www.markpenneygallery.com

PRESS RELEASE

Fish, Ships, & Lost Treasures
Art Exhibition
March 6 – 16th, 2010

From Saturday, March 6th to Tuesday, March 16th, the Mark Penney Gallery in Ucluelet welcomes the whales with the Art Exhibition Fish, Ships, & Lost Art Treasures.
The gallery, located in Whiskey Landing, is “a place you discover by accident,” says owner, Mark Penney. “The gallery, like Ucluelet, is a real hidden gem.”
A gem of an art exhibition it will be with world renowned artists such as Canadian icon and National Gallery artist, Ken Kirkby, who was the first artist to have an unveiling in the House of Commons, Physicist and painter Rob Elphinstone, Charles Churchill Villiers and well known local artist, Marla Thirsk, are just a few of the acclaimed artists releasing new work.
Many know Marla’s work from her local mural work on the West Coast and as the creator of the ‘Art in the Gardens’ festival held each September at the Tofino Botanical Gardens, not to mention being a driving force behind ‘Artists-in-Action’ during the Whale Festival.
“I was really honored to be asked to showcase my new series at the Mark Penney Gallery,” says Thirsk. “This series, was inspired by old photographs from the 1930’s to 1960’s that my mother had. As my mum passed away 25 years ago, it will be quite a poignant moment for me.”
Modern artist Charles Churhill Villiers, son of famed inventor Amherst Villiers and relation to Lady Veronica Milner, regrets not being able to personally be at the show as he is beginning a gallery tour in England, “but my heart will be there.”
“The series that I will be showcasing at the gallery has not been seen before. I did the work, Mark printed it. I had the series framed, crated up and sent to England for an exhibition there, but it got lost in transit and traveled the high seas for awhile, before finally being returned to Vancouver Island, where they remained unopened and un-exhibited,” adds Villiers.
The irony of the exhibition’s name, Fish, Ships, & Lost Art Treasures, was not lost on Villiers.
“It seems appropriate,” says Charles. “I love Ucluelet and the West Coast…what a wonderful place to release my own lost treasure.”
Other artists include such famous names as Joan Larson, Peggy Burkosky, Bruce Muir, and more.
The Mark Penny Gallery will be open, 7 days per week, 10 am to 5 pm.
Free Admission. For more information, visit www.markpenneygallery.com for a full list/biography of artists, and a preview of some of the art.

I managed to enter a few photos into the Winter Wave Photo Showdown
I’m really looking forward to seeing the other entries, I know a few people who’ve entered the contest.

I caught a glimpse of royal blue matte and metallic silver frames to be used when I dropped of my entry at The Info Centre at Whiskey Landing, the exhibit should look pretty sharp with an impressive line up of local photos.

Event Results: The event was fantastic, and attendance was very good.

Congratulations to Wayne Barnes, Jeremy Koreski and Marilyn McEwen, everyone was absolutely blown away by the photos.
I was surprised at how many of the photos were taken along the wild pacific trail as opposed to the classic beach wave shots taken in the Park. I’m also excited to see the addition of another great Whale Festival event in Ucluelet.

Kunamokst, a collaborative mural project with paintings contributed by some 200 artists was unveiled recently. (recent post)

Rob Elphinstone is one of the participating artists. There are many talented artists from this region, what an interesting way to show them. Best, I felt is the meet the Artists page, a brilliant way of getting introduced to a few artists I wasn’t familiar with an reacquainted with some I hadn’t seen in some time.

The Arrival by Bruce Muir
24″x30″ Oils on Canvas
$2900

A Humpback Whale during it’s annual migration past Vancouver Island. There’s a lot we can glean from this portrait; we know the whale’s species, we can see it’s heading westward, and the proximity to shore. The weather and fog is well known to this part of the island. What strikes me is this; You can often see exactly this upper portion of the painting, but here, Bruce Muir shows you the part you can only imagine from the glimpses you catch from above the water’s surface.

