Artist Sandy Albo, of Artists on Main, works on a painting of a historic street scene in the group’s studio above the art gallery. She is one of about 30 local painters in the group whose work will be featured in a new exhibition at Osoyoos Art Gallery that starts this weekend. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos painting group Artists on Main will be featured in a new show at the Osoyoos Art Gallery that starts on Saturday.
The show runs from Sept. 13 to Oct. 11. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 12 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The group has about 50 members and 30 will probably be displaying their work at this show, said organizer Sandra (Sandy) Albo, whose own work will also be featured.
Albo said Artists on Main has a core group of about 15 artists, while others are also very skilled, but have less time to devote to the group.
The group also welcomes members who are less experienced, but want to develop their skills.
“We have a lot of artists working in acrylics,” said Albo. “I would say acrylics are the most popular medium of artists today. We have some wonderful watercolour artists as well. We have people working in everything from realism to Expressionism, Impressionism and abstracts.”
Although some painters still work with oils, Albo said that acrylics have largely taken over from oils.
“Acrylics are a friendlier medium in that it’s water-based and you can do things with acrylics,” she said. “With acrylics there are heavy gels you can use that make them look just like oils. A lot of people have difficulty telling and they have to ask if it’s an oil painting or acrylic.”
Because the pottery guild is separate, the upcoming show will focus on painting, though there may be some three-dimensional and mixed-media artwork, she said.
Among the local artists expected to show are Ivanna Zita, Helen Fisher, Albo, Deb Sherwin, Toni Ramsay, Lynn Langlois, Michael Jorden and Peter Scott.
Fisher, she said, is in her 90s and has been painting with Artists on Main for about 20 years.
“She does some lovely scenes of the prairies from her memories as a child,” said Albo. “She does them in acrylic and I would say she does them in abstract Expressionism, which is rather interesting.”
Albo’s own work features vibrant colours and the subject matter is often historical landscapes, depicting western scenes from earlier times.
Sherwin is a relatively new artist with the group, said Albo.
“She does lovely wildlife renditions usually,” she said. “She has five dogs that she walks around town so she obviously is interested in anything on four legs.”
Ramsay is a landscape acrylic artist who has been all over Canada and hikes to many of the places her work depicts, said Albo.
She describes Langlois as an abstract Expressionist with a wonderful sense of colour.
Artists on Main got its start about 70 years ago when local women got together in each other’s homes, Albo said.
First they formed the Osoyoos Arts Council, which led to Artists on Main about 50 years ago, she said.
“It’s probably one of the oldest organizations in Osoyoos,” said Albo.
The group gets together at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to work and critique one another’s work. They meet in their studio above the art gallery.
“On a continuous basis we have people joining that have never painted before and never even picked up a paintbrush,” Albo said. “A lot of our members are teachers and do some teaching. Michael Jorden, myself and Ivanna Zita will be giving acrylic and watercolour lessons.”
New painters are always welcome, she said.
For more information about Artists on Main, call Sandra Albo at 250-495-7359.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
