Guide to the District of Sechelt’s Public Art Collection

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2nd Floor, 5797 Cowrie Street, PO Box 129, Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A0, (604) 885-1986, Sechelt.ca Page 2

Henry J. DE FOREST

Sechelt Waterfront, 1902 Medium: Oil on canvas Location: Sechelt Community Archives

Dedication on back of painting: “This picture presented to The Corporation of the Village of Sechelt by Geoffrey Whitaker on behalf of the Whitaker Family on the occasion of the official opening of the Municipal Hall November 24th 1956.”

Henry J. DeForest (1860-1924) DeForest studied drawing and painting at South Kensington School of Art, London; the Julién Academy in Paris; and in Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1880 to 1883 he travelled and sketched in England, France, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Germany and Switzerland. He first settled in Vancouver in 1891 and in 1921 he moved to Banff. He was particularly noted for his paintings of lakes, mountains, and coast of British Columbia. His earlier paintings were tight and detailed, but there is some evidence that he later broadened his style. His paintings were exhibited in Vancouver in the 1890s and he played an active role in most of the major artistic developments that occurred in the city during that time. He became the first secretary of the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver in 1894 (this was the precursor to the Vancouver Museum, now known as the Museum of Vancouver). He was also the first secretary of the Museum. Appointed curator of the Museum in 1905, he retired from this position in 1912. At that time, his colleague Bernard McErvoy wrote:

“Mr. DeForest has done more than any one other man towards the up-building of the Museum, and under his direction it has successfully developed into a considerable attraction ... He ... gave several years without reward.”

DeForest’s painting depicting Sechelt's first hotel and second store is said to have been given to Bert Whitaker in lieu of payment for his hotel bill. When the village of Sechelt opened its new municipal hall in 1956, Geoffrey Whitaker presented the DeForest painting as a gift to the newly incorporated village. Twenty years later the ‘city fathers’ took it down and Ada Dawe placed it in the Sechelt Public Library & Archives where it has remained ever since.

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Alfred A. BRADBURY

Sechelt B.C., from Rose Cottage, 1914 Medium: Watercolour on paper Location: Municipal Hall Office (long-term storage)

This is one of Alfred A. Bradbury's two watercolour paintings in the District of Sechelt public art collection. Alfred A. Bradbury was the father of Charles Bradbury, a photographer and Sechelt's first telegraph operator from 1913-1914. Many of his son’s photographs are in the City of Vancouver Archives. Alfred A. Bradbury was an Associate of the Royal College of Artists (London) and visited his son Charles in the summers of 1913 and 1914. He was rumored to dislike both Herbert Whitaker’s wharf and tree stumps, so purposefully omitted these from his paintings. He painted similar scenes of Sechelt at least three times. Ada Dawe donated one set of watercolours to the Sechelt Public Library and Archives. This particular painting is from the set purchased by the District of Sechelt in 1973, and a third set belongs to the Whitaker family.

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Alfred A. BRADBURY

The Convent and Indians’ Cottages (Indian Reservation), Sechelt, BC, 1914 Medium: Watercolour on paper Location: Municipal Hall Office (long-term storage)

This is one of Alfred A. Bradbury's two watercolour paintings in the District of Sechelt public art collection. Alfred A. Bradbury was the father of Charles Bradbury, a photographer and Sechelt's first telegraph operator from 1913-1914. Many of his son’s photographs are in the City of Vancouver Archives. Alfred A. Bradbury was an Associate of the Royal College of Artists (London) and visited his son Charles in the summers of 1913 and 1914. He was rumored to dislike both Herbert Whitaker’s wharf and tree stumps, so purposefully omitted these from his paintings. He painted similar scenes of Sechelt at least three times. Ada Dawe donated one set of watercolours to the Sechelt Public Library and Archives. This particular painting is from the set purchased by the District of Sechelt in 1973, and a third set belongs to the Whitaker family.

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Don JARVIS

Night Forest, 1962 Medium: Oil on masonite Location: Sechelt Public Library

“I see the painter as an instrument, a function, a conduit of the essential unity. My work is metaphor never simile; I make no distinction between subject and object, inner and outer, maker and viewer. I am continuously surprised by what arises on the canvas or paper. I am not a ‘creator’. How can one create what is already there? I am mist, trees, rain, sun, brush, canvas, weather, season, figure.”

– Don Jarvis

Donald (Don) Jarvis, (1923 – 2001) Born in Vancouver in 1923, Jarvis remained connected to the area his entire life. From an early age Jarvis had a passion for drawing, and aspired to be a cartoonist as a teenager. He enrolled in the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University of Art + Design) in 1941 and studied under B.C. Binning and Jack Shadbolt. After a hiatus, he returned to the school in 1946, and after being awarded an Emily Carr scholarship, completed his education in 1948. His talent was noticed by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, who suggested that he move to New York to pursue his painting with Abstract Expressionist artist Hans Hofmann. During his sojourn in New York, Jarvis absorbed Hofmann’s “push-pull doctrine of colour and form.” His experience as a student of Hoffman’s led him on a voyage of exploration of the human condition, especially in an urban setting which was affected by profound and disturbing forces. For the rest of his working life, proximity to the forest influenced his art, his perception of life and place in the natural world. He returned to Vancouver in 1950 and had a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The National Gallery of Canada acquired two of his canvases that same year. Beginning during the Cold War crackdown on artists affiliated with Communism, the link between social realism and communist freedom was made. A subsequent focus on abstraction in the form of ‘inscapes’, ‘interior landscapes’ and ‘inner landscapes’ became evident in Jarvis’ works.

