Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Nude in a Chinese Smock", 1982, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Gina", 1986, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait", 1986, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Woman with Mask", 2012, mixed media relief

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait", 1953, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait with Nudes in Background", oil on canvas, 2013

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work)

entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"The Green Nude", 2006, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work)

entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, this retrospective covers 60 years of Violet Owen's remarkable artistic career. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, and sculptural work, all deeply rooted in explorations of the female form. Join us for the opening reception on Thursday, December 11 from 7:00-9:30 pm at Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Violet Owen: Modern Woman will be exhibited from December 11, 2014 to January 31, 2015. Please note that the gallery will be closed from December 21 - January 6 for the holidays.

Bits and Pieces: Patricia Coulter

"Blaze of Glory", mixed media on canvas, 18" x 24"

Coulter describes her process this way: I usually have some theme or inspiration in my mind before beginning a piece, and then being by gluing, with an archival glue, some remnants from my daily life - receipt from a restaurant, a page torn from an old book, etc and let it dry. Then I start with a few charcoal pencil lines to lightly sketch in a landscape scene. This gives me a start but no telling where the painting will go from there. I then begin putting paint on, I add a few drips, I add more paper, more paint, and on it goes! I have been very pleased with the results I’ve achieved - I find the whole process is encouraging, creative, and inspiring!

View Coulter's mixed media work in her exhibition "Bits and Pieces", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Coulter is the photographic work of Jean-Rene Leblanc in "Presentification of Paradise". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Alison Service, "John & Yvonne", oil and wax on board, 20" x 18"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Elisa Sereno-Janz, "The North Saskatchewan River Through Edmonton (West Side)", oil on panel, 36" x 36"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Sereno-Janz says of her work: My art practice, which encompasses oil painting, fibre art, and new media, explores personal investigations in spatial, material and philosophical perspective , haptic art, and the juxtaposition of traditional art forms with technology. The intent in all of my work is to provide the viewer not only with an uncommon point of view, but also to initiate a haptic and synaesthetic response in the body.

My serial work, "Rivers of Alberta" is a product of contemporary technology reworked and translated through a traditional creative practice. In Rivers of Alberta, the satellite images inspire the tradition of landscape painting. The intersection between traditional art forms and contemporary technology within my work invites the viewer to reflect on the value of maintaining an awareness of our individual lives within the vast expanse of time and change.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Bits and Pieces: Patricia Coulter

"White Sheds", mixed media on canvas, 16" x 20"

Coulter describes her process this way: I usually have some theme or inspiration in my mind before beginning a piece, and then being by gluing, with an archival glue, some remnants from my daily life - receipt from a restaurant, a page torn from an old book, etc and let it dry. Then I start with a few charcoal pencil lines to lightly sketch in a landscape scene. This gives me a start but no telling where the painting will go from there. I then begin putting paint on, I add a few drips, I add more paper, more paint, and on it goes! I have been very pleased with the results I’ve achieved - I find the whole process is encouraging, creative, and inspiring!

View Coulter's mixed media work in her exhibition "Bits and Pieces", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Coulter is the photographic work of Jean-Rene Leblanc in "Presentification of Paradise". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Leanne Schnierer, "Valley Vista", acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Nina Robertson, "Morning in the Fall", acrylic, 48" x 24"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Presentification of Paradise: Jean-Rene Leblanc

"Bread Truck", digital colour and infrared photography, 24" x 60"

Leblanc says of his process: As a visual artist engaged with cultural issues, critical theory and digital media, I often use a variety of media to best express the concepts with which I am working. My artistic research interests gravitate around notions of the photographic image, video, interactivity, sound and visualization  as a means of exploring the concept of presentification (to make visible the invisible).

View Leblanc's work in his exhibition "Presentification of Paradise", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Leblanc is the mixed media work of Patricia Coulter in "Bits and Pieces". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Deltra Powney, "River Valley", oil on canvas, 24" x 35.5"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Powney comments on her work: 
Location of inspiration: North bank of North Saskatchewan River, South end of RR 275, West of Edmonton.
No sound of traffic. Quiet dead still vastness. A sense that there is more to this place than what is in the immediate space surrounding me. The echoing of a woodpecker knocking on a tree possibly across the river on the opposite bank left me feeling like I was not alone. Delicate tangles of dead grass punctuated by the white snow lingering in the underbrush. Just above that a pink mauve hued haze created by masses of spring's bear dogwood. Only the branched close to me reach out with their scarlet tinged fingers.
I long to live by the river. Till then I will hold what it gives me in my collections, dreaming.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Joze Olvera, "Purple Edmonton Skyline", mixed media on canvas, 40" x 30"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Bits and Pieces: Patricia Coulter