The Reef by Bruce Muir
16″x20″ Oils on Canvas, framed.
$2000

This is a red tailed surf perch, they live in the inshore waters along the coast, right in the surf line. Starfish are tucked in the Anemones providing an emerald backdrop. It’s a wonderful depiction of the life here, underwater.

www.canadarides.ca
Joan Larson has launched a new website featuring her RCMP musical Ride Series of Illustrations. The pastel illustrations are amazing, and like the illustrations themselves, the new website is nearly complete.

I’ve watched people reach out to touch the horses and applaud as the men and women of the Ride paraded before them. I have seen and felt the special sense of what it is to be Canadian when I watch the Musical Ride. These horses and riders are uniquely Canadian and it was my goal and passion to produce a series of paintings that celebrate their pageantry and Canadian Heritage

~ Joan Larson

Kunamokst – Coastal Inspirations Mural Mosaic Unveiling

Coast and Trees 12″x12″ Oils, plate 81 of Coastal Inspirations Mural Mosaic by Rob Elphinstone

For the last year and a half over 200 of some of Canada’s finest artists from along the west coast have collaborated to create a stunning 12 foot x 21 foot mural. The mural has been invited to be officially unveiled as part of the 2010 Winter Games. It is comprised of 231, 12 inch x 12 inch original paintings that when all the images are combined together a united image comes to life. There are no digital effects and the artists did not know each other or know what the united final image would be. It is a mural about unity through diversity – a great symbol of the Olympic ideals through art.

Kunamokst – Coastal Inspirations Mural Mosaic combines artists as young as 16 years old to artists as old as 91. Nanaimo artist, Rob Elphinstone, has contributed a piece entitled “Coast and Trees”. There are first nations artists, world renowned artists, French Canadian artists and artists from various regions along the coast. World renowned first nations artists like Roy Henry Vickers and April White contributed to the mural. As did Iconic Canadian artist Robert Bateman. Many other of the 200 artists, have been featured on the world stage as well. Special guests artists include California world renowned whale muralist WYLAND and California muralist Judy Baca.

Mural Links-
www.muralmosaic.com/kunamokst.html

Winter Games web page
westvancouver.ca coverage of the mural

Kunamokst – Coastal Inspirations Mural Mosaic

Mural Unveiling Saturday, February 13th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
West Vancouver Spirit Square – an official 2010 Celebration Site
West Vancouver Community Centre (Art Studio), 2121 Marine Drive, West Vancouver.
On Display from February 13th – February 28, 2010
10 AM – 5PM Daily, until 9PM Friday and Saturday.

Congratulations to all Island Artists who participated, among them: Rob Elphinstone, Elissa Anthony, Roy Henry Vickers, Gordon Henschel, Mark Hobson, Rohanna Laing, Peter Lawson, Martin Machacek, Christina Munck. What a great project

For 10 days during Whale Festival, March 6th – 16th, we’ll be exhibiting a group show consisting of 6 artists with special ties to Mark Penney Gallery.

Welcome the Whales, as they migrate past Ucluelet and join us for an Art Exhibition at Whiskey Landing featuring some of the area’s finest artists…

Inspired by history and the Art of Vancouver Island, this exhibit showcases Fish, Ships and Lost Art Treasures; the fish of Nile Creek – realist paintings by Ken Kirkby, a lost print series by Charles Churchill Villiers, the actualist paintings of Rob Elphinstone, a preview of Joan Larson’s Musical Ride Series, an exciting portrait series by Ucluelet’s Marla Thirsk. Whales, fish, and scenery by Bruce Muir, and more…

Three Fishers, Hoping by Ken Kirkby
40″x60″ Oils on canvas, c1980
$8000

Two Fishers, One Fish by Ken Kirkby
40″x60″ Oils on canvas. c1980
$8000

Dusk at Amphitrite Point by Teresa Knight
16.75″x15.75″ Acrylic on board, framed.
$400

