Pastoral Variation was one of 370 works chosen out of a total of 1,254 pieces submitted by artists from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. We had an exciting line-up of jurors for this year’s show: Jeffrey Spalding, Director and Chief Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts; Diane Farris, Owner of the Diane Farris Gallery in Vancouver; and John Luna, Instructor at the Vancouver Island School of Art and the University of Victoria, and a painter, writer and curator.

The painting was a year in the making and portrays a visit that Patty and I made to Avebury, in Wiltshire, England, on an absolutely beautiful day in late September 2007. We were preparing to be wed and celebrated our upcoming nuptials by spending time at the Avebury Henge, thought to be an old marriage ceremonial site, and nearby West Kennet long barrow. Between the two is Silbury Hill, built around 2500 BC and the largest manmade prehistoric mound in Europe. This Circle ties together a place that is very dear to my heart with the themes of love and the interconnectedness of all things.

If you’re in or around Victoria and Sooke at the end of July, we hope you’ll come out to the Sooke Fine Arts Show to see the painting and the work of many other fine BC artists.

2010 Sooke fine Arts Show:

• at the SEAPARC Leisure Complex, at 2168 Phillips Road in Sooke, BC
• Saturday, July 24^th to Sunday August 1^st, from 10 am to 8 pm
• Monday, August 2^nd, from 10 am to 6 pm.

Admission is $8 for a one-day pass ($7 for seniors) or $15 for a Show Pass.

The show also features a shop where artists sell originals and reproductions priced at under $100. Lovesong cards will be available there.

For more information, please visit www.sookefinearts.com.

Gallery 

Un jardin a Ben Aknoun is a tribute to my childhood home in Algeria. Created from old family photos but mostly from memory, the painting features the beautiful moorish house and gardens - Villa Djennan Baljie - where my family lived in the Ben Aknoun neighbourhood of Algiers from 1965 to 1969. It was a challenge to bring to life the magic of this childhood place. Being half way around the world, and because it was so long ago, it is hard to verify an image like this to a general audience. However, verification has come from my family members who experienced that place at that time.

Included with this blog are photographs of the creation of that work as well as some of the original photographs that I used to create the painting. I invite you to come out and join me at the Show.

The 2009  Sidney Fine Art Show will take place at the Mary Winspear Centre (2243 Beacon Ave. in Sidney) Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18.

The hours for the show are:
Friday, October 16, 9 am to 9 pm
Saturday, October 17, 9 am to 9 pm
Sunday, October 18, 9 am to 5 pm

Saturday night is “Meet the Artist” night, from 6 pm to 9 pm. Come visit - I’ll be there.
Admission is $5 or $10 for a three-day pass. (For more information: http://blog.sidneyfineartshow.com/)

Look forward to seeing everyone!

We had the great pleasure of meeting the delightful George Patterson - such an engaging and generous spirit - at the Tofino Botanical Gardens (a ‘must visit’ when in Tofino - www.tbgf.org). Visitors get to walk the beautiful grounds, full of exotic plants and trees, and dotted with wonderfully weathered wood sculptures. Don’t forget, while there, to cleanse yourself in the Eco Confessional! You’ll also enjoy a great cup of coffee in Darwin’s Cafe and you’ll find Lee’s cards in the Gardens’ gift store.

We also met local artist Signy Cohen, who runs the Reflecting Spirit Gallery on Campbell Street in Tofino. It’s a veritable potpourri of amazing, diverse art that includes wood sculpture, glassware, ceramics, paintings and much more. It’s a place to feast your eyes and spirit.  We understand that Signy is opening a second gallery in Ucluelet, which would make for a complete tour of that West Coast stretch. Signy is now carrying Lee’s cards in her Tofino shop. Make sure to stop in when you’re there.

Proud papa Lee is the painter behind the beautiful Virgen de Guadalupe eating fish tacos on the back and side of the truck:

The open house will feature refreshments, and art by:

• John Cowan;
• Dorothy Field;
• Sue Hara;
• Lee Robinsong;
• Christine Ross; and
• Cicely van der Vegt.

Come and visit us, along with nearly twenty other artists throughout the neighbourhood, for painting, collage, photography, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork, glass and floral art.

Click on fernwoodstroll1.pdf for more information about the Art Stroll, including a map and a list of the other featured artists.

June 20 and 21st is also Fern Fest, Fernwood NRG’s annual neighbourghood bash. Check out their website for more information: http://www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca/events/fern-fest-2009.

Exploring “the growing body of evidence and clinical practices that support the link between health care outcomes and spiritual belief and associated phenomena”, the conference will bring 300 healthcare practitioners together with a exciting line up of speakers including author and Harvard researcher, Dr. Joan Borysenko, and former astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

Lee, Joanne and Amanda, who “use art to challenge beliefs, expand consciousness and promote healing”, will display their work in the foyer of the David Lam auditorium, in the campus’s MacLaurin Building.

Visit www.spiritheals.ca for more information.