"On the Lakeshore", mixed media on canvas, 12" x 18"

Coulter describes her process this way: I have recently begun to work with acrylic paint and assorted materials in a type of collage. I have found that gluing a few pieces of random material, - scrap of paper, a back of an envelope, some tissue paper, etc. help me to get underway with a painting. There is no freezing up, the thoughts of “Oh, what if I wreck this!”, the crippling paralysis that affects artists, writers, musicians, etc as they confront the daunting challenge of the white sheet. Instead, when I look at a canvas where I have glued some material, I am ready to go. It’s already got marks on it, it is underway, all I have to do is make some of my own marks, add some paint and I am

away!

View Coulter's mixed media work in her exhibition "Bits and Pieces", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Coulter is the photographic work of Jean-Rene Leblanc in "Presentification of Paradise". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Leona Olausen, "River Valley Sun", acrylic on canvas, 28.5" x 22.5"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Olausen's remarks on this work: Inspiration for this piece – It is April 29, 2014 early morning with the warm sun spreading across the landscape warming the Edmonton River Valley. With brush in hand, feeling a heightened sense of awareness, I record the beauty of nature and how light moves across the river valley.  En plein, acrylic on canvas is quickly completed at home studio, so that the painting does not lose the response I felt when painting on location.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Anne McCormick, "Spring Breakup, North Saskatchewan", oil on panel, 24" x 36"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

McCormick says of this work: Throughout the year I often go and paint at Red Coat Landing in Fort Saskatchewan which is located at the boat launch on the North Saskatchewan River. This is on the west side of town. It is a beautiful spot that continues to inspire me. This painting is based on a study I painted in March 2013. I stood on the riverbank looking east . It was a wonderful painting experience with just a bit of mist hovering over the water, the sounds of ice cracking and the arrival of the first water fowl of the year.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Presentification of Paradise: Jean-Rene Leblanc

"Yellow Ford", digital colour and infrared photography, 24" x 60"

Leblanc describes his work this way: "This body of work explores the conceptual use of digital infrared photography as a means to investigate new ways of looking at the world we live in.

Shot on the Big Island of Hawaii, diptychs composed of images of abandoned vehicles juxtaposed to pristine landscapes shot in digital infra-red attempt to address the paradoxes of beauty, capitalism and notions of paradise."

View Leblanc's work in his exhibition "Presentification of Paradise", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Leblanc is the mixed media work of Patricia Coulter in "Bits and Pieces". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Byron McBride, "Irene Parlby Park", acrylic on panel, 27" x 21"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Tracey Mardon, "Girl in Orange", oil on deep birch panel, 30" x 36"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Rosalette Mandryk, "Cinnamon and Burnt Sugar", acrylic on linen, 48" x 36"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Lesley Lambert, "Whitemud - Crossing Into Autumn", oil, 30" x 24"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Nicole Hiebert, "Feltmonton and the Wooley, Wooley River Valley", wet/dry felting, beading, handspun wool, paint pen, 26.25" x 36.5"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