The view from the Lighthouse at Amphitrite Point, Ucluelet looking south-west. The lighthouse loop af the Wild Pacific Trail, is one of the most remarkable spots on the entire west coast of Vancouver Island. Aside from the immediate beauty of the Peninsula itself; George Fraser and Crow Island, Jenny Reef. The views peek into the Broken Group Islands in Barkley Sound. On clear days you can see the mountain peaks of the Olympic Mountain Range, but one of the best parts is as pictured here… the stark contrast of the Open Pacific.

the Wild Pacific Trail by Teresa Knight
16.5″ x 23″ Acrylic on board, framed.
$600

Sunset on the trail is one of the highlights of a trip to Ucluelet. The pacific has a tendency to flatten out at dusk and even then, when the water is glossy smooth the odd set rolls in and breaks much bigger than the rest.

Sandy Tidal Pool by Bruce Muir
16″x20″ oils on canvas, framed.
$1800

A stunning portrait of Vancouver Island, there are thousands of tranquil little spots along the coastline, just like this. Star fish of many colors and varieties abound in the calm inshore waters of Barkley Sound. Masterfully painted, with many layers of glazing to build up the misty atmosphere depicted so well in this painting.

Harvest of Herring by Bruce Muir
20″x30″ oils on canvas, framed.
$2900

Hard at work in the herring skiff, these fishermen are a stark contrast to the rainy coastline. While the highlight of color draws our attention to life aboard the fishing vessel, we’re made conscious of the bounty of life shining as it comes aboard the skiff. The seine boat is beautifully rendered and I’m stunned by how beautiful the scene is.

Cubist Photo-Realism and by Nigel Brooks Peer
20″x30″ Giclee on Canvas.
$500

This image is one singular image, it’s a straight photo, un-manipulated.
It expresses Nigel’s fascination with reflections and contains within it the essence of what he strives to create in his artwork. Layers of reflections, in a perspective encapsulating the many facets of an individual experience.

Nigel Brooks Peer describes this as Cubist Photo-Realism; Cubism depicts object from multiple perspectives creating an image with greater context, showing impossibly more than you could experience at once. Photo Realism usually references the adaptation of pseudo-photographic detail in art, attention to details especially reflections, highlights, lens flares and distortions … art has been long been influenced by photography and photography has reciprocated by truly becoming art.

Terracotta Warriors and Stonehenge by Nigel Brooks Peer
20″x30″ Giclee on Canvas.
$500

This image is comprised of 2 source images; one of Stonehenge ( Wiltshire, England ) and one of the Terracotta Warrior statues ( Xian, Shaanxi Province, China ). Nigel is extensively well traveled, and he develops his art from hand exposed overlapping negatives, in the darkroom. The resulting composition is digitized and prepared for contemporary print output. These prints are unparalleled in print quality and longevity, 200 year certified archival canvas with a water-resistant acrylic laminate applied. It seems somehow appropriate to strive for a long lasting image of these ancient symbols of humanity.

Transforming the World Mind by Jeff Edwards
Marble Sculpture
13″ x 10″ x 8″
sold (private collection)

This wonderful sculpture depicts a female africanized head and salamander … and these are some of the oldest symbols known to mankind.

Perhaps the most profound meanings of the salamander stem from observation in nature. The symbolism often deals with transformation, intuition and motion. Salamanders are symbolic of spirituality, emotion, shadows, secrets, dreams, intuition, camouflage and even psychic abilities.

The salamander comes to those who are in need of change in their lives. The salamander is an evolutionary feat to observe, and as such, it asks us to evolve in our own lives.

Jeff quarried the stone himself, as he frequently does from favored local marble deposits. Several pieces of sculpture came from this same piece of stone, although there is a remarkable color difference between the three I’ve seen.

Hurricane Amanda by Charles Churchill Villiers
36″x36″ Oils on Canvas
$9500

One of small series of non-objective modern abstract paintings by Charles Villiers, each was named for a love in his life in the way that storms are named.

This particular piece really caught my attention, I like the square format and the custom metal floater framing. It’s an old-school modern abstract, heavy impasto oils on Egyptian canvas. Each in the series had varying scale, shape and framing details. It’s quite difficult to create a painting this way and I admire how almost sculptural it is.