a thought-ful, complex, and engaging artist.

780-494-3410 ecoristine@hotmail.com

EileenCoristine

For other information and images see www.beaverlodgegallery.com

Peace Country themes and wilderness vistas

780-228-3741

Picture PerfectGrande Prairie

Unique GalleryGrande Prairie

Cultural CentreBeaverlodge

Member of the Federation of Canadian

Artists & the Peace Watercolor Society

PWS

art of the peace 23

KLAUS PETERSKlaus Peters first got into photography in 1993, tak-ing photos for his wife Rika Peters, a painter. She needed something to use as subjects for her paint-ings, but Klaus found that he enjoyed taking the pic-tures for himself as well as for his wife. “From there it developed,” he explains, pun perhaps intended. “I started out with beauty. I see a scene, and say oh, that’s a picture, that’s something I want to capture.”

In 2003 Peters went digital, and his photography took off. “I think that the price of a photo in those days was about one dollar a photo. Now I was tak-ing pictures left, right and centre and it didn’t cost me a thing. It freed me up to learn. I could take ten pictures instead of two pictures, and that learning curve really helped me.”

However, Peters still credits his wife’s artistic eye for helping him learn to compose a photo. “I was a carpenter by trade and everything had to be straight and level. I had to relearn what crooked meant. She taught me a lot about composition.”

“Flowers are my passion, and then comes birds. With the flowers, I go into macro, and then you can learn to take pictures that are out of focus, instead of the carpenter’s way.” Peters now spends each winter taking photos of flowers, such as a recent photo shoot of daffodils. “In the wintertime it’s an indoor sport.” However, he doesn’t limit himself only to flowers, making sure to capture images of everything from the birds at the feeder outside his window to the nesting blue herons he hopes to see this spring.

Peters’ work is regularly displayed at Picture Perfect in Grande Prairie, and most recently a dozen of his photos were also displayed at the Ovations Theatre.

Following The Light

THREE FLORAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

BY SUSAN THOMPSON

Gertrude Stein famously said “A rose is

a rose is a rose”. Yet throughout human

history flowers have been used not only

to beautify our homes and lives, but as

symbols and metaphors for everything

from romance to femininity to the cycle of

human existence itself. These three floral

photographers all emphasize the learning

curve they followed to become better able

to capture their own visions of the world

with a camera. Just like the flowers they

photograph, they are constantly seeking

the light,

art of the peace 24

KIM SCOTTKim Scott was recently invited by the Prairie Art Gallery to show the photos she has taken of the gallery restoration dur-ing the last six months. This exhibit will be her first public show since she left school. Scott studied photography af-ter high school, and also took architectural photography for three years at university but eventually put photography on hold for two decades.

During that hiatus, Scott noticed her vision deteriorating. “Due to my perseverance in finding a doctor who took me seriously the brain tumor pushing against my optic nerve was removed. I noticed when it came back a second time, and had more surgery plus radiation. The radiation left me with some memory and attention troubles, but luckily, most of my vision came back.” This very literal change in Scott’s vision still affects her and her photographic works.

“Every day I am consciously aware of and thankful for my vi-sion. I regained nearly normal eyesight after both surgeries. Because of the remaining double vision, I do need to turn my body more than my head to look left or right. And, I read with one eye closed, just like I take pictures. One eye is for close, the other for far away. Each eye sees colors a bit differently, so I have a choice.”

“It is so thrilling to learn different ways to photograph and process, and my favorite has been macro flowers. Macro photography shows us hidden landscapes, sometimes pop-ulated with their own now visible creatures.” Scott adds that flowers celebrate life, something she has also learned to do since her surgeries. Scott also finds that she has not only become fascinated with floral subjects, but the very light that illuminates them. “Light hides and light reveals. It is the glow of backlight, the texture of sidelight, and the strike of front light, the last of the light and the first, especially when I am up all night. Sunshine shows textures, shadows, and drama, while cloudy days reveal shape and form,” she says. “I follow the light.”

SHARON KRUSHELSharon Krushel is a floral photographer who, like Peters, be-gan photography almost accidentally. Her first nature pho-tography was for the purpose of Powerpoint backgrounds. She found that song lyrics were more visible on dark back-grounds, and started looking for images with a dark back-ground but a few flowers catching sunlight.