On Hiebert's work: Fibre Arts is one of Hiebert's first creative loves. She adores the spontaneity and surprise this medium brings. The texture and colours are fascinating and endlessly evolving. The fibers Nicole uses in her works are part of, and produced by, nature. She feels it allows her a closer connection to the Earth and all the beings that allow her fiber art to exist. She is grateful for the experience and thankful to Mother Nature. Nicole is happy she has found her creative calling and her medium.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Wendy Gervais, "Downstream", mixed media, 16" x 11.5"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Gervais describes her process this way: I enjoy walking during the winter along Saskatchewan Drive east of 109 Street; over the hill; down the stairs and along the paths which lately have been inaccessible because of the bridge construction; absolutely a magical place in the winter. In warmer weather my route consists of walks along the river from Emily Murphy Park to Hawrelak Park, traveling not on the pedestrian trails provided but, as often as I can, the little paths along the river. The best stretch for me is beside the Mayfield Golf Club. You cannot see the greens and the area is particularly quiet. One section is lined both sides by high-bush cranberries that have halo blossoms. I do not draw or make art while in the river valley; I enjoy the time walking, listening and looking. I collect all those things we are supposed to leave on the ground in parks. Things are collected, saved until they are required.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Natasa Vretenar, "Ravine", acrylic, 36" x 24"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Vretenar describes her process: Playing with light is my lifelong passion, both as an Optical Engineer and as an artist. I grew up in the former Yugoslavia, where seed for this passion was planted. I came to live in the Southwest USA in high school, and I fell deeply in love with Wild West, wide-open spaces, and amazing colors of the Western North America. I worked as a scientist for 20 years before moving to Edmonton, Alberta in 2012.  Since moving to Canada, I pursue my passion for painting full time.  I am an avid traveler and nature enthusiast. Instead of realistically portraying landscapes, flora and fauna, I try to capture emotion related to experiencing nature.  I strive to achieve this by applying thick texture to my canvases, playing with light by using dozens of acrylic paint glazes, metallic paints, bright colors and different acrylic mediums. My paintings are 3D expressions of dramatic layers of paint applied by palette knives, and completed with intricate brushwork to create additional depth.  Finding joyful things all around me throughout the year in every season, is a journey that brings happiness not only to me, but also to those who take time to explore my finished works of art.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Shane Golby, "Elemental", mixed media, 26" x 29"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Golby says of his work: The mixed media wall relief works submitted for consideration for the exhibition Marking the Valley were inspired both by autobiographical events and by discoveries made along the edges of the North Saskatchewan River throughout the Capital Region. Both as a student of history and anthropology/archaeology and as a visual artist I have always been intrigued and inspired by the remnants of humanity. Throughout my life, no matter where I have lived, I have spent a great deal of time rooting in abandoned structures and stumbling through fields, forests, along the banks of waterways and, more recently, through back alleys, marveling over the relics I have found and attracted by the implied narratives and formal beauty of such ‘treasures’. The art works included in this submission are based on such finds literally marking the North Saskatchewan river valley.

Rivers have long served as metaphors for life’s journey. Having been born and raised in Edmonton, the North Saskatchewan River is my ‘metaphor’. The art works I have submitted for consideration for Marking the Valley are thus not only representations of the actual North Saskatchewan River/river bank but also symbolic depictions of personal life experiences.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Elaine Funnell, "Populus tremuloides", watercolour on 300 lb. Arches, 23.5" x 30.5" 

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Funnell says of her process: Nature and native Alberta plants have been the inspiration and focus 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 native plants blending fine art and science reminiscent of the early 18th century botanical illustrators. Many of my seasonal studies show the plant specimen as it changes through the four seasons illustrating life as it truly exists. In my work I often include insects that thrive on the plant, not only to create life and interest in the painting but also to illustrate the environmental connection between plants and beneficial insects.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Lori Frank, "Winter Bliss", acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Frank describes her process: Although I love working with many mediums for painting or drawing; my primary art style that I focus on is my unique self taught impressionism (pointillism) technique, since I discovered it when I was a teenager. For my Edmonton river valley series on average a painting that is 20" x 20" can take me up to 100 hours to do. I have been an avid photography buff since taking it in school and like to capture what I'll recreate since my primary fine art style is so time consuming. Since pointillism is a process of piecing or layering dots together, I also naturally gravitated to learning how to work in mixed media - mosaics. In 2014, I have also had the honour to unveil all 25 of my recent Edmonton river valley paintings, in my feature exhibit River Valley Coordinates at city hall for The Works Art & Design Festival.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

GuoQuan Zheng, "Along the Valley", oil on canvas, 24" x 48"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Gerald Faulder, "Northwest", oil on paper, 27.5" x 39.5"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

David Yowney, "Terwillegar Park Forest Pathway", acrylic and graphite on linen, 36" x 24"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Yowney says of his work: I interpret the meaning and significance of the river valley as a place relative to its position the city and the globe, so I used graphite rubbings to yield a physical record of a real place I experienced. I chose rubbings to highlight a new non-destructive way and renewable experiences of nature that may be accessed without altering it for the next person on the trail.

This picture is a rubbing of a foot pathway deep in the Terwillegar Park Forest. This painting symbolizes how nature is left to it natural cycles within the city where, on the soil, roots grow, leaves and twigs fall and nature is undisturbed.

The GPS coordinates; the rubbing and the satellite views signify that viewers may access the river valley project on the Internet. The global community can study the source of the artwork from anywhere in the world and see a higher level of meaning as I marked how cooperation has grown with this unique pathway.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.

Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Father Douglas, OSF, "Winter Nirvana", acrylic on lexan and tissue paper, 16" x 20"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.