Continued on next page…

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Continued from previous page… Jarvis’s exhibition history is extensive, notably showing at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and the New Design Gallery in Vancouver. He exhibited internationally, in multiple Canadian Biennials (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, and 1963), the International Engraving and Drawing Exhibition in Switzerland in 1956, and the Inter-American Exhibition of Painting and Graphic Art in Mexico in 1958. Jarvis was also awarded many distinguished honours during his career, including a Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship in 1961, and was named an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1962, becoming a full member in 1967. Don Jarvis died in Sechelt on March 22, 2001

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Frank DIXON

unification pole, c. 1986 Medium: Yellow cedar, latex paint, varnish Location: Municipal Hall

Frank Dixon Sr. was born in Stockton, California in 1945. His Father was German and his mother was shíshálh (Sechelt Nation). This is one of the first poles Dixon carved, and it was completed around the time of the Sechelt Elementary School pole (1985). Dixon learned traditional carving techniques from local shíshálh carvers Jamie Jeffries (Sechelt) and Arnold Jones (Egmont). This pole is hand carved from locally sourced yellow cedar, painted with latex paint, and finished with varnish. When the artist was interviewed in 2013, he described the animal forms as follows: an eagle, a raven, a human mask, a grizzly bear, and a frog. Dixon had originally intended to carve a wolf near the base of the pole, but in the interest of creating more height, he chose a bear figure instead. According to former shíshálh Nation Chief Stan Dixon, this pole is a ‘unification pole’ and was originally gifted by the shíshálh Nation to the Town of Gibsons and the District of Sechelt in the 1980s. The intention was for the pole to be shared between the communities of Gibsons and Sechelt. At some point in the 1980s, the pole was transferred from the Town of Gibsons to the District of Sechelt Municipal offices and it has remained here ever since. It is the wish of the artist for the pole to remain in Sechelt.

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Anna HANSON

Sechelt Welcomes You, 1994 Medium: Red and yellow cedar Location: Entrance to the District of Sechelt, Hwy 101

Anna Hanson (1952 – 2018) Relocating from Vancouver in 1980, Anna Hanson worked from an art studio in Roberts Creek starting in 1992. Hanson completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at UBC in 1974, and continued her specialization in sculpture at Emily Carr and Capilano College in the late 1970s. Hanson’s inspiration comes from her grandfather, the late Dudley Carter (1891-1992) who was famous for his monumental wood sculptures. Hanson’s material of choice is cedar and she avoids the use of power tools, preferring instead the tools of her grandfather – an axe, adze, and chisel. She strives to stay true to the medium, preserving the natural character of the wood. Themes of nature (both animal and plant forms) are common in her pieces. Her commissioned works include everything from hand-carved feast bowls, to signs and doors, and even 3-D murals. Sechelt Welcomes You consists of two identical signs, hand carved by Hanson. They are located at the east and west ends of the District of Sechelt, along the Sunshine Coast Highway. Former Mayor of Sechelt, Nancy MacLarty, commissioned the signs through a competition open to all artists on the Sunshine Coast. Hanson’s design of a stylized blue heron flying over a large sun was chosen by Mayor and Council in 1993 and completed the following summer. Hanson also carved the sign for the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives (Gibsons).

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Don JARVIS

Inscape – Night Forest, 1996 Medium: Acrylic and India ink on paper Location: Municipal Hall

“I see the painter as an instrument, a function, a conduit of the essential unity. My work is metaphor never simile; I make no distinction between subject and object, inner and outer, maker and viewer. I am continuously surprised by what arises on the canvas or paper. I am not a ‘creator’. How can one create what is already there? I am mist, trees, rain, sun, brush, canvas, weather, season, figure.”

– Don Jarvis

Donald (Don) Jarvis, (1923 – 2001) Born in Vancouver in 1923, Jarvis remained connected to the area his entire life. From an early age Jarvis had a passion for drawing, and aspired to be a cartoonist as a teenager. He enrolled in the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University of Art + Design) in 1941 and studied under B.C. Binning and Jack Shadbolt. After a hiatus, he returned to the school in 1946, and after being awarded an Emily Carr scholarship, completed his education in 1948. His talent was noticed by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, who suggested that he move to New York to pursue his painting with Abstract Expressionist artist Hans Hofmann. During his sojourn in New York, Jarvis absorbed Hofmann’s “push-pull doctrine of colour and form.” His experience as a student of Hoffman’s led him on a voyage of exploration of the human condition, especially in an urban setting which was affected by profound and disturbing forces. For the rest of his working life, proximity to the forest influenced his art, his perception of life and place in the natural world. He returned to Vancouver in 1950 and had a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The National Gallery of Canada acquired two of his canvases that same year. Beginning during the Cold War crackdown on artists affiliated with Communism, the link between social realism and communist freedom was made. A subsequent focus on abstraction in the form of ‘inscapes’, ‘interior landscapes’ and ‘inner landscapes’ became evident in Jarvis’ works.

