Squamish is surrounded by the many shades of a cerulean ocean along with cobalt, glacier-fed rivers and sapphire lakes. To celebrate our town’s 100 years and the Squamish ArtCrawl, Visuals presents a group exhibit entitled “True Blue Water”… art of various media including painting, photography, textiles, ceramics and sculpture. The exhibit features more than 20 artists and a foyer filled with shades of aqua and azure!
Enjoy the works of painter and mixed-media artist Jane Keyes, an incessant creative, constantly experimenting in new and numerous techniques while sailing. Her latest ideas are wave-themed, focusing on colour and texture.
Keyes’ objectives: “By mixing acrylic paint with collage, my goal is to bring out the texture of the landscape and help it to ‘leap’ off the canvas. Overlaying the many different colours of paper on each other also allowed for the vivid, intertwining hues that I see when I look at B.C.’s stunning scenery.”
Avid kayaker Lisa Elbertsen presents ceramic creations inspired by local nature. “I have learned that the force of the ocean is something to be respected, as the wind and weather can abruptly change. The blue glazes I use capture the force and turbidity of water. The glass in my ceramic and glass pendants captures the depths of frozen ice. Water can be turbulent and dangerous as well as still and soundless — each to be appreciated and enjoyed for all that it offers,” she says.
Local artist Michiko Splinter has been spending a lot of time in Japan, but she still keeps in touch by checking all the news and current events of Visuals online. “Visuals has been so active and provided so many chances to show our art around Squamish. I wish I was there,” she writes.
Splinter will be back at the end of July in time to participate in this aquatic exhibit. Her painting “Reflection” was inspired while visiting Okanagan Lake last summer. She recalls, “It was a really sunny and hot day. I found I was standing there, surrounded by just a blue world. The sun was reflecting on the surface of the water like jewelry… nothing more peaceful and beautiful.”
Photographer Joanna Schwarz has created a marine abstraction by enlarging a popular image of a houseboat reflection by turning it on its side. “The swells from a larger boat going by stirred the water and created an undulating tapestry of colour,” she says.
Oil painter Coral Arrand specializes in portraiture but her painting “Anvil at Dusk” is in essence a portrait of the sea! She proclaims, “One of my favourite spots to sit in the summer is on the sailboat at Porteau Cove, looking at this vision, very calming, ever changing and inspiring!”
These are just a sampling of the incredible true blue pieces that will be part of the collective showcase that also serves to officially commence the Visuals ArtCrawl in a new format that focuses on a downtown, self-guided, year-round art tour. View creations by Squamish Valley artists at 16 galleries and businesses all on Cleveland and Second Avenue with the guide on display that also includes many artist studios open by appointment.
All artists can be contacted through www.squamishart.com the daily updated website that keeps you informed of what’s going on in the Squamish visuals arts scene. Don’t forget to stop by for a visit at their new tent at the Farmers’ Market!
True Blue Water runs from July 29 to Sept. 1 at the Library Foyer Gallery. An opening reception is planned on Thursday (July 31) from 6 to 8 p.m.
Toby Jaxon is curator of the Foyer Gallery. She can be reached at [email protected].