The images came to symbolize something for Krushel, a meaning she continues to pursue in her photography. “There are certain images I find speak to me. I’m looking for images of hope, grace, survival, and perseverance.” “Sometimes we get feeling trapped in a work situation or other environment where we feel that the artist in us is being paved over. I remember heading for the hills feeling extremely weighed down and depressed on a very dreary day in late May, when I came upon a tiny wild violet barely visible under a dump of snow. It was at the topmost point of my hike, and I had not brought my camera.

So I walked down through the snow, the slush, and the mud to get my Nikon, and I don’t even know how long I was on my belly on the ground photographing this little Johnny Jump Up smiling bravely at me from under that heavy, wet blanket. I went back the next day with my camera, and there it was open to the light, with only one drop of melted snow remain-ing on one petal.” For Krushel, it was a profound message, a sign in flower form. “I seem to see life in pictures, but I so often couldn’t capture what I saw. A lot of times it would be specific lighting, but the photograph would turn out differently,” she explains.

Krushel now feels that her work has progressed to the point where she can capture the way she sees things, showing tiny pieces of light in the darkness.

LEFT Tulip Petals - Klaus Peters CENTRE Wild Roses After Rain - Sharon Krushel RIGHT Untitled - Kim Scott

art of the peace 25

McNaughtHomestead Heritage

www.mcnaught-homestead-heritage.com

Friday July 20thWine & Cheese Reception Special Exhibit of Artwork by Euphemia and Family

Saturday July 21stBeef-on-a-bun Dinner & Barn Dance

Sunday July 22ndAnnual McNaught Festival & I.O.D.E. Strawberry TeaLive music, art demos, exhibits & children's activities

Come

with us!

100 years since the McNaughts' came to the Homestead

Night Fog and Old Birch TreesShaded pencil drawing 14" x 11" Spring 1986

Robert GuestCall the Prairie Art Gallery for information 780-532-8111

art of the peace 26

Shows & Sales:Mar 19th & 20th - Montrose Cultural Centre

Apr 29th - St. Marie School in Spirit River 10-5pm

Jun - Fairview Fine Arts Centre

Nov 3rd & 4th - Montrose Cultural Centre Hosting our 30th year Anniversary Sale!

EVERYONE IS INVITED!

30 Anniversary!

is celebrating their

th

We are now accepting applications for new members! Please contact us at 780-518-5071 artistsnorth@live.ca or visit us on Facebook

780-933-6030svhotte@telusplanet.netwww.vickihotte.com

Vicki

Original Art from the Peace Region

Hotte BFA

Available at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre

GrantCBerg.com

Tel: (250) 782-2601 www.dcartgallery.ca

101 - 816 Alaska Ave, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4T6

Artists Run Centre | 13 Exhibits Per Year | Art Rental Education Programs | By Donation | Year Round | Gift Shop

> Canvas, Fine Art & Photo Paper > Giclee Quality Prints

Printing from $7/sq.ft. (scanning and colour correction are extra)

graphic . print . web

www.imagedesignpros.com780.532.6353

Fine Art Reproductions & Art Cards

art of the peace 27

EXHIBITS & EVENTSArt of the Peace Travelling ShowPeace River Municipal Library and Cultural Centre May 1st – 31st

Grande Cache Tourism CentreJuly 18th – August 9th

Art of the Peace Dream Home Exhibit2012 Dream Home at10632 158 Ave, Westlake VillageMay 11th – June 29thMay 16th Wine and Cheese Art Appreciation Night. All Art of the Peace members and guests are welcome.