Continued on next page…

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Continued from previous page… Jarvis’s exhibition history is extensive, notably showing at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and the New Design Gallery in Vancouver. He exhibited internationally, in multiple Canadian Biennials (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, and 1963), the International Engraving and Drawing Exhibition in Switzerland in 1956, and the Inter-American Exhibition of Painting and Graphic Art in Mexico in 1958. Jarvis was also awarded many distinguished honours during his career, including a Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship in 1961, and was named an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1962, becoming a full member in 1967. Don Jarvis died in Sechelt on March 22, 2001 Inscapes were a series of paper works produced in the 1990s and stylistically akin to the works he was producing in the 1970s. The title refers to Jarvis’ belief that the artist is a part of the natural landscape, and his act of painting is in fact a conduit of nature. Three of the works from this series, Inscape – Winter (1995), Inscape – Verdant Forest (1995), and Inscape – Night Forest (1996), make good use of exceptionally brilliant artists’ acrylic paints, and as such, the paintings achieve a remarkable glow. With considerable dynamism and attack, Jarvis’ Inscape – Night Forest is an elaboration of his familiar West Coast tree image. The colours are bold, with lavish use of scarlet and purple. Looking at the painting, the viewer can see that Jarvis has intently studied the structure of the tree, the way it can remain still at the centre, while gently moving on the periphery. The District purchased this work directly from the Jarvis Estate, on the recommendation of the Arts, Culture and Heritage Advisory Committee in 2009.

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Gordon ADASKIN

Chaster Creek Series: Pink Rock Embankment, 1996 Medium: Acrylic on paper Location: Municipal Hall

“Gordon thought that he had died and gone to heaven when we moved here [Gibsons] from Winnipeg. It is such a special place and he was so happy to have spent his last years here.”

– Jan (Busch) Adaskin

Gordon Adaskin, R.C.A. (1931 – 2001) Gordon Adaskin graduated from the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) with an Honours Diploma in Drawing and Painting in 1952. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1976. Gordon Adaskin was the nephew of famous Canadian composer Murray Adaskin and the musician and CBC broadcaster Harry Adaskin. When Gordon’s father passed away, Harry Adaskin and his wife Frances adopted him. He moved to Vancouver in 1946, and would forego his final year at highschool in order to attend the Vancouver School of Art. Subsequently, Gordon toured Europe, paying particular attention to the museums and galleries of Italy. Upon his return to Canada, Adaskin went to the Alberta College of Art, and was soon hired to teach at the University of Manitoba, in the Faculty of Architecture, where he remained for over twenty-five years. His artwork was regularly exhibited at the University, as well as in touring shows. Adaskin, besides being a visual artist, was also an interviewer and commentator on art and artists. He interviewed many of the leading Canadian artists of the mid-twentieth century, including B.C. Binning and Jack Shadbolt. In 1995 Adaskin moved to Gibsons and married Jan Busch, his second wife, in April 1997. This work is from Adaskin’s Chaster Creek Series. A set of 5 paintings he made soon after relocating to the Sunshine Coast because he was so enchanted with the local landscape. The movement and life of the forested shores along Chaster Creek are captured in each of Adaskin’s brushstrokes. Colourful flecks of sunlight appear to dance atop the fast-flowing waters, adding a playful vibrancy to the composition.

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Gordon HALLORAN

Catch of the Day, 1997 Medium: Acrylic and latex paint Location: Cowrie St. at Periwinkle Lane

Gordon Halloran started his career as an illustrator, and in 1979 held his first solo show of paintings at the Toronto Gallery (formally known as the Nancy Poole Studio). Halloran taught classes at the Ontario College of Art and Design before moving to BC in 1989. In recent years, Halloran has become known to an international audience as the creator of Paintings Below Zero, monumental public art installations involving painted sheets of ice. In 1982, Halloran’s reputation for life-like portraits brought him to the attention of a stock trader in Vancouver, John Woods. At the time, the Vancouver Stock Exchange announced plans to upgrade and modernize their trading floor. Woods commissioned Halloran to create a commemorative painting of the old trading floor, with portraits of traders and officials of the exchange. Halloran also created group portraits of traders in action at exchanges in Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and New York in mixed media, acrylic and pencil. This mural was part of the District of Sechelt’s Downtown Revitalization Project (sponsored jointly by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Housing, and the District of Sechelt). Based on a historical photograph from the Sechelt Community Archives, this mural features Captain Thomas Patrick O’Kelly alongside six shíshálh Nation fishermen. The men are displaying their catch of salmon on the wharf in Trail Bay, in 1912. O’Kelly was involved with a Vancouver-based firm that produced advertising photographs. This particular photograph was commissioned by Sechelt pioneer entrepreneur Herbert Whitaker, and was sent for display at Canada House in London, England to attract tourists and potential land buyers to the Sunshine Coast.

