Painters are spending the next few months following in EmilyB次元官网网址檚 footsteps through the West Shore. Emily Carr that is.
The West Shore Arts Council and Coast Collective gallery have joined forces to encourage artists to paint in locations across the region where Emily Carr created her art from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Elaine Limbrick, of the West Shore Arts Council, created Emily Carr, a guide to artistic & literary sites on the West Shore. The guide has a map of the 21 outdoor locations where Carr worked, based on LimbrickB次元官网网址檚 research.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 wonderful to get people out to where Emily painted,B次元官网网址� Limbrick said at Albert Head Lagoon in Metchosin. B次元官网网址淓ven people on the West Shore donB次元官网网址檛 know about all these wonderful beaches.B次元官网网址�
The Coast Collective is calling all interested artists to join the project of creating a collection of art from the Carr locations, painted between April 1 to Oct. 25.
Marcela Strasdas, a director at Coast Collective, said they are working on creating a calendar of dates for each location so artists can meet and paint or create together. Artists can also go solo.
At the end of October, the Coast Collective will accept art for an exhibit at West Shore Parks and Recreation. The top three paintings will earn the artists cash prices of $300, $200 and $100.
Metchosin resident Frank Mitchell, a member of en plein air painting group Al Fresco, is excited to participate in the event.
With oil sticks in hand, Mitchell begins to sketch out a scene at Albert Head Lagoon. Throughout the next few months Mitchell hopes to paint at each one of the locations on LimbrickB次元官网网址檚 map.
One location Mitchell and several other artists are leery about it Leechtown in Sooke. It is at the end of the Galloping Goose trail and then the artist must hike in. B次元官网网址淪ome places you donB次元官网网址檛 know exactly where she was,B次元官网网址� Mitchell said.
While MitchellB次元官网网址檚 art wonB次元官网网址檛 emulate the style of Carr, he has appreciation for her work.
B次元官网网址淪he did her own thing from the start, she did the First Nations stuff which wasnB次元官网网址檛 what people did back then,B次元官网网址� he said.
Limbrick is pleased to see many of the landscapes Carr captured in her paintings havenB次元官网网址檛 changed much over the years.
B次元官网网址淪o much of this is still relatively preserved,B次元官网网址� Limbrick said. B次元官网网址淭hese artists will be looking at the landscapes with modern eyes.B次元官网网址�
While the artists are painting at some of CarrB次元官网网址檚 favourite outdoor locations, they are not trying to recreate the iconB次元官网网址檚 work.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 expect many of us wonB次元官网网址檛 try to emulate or copy her paintings, but we may see some Emily Carr-type trees that we wouldnB次元官网网址檛 normally have,B次元官网网址� Mitchell said. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檒l have to come to the show to find out.B次元官网网址�
Painters will also have to face the elements, as Carr once did.
B次元官网网址淭hese are conditions that Emily had to endure. There was always wind. Everyday at three oB次元官网网址檆lock in Metchosin there is wind,B次元官网网址� Limbrick said. B次元官网网址淭here was also the rain which Emily complains bitterly about in her writing.B次元官网网址�
For more information on Following in EmilyB次元官网网址檚 Footsteps go to coastcollective.ca and click on special programs.
reporter@goldstreamgazette.com
