Campbell River artist Charlotte Deptford is presenting a collection of her favourite acrylic and watercolor paintings at the Pearl Ellis Gallery in Comox, June 2-22.
She has created an exhibition of great variety and beauty depicting a love of her environment. From the first stroke of the brush she is creating what she feels and hopes will depict a moment in time, a story perhaps, that others can be a part of.
From her humble beginnings in Alberta where she was raised on a cattle farm, with her seven brothers and sisters, she developed a keen love and respect for nature. Her farm life taught her that nature is a fine-tuned balancing act as well as a force not to be reckoned with. Her belief is that the earth, like children, is only borrowed. It needs to be nurtured, loved and cared for, as well as enjoyed.
In her mid-30s, Deptford visited Vancouver Island; it was the first time she had ever seen an ocean. She recalls this experience as monumental and breathtaking, was overwhelmed by the vastness, the movement, the brilliance and varieties of colour, and even the smell. All of her senses had been heightened to an unprecedented level.
“I will never forget that moment, because I fell head over heels in love,” she said. “The sound of the water was so soothing and calming, like a big hug.”
Soon after that vacation she moved to the West Coast and continued her love affair with not only the water but all the beauty the West Coast has to offer.
She believes she is the luckiest woman in the world to be able to see the ocean in all its glory, every single day. She likens her 30-year love affair to that of a spouse, where you are in tune with their moods, needs and that sense of peace that you know you belong. The only difference is now, she captures that beauty, that intensity, and that movement in her paintings. She wants others to be stimulated and feel what she does, experience that brief moment in time, as if they were there standing on the beach with her or seeing the glow of a West Coast sunset, so gorgeous that it makes one gasp.
Deptford will attend a reception June 7, from 1-4 p.m. Ten per cent of the sales will be donated back to the Pearl Ellis Gallery for their continuous support of local artists.
Pearl Ellis is located at 1729 Comox Ave. For a visual tour of the show visit www.pearlellisgallery.com