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Carmen GEHRING

Cougar Lady, Bergie Solberg, 1997 Medium: Oil on masonite Location: Sechelt Public Library

“I have eaten cougars … they taste okay.”

– Bergilot “Bergie” Solberg

The Solberg family consisting of Herman, his wife, Olga, and their two daughters, Bergilot and Minnie, arrived at Sechelt Inlet from Norway in 1926. The Solbergs settled in Sandy Hook, and Herman Solberg began hand-logging in 1928. The two sisters worked for their father, and after his death, Bergie continued to work in logging camps and tend her trap lines. Both Bergie and Minnie eventually became markswomen, and with their rifles and hunted cougars, deer, river otter, bobcats, mink and raccoons for pelts. Bergie, known to many locals as “The Cougar Lady” was expert at tracking and killing dangerous cougars. She lived up Inlet most of her life, logging and trapping in solitude, only occasionally coming into town by boat for supplies. Minnie, or “Mountain Minnie” married and lived with her husband in the Desolation Sound area until his death, at which time she moved in with Bergie on the west side of Sechelt Inlet. Minnie died in 2001 and Bergie in 2002.

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Carmen GEHRING

Cougar Lady, Minnie Solberg, 1999 Medium: Oil on masonite Location: Sechelt Public Library

“Painting is quite healing and nurturing. All my life it has helped me carry through.”

– Carmen Gehring

Artist Carmen Gehring was born in 1949 in Germany and moved to Canada in 1953. A self-proclaimed gypsy, Gehring spent her childhood on the Sunshine Coast. In the 1970s she moved to upstate New York and immersed herself in the Woodstock artistic community. In 1992, Gehring and her husband, the late John Fischer, moved back to the Sunshine Coast where they kept a studio gallery running until 2004, at which point they re-located to Parksville on Vancouver Island. Gehring’s portraits speak volumes. She has said that she paints portraits because every human is a “bittersweet work in progress” and that sentiment is evident on the face of each of her subjects she has painted. A self-taught artist, Gehring started painting in oils at age 15 and over the years her work has gone through many changes. Her subject matter focuses on people she meets and places she has visited. Gehring continues to find inspiration in the diverse communities, landscapes and interesting people of Vancouver Island.

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Michel BEAUVAIS

A Place of Infinite Beauty, Between Two Waters, 2006 Medium: Serpentine stone and granite Location: Sprit Square Sculpture Garden

Michel Beauvais is a member of the Kahnawake Mohawk band situated near Montreal. He was raised in Ste-Adele, a small town in the Laurentian Mountains, and close to the influence of his Mohawk community. His grandfather Arthur Areuroktha and his father Maurice were integral to his artistic development through sharing Mohawk myths and legends. Beauvais’ art explores his Mohawk heritage through the incorporation of traditional First Nations symbols and motifs. His work reflects a contemporary vision while strongly echoing traditional Mohawk style. Beauvais has been working in stone as a professional sculptor for more than 20 years. His studio is located in Halfmoon Bay and it is from the scenic Sunshine Coast that he draws his inspiration. The quarrying of his stone from remote sites has become an integral part of his creative process. When considering this work of art, Beauvais reflected on what “Sechelt” meant to him, and he kept coming back to the idea of water – its feel and its energy. From here he developed the concept of Sechelt as a place of “infinite (∞) beauty”, located between two waters. The basic form of the sculpture looks like an infinity symbol turned on its side, and allows both light and wind to flow through the piece. The wavy lines carved into the top of the sculpture are meant to mimic crashing ocean waves. The sculpture, carved from a locally sourced greenish serpentine stone, has a polished finish to glisten in the sun as does the water, and the colours are reminiscent of our Coastal forests. The granite base was left rough to reflect the rugged nature of the surrounding landscape.

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George PRATT

Summer Time, 2009 Medium: Granite and stainless steel Location: Spirit Square Sculpture Garden

Pratt is a professional sculptor who works in stone; his studio is located in Halfmoon Bay. Born in Ontario in 1939, he studied carving under the sculptor E.B. Cox in Toronto in 1970. Pratt’s works are carved in granite, marble, jade and other exotic and ornamental stones found in Canada. Pratt’s work is widely collected in North America by both private individuals and corporations. His giant jade carving, The Emperor’s Sunrise, was a striking focal point at the Canadian Pavilion during the 2008 Olympic Games in China. A sundial for Sechelt was George Pratt’s initial idea when proposing this sculpture. He was looking for a topical sculptural subject, and thought that the most fitting metaphor would be an artwork that both engages its viewers and is ‘solar-powered’. This is an equatorial sundial; this type best allows for originality in design, and can be constructed in a monumental size on a small budget. Viewers of Summer Time may be puzzled because the time shadow of the gnomon doesn’t agree with their watch. This is because Summer Time tells solar time, i.e., the actual time measured by the sun, quite different from our watches which are corrected to accommodate a common time all across the Pacific Time Zone. The difference is nearly two hours. At our latitude, the sun’s rays will strike the sundial for only part of the year; hence, the granite bear on the opposite side is asleep and hibernating, waiting for the sun’s rays to return. Pratt is well-known for his monumental sculptural installations including the Terry Fox Memorial in Port Coquitlam, The Builders in Calgary, the Singing Frog in Burnaby, and the Royal Trust’s Sedna sculpture in Toronto – the making of which was documented in John Paskievich’s film “Sedna – The Making of a Myth” (1992).

