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.

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.

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

Born in Vancouver, Bruce paints realistic portrayals of West Coast wildlife. Shown across Canada and around the world, his originals can be found in numerous public and private collections. Bruce has been named the B.C. Wildlife Federation Artist of the Year; twice. Muir salmon paintings are recognized in this area because his chinook salmon images have been used on Canada’s Sport Fishing License Stamp, several times.

Bruce Muir has become a premier Canadian landscape painter. Evolving from marine seascapes and wildlife, Bruce has been forging new territory, bringing a different viewpoint to British Columbian Landscapes.

Subjects rendered in an immersible perspective are the particular focus of Muir’s work. Choosing viewpoints that are ‘in’ the scene rather than ‘of’ the scene is his calling card. The light-play of sun on water reflecting and refracting on the aluminum bulwark of a commercial fishing vessel might not be a subject commonly held as ‘beautiful’ but Bruce recognizes it as such. Purposefully emotive over and under the surface of water depictions and bird’s eye views of intimate locations of coastal British Columbia have emerged in his recent works.

Bruce has pursued artistic endeavors since childhood with the support of his parents and teachers . At age 15, he became acquainted with Ken Kirkby, who was to become a major influence in his life and his artwork. By 1981 Bruce had devoted himself to painting full time. From that time until present Bruce Muir has participated in many showings of his work, produced 40 or more limited edition prints, won numerous competitions, and been the recipient of several awards including BC Wildlife Federation Artist of the Year and Trout Unlimited Canada’s Artist of the Year.

Posts tagged Bruce Muir

Marla was born in and grew up in Vancouver, next to Kitsilano Beach, then moved to the Spanish Banks area and has lived in Ucluelet for almost 30 years. By the ocean most of her life, her father claims she must have been born with a paintbrush in hand, as there was never a time when she wasn’t creating art. At age 11 she won her first competition and was shown at Vancouver Art Gallery. She claims to have never had formal training acquiring knowledge from books and various workshops.

Marla is known as Ucluelet’s Artist, a title she’s very proud of. She was the president of the Pacific Rim Arts Society for 6 years, revamped the annual art show and currently organizes the craft fair. As the creator of Art in the Gardens, an art festival held each September at the Tofino Botanical Gardens; now in it’s 6th year and the organizing force behind Artists-in-Action during the Whale Festival she acts as the defacto authority on the local art scene. A number of murals are featured around town.

Marla works in many different mediums and a variety of styles, and is well known for doing commissioned works. Her style is eclectic and she pushes herself to explore new fascinations. The Whale Festival Posters garner a lot of attention, and her work has appeared all over the world.

Originals can be viewed at Mark Penney Gallery, Ucluelet and at Cedar Corner Gallery in Tofino, as well.
www.marlathirsk.com Marla’s new website
http://marlathirsk.blogspot.com/ Marla’s blog

Posts tagged Marla Thirsk