Past Events
1203 Broad Street, Victoria, BC - December 10 - 24, 2022
This group exhibition showcases a variety of colours, techniques and inspiration to celebrate the season; landscapes, still lifes, abstracts, impressionistic, urban, and figurative styles are all represented. Participating painters include: Steven Armstrong, Sacha Barrette, Alain Bédard, Cameron Bird, Vé Boisvert, Sophie Carrier, Claudette Castonguay, Rod Charlesworth, Steve Coffey, Ken Faulks, David Graff, Greta Guzek, Madison Hart, Elena Henderson, Dana Irving, Paul Jorgensen, Ken Kirkby, Irene Klar, Mary Ann Laing, Grant Leier, Josée Lord, Annabelle Marquis, Joel Mara, Elka Nowicka, John Ogilvy, Paul Paquette, Ron Parker, Robert Savignac, Jeannette Sirois, Peter Shostak, Blu Smith, Ryan Sobkovich, Peter Wyse and many more! Also on display
are a beautiful selection of glassworks from: Kathleen Black, Robert Held, Tammy Hudgeon, Robert Leatherbarrow and Paull Rodrigue along with a whimsical selection of ceramics by Elaine Brewer-White.
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.
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.
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.
1203 BROAD STREET, VICTORIA, BC - OCTOBER 15 - 27, 2022
Irene Klar’s much-anticipated solo exhibition opens Saturday, October 15. Inspired by water, whether it be the sea or rivers near and far, Irene focuses on the people who rely on it, those who make it a timeless source of life, travel and trade. Throughout the collection, she uses bright colours, paints intricate textile prints and simplifies shapes down to their basic forms. Recognized throughout North America, Irene has painted commissions for Amnesty International Canada, Amnesty International USA and the Trans-Canada Trail. She is also widely represented in both public and corporate collections.
1203 BROAD STREET, VICTORIA, BC - OCTOBER 1 - 13, 2022
Ryan Sobkovich is an accomplished young phenom from Wasaga Beach, ON. Scouted and nurtured from a young age, Ryan has been professionally exhibiting in galleries since he was sixteen. Aware of the importance of education, Ryan consciously took the time to advance his education and graduated from Georgian College, School of Design and Visual Arts in 2016 with Honours in the Advanced Fine Art Program. Now at twenty-seven he is already a veteran and one to collect in Canadian art.
Ryan's love of nature inspires him to paint wilderness scenes of Canada while hiking, camping and kayaking around the great lakes and other areas across the country. He utilizes dynamic, impasto brushwork and layered complementary colours to convey emotions, feelings and thoughts while on site in the wilderness. Ryan particularly enjoys painting 'en plein air' and
painting in large scale. His works are collected by private, corporate and public collectors nationally and internationally.
1203 BROAD STREET, VICTORIA BC - SEPTEMBER 10 - 22, 2022
Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, in 1964, Josée Lord is a self-taught artist who has been painting since she was very young.
Josée's still life paintings are marked by a singular style. Radiant declination of warm colours and bursting opaque reds and blues shape the perspective of her still-life flowers. These tones give the precise shape of the still life, and her florals spread shivers of beautiful colours as if Josée has given them distinct personalities. She needs direct contact with the material and likes to touch the painting to breathe life into it.
Josée's success is based on the passion she communicates with her brush. She begins each piece by sketching on the canvas through texture, form, and pattern; then, free rein is given to her imagination. Particularly touched by the uneven nature, Josée is very familiar with objects and hand-made things, allowing her the freedom to exteriorize her emotions. The work of the talented Josée Lord can be found in many collections of private art and companies around the world.
1203 BROAD STREET, VICTORIA, BC JUNE 4, 2022 UNTIL JUNE 16, 2022
Paul Jorgensen attended the Vancouver School of Art, now Emily Carr School of Art and Design. His education was heavily influenced by the "hard edge" paintings (flat coloured panels in structured grids) in vogue. Still, the Group of Seven, The Impressionists and magazine illustrators provided him with inspiration, as they still do. These artists, in most cases, hint at a story in a specific landscape that intrigues him. He tries to incorporate an open gate, a glimpse of a car, or a path as it hints at a person in the scene that the viewer just missed. Paul Jorgensen’s latest collection of playful landscapes features the bright colours, intricate patterns and joyful vignettes he is known for. His unique approach to painting is enhanced by skewed perspectives and prolific use of intertwined shapes and forms revealed as lush gardens, secret paths and distant locations. Paul's narrative style further encourages the viewer to immerse themselves in his paintings and travel from the comfort of home.
10337 124 STREET NW, EDMONTON, AB MAY 28, 2022 UNTIL JUNE 9, 2022
We are ecstatic to announce a pop-up exhibition with internationally recognized oil painter Raynald Leclerc. Visit our gallery in Edmonton, AB or online to view this unique collection of paintings. Raynald Leclerc's artwork has been for sale at the West End Gallery since 2009.