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Jan POYNTER

Sandpiper Shadows, 2008 Medium: Acrylic paint Location: 5688 Cowrie St.

“My mission is to promote ‘professionalism’ in the arts … By educating creative individuals about basic business and marketing practices with regard to the production and presentation of their own work … By educating the business sector with regard to the value of creative skills, relationship building, and de-mystifying the creative process to make it a positive and productive experience.”

– Jan Poynter

Born 1957 in Victoria, B.C., artist Jan Poynter studied Painting and Printmaking at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and continued in Art Education at UBC. Poynter is a professional artist, illustrator, and art instructor currently living in Gibsons, BC. Her outstanding conceptual rendering abilities have contributed to her fine art and commercial career with expertise in watercolor and acrylic painting, and pastel. As part of the Sechelt Downtown Revitalization Plan, the District of Sechelt and BC Hydro put out a call for artists to decorate these boxes. The chosen theme was ‘Driftwood’, and as such, each of the boxes depicts different "phases" of driftwood on the Sunshine Coast - from log boom, to stranded high tide logs, to small bits of driftwood among the stones. Poynter was assisted by two volunteer high school students from Elphinstone Secondary: Jessica Pollard & Allegra Tandy. Since completing this project, Poynter has gone on to paint Hydro boxes in Gibsons, West Vancouver, and the Village of Queen Charlotte. The designs were painted freehand in dark brown - which is sometimes incorporated into the final painting as a graphic element. Poynter chose to work in acrylic paint with a palette of very strong lightfast pigments that will resist UV damage. Sandpiper Shadows is the smallest of the BC Hydro box series in Sechelt. It has a random texture of sandy greys and browns over all. The driftwood images are all taken from local scenes in the Sechelt area. The final water treatment on the base of the box is a combination of layered colors under the same transparent glaze used for the shadows on the birds, wood and stone forms. As a final touch, Poynter added some very faint footprints around the birds on the sand.

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Jan POYNTER

Rocktide, 2008 Medium: Acrylic paint Location: 5688 Cowrie St.

“My mission is to promote ‘professionalism’ in the arts … By educating creative individuals about basic business and marketing practices with regard to the production and presentation of their own work … By educating the business sector with regard to the value of creative skills, relationship building, and de-mystifying the creative process to make it a positive and productive experience.”

– Jan Poynter

Born 1957 in Victoria, B.C., artist Jan Poynter studied Painting and Printmaking at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and continued in Art Education at UBC. Poynter is a professional artist, illustrator, and art instructor currently living in Gibsons, BC. Her outstanding conceptual rendering abilities have contributed to her fine art and commercial career with expertise in watercolor and acrylic painting, and pastel. As part of the Sechelt Downtown Revitalization Plan, the District of Sechelt and BC Hydro put out a call for artists to decorate these boxes. The chosen theme was ‘Driftwood’, and as such, each of the boxes depicts different "phases" of driftwood on the Sunshine Coast - from log boom, to stranded high tide logs, to small bits of driftwood among the stones. Poynter was assisted by two volunteer high school students from Elphinstone Secondary: Jessica Pollard & Allegra Tandy. Since completing this project, Poynter has gone on to paint Hydro boxes in Gibsons, West Vancouver, and the Village of Queen Charlotte. The designs were painted freehand in dark brown - which is sometimes incorporated into the final painting as a graphic element. Poynter chose to work in acrylic paint with a palette of very strong lightfast pigments that will resist UV damage. Next to Sandpiper Shadows is the larger box titled Rocktide. This box is painted with a view of the local granite shoreline cliffs. The tidal action creates bands of color with "stains" of algae, salt and dark shells and growth in the unique cracks. The rugged rocks captures loose logs at high tide and storms and there they remain, bleached and pale.

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Jan POYNTER

Stoneshores, 2008 Medium: Acrylic paint Location: 5514 Wharf Ave.

“My mission is to promote ‘professionalism’ in the arts … By educating creative individuals about basic business and marketing practices with regard to the production and presentation of their own work … By educating the business sector with regard to the value of creative skills, relationship building, and de-mystifying the creative process to make it a positive and productive experience.”

