Okanagan artists bare their souls in Peachland exhibit
For Peter Hay it was a surprise seeing a mirror image of himself gracing the wall of the Peachland Art Gallery.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said as he stood in front of Peter, his portrait painted by Peachland artist Brenda Maunders.”This is so me.”
The painting was one of over 70 works on exhibit as the Artists of the Okanagan show opened Saturday afternoon at the gallery.
The exhibit showcases the work of 27 Okanagan artists from Vernon to Okanagan Falls, offering everything from line drawing and acrylic to mixed media, said Janet Hornseth, co-ordinator at the Peachland Art Gallery.
The opening saw 23 of the 27 artists on hand to discuss their work.
Peter is one of the portraits in Maunders’ Persons of Interest series to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial. The subjects represent the finest elements of the Canadian character.
Maunders said Hay struck her as kind, gentle and thoughtful.
Hay is captured with a book, wearing a skeptical expression.
“We have about 20,000 books at home,” said Hay, adding he used to be an antiquarian book seller. “I am identiÀed with books.”
As for what he was thinking at the time of the portrait, Hay said he doesn’t remember.
Janice and Fern, a portrait of Janice Kitson and her chicken, is another work in Maunders’ Persons of Interest series.
“She’s just so exuberant I wanted to do her too,” said Maunders.
Kitson was on hand for the opening as well.
“I Ànd it hard not cry looking at it,” she said about the portrait. “There’s so much of myself in there.”
Madelyn Hamilton, a West Kelowna artist who has lived by Powers Creek for decades, was exhibiting works inspired by the creek.
Hamilton works in acrylic and mixed media to interpret the energy, rhythms, colours and pathways of the water.
“I think of the Áow of water and the things that are Áoating in it and getting in the water’s way and just the motion of the water that’s continuous,” said Hamilton. “That enables me to give life to the painting.”
As a mixed media artist, Hamilton works bits of various items into her art.
“On this earth, humans share the environment, so my work shows that these are the bits of human signs woven into the natural world that’s around all of us,” she said. “I need to show the nature and I need to show the human signs.”
Artist Alana Weston recently started using mixed media to tell stories or evoke an emotion.
She uses anything that inspires her including found objects, images, transfers and papers.
“It’s a sort of a hoarder’s dream,” she laughed.
For Lisa Hewitt, an abstract artist from Kelowna, creating art is a must.
“I paint from the heart and from the gut,” she said, adding she is at peace when she is working.
The Artists of the Okanagan exhibition continues until Dec, 23.
The Peachland Art Gallery, at 5684 Beach Ave. is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.