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.

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…

Teresa Knight’s recent work is full of atmosphere – she imbues what she sees with the emotions the scenes evoke within her. The softness of her style and the subtlety with which she uses colour help create this almost mystical experience. The viewer enters a new and special place outside of normal time where words are not necessary, but where experience is shared.

Teresa has been an artist for many years, and had a love for animals for as long. She got started in art when she and her sisters would pass rainy days at the cottage by drawing and painting, and Teresa continued in art.

She obtained her B.A. in Studio Arts and Bachelor of Education in Art from the University of British Columbia and now paints and teaches painting out of her Union Bay studio.

Teresa exhibits her work at local and West Coast venues. She hopes, eventually, to use her paintings to raise money to improve the lives of overlooked animals

Exhibitions

Teresa’s paintings are available at:

• Cedar Corner Art Gallery in Tofino BC www.cedarcornerartgallery.com
• Leaving Impressions Gallery in Qualicum Beach BC
• Mark Penney Gallery in Ucluelet BC www.markpenneygallery.com

Selected pieces are also available through Art Sales and Rentals at the Vancouver Art Gallery. www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/about_services2.cfm and some of Teresa’s work is available as limited edition prints from Casa Collection info@casacollection.ca

Teresa’s website is featured at the Agora Gallery website in New York www.agora-gallery.com

• 2009 – Winner, Honorable Mention, NAVS 20th International Art for Animals Classic.
• 2008, 2009 – Participating Artist, Local Colours, Courtenay BC
• 2008, 2009 – Originals Only, Comox BC.
• 2008 – Exhibiting Artist, Nautical Days, Comox BC.
• 2008 – Member Artist, Woodland Gardens Juried Show.
• 2008 – “Art that Barks” – group show, Heaventree Galllery, Vancouver BC.
• 2007 – “Here and There” solo exhibition at the Pearl Ellis Gallery, Comox BC
• 2007- “Animals in the Human Landscape”, with Anne Birthistle, at Heaventree Gallery, Vancouver BC.
• 2005 – Winner Best in Show, “Arts in Context: History and Sense of Place” juried exhibition, Muir Gallery, Courtenay BC.
• 2002 – Columbia Street Studio, Vancouver – solo art show “Cats in Heaven”.
• 1999 – Community Arts Council of Vancouver Group Show UnderEXPOSED Photo-based art works.
• 1996-98 – Deborah Worsfold Gallery – gallery artist.
• 1997, 1998 – A Walk Is…, Vancouver “Artists Make Home Good” group show.
• 1984 – Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Haliburton, Ontario – solo show “Portraits”.
• 1983 – Knight Gallery, Toronto, “Portraits”.

More…

Wild Pacific trail – Mark Penney
20″x34″ photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas, gallery wrapped on cedar stretchers.
$400
The trail is a major attraction in Ucluelet, I find it intriguing how it dramatically it changes from hour to hour, day to day – each visit reveals new views of the west coast. It’s a well groomed trail, easily accessible from various points throughout the village.

When The Storm Breaks – Mark Penney
20″x34″ photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas, gallery wrapped on cedar stretchers.
$400
These are times when the storm has broken and the clear sky and still air is at total contrast to the heavy seas. For a while the offshore swells continue roll full force onto the beach.

Wikaninish Reflections – Mark Penney
20″x34″ Photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas.
$400

The Wik, is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon. Each beach in the area has it’s own distinct feel, and the wik is a friendly place that accommodates a large number of people without feeling crowded. Surfers, tourists, wedding parties, visitors to the Interpretive centre, restaurant patrons, and families, still there’s room to feel like you have the place all to yourself.

Sea Foam Green – Mark Penney
20″x34″ Photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas.
sold (private collection)
Sea foam is formed when the waves are whipped and churned by the winds, it blows like soap bubbles on the breeze.

Big green One – Mark Penney
20″x34″ Photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas.
$400
Wave studies are popular and after a few days’ blow there is a window of opportunity to photograph the seas. These are local coastal scenes; they’re printed on certified archival canvas, coated with a liquid acrylic laminate then stretched onto custom cedar stretchers. They’re lightfast and water resistant.

Big Beach at Dusk – Mark Penney
20″x34″ Photographic print (giclee) on archival canvas.
$400
These are local coastal scenes; they’re printed on certified archival canvas, coated with a liquid acrylic laminate then stretched onto custom cedar stretchers. They’re lightfast and water resistant.
Big Beach is right at the heart of Ucluelet, and a great place for a beach fire

I had the opportunity to fly with ‘Crazy Louis’ of West Coast Wild Adventures; he runs a charter flight service from Whiskey Landing, offering short flights and tours with his Cessna 180.

I’ve spent a lot of time on the Ucluelet area but almost none of it in the air.  Seeing the broken group and the coastline of vancouver island from the air is amazing. You come away from it with a new perspective on the peninsula and an appreciation for the beauty of the area.

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We’re located at Whiskey Landing. Ucluelet’s historic Whiskey Dock is at the Government Wharf the bottom of Main St.
Turn off Peninsula Road at the Church (across from the Co-op) look down Main Street hill and you’ll see a beautiful building with a red roof, don’t worry you’ll know it when you see it.

