Celebrating province’s Prairie history has been veteran artist Yvette Moore’s focus for decades
From wide-open skies to grain elevators to historic structures, Yvette Moore has always focused her paintings on the Prairies and heritage buildings because she EHOLHYHV WKH\ GH¿QH OLIH LQ 6DVNDWFKHZDQ
Moore — who operates the Yvette 0RRUH *DOOHU\ DW )DLUIRUG 6WUHHW :HVW — has been painting for over 50 years DQG VWLOO KDV WKH ¿UVW SDLQWLQJ VKH FUHDWHG DW DJH 6KH RULJLQDOO\ VWDUWHG SDLQWLQJ with oils but eventually discovered acrylics and stuck with them since they were HDVLHU WR XVH
'XULQJ WKRVH ¿YH GHFDGHV WKH 5DGville-born painter has consistently focused on the province’s landscape and its nostalJLF HIIHFW RQ SHRSOH
“I love the architecture of our historical buildings, and I’ve done quite a few pieces (and) I’ve focused on that,” she VDLG ³6RPHWKLQJ WKDW HYHQ EULQJV EDFN something that doesn’t exist anymore (such as the old Capitol Theatre and Temple Gardens Dance Hall) and is able to reYLYH D PHPRU\ IRU PDQ\ SHRSOH ´
The Prairies and heritage structures DUH ³ZKR ZH DUH´ DQG KDYH VKDSHG 6DV
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“I think that’s one of the things from all our customers is that, when they look at our paintings, they either see themselves in it or … they want to take something of the Prairies home with them,” Moore rePDUNHG
“You can be surrounded by what’s around you all the time, but for some reason, when it’s been put on a different medium
… people see it differently and they KDYH D PXFK EHWWHU DSSUHFLDWLRQ
“One of my favourite things is painting skies — more than anything — because that is very much part of our PraiULHV ´ VKH ODXJKHG
One of Moore’s favourite paintings she created is called “Eva’s popcorn VWDQG ´ 7KH DUWZRUN IHDWXUHV IRXU RI KHU children and is based on her hometown of 5DGYLOOH
“It’s a memory that people still enjoy WKHUH WR WKLV GD\ ´ VKH DGGHG
From the beginning
Moore has participated in the MoosWOHWRH 7RXU ³VLQFH GD\ ´ 6KH GRHV VR EHcause not only is she an artist, but her business represents many artisans who don’t have the opportunity to display their work, don’t have a public place to showcase it, DQG DUH QRW DOZD\V ORFDO
³6R , WKLQN WKLV ZD\ LW JLYHV HYHU\RQH a chance to showcase their work in (this) HQYLURQPHQW ´ 0RRUH VDLG ³$QG HVSHFLDOly because we get to show it in this amazing building too, so it’s kind of a win-win when we’re partnering the heritage buildLQJ ZLWK WKH DUW ZLWKLQ LW ,W ZRUNV UHDOO\ ZHOO ´
This year’s Moostletoe Tour occurs 6DWXUGD\ 2FW IURP D P WR S P Eight groups are participating in this \HDU¶V WK DQQXDO HYHQW
Moore hopes that when people visit the gallery, they will see art that educates WKHP DQG PDNHV WKHP DSSUHFLDWH LW 6RPH people will purchase art that day, and for those who don’t, they know the gallery has something interesting they can buy later as D JLIW
Besides Moore’s work, another artist the gallery will highlight is former Moose -DYLDQ 5RE )URHVH DQ HVWHHPHG SRWWHU DQG WKH VRQ RI WKH ODWH *XV )URHVH 7KLV respected artist painted dozens of murals WKURXJKRXW WKH FRPPXQLW\
Helping others
The Yvette Moore Gallery features the works of 40 to 50 smaller artists from DFURVV :HVWHUQ &DQDGD DOWKRXJK SHU FHQW DUH IURP 6DVNDWFKHZDQ
Moore explained that her gallery includes so many others because she knows ¿UVW KDQG KRZ GLI¿FXOW LW LV WR PDNH D OLYLQJ DV DQ DUWLVW DQG EH YLVLEOH 6KH EHJDQ her career working out of her home, which eventually turned into a family-run busiQHVV WKDW LQFOXGHG KHU FKLOGUHQ
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Moore has seen many artworks during KHU WUDYHOV LQ :HVWHUQ &DQDGD DQG UHDOL]HG 6DVNDWFKHZDQ LV IRUWXQDWH WR KDYH WDOHQWHG DQG KLJK FDOLEUH DUWLVWV 7KLV ZDV SDUWLFularly apparent when she visited British Columbia with her daughters and visited JDOOHULHV WKHUH
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A career boost
Nearly 30 years ago, Moore teamed XS ZLWK :H\EXUQ ZULWHU -R %DQQDW\QH &XJQHW WR FUHDWH WKH ERRN ³$ 3UDLULH $OSKDEHW ´ ZKLFK ERRVWHG 0RRUH¶V ZRUN QDWLRQDOO\ DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDOO\ 3HRSOH could now enjoy her work anywhere while ORRNLQJ WKURXJK D ERRN
“It was absolutely one of the best WKLQJV WKDW HYHU KDSSHQHG WR PH ,W PDGH a huge change in how I was viewed as an artist,” she said, adding another re-print of WKH ERRN LV FRPLQJ
A community leader
Moore could be seen as a leader in the art community, considering her career KDV VSDQQHG KDOI D FHQWXU\ 6KH DQVZHUV many questions from younger artists about KRZ WR SXUVXH D FDUHHU LQ WKLV ¿HOG 6KH LV honest and says being a full-time artist is not easy; hard work is a must; and success GRHVQ¶W IDOO LQWR RQH¶V ODS
6KH DOVR HQFRXUDJHV WHHQDJHUV WR DWtain every non-art-related school subject to EH ZHOO URXQGHG
“Being an artist is like running a EXVLQHVV 6R \RX VWLOO QHHG DOO WKRVH RWKHU VNLOOV $QG WKH PRUH \RX NQRZ WKH PRUH you can add to your art (and) the more you XQGHUVWDQG \RXU DUW ´ VKH DGGHG ³(YHU\thing that happens to you, (it) all becomes SDUW RI \RXU FUHDWLRQV ´