The Station House Gallery opened their September show with a great gathering of artists and art patrons on Sept. 7.
The main gallery was filled at the opening reception for a group show by the Cariboo Artists’ Guild (CAG) from 100 Mile House titled Road Less Travelled and Langley artist Dan Kennedy’s show The Fraser Valley, a Place to See.
Road Less Travelled fills the main gallery with an eclectic collection depicting landscapes and some details of different locations. Each piece also has a small map below it, showing the location the piece is associated with. Many locations are ones visitors will recognize, from the Cariboo and other parts of our province.
The group statement for the show states how “taking a less-travelled road or path signifies a choice is being made to take a new direction, and that choice defines that person’s individuality and their perspective of reality.”
The CAG has been around in the south Cariboo for 43 years but has not had any of their works up in the Station House Gallery since 2006, said Patsy Granberg, president of CAG, in her brief artists talk at the opening.
Granberg came up to help open the show and has a piece in the exhibit.
She said she moved to the Cariboo 16 years ago but would drive back and forth to Vernon frequently to visit her mother there. Granberg’s piece depicts a view from along this drive, a Westwold turf farm.
She said the map detail with each piece was something featured in a previous show the group did and was well-received so they decided to do it with this show as well.
The guild has 33 members, with 16 being active members who create art on a regular basis, according to the group’s bio.
The group is also associated with the Parkside Art Gallery in 100 Mile House, which is where they meet and practice. The gallery is run by the South Cariboo Arts & Culture Society, and many CAG members also help volunteer to keep the gallery open year-round.
Artist Dan Kennedy’s show The Fraser Valley, a Place to See, fills the upper gallery. His oil paintings depict landscapes of the Fraser Valley, where Kennedy lives.
His landscapes range from streetscapes viewed from his local café in Fort Langley to sun-dappled cottonwood trees along the banks of a river.
Kennedy started oil painting in 2006 and while he started out doing a pointillism style, using small distinct dots applied in patterns to form an image, but his self-taught technique has evolved away from this.
“[Pointillism] is very painstaking,” he explained of his shift in technique. Kennedy likes getting outside, so he found he could combine his love of painting and the outdoors by painting en plein air (outdoors) and said he usually snaps a photo immediately upon coming to a scene he wants to paint.
He often paints what he can on site and if he loses light or needs to work on it more, he’ll finish from the reference photo inside.
“I love trees, I love light and shadow,” he said of his subjects, noting every piece has a story.
Kennedy’s Cariboo connection comes from his daughter, Courtney Patenaude, who moved to the area with her husband.
Courtney teaches youth art classes through the Station House Art Gallery, with the next set of classes for young people coming up in October.
Both Road Less Travelled and The Fraser Valley, a Place to See will be up in the Station House Gallery until Sept. 29, 2023 and the gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is free to visit.
READ MORE: New exhibit by Williams Lake artist Lynn Capling captures life’s moments of joy
READ MORE: A Feast for the Eyes art show up in Williams Lake art gallery
Don’t miss out on reading the latest local, provincial and national news offered at the Williams LakeTribune. Sign up for our free newsletter here.
Arts and cultureVisual ArtsWilliams Lake