OPPORTUNITIES Coming in 2014Juried exhibition at The Art Gal-lery of Grande Prairie in spring 2014 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the city of Grande Prairie. Watch for details at www.artofthepeace.ca

BEAVERLODGECULTURAL CENTRE

EXHIBITS & EVENTS19th Annual Quilt Show & SaleApril 1st – 26th

Toni Schuler Show & SaleApril 29th – May 24th

Beaverlodge Regional High School Art Students ExhibitMay 27th – June 14th

BACS 2nd Bi-Annual Juried ShowJune 24th – July 26th

Carrie Klukas Show & SaleJuly 29th – August 23rd

Beaverlodge Art Society Miniature ShowAugust 26th – September 20th

Vivian Farnsworth Show & SaleSeptember 23rd – October 25th

Carol Mayer, Tanya Proctor, Merv Webber, Laurie Wedler Show & SaleOctober 28th – November 22nd

Eileen Coristine & Melanie Hellum Show & SaleNovember 25th – December 20th

PROGRAMSHot Glass - Slumpingwith Wendy Olson-LepchukApril 21st, 1 – 3pm andApril 22nd, 6 – 7pmCost: $50/student

Call 780-354-3600 for more info or visit BeaverlodgeGallery.com.

OPPORTUNITIESGallery exhibition and gift shop sales opportunities are available. Call 780-354-3600 for info.

MCNAUGHT HOMESTEAD

EXHIBITS & EVENTSMcNaught 100th AnniversaryJuly 20th – 22nd

OPPORTUNITIESThe Schoolhouse Studio is available for retreats, classroom, gallery or meetings. For info call 780-512-6316 or visit McNaught-Homestead-Heritage.com

DAWSON CREEK ART GALLERY

EXHIBITS & EVENTSExploring ArtMarch 26th – April 21st

Mixed Media from School District 59April 23rd – May 12th

Peace Liard Juried Art ShowMay 14th – June 10th

In The SummertimeJune 11th – August 19th

Cailey OldershawAugust 20th – September 15th

Piecemakers Quilt ExhibitSeptember 17th – October 13th

Peace Watercolour SocietyOctober 15th – November 10th

PROGRAMSIntermediate Digital PhotographyMay 2nd, 9th & 16th, 6 – 8pm Cost: $165/student

Traditional Rug Braiding for AdultsApril 28th & 29th, 10am – 4pm Cost: $50/student

OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities for exhibition. More info at DCArtGallery.ca

FAIRVIEW FINE ARTS CENTRE

EXHIBITS & EVENTSFirst ImpressionsGene Schulz April

Artists at School/Creations Inc May

Artists North Show & SaleJune

Members Annual Summer Show July

Connie Larsback & Friends August

PROGRAMSPhone the Centre at 780-835-2697, email finearts@telus.net or visit FairviewFinearts.com

FORT ST. JOHNCOMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL

EXHIBITS & EVENTSArt In The ParkCentennial Park July 1st

NORTH PEACE CULTURAL CENTRE

EXHIBITS & EVENTSAnnual Art AuctionApril 28th

Elizabeth HarrisApril 5th – May 3rd

Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian ArtistsMay 4th – 31st

PROGRAMSAdult Guide To Digital PhotographyMondays, 7 – 9pm April 23rd – May 28th Cost: $75/student

GRANDE CACHE TOURISM & INTERPRETIVE CENTRE

EXHIBITS & EVENTSExhibiting the Palette Pals Art Club and local art year round. Check out GrandeCache.ca for more info.

Art of the Peace Travelling ShowJuly 18th – August 9th

CENTRE FOR CREATIVE ARTS

EXHIBITS & EVENTSCENTRE GALLERY Northern ShowcaseACACA Northern Zone ShowMay 4th – 25th

GP Photography ClubJune 1st – 29th

Yellow CFCA Juried Show July 6th – 27th

Remembering Buildings & PlacesLeona Cochrane August 3rd – 31st

My Diverse Diversion Whitney Lee HayesSeptember 7th – 28th

Fourth DimensionMary Mottishaw, Mary Parslow, Shauna Hoffos & Carrie KlukasOctober 5th – 26th

Peace Harmonies: SquaredPeace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian ArtistsNovember 2nd – 23rd

WALL GALLERY Exchanging LimbsCandace GunsolleyMay 4th – 25th

Welcoming Bliss Melanie JennerJune 1st – 29th

Chris DehausJuly 6th – 27th

Lesley DugganAugust 3rd – 31st

Boreal High: Class of 2012Joselyn Aldred & Cortney WarrSeptember 7th – 28th

South of the BorderJoan DollOctober 5th – 26th

Churches of Beaverlodge & AreaChristy TeasedaleNovember 2nd – 23rd

PROGRAMS The Centre has classes for everyone! Check out our website, CreativeCentre.ca or call 780-814-6080.