– Jan Poynter

Born 1957 in Victoria, B.C., artist Jan Poynter studied Painting and Printmaking at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and continued in Art Education at UBC. Poynter is a professional artist, illustrator, and art instructor currently living in Gibsons, BC. Her outstanding conceptual rendering abilities have contributed to her fine art and commercial career with expertise in watercolor and acrylic painting, and pastel. As part of the Sechelt Downtown Revitalization Plan, the District of Sechelt and BC Hydro put out a call for artists to decorate these boxes. The chosen theme was ‘Driftwood’, and as such, each of the boxes depicts different "phases" of driftwood on the Sunshine Coast - from log boom, to stranded high tide logs, to small bits of driftwood among the stones. Poynter was assisted by two volunteer high school students from Elphinstone Secondary: Jessica Pollard & Allegra Tandy. Since completing this project, Poynter has gone on to paint Hydro boxes in Gibsons, West Vancouver, and the Village of Queen Charlotte. The designs were painted freehand in dark brown - which is sometimes incorporated into the final painting as a graphic element. Poynter chose to work in acrylic paint with a palette of very strong lightfast pigments that will resist UV damage. Stoneshores is a large Hydro box on Wharf Ave. features the typical rounded "seastone" shoreline, with heavy stumps and driftwood jumbled along below the dark edge of the forest. The pale native beach grass and evergreen salal makes an appearance, along with some gulls, crows, an oystercatcher, and even a black bear peering from the darkness.

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Jan POYNTER

Inlet Reflections, 2009 Medium: Acrylic paint Location: 5670 Wharf Ave.

“My mission is to promote ‘professionalism’ in the arts … By educating creative individuals about basic business and marketing practices with regard to the production and presentation of their own work … By educating the business sector with regard to the value of creative skills, relationship building, and de-mystifying the creative process to make it a positive and productive experience.”

– Jan Poynter

Born 1957 in Victoria, B.C., artist Jan Poynter studied Painting and Printmaking at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and continued in Art Education at UBC. Poynter is a professional artist, illustrator, and art instructor currently living in Gibsons, BC. Her outstanding conceptual rendering abilities have contributed to her fine art and commercial career with expertise in watercolor and acrylic painting, and pastel. As part of the Sechelt Downtown Revitalization Plan, the District of Sechelt and BC Hydro put out a call for artists to decorate these boxes. The chosen theme was ‘Driftwood’, and as such, each of the boxes depicts different "phases" of driftwood on the Sunshine Coast - from log boom, to stranded high tide logs, to small bits of driftwood among the stones. Poynter was assisted by two volunteer high school students from Elphinstone Secondary: Jessica Pollard & Allegra Tandy. Since completing this project, Poynter has gone on to paint Hydro boxes in Gibsons, West Vancouver, and the Village of Queen Charlotte. The designs were painted freehand in dark brown - which is sometimes incorporated into the final painting as a graphic element. Poynter chose to work in acrylic paint with a palette of very strong lightfast pigments that will resist UV damage. Inlet Reflections is a large Hydro box on Wharf Ave., next to the Porpoise Bay government wharf, features the iconic blue heron perched atop a floating log boom. This painting captures a popular view many residents and visitors have admired while enjoying lunch on the deck of the local pub.

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Jan POYNTER

Seastone – Low Tide, 2009 Medium: Acrylic paint Location: 5470 Inlet Ave.

“My mission is to promote ‘professionalism’ in the arts … By educating creative individuals about basic business and marketing practices with regard to the production and presentation of their own work … By educating the business sector with regard to the value of creative skills, relationship building, and de-mystifying the creative process to make it a positive and productive experience.”

– Jan Poynter

Born 1957 in Victoria, B.C., artist Jan Poynter studied Painting and Printmaking at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and continued in Art Education at UBC. Poynter is a professional artist, illustrator, and art instructor currently living in Gibsons, BC. Her outstanding conceptual rendering abilities have contributed to her fine art and commercial career with expertise in watercolor and acrylic painting, and pastel. As part of the Sechelt Downtown Revitalization Plan, the District of Sechelt and BC Hydro put out a call for artists to decorate these boxes. The chosen theme was ‘Driftwood’, and as such, each of the boxes depicts different "phases" of driftwood on the Sunshine Coast - from log boom, to stranded high tide logs, to small bits of driftwood among the stones. Poynter was assisted by two volunteer high school students from Elphinstone Secondary: Jessica Pollard & Allegra Tandy. Since completing this project, Poynter has gone on to paint Hydro boxes in Gibsons, West Vancouver, and the Village of Queen Charlotte. The designs were painted freehand in dark brown - which is sometimes incorporated into the final painting as a graphic element. Poynter chose to work in acrylic paint with a palette of very strong lightfast pigments that will resist UV damage. One of the largest in the Hydro box series, Seastone – Low Tide is located near the sea wall in Sechelt. It depicts the smooth colourful stones that one can find on our waterfront, and bits of driftwood and logs that have washed upon the shore.

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Anna & Lex HANSON

Time in its Flight, 2009 Medium: Cedar and Aluminum Location: Spirit Square Sculpture Garden

“The sculpture represents a window into my evolution as an artist … and it represents the spirit and energy of the Sunshine Coast.”

