By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Covering pretty much the breadth and width of the Columbia Valley, the Purcell Mountain Painters (PMP) have taken a bit of “walkabout” with their art, venturing to the Okanagan Valley.
The ”For the Love of Colour” show featuring 11 artists from the painters group is on at The Art Gallery Osoyoos (TAGO) until May 31.
In total there are 35 members in the group and partly because of the large catchment area, the group has a studio in Invermere which is available to the artists 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The art exhibition reflects both the environment of the Columbia River and its towering mountains, and lush forests and of course art from the soul that has no defining geography.
“We have such a variety of artists,” Krys Sikora one of the PMP members says. “Even though it’s a small gallery and a small show, there’s a real variety.”
Wire and wood.
Don Urquhart photo
She highlights PMP members Dick and Vicky who tag team mixed media artwork using wire and wood. He does the wood and wire work and Vicky does the painting, in a unique couple collaboration.
Sikora points to the wall where four prints are hanging saying they are “mono prints” or one of kind prints along with another that is a print of a charcoal artwork.
“And this one here is a collage, it’s hand printed paper and cut up and made into that painting.” Watercolourists are also represented and a potter is also included in the mix. “There’s something for everyone here, there’s such an eclectic mix of different things, different styles of art and I think the prices are reasonable,” she adds with a laugh.
“For some of the artists this is their first show,” Sikora says, adding she’s had some shows in Calgary.
Don Urquhart photo
Our attention turns to one of Sikora’s artworks, a “reduction print”. It starts with a piece of linoleum oddly enough. “You carve it out of linoleum, and every time you print a different colour, you carve out the colour, and you just print it and then print another colour,” she explains.
“This actually has like, eight runs through the press,” she says, the explanation making it seem far more complicated than the stunning image on the wall that belies the process.
“So that’s called a reduction print, you just keep reducing the amount of linoleum that’s in it.” It’s a time consuming process with Sikora saying it took nearly two months to complete because of the drying time required between each step.
Don Urquhart photo
Another of the visiting artists, Victoria Page, noted how nice it was to have a variety of art and artists involved in the show as it was a sort of “anyone who’s interested can participate” kind of invitation.
Page noted that the PMP artists were quite taken with not just the Osoyoos gallery, but the community as well, “it’s lovely,” she says simply.
Back in the Columbia Valley, Page says the Invermere studio which she says has been operating since at least 2000, is unique because people just come and go which helps artists who don’t have a space at home to create. No need to clean up the dining room table each night she highlights.
“Not everybody can afford the luxury of a studio in their house,” she adds and with membership only $25 a year, the studio is very accessible.
Don Urquhart photo