OPPORTUNITIES We are currently looking for instructors to teach a variety of classes.

GRANDE PRAIRIE MUSEUM

EXHIBITS & EVENTS100th Anniversary of the Alberta Federation of LabourRodacker/Campbell Gallery

Beaverlodge, AB Dawson Creek, BC

Fairview, AB

Grande Prairie, AB

CHECK OUT WWW.ARTOFTHEPEACE.CA FOR MORE DETAILS, LOCATIONS AND HOURS

Exhibitions Opportunities+ Fort St. John, BC

Grande Cache, AB

Art of the Peace

art of the peace 28

PROGRAMSTours and school programming available phone 780-532-5482.

GRANDE PRAIRIE REGIONAL COLLEGE EXHIBITS & EVENTS

Exhibits throughout the year in the Glass Gallery.

PROGRAMSThe Fine Arts Department at GPRC offers courses in Music, Art and Drama with a focus on student learning and success. We offer a range of programs in both traditional and new medias. Call Joanne at 780-539-2443 for more information about any of our programs.

ART GALLERY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE(formerly The Prairie Art Gallery)

EXHIBITS & EVENTSArt Insight ToursFree one hour tour of a behind-the-scenes look into the gallery’s mission to preserve, inspire and explore. To book a tour time call 780-357-7486.

Journey 2012Jim Stokes & Carmen Haakstad May 11th – July 15th

Winter on the WapitiRobert GuestMay 11th – Fall 2012

QEII HOSPITAL,THE COURTYARD GALLERY

EXHIBITS & EVENTSGALLERYFaye OszliMarch & April Rev. John KonuMay & June TREX Travelling ExhibitionJuly & August

Janet EnfieldSeptember & October SHOWCASESCandace GunsolleyApril - June

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTSFestival of Trees Art Market is looking for any artists or artisans that wish to take part in this years festival in mid November. Please call Carrie Klukas at 780-830-4855.

UNIQUE GALLERY

OPPORTUNITIESOpportunities for exhibitions. Call Dan at 780-538-2790.

HIGH PRAIRIE & DISTRICT MUSEUM

OPPORTUNITIESIf you are interested in showing your work at the High Prairie & District Musuem please call 780-523-2601.

MANNING ART COMMITTEE

EXHIBITS & EVENTSManning Street FestivalAnything That Goes Art Walk May 26th

Matta FestDunvegan Provincial ParkMay 6thFor more information, call Christina at 780-765-2141.

PEACE RIVER MUNICIPAL LIBRARY AND CULTURAL CENTRE EXHIBITS & EVENTS

Nikki GourSolo ExhibitionApril 3rd – 28th

Art of the Peace Travelling ShowMay 1st – 31st

Ron KostyniukLiberation From Natural FormJune

The Peace RiverJuly

OPPORTUNITIESIf you are interested in showing your work at the Peace River Mu-nicipal Library and Cultural Centre please call 780-624-4076.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONSThe Peace River July

For exhibition opportunities email lprudholme@prmlibrary.ab.ca

PEACE RIVER MUSEUM

EXHIBITS & EVENTSArtists of the PeaceArt wall rotates on a monthly basis.

High Prairie AB

Peace River, AB

TheÊWorksÊArtÊ&ÊDesignÊFestivalÊÊÊÊJuneÊ21Ê-ÊJulyÊ3,Ê2012ÊÊÊtheworks.ab.ca

ArtÊandÊdesignÊcomeÊaliveÊinÊdowntownÊEdmonton.

2D or not 2D.

The 27th Annual The Works Art & Design Festival, a 13 day celebration of art and design in Downtown Edmonton will take place for the 27th year June 21 – July 3, 2012. The Festival will have a core of themed exhibits on collaboration including a feature exhibit from Indigeneity a Calgary based Aboriginal Artist collective.

