Category: Arts Events

Art on the Wall

Leighton Art Centre

I am pleased to say that a collection of seven of my recent expressive wildflower paintings will be on display as part of “Art on the Wall” an initiative for members at Leighton Art Centre. Work will be on exhibition beginning tomorrow and continuing through August 17, 2021.  See them in person if you are in the Foothills area or online through https://shop.leightoncentre.org/collections/all 

Heads up that also at the Leighton Art Centre, the G9 (Group of Nine) exhibition “What a Difference a Day Makes” continues until July 25. This exhibit was presented in the Okotoks Art Gallery earlier this year but due to Covid 19 restrictions the gallery was not open to the public. I am looking forward to my first peek tomorrow.

A note about my expressive Canadian wildflower series. . . I have been painting and drawing wildflowers most of my life–on fabric in transparent acrylic wash, on paper as pen & wash, in pencil, sometimes pastel and as simple, traditional watercolours. It is not surprising that they feature as points of departure for painterly abandon in this latest series of mixed media oil paintings.  I was attending Red Deer College Summer Series last week in an Open Studies workshop lead by Jean Pederson.  I had a chance to focus solely on ideas for new work in the series.  It was a fun and productive time.  Such a pleasure to interact again with human beings in physical space.  I will upload images of that new work soon to my Expressive Wildflower gallery https://bevmazurick.com/portfolio/paintings/nggallery/landscape-portfolio/expressive-wildflowers

Alberta Culture Days Disconnect

Catwalk Salon is one of my favourite plein air street scenes. I painted it during Art Days several years ago. The act of standing on a street corner each afternoon creating art became my way of connecting with the spirit of Alberta Culture celebrations and usually signalled the end of my plein air painting sessions for the year. Fall colour is at its most splendid so it can be a magical time for painters. Although not entirely because of the Coronavirus pandemic, I opted out of plein air painting entirely this year and I miss it.

I may not have been out painting this year but my artistic focus sure has been on plein air in recent weeks because of my involvement in two exhibitions. A juried group exhibition of plein air paintings is ongoing at Leighton Art Centre until October 31, 2020. (Details about the Leighton Art Centre exhibition were noted in the preceding blog post.) I am also preparing for an upcoming solo exhibition of landscapes at Casa. The Passages gallery exhibition at Casa in Lethbridge is coming up in early November. At Casa I will be exhibiting plein air landscapes together with small, abstracted, landscape-themed colour studies. Probably four of my recent expressive landscapes executed in mixed media oil will also be shown. Details about that exhibition will be in a future post.

A final shout-out here about Mortar and Brick’s exhibition which opened last night in Lethbridge. I made a point of seeing the work yesterday afternoon. If you have an interest in contemporary art, do make time to see the work on display there now. It is well-worth your time. One haunting painting in particular, by local artist Eileen Murray, captured my attention.

Donna Gallant & mixed media

Donna Gallant is perhaps the most inherently creative artist I know. In her own words, “painting is as much about the process as it is the final product”. Donna’s generous nature in sharing new processes that excite her is well-known. She will be giving a demonstration of some of her mixed media approaches in Lethbridge next Saturday afternoon at the Allied Arts Council office/gift shop.

Donna Gallant’s mixed media art is both visually appealing and thought-provoking. Detail from, “But this is not all I can do”, a new work is pictured here. She may be reached directly by phone: 403.328.0536 or email: donnaartistca@yahoo.ca

Mixed Media demo by Donna Gallant

Saturday, November 30, 2019 from noon to 4:00 pm Allied Arts Council Gift Shop/Offices 318 7 Street South, Lethbridge