– Anna Hanson

Anna Hanson (1952 – 2018) Relocating from Vancouver in 1980, Anna Hanson worked from an art studio in Roberts Creek starting in 1992. Hanson completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at UBC in 1974, and continued her specialization in sculpture at Emily Carr and Capilano College in the late 1970s. Hanson’s inspiration comes from her grandfather, the late Dudley Carter (1891-1992) who was famous for his monumental wood sculptures. Hanson’s material of choice is cedar and she avoids the use of power tools, preferring instead the tools of her grandfather – an axe, adze, and chisel. She strives to stay true to the medium, preserving the natural character of the wood. Themes of nature (both animal and plant forms) are common in her pieces. Her commissioned works include everything from hand-carved feast bowls, to signs and doors, and even 3-D murals. Time in its Flight reflects the nature, environment and history of the Sunshine Coast. It combines two mediums: traditional western red cedar and contemporary aluminum. Between the backdrop of mountains and waves of the ocean are motifs symbolic of Coast life. The composition represents an evolution in style and technique from pre-historic times to the present. The lower portion of the sculpture portrays simple petroglyphs; above this are waves and salmon forms depicted in a Coast Salish style. Atop this are a fishing boat, sailboat and birds in flight. The very top of the sculpture is a stylized bird reaching toward the sky.

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Greta GUZEK

Fortuitous Arrival, 2009 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Location: Municipal Hall

“Painting the coastal environment is my sublime obsession. I search for the quintessential scene that expresses my view of its natural beauty or coastal culture, and hope to find the right mark, right colour, right rhythm to capture its allure.”

– Greta Guzek

Greta Guzek captures the nature and spirit of the Sunshine Coast in her colourful acrylic paintings. Her intricate designs and vivid colours have become a distinctively joyful feature of her artwork. After completing a Fine Arts degree in South Africa, Guzek moved to the Sunshine Coast where she now works out of her studio in Gibsons. Her works are featured in most of the local galleries, and images of these works have graced everything from book covers and posters to t-shirts and advertising. Guzek is represented by The Westwind Gallery in Gibsons, and visitors to the town can view Guzek’s work year-round outdoors on colourfully painted BC Hydro boxes. As well, Guzek’s vibrant depiction of Gibsons Landing cheerfully hangs inside the Gibsons Public Library. Guzek’s painting Fortuitous Arrival showcases two Coastal modes of transport: boats and seaplanes. The scene is situated in the Porpoise Bay Government Wharf, and makes for a vibrant depiction of the marine lifestyle. She was inspired to create this work while taking in the views from the nearby Lighthouse Pub. When a seaplane and 3 colourful ships docked at the same time, Guzek was inspired to capture this ‘fortuitous’ moment forever on canvas. Through familiar sketches of life, Guzek creates a bond with the viewer, which allows her to converse on an aesthetic level. Her painting expresses her involvement with the subject by simplifying, distorting forms and perspectives, enhancing the expressive value of colour and creating a rhythm that animates the scene. In this way, she hopes to develop a visual language that conveys her sense of wonder and materialize the spirit of what she feels.

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Fritz BRANSCHAT

Olympic Torch Relay, 2010 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Location: Municipal Hall

You don’t really know what it is until it’s finished. It’s a performance art piece we put together. The idea is to throw lots of paint around on the canvas as it spins – the spinner provides the whole essence of mystery. Your brain doesn’t get to focus on one image, it keeps you guessing until the end, really, when it stops.”

– Fritz Branschat

This painting was created in front of a live audience on February 4, 2010 during Sechelt’s Community Celebration, marking the visit of the Olympic Flame to our community. The finished work was sold at a charity auction and eventually gifted to the District of Sechelt by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Darney of Sechelt. In making the painting, artist Fritz Branschat rhythmically smoothed globs of brightly coloured paint onto a canvas, which itself was spinning like a propeller on the front of a plane. As a crowd of thousands looked on in wonder, the painting developed into a nuanced image of an Olympic torchbearer. It is as much a performance art piece as it is a painting on canvas. The movement inherent in the piece evokes the vibrancy and excitement that was buzzing in the air the day the torch relay came to Sechelt. Thousands of local residents gathered to watch as the Olympic flame ignited the cauldron on the stage at Sechelt's civic square. In particular, local entrepreneur and talented athlete Sarah Doherty’s experience with the torch exemplified the Olympic Spirit. Overcoming tremendous adversity, Doherty, founder of SideStix Ventures participated in the first Paralympian adaptive ski racing demonstration in the Calgary Olympics in 1988, and was the first woman with only one leg to summit Mount Rainier in 1984. The meaning of the 2010 Winter Games became obvious to all those present at the Sechelt Community Celebration, and became a unifying force showing that all of us can persevere, as long as we follow our passions and never give up. Originally from Colombia, Branschat moved to Canada in 1987. He currently lives and works in Toronto, ON.

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Todd CLARK

Paradise Found, 2011 Medium: Oil on canvas Location: Municipal Hall

“For me, painting is about relationships. I feel a connection to a vast collective of creatively-minded people who inspire me; connection to a greater purpose, the spiritual-like component of making art; and, connection to my inner-self which is one place where I find solace and joy.”

