Events
Current and Upcoming Events in Edmonton and Victoria!
10337 - 124 STREET, EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 22 - NOVEMBER 3, 2022
Landscape painter Rod Charlesworth recalls, as a young boy in Terrace, BC being "compelled to draw." By age seven, he was happily sketching; at twelve, he was painting.
Over forty-five years later, painting remains Charlesworth's passion. Whether a bold landscape or a whimsical winter scene of children playing under the Northern Lights, his work is collected internationally by public and private collectors.
Rod often highlights old-growth forests in his artwork because he's drawn to natural elements with a strong, vertical pull. His work honours the temporary nature of trees, such as cedar and Douglas fir, as they follow a cycle of birth, growth and decay. Charlesworth's loose, gestural brushstrokes intermingled with the swipe of a knife or even a finger add texture and complexity to his composition.
Rod's energetic and almost rhythmic paintings are often proudly positioned in the front window at the West End Gallery in Edmonton, AB and Victoria, B.C. Visitors to both cities are often captivated by the vibrancy and subject matter from a distance, providing an ample excuse to cross a busy street to take a closer look.
10337 - 124 STREET, EDMONTON, AB - NOVEMBER 5 - 17, 2022
Colour before all things...
For decades, Robert Savignac has perfected the unique perspective of the 'passerby.' Not conforming to what the viewer perceives as figurative artwork should be. Parks in city centres overflowing with flowers, private and public botanical gardens, balconies adorned with flowerboxes, and manicured lawns. His paintings are an example of nature's resilience in the urban environment.
Through his preferred oil medium on canvas, he opens viewers' eyes to joyful views and inviting places that evoke the presence of vegetation within the very core of the metropolis. A world where blossoms inhabit an urban backdrop of glass and concrete with honour. As if he had borrowed nature's seductive magic to make it urbane. The result is an intensity of colour in which budding flowers stand out from the background of green leaves, and towering trees stand as sentinels.
He takes it all in from the perspective of a passerby. Compositions are caught on the run. Momentary scenes of which the recollection contains only the essential. They are spontaneous - not to say improvised, as Robert captures many familiar locations in Montréal. It is a free-style, remembering a place in how it once was or should be, in one's mind with a hint of mischief.
1203 BROAD STREET, VICTORIA, BC - NOVEMBER 19 - DECEMBER 1, 2022
Mary Ann Laing is a Victoria-based artist who has been painting for over 30 years. Inspired by the landscapes around Vancouver Island, her colourful and playful renditions of beloved places bring joy to the viewer. Using oils, her colour palette combines complementary blues and oranges with the ever-present lush greens associated with the West Coast landscape. A signature Federation of Canadian Artists member, Mary Ann’s work has been included in many exhibitions over the past 25 years.
Most of my works are of places where I live or have lived. Since I began painting, I have been in constant awe of the beauty of sunlight as it dances through the breathtaking scenery on Vancouver Island. The neighbourhoods in Fairfield provide endless subject matter to be painted, particularly in the fall when the colours range from deep shades to intense pure tones. My paintings are about life. Highs and lows, light and dark, contrasts that complement each other, as life does. I am saying through my brush to thrill on the joys, knowing the darks do exist, to move forward into places that offer peace.