I have been very busy working with the Cowichan Valley Arts Council this past year. It is a great organization with a core of dedicated volunteers and two paid part time employees, an executive director and an office manager. I am elected to the board and serve as the secretary. I also work on the programming committee and have taken the lead role in arranging workshops for the people of the Cowichan Valley. This is a time consuming but interesting role as I get to interact with the instructors and get to listen to what local artists would like to see in their instruction.
I have recently submitted three works to be juried into the Sidney Fine Art Show. I am waiting to find out which works have been selected by the jurors, knowing only that at least one has made it through. The Sidney Fine Art Show is one of the bigger and better known shows on the island and many artists enter it. This summer one of my pieces was selected to be in the Sooke Fine Art Show and the piece was sold. I will definitely enter more pieces into that show as well. Two of the pieces are from nearby rivers, the Koksilan and the Cowichan, which I have painted plein aire and then taken images back to the studio. The last image is of the sea stack on San Josef Bay. I visited there this summer when I went to hike up to Cape Scott.
The Federation of Canadian Artists Nanaimo Chapter is holding their Fine Art Show on Nov. 2-4, in the Dodd Narrows Room of the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. 79 paintings from 44 different artists will be on display and a silent auction will take place from 9 am Nov.2- 7:30 pm Nov. 3. I will have two pieces (below) in the show. The first piece is of the Finlayson Arm estuary which is located at Goldstream Park north of Victoria, famously known for its salmon run in October/November. The last piece, Carmanah, was completed after a visit to the Walbran-Carmanah Provincial Park on the west coast of the island. Carmanah is known for its ancient old growth forests and it is a truly magical place.