– Todd Clark

Todd Clark is a self-taught artist and teacher with a studio in Gibsons, BC. Clark grew up in a rural setting, and found his main sources of inspiration outdoors. He works primarily in oils, on canvas or board and occasionally experiments with various found objects and materials. Early on his interest in art was piqued by the artworks of revered Canadian painters such as Gordon Smith, Lawren Harris, Jack Shadbolt, and Takao Tanabe. Later, as an elementary school teacher, Clark developed his love of children’s artistic creations. Lawless and bold, children’s sense of expression inspired Clark to explore the canvas with almost reckless abandon. With a similarly youthful approach to making art, Clark takes pleasure in the process of creating a painting without too much worry as to how the final piece may be perceived. Although much of Clark’s work calls attention to the beauty of the natural scenery, his approach to painting is related more to abstraction than to conventional landscape. He takes cues from nature, but rarely works directly from it. As Clark has stated “my sources are usually siphoned from memory or imagined. I enjoy challenging the established notions of landscape painting and at times my work is deliberately enigmatic. While painting, I find myself deconstructing and reinventing aspects of nature which are governed by an ecology of form and colour.” Paradise Found is an energetic example of Clark’s interest in experimenting with light, colour, mark making, and the balance of spontaneity and control. Like the works of the late great American painter Cy Twombly, Clark’s Paradise Found blurs the line between drawing and painting. In this painting he has given the viewer an abstracted landscape. It is neither figurative nor representational, but its title can be interpreted visually through shape, colour and line. Clark is represented by the Art Works Gallery in Vancouver and Art Junction in Whistler, BC.

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Gordon HALLORAN

Hung Jury, 1991/2012 Medium: Charcoal, oil pastel, oil and acrylic glazes, gesso on panel Location: Municipal Hall

“Gordon Halloran is not an easy artist. The triptych he presents is edgy, and combines obsession with an uncompromising clarity. As we observe the ladies from the jury, they observe us. We preen ourselves before their evaluative gaze, as though assessing whether we are of the same species or not. A tough bloke, worthy of the 2012 purchase prize.”

– Robin Mayor, Juror for the 2012 Sechelt Juried Art Show Gordon Halloran started his career as an illustrator, and in 1979 held his first solo show of paintings at the Toronto Gallery (formally known as the Nancy Poole Studio). Halloran taught classes at the Ontario College of Art and Design before moving to BC in 1989. Hung Jury takes its inspiration from a series of portraits and commissions Halloran began in the 1980s. Former stock trader, John Woods, commissioned Halloran to create a commemorative painting of the old trading floor at the Vancouver Stock Exchange, with portraits of traders and officials. Halloran also created group portraits of traders in action at exchanges in Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and New York. Halloran became fascinated with the characters he encountered in this highly competitive environment where fear, pressure and a roller coaster of emotions was de rigueur in the cauldron of high finance and personal ambition. This fascination with individuality and persona was expressed in Hung Jury – originally exhibited as a series of 12 mixed media paintings at the UBC Faculty Club Gallery in 1991. These life-sized portraits of men and women looking out in judgment function as an artistic study in stereotype and human emotion. More recently, Halloran has become known to an international audience as the creator of Paintings Below Zero – monumental public art installations comprised of sheets of painted ice. Halloran’s ice installations were displayed at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, in 2007 at Toronto City Hall, and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The District of Sechelt acquired three panels of Hung Jury during the 2012 Sechelt Arts Festival: Juried Art Exhibition. Halloran’s outdoor mural Catch of the Day, 1997 can be viewed at the corner of Cowrie St. and Wharf Ave, Sechelt.

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Gordon HALLORAN

Regeneration, 2015 Medium: Bunt cedar trees, granite, concrete, steel, cedar seedling Location: Spirit Square Sculpture Garden

“The lifecycle of trees in the forest demonstrates the power and ingenuity of the earth’s adaptability … the charcoal remains of a tree become host to an ecosystem of new life, as destruction is transformed into regeneration.”

-Gordon Halloran

In the summer of 2015 the Sunshine Coast faced unprecedented levels of drought and battled a 423-hectare wildfire. Dozens of firefighters were called in to assist with putting an end to the ‘Old Sechelt Mine’ wildfire. The fire had an immediate and devastating impact on the local community, and on July 5, 2015 the fire claimed the life of local tree faller John Phare. After the smoke and haze cleared, artist Gordon Halloran was inspired to begin work on a series of sculptures that explore nature’s ability to recover and regenerate after natural disaster. Regeneration is the first in this series. Regeneration is made from two cedar trees that were burned in the ‘Old Sechelt Mine’ wildfire. In order to create this artwork, Halloran collaborated with the Sunshine Coast Community Forest and local forestry workers. Inside the burned trees is a small cedar sapling. Growing for a period of one year inside the protection of the burned tree, the artwork functions as a nurse log. Each year a new sapling is added to the artwork, and the previous year’s seedling is re-planted in the Hidden Grove area of the Sunshine Coast Community Forest.