Searching skies, Seeing through trees by Gerald St. Maur

Gerald St. Maur, "Against the Sky", charcoal on paper

Gerald St. Maur describes his process this way: 
Drawing in charcoal has been an emotional and intellectual journey for me.  Undertaken along the North Saskatchewan River Valley, it has been a journey at once insightful and delightful.  Given the subject matter – trees, skies and water – the experience would have to be described as spiritual, not in the religious sense but in an abiding awareness of things greater than oneself, of immensity and mystery.

View St. Maur's charcoal drawings in Gallery A until May 20, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery B are Jean Pilch's paintings and pastel works in "Edited Realism". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Edited Realism by Jean Pilch

Jean Pilch, "Healy Meadows", acrylic on canvas

From Pilch's artist statement:

Pablo Picasso said, “We all know that Art is not truth…The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”

My detailed representational artwork has sometimes been described as “photorealism” or “high reality”. At openings, I have frequently heard the comment. “It looks like a photograph”. Although I do take reference photos and use them while I work, a filtering process of selection and interpretation takes place from the time I compose my photo to the final completion of the artwork.

In “Edited Realism”, my objective is to show my particular version of “truth” as convincingly as possible. 

View Jean Pilch's paintings and pastel works in Gallery B until May 30, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery A are Gerald St. Maur's charcoal drawings in "Searching skies, Seeing through trees". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Searching skies, Seeing through trees by Gerald St. Maur

Gerald St. Maur, "Sunlit Walk IX", charcoal on paper

Gerald St. Maur describes his process this way: 
Drawing in charcoal has been an emotional and intellectual journey for me.  Undertaken along the North Saskatchewan River Valley, it has been a journey at once insightful and delightful.  Given the subject matter – trees, skies and water – the experience would have to be described as spiritual, not in the religious sense but in an abiding awareness of things greater than oneself, of immensity and mystery.

View St. Maur's charcoal drawings in Gallery A until May 20, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery B are Jean Pilch's paintings and pastel works in "Edited Realism". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Edited Realism by Jean Pilch

Jean Pilch, "Bedraggled (Self-Portrait)", acrylic on canvas

From Pilch's artist statement:

Pablo Picasso said, “We all know that Art is not truth…The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”

My detailed representational artwork has sometimes been described as “photorealism” or “high reality”. At openings, I have frequently heard the comment. “It looks like a photograph”. Although I do take reference photos and use them while I work, a filtering process of selection and interpretation takes place from the time I compose my photo to the final completion of the artwork.

In “Edited Realism”, my objective is to show my particular version of “truth” as convincingly as possible. 

View Jean Pilch's paintings and pastel works in Gallery B until May 30, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery A are Gerald St. Maur's charcoal drawings in "Searching skies, Seeing through trees". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Searching skies, Seeing through trees by Gerald St. Maur

Gerald St. Maur, "Three birches", charcoal on paper

Gerald St. Maur describes his process this way: 
Drawing in charcoal has been an emotional and intellectual journey for me.  Undertaken along the North Saskatchewan River Valley, it has been a journey at once insightful and delightful.  Given the subject matter – trees, skies and water – the experience would have to be described as spiritual, not in the religious sense but in an abiding awareness of things greater than oneself, of immensity and mystery.

View St. Maur's charcoal drawings in Gallery A until May 20, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery B are Jean Pilch's paintings and pastel works in "Edited Realism". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Edited Realism by Jean Pilch

Jean Pilch, "At the Foot of the Monarch", pastel pencils on paper

From Pilch's artist statement:

Pablo Picasso said, “We all know that Art is not truth…The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”

My detailed representational artwork has sometimes been described as “photorealism” or “high reality”. At openings, I have frequently heard the comment. “It looks like a photograph”. Although I do take reference photos and use them while I work, a filtering process of selection and interpretation takes place from the time I compose my photo to the final completion of the artwork.

In “Edited Realism”, my objective is to show my particular version of “truth” as convincingly as possible. 

View Jean Pilch's paintings pastel works in Gallery B until May 30, 2015. Showing simultaneously in Gallery A are Gerald St. Maur's charcoal drawings in "Searching skies, Seeing through trees". Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open Wed-Fri from 10 am-4 pm and Sat from 12-4 pm. The Gallery will be closed on May 16.

Now On in the Gallery! Gerald St. Maur and Jean Pilch

Join us tonight, Thursday April 2, 2015 from 7 - 9:30 pm for the opening reception of two new exhibitions! In Gallery A, Gerald St. Maur shows his large and dramatic charcoal drawings of the treed landscapes of Alberta in "Searching skies, Seeing through trees". In Gallery B, you'll find in "Edited Realism" the amazingly realistic painted and pastel landscapes from Jean Pilch. View both shows from April 2 to May 30, 2015 in the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Hours and location listed below. Please note: the gallery will be closed on April 3, 4 and May 16.