The Travellers: Facing North

Theodore Shenhinski, "Prelude to Winter", Polaroid Sk-70,
manipulated emulsion + digital scan, Iris inkjet print, 34” x 34”

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

John Maywood, "Winter Light", acrylic on canvas, 48” x 120.5”

Maywood says: " We face the north due to the press of information concerning the hazardous development of the North's resources. In the North itself, I imagine everyone is facing south. The orientation is toward the warming solar rays, and the expectation of capital from the south. The fragile beauty, the delicacy, and the inhospitality of the natural environment are seldom spoken of. We will regret the militarization and exploitation of this vast land."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Brenda Malkinson, "Murmurations", rolled steel, glass, vitrified white stain, graphite, 23” x 18” x 5”

Malkinson describes her connection to the North this way: "The north has called to me since I was a child...I never felt so connected to a landscape and discovered a serenity, albeit with attitude, that I have never taken for granted. Murmurations tells the story of the turtle back boulders of Lake Athabasca, the murmurations of birds in the Cariboo, the patterns of ice in the waters off Chichagof Island, and the fusion of a northern day."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Judith Martin, "Ice Angel", pastel on paper, 22” x 30”

Martin describes her process like this: "The Northern landscape has always been an inspiration to me. The land that has been carved out by glaciers and worn down by the changing seasons. The skies above in constant flux by incoming and outgoing weather patterns. lands that are haunted by ancient peoples and now animals endangered by our current land use. These are the stories that I am attempting to capture in my pastels through the use of complimentary colour and line. The marks I make are the energy I feel from the places I am interpreting."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Les Graff, "Approaching Evening Forms, Northern Alberta", oil, charcoal, pastel on canvas, 44” x 56”

Graff says of his work: "Although landscape based, my concern is to create a more 'inner' world where specific ideas and forms mutate to finally represent remembered experiences and fragmented realities. Not certain as to what is 'real', I prefer to deal with the mutated 'crossover' of ideas - a layered territory that, yes, can be somewhat evasive but so satisfying to the artist wanting to deal with abstractions."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Elaine Funnell, "Seasons: High Bush Cranberry Study #2", watercolour, 20” x 30”

Funnell describes her process this way: "Nature and native plants have been my inspiration for my botanical watercolour paintings. Preferring to work from life, using watercolour allows me to accurately capture the fine detail of wild grasses, mushrooms, and leaves among other plants, blending fine are and science reminiscent of the early 18th century botanicals."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

James Davies, "Ice Ghost", pastel, 22” x 30”

Davies says of his work: "My connection to the Canadian North is both specific and non-specific. I feel my paintings and drawings symbolically represent what I feel the north suggests regarding space, silence, and aloneness."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Glenn Clark, "Mosley Creek", acrylic on board, 14” x 14’

Clark describes his process this way: "When I began painting outdoors it allowed me the freedom to explore BC's landscape and every year I map out a few good road trips, hope for good weather and search for paintings. These paintings act as an historical record documenting the ever-changing face of the province and the evolving landscape."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Brenda Christiansen, "blue shadows", oil on canvas, 48” x 36”

"Brenda Christiansen's works explore the shifting face of Alberta's landscape. Her intention is to divert our gaze to those spaces we often overlook: not the grand panoramic vistas, but the echo of scenes encountered as we traverse along the path, to further imbue places with the vitality and significance, even while allowing precise location to remain anonymous."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Rae Braden, "Ode to an Adventurous Lemming", embossed print, 11” x 18”

Braden's practice is described this way: Rae's work is about exploring her northern surroundings. Geology, ice, bones, birds and botany feature prominently in her pieces - often accompanied by layers of pattern and graphic elements inspired by the landscape of northern Canada.

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

Noni Boyle, "Same Moon Hokusai Wave Yukon", charcoal on paper, 42” x 17”

Boyle says of her work: "This series of work - The Same Moon - considers the universal experience of longing for the familiar landscape of home...the works all combine landscape and imagery of my own (from Yukon, Northern Ontario, France and Scotland) with iconic elements from the prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige."

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists until April 13 at:

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street in Edmonton
Wed-Fri 10-4 + Sat 12-4
Closed March 29 & 30

The Travellers: Facing North

The Travellers is a loosely knit group of landscape, environmental artists and writers from different provinces and territories in Western Canada ~ Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories.
 
They are united by their desire to represent their specific landscape and environmental interests as emotional experiences. These artists connect the viewer with Northern Canada through diverse points of view and expressive art mediums.

Experience the northern landscape in "Facing North" through the paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints and poetry of 12 Canadian Artists.
 
Opening Reception: Thursday 7 March, from 7:00 - 9:30pm

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery
3rd Floor, 10215 - 112 Street, Edmonton

Laurie MacFayden + Amy Willans: Fighting Normal

Laurie MacFayden, "How Does She Heal?", mixed media/collage on canvas

with accompanying text by Amy Willans:

have i forgotten tongue and mouth and lips?
there is no desire in this disorder

Fighting Normal brings together the work of visual artist Laurie MacFayden and poet Amy Willans. This exhibition, in Gallery B, explores the impact of mental health issues. It runs concurrently with awareness of an altered world by Richard Boulet and Sue Seright in Gallery A until March 2, 2013. The gallery will be closed on Saturday, February 16, but otherwise is open from Wed-Fri, 10-4 and Sat 12-4.

MacFayden describes her process this way: For me, art-making is not merely a process of visual expression but a merging with the divine spark/vibrational energy that I consider to be the creative process. The resulting work is hard to categorize: I paint serene, post-impressionist landscapes and I paint boisterous, abstract-espressionist colour bombs. I paint electric skies and lively, dancing gardens; my urban and “inner” landscapes are more visceral. I apply paint with a vengeance, using brushes, knives, electric toothbrush, rolling pin … dabbling, flinging, dripping.

Richard Boulet + Sue Seright: awareness of an altered world

Sue Seright, "The Waning Gibbous Moon", mixed media constructions

awareness of an altered world brings together the work of Richard Boulet and Sue Seright. This exhibition, in Gallery A, explores the impact of mental health issues. It runs concurrently with Fighting Normal by Laurie MacFayden and Amy Willans in Gallery B until March 2, 2013. The gallery will be closed on Saturday, February 16, but otherwise is open from Wed-Fri, 10-4 and Sat 12-4.

Seright describes her process this way: My art is one way to break free of the stigmas and allow it to speak about my own personal journey with mental health challenges. It also gives me a way to visual track where I have been and where I might go. The book tells my story within a story. Like Bipolar ll, it is composed of two parts: the original book itself and the carved away pieces which reconfigure the second story to make a whole.