View Mark Penney Gallery; a Fine Art Gallery in Ucluelet in a larger map

A Painter’s Quest for Canada – Ken Kirkby

At this stage of my life all I wanted to do was go and live at my favourite place, a small village near a stream on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Most of all, I wanted to live an ordinary sort of life which had so far eluded me, a life where I could sleep when tired, eat when hungry, fly-fish whenever it pleased me and paint all those paintings that had become stored up in me like water behind a dam constructed by the events told in this book.”

Ken Kirkby has published a biographical account of his travels across the north, and of painting the largest canvas known; 12 foot x 153 foot long , Isumataq. Launch of the book will take place at Englishman River Gallery, in Parksville on Saturday September 12th  2009, noon ’til 4pm. I’ll extend my personal invitation to all of you.

Ken is a remarkable speaker, and a formidable painter. Ken’s works are represented here at Mark Penney Gallery, Ucluelet and at Englishman River Gallery, Parksville. The book is currently available online through it’s independent canadian publisher; Libros Libertad. I’ll be sure to bring in a few signed copies.

Photographic prints on canvas, a Mark Penney specialty. These Black and White Giclee Prints are gallery wrapped on 2″ custom cedar stretchers.

They are custom sized for the designer decor in this luxury condo rental unit in Victoria BC.

Mark Penney, printmaking in Ucluelet

The first print-job with the new Breathing Color Lyve canvas is complete. I got a profile from tech support ( I didn’t see any Lyve profiles posted online yet). They offer a custom profile service, very impressive although I usually make my own.

I’m impressed with the canvas, the weave looks similar to PremierArt’s water resistant canvas with a smoother gesso finish. The raw canvas is dead flat ( totally matte) before the laminate is applied. The prints come alive as the laminate cures.

These images are custom sized and gallery wrapped for the installation,  stretched on 2″ custom cedar stretchers, and by all accounts; very juicy.

Living in the Tofino , Ucluelet area, represented by Mark Penney Gallery in Ucluelet Nigel brooks Peer has recently been recognized by National Geographic.

www.nigelbrookspeer.com nigelbrookspeer@gmail.com

Throughout my life, I’ve been a free thinker and traveller, who passionately expresses through mixed media arts. I’ve explored the world for years, getting in touch with how rich and poor people live all over the world.

My travel and experiences inspire me to make art that gets people thinking about the conventions we live in, our past, our culture and our part in it.

Born April 27, 1972 in Vancouver, B.C. Took very fist picture with a disposable black and white camera when i was 6 in the redwood forest in California . I was very close to my grandfather, we share the same birthday. After he died, I picked up his camera and started using it taking photos.

Growing up in Surrey, I witnessed racial violence and saw farmland and forest change into suburban sprawl. This opened my eyes at a young age to how different cultures collide and grow together.

My whole understanding of the planet and where we are today is reflected in my art. Seeing and experiencing all different cultures through travel allowed me to understand the global picture, and how we affect the planet and each other.

After high school I went to South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore and got my first taste of world travel. I returned home to attend college studying history and philosophy, then art through sculpture and ceramics. After graduating, I continued my travels through eastern Mediterranean and Africa visiting historical sites in Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Italy.

Inspired to play with art further I attended Emily Carr focusing on ceramics sculpture . In my work I explored the juxtaposition between earth and gravity. I also experimented with crystalline glazes on ceramics . Leaded to photography for easier dialog for everyday people to challenge our understanding of international culture , modern society , and our environment .

I traveled again in Europe seeking new expression for myself. I got involved in photo documenting what was going on in countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary. I was developing my eye and becoming more of a photographer. I shot rolls and rolls of film because it felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t understand what I was doing until years later when I used these images in my current work. International Social commentary …

In the middle of art school I continued my world travels through all the major continents, doing documentary photography in India, Cambodia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Peru, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and such far off places such as Papua New Guinea, Tibet and Rapa Nui. Landing in morocco on September  11 , 2001 .

Traveling all over western Canada , exploring or culture , from the oil patch , to organic farms . Lived in work camps in the frozen north , now in small resort town Tofino .

Feeling that I have a voice that needs to be heard, I’m now fully involved in creating art though digital photography looking at the reflections we all need in our time . Recently recognized by National Geographic . Readdressing old work and digital remastering and printing with contemporary giclee print technology. I’m also getting involved in meditation, following a spiritual existence that I’ve always felt. Energetic Elemental Zen …

*Education

1998 – 2003  Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver, B.C.

1992 – 1996  Kwantlen University College, Surrey, B.C.

Security of the Person by Mark Penney
16″x20″ Oil on Canvas
sold (private collection)

Ucluelet Daisy by Mark Penney
24″x24″ Oil on Canvas
(private collection)

Ucluelet is an area very much alive, even with good access to wildlife it’s still difficult to get the animals to hold still and pose.
I rarely carry wildlife photography in the gallery, although select images have made their special appearances.

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A client in Victoria has selected a number of images to be printed on canvas in assorted sizes, to be featured in their luxury rental condo. The prints are being gallery wrapped and lacquered, framing won’t be required. Soon after this initial order is filled I’ll be releasing a group of Limited Edition prints.