The Works Canadian Aboriginal Artist Program, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts since 2009, features contemporary Aboriginal artists addressing big picture is-sues that face Canadian Aboriginal people. This program is presented LIVE on the Festival’s main site, Sir Winston Churchill Square and will see over 160,000 visitors. Mem-bers of Indigeneity will participate in demonstrations, lec-tures and informal discussions, which are all open to the public free of charge.

Indigeneity, supports radical artwork and thinking towards contemporary indigenous art through diverse disciplines and is dedicated to the support of contemporary First Na-tions and indigenous art and new media.

See The Works

Manning, AB

art of the peace 29

Grant BergI have a deep connection with the art of Lawren Harris and Emily Carr and their Canadian landscapes of trees, mountains and skies. I love to challenge myself by carving the intangibles, things often painted but never sculpted like the Northern Lights, storms or a night sky.

Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” I couldn’t agree more. I place a stone on a rotating stand and start turning it and repositioning it until I see the statue inside. This stage is the most exciting, as the sculpture takes its future shape. It takes a lot of feeling, interpreting the flow,

direction and character of the stone and seeing how the lines of one side influence and complement the others.

The last stage, refining and polishing, might take up to 77 per cent of the time in the overall process. It’s that time and effort that ultimately make the piece glow with presence and gives it it’s breath.

I am always aware that I need to capture light and create shadows so that the piece has a captivating presence. It’s like creating visual poetry.

art of the peace 30

�ne arts conservatory

be amazing...• We offer lessons in piano, voice, guitar, drums, percussion, violin, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, euphonium,

cello, french horn and baritone • Quality instruction by qualified instructors • Welcoming students of all ages and levels of

ability • Comfortable studios and facilities • Rates for instruction vary from $15 - $50 per 1/2 hour lesson

Fine Arts

be inspired...

PianoGwendolyn Bartek Gr. 10 RCM, MEd, BACarmen Bartel LTCL, BMusAlison Dalgleish Gr. 8 RCMCarmen Gorgichuk LMus, BMus, MMusKathryn Seppala ARCTJeremy Thielmann Performers ARCTStephanie Webster BMus

VoiceStacy Berg BFA in Drama, RCM Theory 2, RCM Gr. 8 VoiceFay Bredeson BMusTravis Fowler Music DiplomaMary Ann Lynch Diploma Music, RCM Gr. 9John Murray BMus (Hon), MMusEllyn Otterson BMusKatherine Skretting BA, DiplomaStephanie Webster BMusGuitar

Sarah BiedermannTravis Fowler Music DiplomaSophia Gould Music DiplomaChris McIntyre BMus

ViolinBrooklyn Biegel Gr. 9 RCMSarah Card

GPRC Oriana Girls ChoirFay Bredeson BMus

Music for Young ChildrenJeannette Borstad MEd., BEd, BMus, MYC Level 1

Euphonium, Tuba, French Horn, BaritoneLawrence Dommer BMus., BEd.

PhotographyDoug Duplessis BA, BEd.

DrumsTravis Fowler Music Diploma

Flute, Saxophone, ClarinetRobert Howey BMus, MMus, DMus

CelloKatarzyna Szczeniak Masters of Music

Trumpet, Beginner BrassRod Vanstone BEd.

PercussionGeoff Whittall BMus (Hon), MMus

Photoshop, IllustratorDoug Wills BFA, PCMT

By our qualified instructors

To Register for any of our Programs:Visit, Phone, Fax or Email:GPRC Fine Arts ConservatoryRoom L21210726-106 AvenueGrande Prairie, ABT8V 4C4

Office Hours:Monday - Friday 9am - 12pm & 1pm - 3pm(Ph.) 780-539-2444(Fax) 780-539-2446fbredeson@gprc.ab.ca

May 11th to July 15th, 2012 | Opening Reception: May 11th at 7pm | Journey2012.ca

2012C A R M E N H A A K STA D & J I M STO K E S a c o l l e c t i o n o f w o r k s

Formerly �e Prairie Art Galler y #103, 9839 – 103 Avenue, Grande Prairie, Alberta T8V 6M7 | Phone: 780-532-8111 | www.prairiegaller y.com