Spring is here and it’s time for the Monday Bunch to present their annual Show and Sale. This local group of artists will have their works on exhibit at the Pearl Ellis Gallery starting Tuesday, April 21 and running to May 10. A meet and greet will be held with artists in attendance April 25 from 1-4 p.m.
New to the Bunch
Barbara Martin is new to Comox. Previously she painted in Nelson, and also enjoyed yearly plein air workshops in Jasper, Alta. Barbara attended art classes through Selkirk College and workshops through the West Kootenay chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists. In the past, she has used art therapeutically with young students in counselling sessions. Barbara loves the opportunity to study the natural world – be it peony, arbutus, mountain or seagull.
Another Martin
Bruce Martin has been involved with painting and drawing for most of his life. The great beauty of B.C. and years of hiking in the Canadian Rockies have been a source of inspiration for much of his work. Bruce works primarily in watercolour but also in acrylic and sumi ink. His paintings range from representational to pure abstract with the occasional blend of each and some mixed media thrown in to keep things exciting and open to the unknown. Bruce’s work has appeared in numerous juried shows over the years and is held in private collections in Canada and the United States. Bruce is currently a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, the Arrowsmith Chapter of the FCA, the Jasper Artist’s Guild and most recently, the Pearl Ellis Gallery of Comox.
His paintings and prints can be seen at the Craft Connection, Nelson B.C., the Art Gallery of Golden, Golden B.C., The Kootenay Gallery of Art, Castlegar, B.C. and the Jasper Artists’s Guild Gallery in Jasper, Alta.
New medium for White
Althea White – Watercolours are a fairly new medium for her to express her love of colours. Both fabric and watercolours are a source of fun and creativity to examine various subjects. She loves to blend colours, mix different colour combinations and to explore the colour wheel. She is still challenged in changing the regular colour choices for darks or lights in order to get a sense of reality in a subject: for example – a brilliant turquoise to illustrate a bright shiny area. Because she has been travelling recently, she is truly aware of the different atmospheric lights can have in changing the colour palette for trees, hills water and skies. This means starting with a whole new concept of colour and the mixing of colours.
She believes that a balanced drawing underlines any painting but can see that this changes whilst doing plein aire styles. All her work is done from her own photography for originality.
Veteran members
Some of the familiar artists are still with the Monday Bunch so look for new work by Daphne Borden, Sharon Lennox, Bev Johnson and Bev’s daughter Colleen who is showing great talent: “one to track!” Lennox’s recent trip to Africa enabled her to take photos up-close of animals and as a result has produced pictures using Scratch Board, a newly discovered technique.
It has satisfied her need for detail requiring multiple layers of scratching resulting in “almost alive images” a very detailed work.
The Monday Bunch have been meeting every Monday from September to May at the Lion’s Den from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. located on Nordin Street under the Pearl Ellis Gallery.
The group has always maintained a great deal of enthusiasm over the past 35 years and any suggestions or new ideas are appreciated. The door is always open for the public to drop in and visit with artists at work.
Pearl Ellis is located at 1729 Comox Ave., is open daily Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. It is wheel chair accessible.